00:05:16,670 Welcome to City Council regular meeting this evening, August 18th, 2026. Members of the public may attend this meeting in person by watching on cable channel 16, or by streaming on media. At this time. If you’re able to do so, we will do two things. We will stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, as well as read the land.

00:05:39,100 Acknowledgment. I would like to call this meeting to order. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

00:06:05,300 We acknowledge and honor the Dakota nation, on whose ancestral land the city of Golden Valley is built, and whose land resources we use. We commit to counteracting the erasure of the cultural practices and presence of the Dakota people through education, and by amplifying a wide range of indigenous voices. You may be seated. At this time, we have two special people who represent Golden Valley as our state representative and senator.

00:06:29,500 This year, the League of Minnesota City selected representative Mike Freiberg and Senator Andress as the League of Minnesota Cities Legislator of Distinction for 2026. The league’s board of directors recognized a total of 23 legislators. Legislators this year, including 14 House members and nine Senate members.

00:07:02,000 For their actions and leadership on a wide variety of legislative issues of importance to cities across the state. Unfortunately, Senator Russ could not make it tonight, but representative Mike Freiberg is here to share a few words.

00:07:23,870 But in honor of Senator Russ absence, who will be also retiring this year, uh, she expressed her appreciation that Golden Valley voters had the opportunity to consider and approve the local sales tax question. When they did. She also expressed concern about subsequent legislative changes limiting city’s ability to bring similar local funding questions directly to their voters, and she said she hopes the legislator, legislature will revisit that issue in 2027, with an emphasis on local decision making.

00:07:52,000 Senator Russ also commented positively on the council’s recent Tiff decision, and noted The Sun Post coverage of it. She said the decision reflects Golden Valley’s experience using public financing tools to support local economic assets. So thank you. At this time, Representative Freiberg, if you would like to come forward to share some words as well. Thank you for being here.

00:08:14,400 Uh. My pleasure. Thank you for the invitation. Mayor Hartman and members of the council. Uh, I didn’t really prepare any remarks, but thank you for the recognition. Um, you know, I should mention, also, thanks to Senator Rest for her years of service to this part of the Metro.

00:08:31,530 I know she has always taken the advice from the cities that she’s represented very seriously, and provided an eager ear. I’ve certainly tried to do the same.

00:08:50,200 Um, during my time as a legislator, um, so I it was I guess it’s been a little while, but I used to sit in those chairs as well, so I still think back fondly of my time as a council member and try to, um, you know, respect the wishes of the councils that I represent when I am in the legislature. So appreciate the recognition and the opportunity to speak here. You know, I don’t know if anybody has any questions or anything, but maybe I’ll just leave it at that for the moment.

00:09:07,300 Thank you. I’m actually going to ask my colleagues if they have any questions or comments that they would like to share. I just want to say a big thank you, especially this last budget year, which I was very contentious in helping bring home the city.

00:09:25,900 Um, additional 3 or $4 million towards our fire department so we can help get that new fire station built this year. It’s a huge boon to our city and our economic development. Yep. Thank you. Council member white. Yeah. I was honored to carry that bill.

00:09:37,870 I live pretty close to the fire station, so I’m eager to see the the the the progress of the of it being built as, as it goes along here. So I was glad we were able to get a bonding bill passed with bipartisan support, and that it included some funding for the fire station. And I just wanted to thank you.

00:09:55,870 I’ve always said that there is no higher calling than public service. And I think that you embody that. And we are so blessed to have such an incredibly talented, intelligent person. Um, right here in our own community, advocating for us. And a deep, heartfelt thank you. We’re so lucky to have you.

00:10:15,570 Uh. Thank you. The feeling is entirely mutual. Members of the council and Mayor Hartman. So I appreciate your service to the community. It’s not an easy time to be an elected official at any level. So I really respect the work that you do as well. Thank you so much.

00:10:33,830 And again, I echo the sentiments, but I also want to say for years you have really done an outstanding job representing Golden Valley. And as you transition into your new role, which I believe you will have, um, it’s uh, you know, you’re still going to be here representing us and helping us.

00:10:59,270 So, um, right, we’re not losing you so very excited for what’s to come. And, um, thank you so much again. And if we could just give him another round of applause as well as some. Other ones. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. At this time, uh, we’re moving on with our agenda, uh, additions and corrections council.

00:11:22,330 Are there any additions or corrections that you see to the agenda? All right. Then I will ask for a motion to approve the agenda as submitted. So moved. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Any further discussion? This is a voice vote. All those in favor say aye. Aye, aye. None oppose the, uh, additions and corrections to the agenda has been approved.

