Neighbors, developer push city to mend fence issue

Four years ago, as developer Jim Bridges worked to gain approval for The Strand condominium on Whitaker Bayou, he forged a partnership with nearby residents by making design changes to earn neighborhood support.

Residents felt one of the changes they sought was relatively minor: a request to turn a 6-foot wooden fence along the property’s western boundary, adjacent to the Tahiti Park neighborhood, into an 8-foot sound-absorbing wall.

Bridges agreed to make the change, and the City Commission unanimously approved the site plan for The Strand project — which came with an endorsement from Tahiti Park — in July 2016.

Despite agreement from residents, the developer and city officials, however, getting final approval for the wall is proving difficult.

The Strand’s developers had to apply for a variance from the city’s standard regulations, which impose a 6.5-foot height maximum on fences of this type. In the application, planning consultant Joel Freedman notes the 8-foot wall was a condition of the city’s approval and was the product of negotiations with neighbors.

But when the city’s Board of Adjustment considered the application for a taller fence, a majority determined it did not meet the standards for a variance, which require special circumstances or unique hardships for a property to earn a deviation from normal requirements. The board voted 3-1 to deny the request, with members suggesting the project could provide an adequate buffer with a 6.5-foot wall.

“We’re talking about 18 inches,” board member Alan Freedman said. “What do you hope to gain by those 18 inches?”

The decision drew criticism from the Tahiti Park neighborhood, which lauded Bridges for following through on their agreement and questioned the decision to reject a proposal that drew no objections from stakeholders. Melinda Delpech, the president of the Tahiti Park Neighborhood Association, said the group sought an 8-foot wall because it was the maximum allowed via variance. She said the neighborhood, developer and City Commission considered it reasonable.

“We’ve gone from a win-win-win to a lose-lose-lose,” Delpech said.

City Attorney Robert Fournier updated the commission on the status of the fence issue at a meeting Monday.

“Really, I can’t fault them because they did what they have been repeatedly instructed to do,” Fournier said of the Board of Adjustment. “They followed the criteria for a variance, which is based on hardship and not mutual agreement.”

Still, he suggested the city could be on the path to a mutually agreeable solution. He said the Board of Adjustment requested to revisit the variance request at its October meeting — not necessarily to change its vote but instead to exercise its authority to recommend regulatory changes.

Fournier suggested the board might propose something like a zoning revision permitting an 8-foot wall  along Tamiami Trail.

Fournier said the board’s recommendation could go to the commission for consideration in November.

Both Delpech and Bridges, expressing frustration with the current status of the fence proposal, expressed hope that the city could move swiftly toward a resolution that satisfied the desires of both parties.

“I ask the commission to take whatever steps that are necessary to move this along,” Delpech said.

“It’s ridiculous,” Bridges said. “Let somebody make a decision there, and just move.”