HomeMy Public PortalAboutMinutes_Planning & Zoning Meeting_07132011PLANNING AND ZONING MEETING JULY 13, 2011 6:30 P.M. IONA COMMUNITY
CENTER
PUBLIC HEARING VARIANCE SAFFLE
PRESENT: Chairman Dan Garren; members, Mike Taylor, Rob Geray, Bette Lovinus, Roy
Hobbs, and Clerk Robyn Keyes.
VISITORS: Troy Saffle, Elisa Saffle, Ruby Taylor, Mark Taylor, Jeffrey Powell.
Chairman Garren welcomed everyone and PZ member Lovinus lead with the Pledge of
Allegiance.
The minutes were reviewed.
PZ member Taylor made a motion to approve the minutes.
PZ member Lovinus seconded the motion.
All were in favor. Motion carried.
Impact Area Discussion. Clerk Keyes said she spoke with Steve Serr with Bonneville County
Planning and Zoning regarding the proposed impact area increase. According to Mr. Serr, the
City needed to meet with the Iona Bonneville Sewer District to discuss the possibility of service
to the area north of Telford Road. Clerk Keyes said she had called the sewer district and asked
them to add the City to their next agenda. PZ member Hobbs said he would attend the sewer
meeting to discuss the issues with increasing the impact area and providing service.
Title 11 Review. The Commission decided to move forward with the format changes to Title 11
since the City Attorney did not have comment regarding the changes. PZ member Geray asked
Clerk Keyes to confirm with the Attorney that the changes were ok.
The Commission decided to change the format of the R-T zone to reflect the format of the R-1
zone with the exception of the uses that did not apply.
PZ Chairman Garren asked the Commission members to become familiar with the remaining
residential zones in the Title for discussion at the next meeting.
Public Hearing 7:00 p.m. Variance Saffle. Clerk Keyes informed the hearing members that due
to a conflict of interest, PZ Chairman Garren and PZ member Geray must recuse themselves for
the hearing.
PZ member Taylor went over the procedures for the hearing and turned the time over to Mr.
Saffle.
Mr. Saffle said he lived at 5455 Denning and was applying for a variance so he could build a 10
foot visual cloth barrier on his rear property line and an eight foot vinyl fence on his rear side
property line to the east. Mr. Saffle said his house was built up high due to the sewer issues in
1
Ashwood Acres, so when he is on his back deck he can see down into the backyards of three of
his neighbors. He would like to build visual barriers for privacy.
PZ member Lovinus asked what the structures were on his deck. Mr. Saffle said one was a hot
tub and the other a sauna.
PZ member Taylor asked if anyone in favor of the request would like to speak. No one did.
PZ member Taylor asked if anyone who was neutral would like to speak.
Ruby Taylor said she lived at 3 139 Ashwood Lane, next door to the Saffles and she had some
questions. Mrs. Taylor asked if the variance was approved, would the variance stay with the
property even if the Saffles moved? Mrs. Taylor said the Saffles did very nice things with their
yard, but she was concerned what other homeowners would do with ten foot poles left and the
Saffles had taken the barrier cloth down. Mrs. Taylor said she had planted trees between the two
properties; while they were growing she would continue to park her RV trailer along the side
between her house and the Saffles as it created a visual barrier between the yards. Mrs. Taylor
said the trees already were about 7 feet tall. Mrs. Taylor asked the Saffles if they had considered
enclosing their deck for privacy. Mrs. Taylor said she would be in favor of organic, green
privacy barriers (such as trees) instead of structural privacy barriers.
Clerk Keyes answered Mrs. Taylor's question regarding the variance staying with the property.
Keyes said there was not anything in the code book defining a variance staying with the
property. However, typically variance requests were permanent in nature since they often dealt
with setbacks and property lines, so it was safe to say that the if the variance was granted, it
would stay with the property unless the new owner decided to remove the posts.
PZ member Taylor asked if anyone was against the request.
Jeffrey Powell said he was against the request. Mr. Powell said he bought his home for the
beautiful view it had and he believed the eight foot vinyl fence and 10 foot visual barrier would
compromise the value of the neighborhood. Furthermore, by allowing the Saffles a variance it
would set precedence and open the door for other people to build barriers between them and their
neighbor, which would cause the neighborhood to lose its appeal.
PZ member Taylor asked Mr. Saffle if he would like to address any of the comments made.
Mr. Saffle said his house sat high because of sewer issues, and green barriers took a long time to
grow. Mr. Saffle said he would be willing to remove the 10 foot barrier after the trees had
reached a substantial height.
PZ member Taylor thanked everyone for their comments and closed the public portion of the
hearing; opening discussion for the Commission members.
PZ member Hobbs suggested attaching conditions to the variance.
2
PZ member Lovinus said she agreed with Mr. Powell, who was opposed to the requests. PZ
member Lovinus said she could see all of her neighbors when she was in her back yard; that was
just the way it was. Lovinus also agreed with Mrs. Taylor's suggestion of building an enclosure
around the deck for privacy.
PZ member Taylor said most of the discussion was regarding the 10 foot barrier and asked Mr.
Powell and Mrs. Taylor if they were opposed to the eight foot vinyl fence. They both said they
were. PZ member Taylor agreed that a six foot vinyl fence should be adequate since the patio at
that point was on the ground. PZ member Taylor also agreed with PZ member Hobbs about the
possibility of attaching conditions to the variance.
PZ member Hobbs made a motion to allow the 10 foot privacy barrier with the condition that it
was removed once the green barrier grew tall enough; and not allow the eight foot vinyl fence.
PZ member Lovinus seconded the motion.
All were in favor.
Motion carried.
Public hearing closed 7:40 p.m.
PZ member Taylor made a motion to adjourn.
PZ member Geray seconded the motion.
All were in favor.
Adjourned 7:45 p.m.
3
PUBLIC NOTICE
The City of Iona's Planning and Zoning Commission has scheduled a public hearing on
the evening of July 13, 2011 at 7:00 P.M. at the Iona Community Center, which is located
at 3548 North Main Street, Iona, Idaho. The purpose of the hearing is to consider a
Variance request by Troy Saffle. A second public hearing is scheduled for the evening of
July 19, 2011 at 7:30 P.M. at the Community Center with the City Council for final
approval if so recommended by Planning and Zoning.
If approved, the variance would allow Troy Sallie at 5455 Denning, to construct an eight
(8) foot vinyl privacy fence along the east side of his back yard and a ten (10) foot
privacy barrier along the north end of his back yard.
If you have any comments concerning this request, they will be considered at the public
hearing. Comments may be made in writing, but must be received by the City Clerk
seven days prior to the public hearing.
Any person needing special accommodations to participate in the above noticed meeting
should contact the City Office the day before the meeting at 523-5600
Dated this 21 st day of June, 2011
Respectfully yours,
Robyn Keyes,
City Clerk
Publish: Fifteen (15) days prior to hearing date.