00:11:42,330 Next is our approval of consent. All items listed under this heading are considered to be routine by the City Council, and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no discussion of these items unless a council member.

00:11:59,670 So request in which event the item will be removed from the general order of business and considered in its normal sequence on the agenda Council. Are there any items that you wish to be removed from the consent agenda? No. Okay. Again, I’ll entertain for a motion for approval of the consent agenda as submitted. So moved. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Any further discussion? Okay. Again, this is another voice vote.

00:12:22,600 All those in favor say aye. Aye. None. Opposed. The consent agenda has also been approved. Moving right along. We do not have a public hearing, but we do have items for consideration. We would like to consider appeal of variance denial at 95 Nevada Avenue South. Resolution number 26056.

00:12:49,400 Since this item is an appeal of a variance denial, we will begin with a brief presentation from staff, followed by questions from the City Council. We will then provide the applicant an opportunity to address the council.

00:13:08,730 I do want to note that the Planning Commission received public testimony at its July 27th meeting, and the draft minutes from the meeting are included in our packet for review. Public comments received at that meeting are part of the record being considered this evening. I would like to bring our city planner, Miss Kramer, who’s already at the podium, uh, to discuss the staff report. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Harmon and city council.

00:13:29,400 Um, the variance appeal tonight is at 95 Nevada Avenue South. It’s a request to allow a six foot fence in the front yard along Western Avenue on the north side of the property. Uh, current city code would only allow a four foot fence in that area. It’s a variance from section 113152 c one eight.

00:13:51,330 Um, so I’m going to go through just the request, some additional background information, and then discuss briefly what Planning Commission talked about at their meeting and their decision. And then kind of lay out, um, the appeal process and what we’re discussing tonight.

00:14:09,470 Uh, so the subject property is the yellow star on your screen just south of Lions Park. And then here’s the property. Um, the solid yellow line is the proposed fence that meets code per the plans. And then the dashed line is the part of the fence that applies to the variance request. Um, you can see on here that the house is on a corner lot.

00:14:32,030 The front door faces Nevada Avenue to the west, so that’s functionally the front of the house. And then the backyard of the house is on the eastern side. The way our code is currently written, corner lots often have two, if not three front yards.

00:14:49,600 Every yard that abuts a street is considered a front yard per our code. And so that’s why part of what is functionally their backyard would only be allowed a four foot fence without a variance. Um, the applicant provided a number of photos of their property and the adjacent park. I’m just going to show a few of them on the screen here. The rest are in your packet.

00:15:08,730 This photo is taken from their driveway looking towards the park so you can see it’s just across the street. And then this is showing the view from the park, parking lot driveway looking south to their house so you can see where their backyard would be visible from the public right of way.

00:15:28,100 And then this is showing the parking lot that serves Lions Park, that driveway, and how it’s directly north to their property. And then finally, this is another view from the park and the parking lot looking south again, showing how their backyard is visible from the street.

00:15:52,770 Um, in your packet, we also included just some context of what’s happening along this corridor with fences of various heights and various conforming are not conforming with current city code when it comes to fence. So I’ll just go through that. And then this diagram is showing current Golden Valley fence regulations.

00:16:11,270 The light blue on the south and west side is where a six foot fence would be allowed. And then the lime green on the north and west side is where a four foot fence is allowed. And then this diagram is showing some of our peer communities and what height of fences are allowed on a a street frontage.

00:16:33,070 Uh, four feet for several cities is allowed at the property line, a couple cities crystal, Medina, Plymouth allow six feet um along a street and then some others allow slightly higher fences at the setback or at the house. So just providing some context on what our neighbors are doing or what they have for current regulations.

00:16:51,900 Um, the applicant did explore a number of alternatives to the variance request, so I just summarized them here. They’re also described in your packet. Ultimately, they decided they wanted to stick with their original plans to apply for a variance to get a six foot fence around their backyard.

00:17:08,970 So just a reminder of what a variance is, because you guys don’t see them very often. Um, it’s a proposal or a request to deviate from the regulations in the zoning code. Um, in our city, they’re decided by the Planning Commission, which also acts as our Board of Zoning appeals.

00:17:27,670 And their main task is to determine if there are practical difficulties that make it difficult to comply with the zoning code on a particular property, as they’re written. Um, variance decisions are quasi judicial decisions, which means city council or planning commission are applying rules that are already in place to facts associated with a particular request.

00:17:49,930 You can contrast this with something like a comprehensive plan amendment or a zoning code text amendment. Those are legislative decisions where cities have much broader discretion in making decisions. State statute lays out the rules for variances, so there are practical difficulty. Test is the same for all cities throughout the state.

