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Planners approve a fencing plan for the Huang property
By Kara Chalmers
On Nov. 8, the Saratoga Planning Commission approved 4-2 a fencing plan for a property on private Pike Road. The commission had approved a home to be built on the property at its meeting on Oct. 25, but had asked the applicants to come back with a clear plan for the fencing of their hillside property.
The property, located on the corner of Pierce Road, is hilly with sharp drops that hang over both roads. The applicants, Paul and Sophia Huang, put a wrought iron fence around the entire property--which is close to three acres--after a pet sheep was attacked and killed by neighborhood dogs in April 1998. The sheep had fallen from one of the steep drops on the property to Pike Road. The Huangs believed the fence was necessary for their own safety and for the safety of their 2-year-old twin sons.
Saratoga's zoning ordinance, however, allows enclosing only up to 4,000 square feet of land in hillsides with fencing, unless the planning commission grants an exception based on one of three findings. The majority of the commission on Oct. 25, found that the Huangs met two of the findings: that landscaping would substantially reduce the visibility of the fence from public streets and adjacent properties or topography, and that a fence was required for safety reasons.
In a letter to the commission dated Nov. 2, Sophia Huang wrote that without part of the existing fence, it is not safe for anyone on the property to go near the steep bank along Pike Road, since they might fall off.
The commission recognized the safety issue by granting the Huangs' request for the fence exception on Oct. 25, but asked the Huangs to come back with a plan to enclose somewhere between 20 percent and 50 percent of the property, plus a plan for the location and type of the fence, before the city issues permits for the home's construction.
The proposal the commission accepted on Nov. 8, is for almost 50 percent of the property--49.8 percent--to be enclosed with a fence, just below the maximum amount that the commission had directed the applicant to bring to the commission. The existing wrought iron fence along Pike Road will remain with additional fencing required from the street to the side property that is still to be determined by staff. There was an added condition that no additional fencing requests come before the commission for this property.
The Huangs' fence is not higher than three feet, as it is required to be in Saratoga. On the valley floor, property owners can enclose as much of their property as they like, according to Walgren. The 4,000-square-feet rule applies to the hillside districts only.
At the commission meeting on Oct. 25, there was a huge show of support from the Huangs' neighbors. Ten neighbors spoke publicly in support of the project, and not one voiced any opposition to the fence. There are some 10 letters in support of the project, as well, though the same people who spoke wrote some of them.
Also, the Huangs have landscaped along the fence to shield it from views over the past years.
When asked why there are properties near the Huangs with fences that enclose much more area than the Huangs' fence does, Community Development Director James Walgren said that some of the fences may have been constructed before the city enacted its fencing ordinance in 1987. He also said some of those property owners may have been granted exceptions based on the same findings that the Huangs' exception was based on--that the fence was not highly visible from public views, or for a safety reason.
Walgren noted that all exceptions are discretionary and planning commissions can differ from year to year. He also added that if people put up illegal fences and the fences do not come to the city's attention within a couple of years, it is difficult from the city to find out if the fences were actually constructed since the ordinance was enacted.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
