PC 091008 - Laserfiche WebLink

In response to Commission Fox's inquiry regarding whether or not the existing plants serve as a noise barrier, Ms. Johnston replied that through the years, Mr. Jeffrey's yard was probably the least used of any yards in the City because it was not very pretty and that she does not blame Mr. Jeffrey for wanting to re-design it. She stated that it had a sloped lawn going all the way down to the fence line with large pretty bushes and that she knew whenever the previous owners were in their hot tub. She noted that the home had been sold at least three or four times since the Johnstons had lived in the area. Steve Jeffrey, Applicant, stated that his contractor had applied for a pool permit for its present location in his backyard and was issued one a couple of weeks later by the Planning Division, together with a permit to install afour-foot tall retaining wall. He noted that, with respect to the retaining wall, there were a couple of issues in his yard: (1) the vegetation was so high with such a slope coming off that there was a major safety issue for him and his family; and (2) the bushes were so tall, and he was unable to use any type of ladder to maintain them. He explained that his intent was to install the four-foot tall wall closer to the property line as shown in Exhibit A, but there is a 15-foot easement from the property line towards his house for the drainage ditch at the back. He then referred to Exhibit A-2 showing the existing V-ditch that drains the run-off from his property. He indicated that he has had to maintain the slope along the ditch to prevent the water from going onto the neighbors' properties. Mr. Jeffrey stated that the drawing he made was not quite exact because the actual V-ditch comes up in grade, but he had to move the wall closer because of the 15-foot easement from the property line. He added that because no structures are allowed on that 15-foot easement, there was very little, if any, fill he used from the pool. He then showed before and after photographs of the actual grade of his yard, noting that there is very little difference between the two. He added that the grade was as it was prior to the process of his removing everything, and where the four foot wall is, looking over to the Johnston's property, there was a little bit of fill in the corner to the left. He indicated that the "before" picture was taken from his deck, which is six feet higher than where the "after" photograph was taken. He noted that the actual grade of the property looks a lot higher from the photo taken today. He noted that the argument that the grade was changed is wrong because the grade is actually the same distance from his existing retaining wall towards the front of the house to the back of the property. With respect to the hedge, Mr. Jeffrey stated that the CC&R's state that they need to be green, broadleaf evergreen trees. He stated that he has talked to the Johnstons several times about the intent of his design which included a total of 15 trees and a combination of bushes and trees. He added that he then installed 20 evergreen broad-leaf trees along that portion of his property and included what was originally proposed as 15-gallon trees with several 24-inch box trees, one of which he placed PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, September 10, 2008 Page 16 of 33