00:18:08,670 The burden of proof is on the applicant to show that the request is in harmony with the code, with the general purposes of the code, with our comprehensive plan, it’s also the burden of proof is on the applicant to show that practical difficulties exist in their particular case.

00:18:30,030 And to approve a variance request, a city must certify in writing that all required findings of fact are met. And finally, each variance application should be reviewed based on unique circumstance of each application or each property. For that reason, variance, variances or variance decisions don’t set a precedent because no two circumstances are identical.

00:18:49,800 And as we note in our staff report, if a city is seeing, uh, multiple variances, kind of asking for the same thing over the course of time, it could indicate that a zoning code text amendment or a changed or a zoning code might be appropriate. Um, but the variance itself, it’s you’re just looking at one property. And the circumstances on that one property.

00:19:10,070 So this slide is showing where planning commission, uh, made findings were not met for their particular application. Specifically, uh, the unique circumstance of the property. And then the finding of does the application or does the request, could it alter the essential character of the locality? That was a maybe, um, wasn’t clear.

00:19:37,800 But the I think the, the big one for planning Commission was the unique circumstance question. Does this property have a unique circumstance or a combination of circumstances that are truly unique, that make it practically difficult to comply with the code while still meeting the spirit of the code? I still getting kind of a a typical use of their property

00:19:57,530 that other properties of a similar zoning designation and land use would have. And I wanted to highlight these two findings because if City Council decides to approve this variance request, you would need to make findings of fact that are different than what Planning Commission made.

00:20:17,400 Again, you would have to come to a consensus and then we would write these down that the landowner’s problem is due to circumstances unique to the property that is not caused by the landowner, and that the variance, if granted, must not alter the essential character of the locality. Uh Planning Commission found that the variance request met all the other findings of fact, so those could stay the same.

00:20:34,100 These are the two that would have to be different from what Planning Commission found on July 27th. Um, as typical for all of our variance applications, we sent mailers to all adjacent properties.

00:20:51,030 Um, we did get one email in support of the variance request from a neighbor to the north on Lions Park, and then the applicant also testified on the variance request at the July 27th Planning Commission meeting. Um, no other residents testified at the meeting, and we haven’t received any correspondence on this application since then. Um, after hearing the applicant’s testimony and discussing the application, Planning Commission voted five one to deny the variance request.

00:21:15,500 The one commissioner that did not vote the same as the others. Their opinion was that the there was a combination of circumstances that while singularly each circumstance was not unique, the combination of the corner lot and the location of the park and other factors created a unique circumstance, um, for this property, which is why they

00:21:35,530 voted to not deny the variance. Um, and so tonight, um, staff has not changed this recommendation. Planning Commission voted to deny the applicant appealed that decision to City Council, which is a process laid out in state statute in our code.

00:21:56,200 So now the application is before you tonight to make similar determination of findings of fact and then take a vote on to approve or deny the variance request. Um, so I’m happy to answer any questions. We also have the applicant here and they are ready to speak as well. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Kramer.

00:22:11,530 Uh, counsel, do you have any questions for Miss Kramer before the applicant is able to provide a statement? I’ve got a question. Could you back and show the, uh, the the overview of the property diagram and kind of lay out the right of way around there and then, um, basically overview where you would see traffic on their property around their

00:22:29,370 property. The, uh, go you go back a little, you went too far. Sorry. It’s the one with, uh, going. Uh, well, keep going. Sorry. One more. This one. Yeah.

00:22:57,500 And can you walk us through the different because I, I know, I think from planning Commission there’s discussion of different right of way points. And this property seemed like there might be a third right of way behind it. Could you kind of walk us through that? Yes. Thank you. Council member. Quite so.

00:23:16,130 This property has a road and then the boulevard right of way on the western side, which is Nevada Avenue, the northern side, which is Western Avenue. And then on the eastern side there is a narrow park. It’s called the Laurel Avenue Greenbelt. So it’s it’s right of way, but it’s not a street. And there’s a sidewalk in the middle of it. It’s like a walking trail.

00:23:35,870 Um, the park, even though it’s, it’s city owned property, but it’s not a right of way. So it doesn’t have the same rules about fence height as a street frontage would. But it is kind of like public land. Um. Yeah.

00:23:58,470 And another question in terms of general properties we see in the city and mostly relates to corner lots because they are unique in that we have, as you pointed out, like basically half your yard is considered front yard for fence heights.

00:24:18,170 Um, how often do we see people with corner lots where they are literally directly adjacent to the parking lot for a rather heavily utilized park? And as I understand, this park is also especially through spring summer baseball season is used a lot in softball. Yes. Thank you Tracy. So I believe we have about 20% of all single family lots in the city are corner lots and out of those corner lots.

