Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Design Guidelines Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board to help draft Key West‑style guidebook; discusses tying front‑yard fence limits to house facade
Summary
Board members asked staff to draft proposed language for the guidebook and a code amendment that would tie front‑yard fence height limits to the house façade rather than an encroachment setback, and discussed using the guidebook to require demolition applicants to submit replacement plans.
Board members discussed draft Key West–style architectural guidelines and the city’s guidebook project at length on June 5, asking staff to circulate a working draft and to return with suggested code language on fence heights tied to the front façade.
Staff said a draft guidebook will be ready for the board to review within weeks. Members pressed for a mission statement and an introduction that explain the purpose of the guidebook and for items that could be turned into code changes — for example, a requirement that demolition applicants submit proposed redevelopment plans with a demolition permit so the board can assess the likely replacement.
Member Danielle (board transcript speaker) raised the issue of pools in front yards and the related question of fence height: if pools are allowed in front yards, she asked whether fences around those pools should be limited to 4 feet “to avoid 8‑foot fences becoming the new norm.” Staff agreed that the ordinance currently limits 2–4 foot fence heights within the minimum front setback but that once a house is set back more than the minimum, taller fences can be erected; staff agreed to draft language that would tie permitted fence height to the primary facade of the house in the overlay district.
Board members noted the Key West guidebook’s explicit design prescriptions — massing, proportion, materials — and discussed which of those could be guidance only and which could be codified. Staff said the guidebook would be primarily visual guidance but that some recommendations could be proposed as land‑development‑code amendments and forwarded to the City Commission; staff indicated code changes could be scheduled after the board reviews a draft guidebook.
The board agreed to place further discussion of the Key West guidelines and possible code language on the next meeting agenda and to have staff draft suggested fence‑and‑front‑yard language tied to façade placement.
