Planning Commission Agenda and Packet 2021 05 13

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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes April 8, 2021 Page 4 of 7 Ritchie replied that fences require permits so that staff can confirm height and PUD compliance. She did not know if it was preventing fence maintenance but it sometimes created homeowner frustration that they couldn’t build the fences that they preferred. More recent neighborhoods had fences in better shape. Moline asked if fences required variances. Ritchie confirmed. She noted that a neighborhood in Louisville the residents were working on amending their PUD because they didn’t like it. That required a pretty organized front from a neighborhood standpoint and she didn’t know if that was a reasonable expectation. Diehl asked if older neighborhoods would have requirements waived. Ritchie suggested that there could be a visual survey to evaluate compliance and if 90% of the properties comply with the PUD then the PUD would remain in effect. Chair Brauneis and Commissioners Diehl and Williams agreed that considering a remedy was worthwhile to prevent headaches for residents and staff. Ritchie asked if the Commission wanted to consider standardizing sound from outdoor music and dining downtown. Staff was comfortable taking them on a case-by-case basis. She stated that Council had worked around it but had not reached consensus. Hoefner stated that the legal committee had reached a conclusion that from a law- enforcement approach wasn’t needed. He thought there was some value in an official document or in an informal policy to think about like cases alike, especially downtown with respect to hours and amplification. He thought the Commission had done a good job looking at proximity to residential areas, but he supported trying to make sure that the Commission was identifying similar examples when considering new cases. Diehl stated that it would be good for future residents to understand the rules and know that that downtown was a vibrant, lively place to live with music into the night, so there wasn’t a debate every time there was a sound change. Rice stated that this issue had come up frequently. He was a proponent of the SRU approach to fine-tune each case. He agreed that there was a fairness component when not everyone had the same restrictions. He liked Commissioner Diehl’s approach but added that he had sympathy with people bothered by the noise. Diehl noted that the downtown property valuation was high because of Old Town activity. Ritchie stated that the two polar opposite options were to leave it up to the SRU process entirely or to make it a use-by-right and establish hours for everyone through a code amendment. She summarized that they all address the issue in October.