00:24:37,800 I think there are about 100 corner lots that are adjacent to or across the street from parks. I’m not sure how many of those are directly adjacent to parking lots that serve parks, so I can’t fully answer your question. Sure, yeah. Okay. Good question. Yeah. Um, and one last question. As I recall from planning, it came up throughout the conversation.

00:24:57,830 There was around like, oh, maybe swapping out for shrubbery or bushes and looking at the if you go one slide farther back, it showed the different various variances, the different cities and their fences.

00:25:20,530 You know, it looks like from our from our peer communities to like where the fence line would be superimposed, this diagram might fall into that same zone where some of our communities might allow slightly taller fences on that section of yard. Is that fair to say? Yes. There are a couple cities that do allow six foot fences along and they use different terms for it, but sometimes they call it a side street setback.

00:25:42,330 Or in an ancillary street setback, basically, um, you have your front yard on your corner lot. You have the other yard that has a street, but it’s not your front yard. And so some cities have different rules for those two yards for corner lots. And they may allow a six foot fence right on the property line.

00:25:56,800 They may allow a six foot fence setback a couple feet, but not all the way to the house, which is what our current code says.

00:26:13,630 So for example, um, you could have a regulation that you could have a six foot fence on a street frontage, as long as your front door doesn’t face the same way and you leave a couple feet space for something like an easement or for vegetation or something, so that you don’t end up with a fence right against the sidewalk or right against the curb. Okay. And we do also have varying widths of right of way.

00:26:28,870 So right. Some properties like this one have a really wide strip of grass that isn’t that isn’t right of way and not their property. Um, and that just varies throughout the city. Yeah. Thank you. Council member.

00:26:54,770 Looking back at the alternatives, can you go to that sheet so planting tall shrubs or trees in place of a fence. What if the trees are six feet tall? What’s the difference? Our code only regulates fences. We don’t regulate the height of landscaping or trees. So I mean, trees can be as tall as they want to grow.

00:27:13,200 The only regulation would be you can’t plant, you can’t do plantings of a certain height in a corner visibility triangle so that oh, let’s see if I can do this. It’s basically like right here. The idea is you have to leave clearance for cars to be able to see when they’re turning.

00:27:29,330 So you can’t plant thick shrubs in that corner. Um, but otherwise, you know, you can plant kind of whatever you want on your property. Okay. Um, I thought I saw in the packet somewhere that it showed kind of where the property owners wanted to put the fence in relation to the street. Western can.

00:27:55,300 Can you was is that correct? Did they have it? There was a photo that showed, um, like a dashed line superimposed on the ground. I don’t have that on a slide. Do you recall how many feet it was from the street that they were? I’ll let the applicant correct me if I’m wrong.

00:28:14,200 I’m trying to remember because I think it was included in the previous the Planning Commission application. I think I want to say it was about 40ft from the curb, 42 from the curb to the property, or like where the fence would go. And it’s situated between actually, I can show you on this very crude diagram I made. So you have the existing bushes.

00:28:42,000 Those are about six feet tall. They would be in front of the proposed fence. And then there’s two big trees. And the fence would encompass those in the backyard. So those trees would stay in the backyard. And the bushes would be between the street. And. Yeah, correct. And those bushes are on their property, not on city right of way.

00:29:02,230 And and they’re talking about putting a privacy fence in. Right, like all wood or something. Yeah. Like a vinyl product that looks like, um, fully opaque. Okay. Kind of a typical privacy fence. And one last question is because the Planning Commission and I, I appreciate the photos in here.

00:29:21,330 One thing I did note at planning, um, in this location, in terms of like traffic, you might see, you know, we talk about how our opportunities to say a plant shrubbery in relation to that, um, you know, there’s not a lot of options that we really provide, uh, necessarily for shrubbery that would provide a

00:29:40,100 true year round blockage that would give the privacy. You know, we also have about six months a year. We have no, no. Levy Green, um, and kind of a hostile climate at times to some of the evergreen options are there are things that staff has maybe provided or shown that might be good alternatives

00:29:59,200 to help people in this situation say, hey, maybe have a list of plantings of Golden Valley likes, because I don’t recall hearing that at all, but it seemed like that could be a difficult ask too. Good question. The City Forester and the Public Works Department. They do have a list of recommended plantings.

00:30:18,330 Those are more focused on native plantings, um, low water usage, things that aren’t at risk of disease. I don’t think we have any guidance on good screening options for our climate, but I’m going to make a note of that and bring it up with her, because that’s a good idea. Thank you.

00:30:36,570 Any other questions or concerns? Okay, so before thank you, Miss Kramer. Before I invite the applicant to speak, I want to briefly explain the process so everyone knows what to expect.

