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<br /> <br /> REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION <br /> <br />DATE: August 22, 2016 <br />ITEM NO: 12 <br />Department Approval: Administrator Reviewed: Agenda Section: <br />Name Jeremy Barnhart JML Planning <br />Title Community Development Director <br />Item Description: Peter Lanpher Fee Waiver Request <br />Application Summary <br />Peter Lanpher, 1380 Rest Point Road, requests the Council waive the $700 application fee associated <br />with his request for a fence variance. <br /> <br />Background <br />Application fees are established by the City Council annually, and are intended to be collected from the <br />applicant to offset the costs incurred for the review of a development application. These costs include <br />publication costs (paper, and mailing costs), staff time to research, draft reports, resolutions, and action <br />notices. The Council has established this fee for variances at $700 so that general taxpayers do not have <br />to pay for private development and services. <br /> <br />Mr. Lanpher has requested this fee waived, noting that “it was suggested by the fence viewer panel” <br />and that the Practical Difficulties Statement and Documentation explains the situation. No other <br />information was provided. <br /> <br />Analysis <br />It was noted during the fence viewer inspection that that the fence is taller than the ordinance <br />permitted 42 inches in the street yard area and had been constructed some years before. The fence <br />viewers suggested that a variance would be necessary to keep the fence at the existing height and <br />location, there is no documentation that suggests that the fee be waived. The formal review of the <br />practical difficulties statement may support a fence height variance, but the same criteria does not <br />support a waiver of the fee. <br /> <br />Staff can find no history, including a review of the accounting software to 2009, where the application <br />fee has been waived for a project that has been reviewed by the Planning Commission or Council. In <br />2013, the Council waived the after-the-fact portion of a fee for a variance because ‘the applicant was <br />not at fault in this situation’, however, the application fee was paid. <br /> <br />Action Requested: <br />Staff recommends denial of the fee waiver request. <br /> <br />List of Exhibits: <br />Exhibit A. Letter of Request from Lanpher dated Friday, August 12, 2016 <br />Exhibit B. Practical Difficulties statement <br />Exhibit C. Practical Difficulties documentation <br />Exhibit D. Court Order Filed May 15, 2012