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