00:30:55,870 Uh, once I recognize the applicant to speak, please come to the podium, state your name and address your comments to the City Council. Rather than engaging directly with staff. Council and staff will be taking notes and can respond to any questions raised once the applicant is done speaking. We appreciate everyone’s cooperation with this process.

00:31:17,800 Our goal is to ensure that the applicants have a meaningful opportunity to be heard, while allowing the council to consider the appeal in an orderly and fair manner. So at this time, I would like to invite Mr. Heifetz and Mr. Siegel. Uh, if you would like to make a statement to the podium. Adam Heifetz. We want to start by thanking City Council for their time and consideration this evening.

00:31:42,730 As I said, my name is Adam Heifetz. I’m joined by my husband, Assaf Siegel, and we are the homeowners of 95 Nevada Avenue South. We appreciate the opportunity to personally provide additional information to City Council and clarify findings from the staff report that are inaccurate.

00:31:58,870 We will first address the various criteria around reasonable use and the impact on, excuse me, the impact of the character of the locality before focusing on the unique circumstances of our property that merit a variance, we will use our fence to enclose our yard so that we can enjoy the outdoor spaces of our property with adequate privacy.

00:32:13,730 This is a reasonable use of the proposed fence, and the staff report agrees that this criterion has been satisfied. The staff report states that our proposed fence may impact the character of the locality, because six foot fences in front yards are not necessarily consistent with the locality.

00:32:32,000 However, that’s not accurate from what you see in our immediate neighborhood, we like to draw City Council’s attention to five properties in particular 35 Kentucky Avenue South, 255 Kentucky Avenue South, 75 Maryland Avenue South, 35 Louisiana Avenue South, and 7350 Ridgeway Road.

00:32:52,130 Each of these houses is on the corner lot and has a six foot privacy fence in what the zoning code considers to be a front yard, but is functionally a backyard. All five of these properties are within about 1000ft of our house. Going east from our house on Western. There is one of these fences on every block for three consecutive blocks.

00:33:09,200 These properties are five of many in the surrounding area that had six foot fences before we we purchased our home. The staff report acknowledges this fact and it says, quote, this. The proposed fence is consistent with the existing conditions of the neighborhood, unquote, the character of the neighborhood with respect to fences was already established before we moved in to conclude that adding one more fence, just like others that already exist,

00:33:25,800 would impact the character of the locality, is a logical fallacy. Online records show that no permits were issued for these fences, with the only exception of 35 Kentucky, which was issued the permit in September of 2025, seven years after Western Avenue was redesignated.

00:33:44,970 This is the same permit that we requested in May of this year and were subsequently denied, which is why we’re here tonight. My husband and I have told the Planning department, the Planning Commission, and we will reiterate to City Council that we simply want equal treatment to our similarly situated neighbors. We are doing our best to follow the rules and work with the city.

00:33:59,400 We would appreciate it. The city would work with us. This brings us to the unique circumstances of our property. Council members may find it useful to reference attachment ten while I discuss what makes our parcel unique and how we experience practical difficulty in complying with the current height requirement, our case is misrepresented by the staff

00:34:18,770 report, and the planning analysis contains fatal flaws. The staff report takes individual circumstances we noted in our application and refutes them one by one. At times, two circumstances are combined in the staff report analysis.

00:34:37,900 However, it’s the totality of the conditions that we experience rather than an individual or small group of claims that create a unique of circumstance, which the staff report does not contemplate. Our property has three public frontages and is directly across the street from a busy public park and its parking lot.

00:34:54,470 The three public frontages are two road frontages Nevada Avenue to the west and Western Avenue to the north, and one public park frontage, the Laurel Avenue Greenville to the east. One of those public frontages, Western Avenue frontage, is Lyons Park and parking lot directly across the street from our home. Fewer than one quarter of 1% of residential parcels in Golden Valley frontage.

00:35:13,400 Some combination of parks and roads on three sides where one of them then frontages another park. This makes it clear that our property is unique. Tonight’s agenda Item cover page discusses how City Council should apply the city code equally to all properties and applicants, which includes the criteria for granting variance.

00:35:32,870 It’s critical to demonstrate how City Council and the Board of Zoning Appeals have considered objective features of parcels in the past. In September of 2020, David Erb was granted the fence height variance. On appeal to the City Council. The staff report found that his parcel satisfied the unique circumstance criterion because, quote, while corner lots are common throughout the city, lots with three sides facing a public roadway are rare, unquote.

