Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Code Enforcement Variance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
After mixed staff and neighbor testimony, Placer County tentatively backs Granite Bay trellis variance
Summary
Staff recommended denying a variance to allow a 174 sq. ft. trellis to remain 5 inches from the east property line, citing lack of special circumstances; after testimony (including the owner’s claim of long-standing use and a civil-harassment restraining order), the Zoning Administrator tentatively found facts supporting a variance and directed staff to return Feb. 19 with written findings and conditions.
Placer County staff recommended denial of a variance that would allow an existing, unpermitted 174-square-foot trellis to remain 5 inches from the east side property line at 8232 Cieno Avenue in Granite Bay, but the Zoning Administrator tentatively found the record could support a variance and continued the item for a Feb. 19 follow-up.
Staff told the hearing the structure was the subject of a code-enforcement complaint, a notice of violation issued on Sept. 22, 2025, and that aerial photos and site review indicated the trellis—or a similar structure—had existed at least since 2009. Staff concluded the variance findings could not be made because the parcel is uniform in shape and consistent with neighboring properties and therefore recommended denial under Placer County Code §17.61.00.
Property owner Paul Ennis testified the trellis had been present since he moved in (1986) and earlier, said it benefits both properties by supporting a fence, and offered a civil harassment restraining order as evidence that the code complaint arose from neighbor harassment. Multiple written public comments (about 11) were filed in support of allowing the structure to remain.
After visiting the site and reviewing historical imagery, Zoning Administrator Crystal Jacobson said she observed lot constraints, neighborhood patterns of similar near-property-line structures, and that the trellis is not an enclosed structure. She said she would tentatively approve the variance and directed staff to bring back the findings and conditions to the Feb. 19 Zoning Administrator hearing.
