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Planning Commission moves to illustrate and schedule public hearing on front‑yard and landscape‑feature ordinance changes
Summary
Commissioners asked staff and the city attorney to add illustrative figures and set a public hearing on proposed ordinance changes that would define landscape features and constrain permanently installed front‑yard fixtures; the commission also discussed removing permanently installed barbecues from the allowed front‑yard list.
The Huntington Woods Planning Commission reviewed two related proposed ordinance changes intended to clarify how corner lots and front yards are defined and to create a definition for "permanent residential landscape features." Staff noted the city attorney prepared the draft language to implement recent Zoning Board of Appeals interpretations.
Key elements of the draft definition for permanent residential landscape features include a list of examples (lamp posts, permanently installed artworks, fire pits, permanently installed barbecues) and a limitation that permanent front‑yard features be limited to a single feature per lot and to a maximum footprint of roughly 3 feet by 3 feet and height of 2 feet. Staff proposed that permanently installed barbecues be prohibited in the front yard; commissioners asked that barbecues be removed from the front‑yard landscape features list and treated as accessory structures, which are generally limited to rear yards without a variance.
Commissioners asked for clearer diagrams showing the ordinance terms ("technical front yard," "practical front yard," side‑yard relationships) to accompany the draft text. Commissioner Blake Moore recommended tabling the draft until the staff could insert figures labeled X, Y and Z to show those yard types, and commissioners asked that the city attorney attend the next meeting to answer legal questions directly. Staff agreed to produce the illustrative figures and return the ordinance draft for a formal public hearing.
The draft also includes operational rules: permanent landscape features must not be located inside utility easements, cannot occupy more than 50% of the rear yard together with accessory structures, and must be at least 10 feet away from a neighbor’s driveway to avoid sight obstructions. Staff noted that movable items (for example: non‑anchored planters, freestanding decorative objects, or wheeled grills) would not be classified as permanent landscape features and therefore would not be covered by the new definition.
The commission voted to table the corner‑lot amendment until illustrative figures are added and set a public hearing on the accessory‑structure/landscape‑feature definition for the next regular meeting; staff will publish the legal notices and circulate a revised draft.