00:35:51,230 This reasoning was again accepted in November of 2025, when Blank Kosinski was granted a fence height variance for her parcel. The staff report in this case notes the unique circumstance criterion was satisfied because her triangular lot is, quote, planted with three street frontages, unquote.

00:36:09,200 While our lot is not triangular, it does have three public frontages, and the staff report explicitly includes the three public frontages. Finding a fact rather than just the triangular shape of the lot. Our situation is even more unique than urban Cincy. Parking restrictions apply.

00:36:23,600 The roadways and even if a car does idle, it will eventually have to move or be towed. State statute prohibits driving so slow as to impede traffic. However, these rules only apply the motor traffic. Pedestrians on the Laurel Avenue Greenbelt have an unobstructed view into our yard for as long as they wish.

00:36:40,600 Similarly, passers by walking on either the sidewalk on the south side of western or the sidewalk on the north side of Western have a view into our yard again for as long as they wish. The entrance to Lions Park parking lot lines up with our driveway and pedestrians using that point as an unofficial crosswalk. Again, have an unobstructed view into our yard.

00:36:55,830 The yard is visible from the bleachers behind the baseball diamond in the southwest corner of the park, and motorists can park in the parking lot directly in front of our driveway from dawn to dusk, staring into our yard without issue.

00:37:11,600 Eastbound traffic on Western turning into the parking lot or allowing pedestrians to pass have to slow down at a vantage point, giving clear view to the west side of our yard and those traveling westbound on Western must stop for pedestrians at the crosswalk, with clear views into the east side of our yard.

00:37:27,200 There’s only a small amount of green space in our backyard because of a pre-existing deck and concrete patio that extends from the house to the property line. These were present when we purchased our home. We are effectively left with a strip of side yard that borders our neighbor to the south, and the area that is the subject of this variance as our usable green spaces.

00:37:43,330 The specific portion of yard that we wish to fence as part of this variance makes up about 40% of the green space available to us in the proposed fence area. The staff report claims that we have not established practical difficulty in complying with the current maximum fence height requirement.

00:37:59,970 For clarity, we’ll review each alternative one by one and determine and discuss why they are insufficient. Alternative one reduce the height of the fence in the front yard to four feet, and keep the rest of the fence six feet. I am 510 and my husband is five nine. A four foot fence would not provide the privacy as we would both be visible standing in our yard.

00:38:17,270 A five foot fence would similarly be ineffective. A six foot fence is the lowest standard fence site that would allow us to use our yard in a way that the city has already agreed is reasonable. We’re aware of very few fences in an area that have both four foot and six foot fences. Sections on the same fence.

00:38:32,870 This alternative would actually introduce a fence design that would no visibly differ from the others nearby. Combined with the significant number of viewpoints from the Laurel Avenue Greenbelt, two sidewalks along Western Avenue, the parking lot across from our driveway, Lions Park itself, and transiting motorists on Western.

00:38:50,030 Our need for privacy in this area in particular is exceptional compared to other Golden Valley lots. Alternative to build a four foot fence around the entire property, similar to the alternative we just presented. This option gives us no privacy at all, even in the areas where the zoning code does permit the six foot fence.

00:39:07,070 Alternative three plant tall shrubs or trees in place of a fence. There are existing shrubs in this area of our yard that are taller than six feet. We have been in our house for more than six months, and found that they do not adequately provide the privacy that we seek.

00:39:21,000 These shrubs are also inefficient to secure our dog and future children in colder months. When the leaves fall off, these shrubs provide no privacy at all. See attachment ten, item seven. Planting more of these shrubs would still not secure our dog and future children, and additional vegetation would create a significant maintenance burden for us that is not experienced by our similarly situated neighbors, who have six foot fences.

00:39:39,630 Alternative four revise the plans and place the northernmost portion of the fence south behind the northernmost portion of the plain of the house. This option would put 40% of our backyard green space outside the fenced area. There’s not adequate green space in the remainder of the backyard for games and activities.

00:39:57,330 Because of conditions that already existed before we purchased our home. In closing, we asked the City Council to consider these findings of fact. Our property is unique because we have three public frontages, two roads and one park, and one of those public frontages frontage is another park, which fewer than one quarter of 1% of Golden Valley residents experience.

00:40:17,900 Our reasonable need for privacy is extraordinary compared to other Golden Valley lots, because of the vast number of lines of sight into our yard. From these three public frontages to sidewalks, the neighborhood parking lot, its entrance and Lions Park itself, the unusual amount of public frontages and the pre-existing structures on our property significantly reduce the

00:40:35,000 flexibility that we have to modify the fence design. The current zoning code does not account for parcels like ours. This fence creates no safety issues for the community. We have the support of our neighbors and no one has contested our application. The use for the proposed fence is reasonable and the planning department agrees.

00:40:51,700 We have demonstrated why our property is unique, and the practical difficulty of installing a code compliant fence, which necessitates this variance. This request is to approve one part of one fence, just like the countless others in the area. We sincerely appreciate your time and consideration. We’re happy to answer any questions or clarify our findings. Thank you.

00:41:10,230 Thank you, Mr. Heifetz. I’m now going to open, um, up for council deliberation and offer my colleagues an opportunity to ask Miss Kramer any last questions? Yes. Um, so first off, I like to thank the applicants and Planning Commission and our planning department for going through all this work.

00:41:34,270 Um, I was nice to watch the prior meeting and reviewed all this as well. Um, and I do also want to highlight I appreciate the applicant raising the point about, um, land use and other similar yards nearby. Um, I remember this coming up as well at, uh, Planning Commission.

00:41:51,870 Can you address some of those other yards nearby? Because it seems like that’s a somewhat commonality across the neighborhood and throughout more of the city is having the privacy fencing and, um, uh, wrap around some of the corner lots. Are you asking, like, how come it is to have six foot fences on corner lots? Yes.

00:42:12,200 From the applicant arrangement, a number of similar yards near their house within a, um. Yes. Um, so as far as the neighboring properties, one of the, I’ll call it drawbacks of our current record keeping and permitting system is that because there aren’t permits on record, it’s not possible for staff to say if they just build

00:42:33,700 a fence without a permit or they built a fence so long ago, we no longer have those records because we all do digital. Now. If they were built with a paper record, it’s possible we just don’t have that documentation anymore. So I can’t say what the circumstances are for.

00:42:52,200 When those fences went up, um, I can say that like, let’s see, there are fences along here that are six feet and are not in. They would be like legally non-compliant or they’re just not meeting current code. Um, there’s there’s some that are four feet, but they appear to be in the right of way.

00:43:14,370 Um, and that’s true throughout the city. And it’s true for any city. Fences pop up. They may or may not meet code, and we don’t do, um, inspections for fence installation. So it’s possible someone could have gotten a permit somewhere in the city, and then it got installed in a slightly different way. Um, we the way we also do code compliance.

00:43:32,800 It’s a complaint based system. So staff isn’t going out and looking for things that are out of compliance, particularly for fences, which, as the applicant stated, are often not a health and safety risk. So we don’t necessarily know what’s out there because the way our system is set up, we’re not looking for it proactively.

00:43:50,030 So I’m sorry I can’t give numbers to you. That’s okay. Your question, but um, absolutely. There’s a wide variety of things with fences happening in the city.

00:44:06,830 I have one other visual question, and the applicant brought this up and, um, do we have any corner lots where someone’s done a six foot to an abrupt four foot drop? Um, it seems like it might be a actually more of a visual oddity than a visual nicety in the neighborhood. Um, yes. Um, actually, I remember that the the triangular lot that got a variance in 2025.

00:44:31,000 So that particular property, um, it was like a triangle. It was streets on all three sides, but they only got a variance for part of their fence. So part of their fence was six feet, and then part of their fence was four feet.

00:44:45,500 Um, if I remember the one correctly, now that I say that, it might be the other variance they referenced, but in the Planning Commission presentation, I did have a slide that showed the step down for that fence. I want to say it was just a wood fence. Um, so not like vinyl panels, but that is it exists. Yes.

00:45:06,670 Um, whether or not it looks odd, it depends on the style of the fence and where in the property, you know, it shows up and if it’s screened by trees or whatever. Very circumstantial for each individual property. Oh, I don’t have any questions, but. Um, so I would like to propose alternative language. Um, and I’ve got, uh. We have to make a motion right.

00:45:35,470 Thank you, Mayor Harmon. So, actually, um, if council member Kush would just like to discuss. Uh, yes. Okay. Possible amendments before actually making the motion. Okay. Um, I would invite him to do that. Yes. Yes. I’m just going to throw up here the findings that would need to be made. To. See visually, um, what we’re talking about.

00:45:57,800 Yes. You have a copy of put up or. Okay. Okay. Okay. So in front of you, um, the red line of what Councilmember uh, is referring to, of alternate language, um, and is what you have in front of you. So obviously changing the title would be the first thing.

00:47:09,970 Uh, and then the different findings of fact, if Councilmember Koch would like to discuss those. Yes. A quick summary. Um, as we were discussing through the this property does seem to have it and even at a planning commission, I want to really acknowledge that they were saying it was very, simply very tight decisions.

00:47:28,570 Um, city staff also addressed that being like it was really fine line between yes or no. And the leaning was seemed a bit more towards the side on on the fact of finding, um, reviewing all this and working through it, it seems like there are a very unique circumstances to the property being that you have.

00:47:44,800 Yes, there’s two roads, but unlike this corner, there is a third. Um, uh, non, it’s a right of way, but it’s not a road right of way. And I think that is a big difference in terms of, as the applicant stated, you have longer people taking longer to walk, they’re more apt to linger.

00:48:02,830 And it’s a much longer time by than having a car just passed by your house. Um, also, was I noting that, um, you know, this is a somewhat unique house? I think they are. Exactly. This is all existed before they bought the property. Nothing changed.

00:48:16,730 Um, these are things that they were aware of, but maybe not to say aware of the explicitness of our zoning code. The corner lots. But, you know, they were exactly adjacent to the park parking lot. And it does get a lot of traffic, far more so than probably other corner lots might in your parks. Um.

00:48:38,730 And, you know, as we also were discussing, nothing about this seems that would alter any of the character locality. Um, and many of the properties along here, um, have a variety of materials and fence heights and opacity.

00:48:54,870 Um, and so this all seems to be consistent with the neighborhood, um, and one of the things I also want to highlight from the applicants how they worked with their fence line, was they are putting it behind already existing shrubbery. So it really helps.

00:49:09,030 Um, you know, one of the things I believe came up in the discussion at planning was around, uh, some people maybe would call it an eyesore, having a six foot fence in Golden Valley on the right of way, but already putting it behind that. That shrubbery seemed like it would help kind of offset that concern as well. So it really does fit in with the neighborhood as it is.

00:49:29,230 And sorry to interrupt the the last thing I just wanted to note is that the very, um, item number 14, in the findings of fact, um, would also be cancelled out, um, because that stated that it did not meet all the findings of fact. And then in the therefore clause, it would obviously change denying to approving. Yeah. Thank you. Okay. Thank you.

00:49:49,530 A lot of work put into. this a lot of work put into this okay. So um, I would like to make a motion or would someone like to make a motion. Can’t be. Me. Uh, to do we need to do all three of these options. No. Uh, Mayor Harmon, thank you for asking.

00:50:12,500 So we’ve provided three options. If the consensus of the council is to go with the alternate language. Uh, I do have, um, some language that I can add on to option two. Um, so if you would just like to let me know which option you would like, I can read through that language. I’m okay with option.

00:50:29,700 I like proposed option two. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Perfect. So then the motion would be motion to adopt resolution number 26056. Approving the variance request for 95 Nevada Avenue Nevada Avenue South to increase the maximum fence height in the front yard along Western Avenue from 4ft to 6ft, as amended by the council during tonight’s meeting with the approved

00:50:55,170 amendments incorporated into the final resolution. Correct. So is there anyone who would like to entertain the motion? So moved. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Okay. This is a roll call. Vote. Council member. Cook. Yay! Council member. Fuzzy. Yes. Mayor. Harmon. Yes. So there being three A’s, zero nays.

00:51:22,730 The ayes have it, and the motion has been. Approved. Before we move on to the next item, I just want everyone to know that the council appreciates the thoughtful consideration for the planning Commission that they gave to this matter. Uh. Thank you. Council member.

00:51:43,930 Quite, uh, and to everyone who took time to share their perspective, please know that your comments have been heard and are appreciated. And thank you for your participation and willingness to share your thoughts with us. Thank you, Miss Kramer, for your work as well. Okay, next on the agenda is the review of the Council calendar.

00:52:02,770 And I see here that, uh, Sunday, August 23rd, we have market in the Valley and Sunday, August 30th, also market in the Valley from 9 to 1 right here in the City Hall campus. Next, uh, council, are there any committee or meeting updates? We kind of reviewed the big one from Planning Commission lately, so it’s nothing else right now. All right. Thank you, Councilmember. Peace. Okay.

00:52:27,530 All right. Uh, so I just want to before we leave, I just really want to thank staff, uh, and our residents, uh, for great town hall yesterday. Uh, we were outside for the first time in Brook View Pavilion, and we had a great turnout.

00:52:46,970 Thank you to our consultants all together for putting together a great presentation for community to help us with our rebranding efforts. Thank you, Mr. Shakman. Um, for your support. Um, it went off very, very well. So to everyone who is involved, Council, thank you for supporting. Um, it was great. Our next town hall is in December, and that will take place at Calvary. Uh, co-op.

00:53:12,470 Um, so we will be there, but we’ll send all the notifications for that with the date and everything. And without further ado, I always end with a quote. If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way. And that comes from Napoleon Hill.

00:53:33,000 That concludes our meeting for this evening. Be well. Be safe, be healthy. And until next time,