Planning commission denies request to raise daycare playground fence to 6 feet

The Pleasant Hill City Planning Commission voted Feb. 24 to deny with prejudice a variance that would have allowed a 6-foot fence around an outdoor play area for a recently approved daycare at 620 Contra Costa Boulevard.

Staff told the commission the daycare had previously received a conditional use permit and an approved 4-foot fence (a one-foot minor exception from the 3-foot ordinance maximum) when the project was approved in June 2024. Staff said a 4-foot fence meets state requirements for daycare uses and that it could not make the three findings required for a variance: that there is a special circumstance unique to the property, that granting the variance would not amount to a special privilege compared with surrounding properties, and that the variance would meet the intent of the zoning district. "Staff's recommendation tonight is that the commission conduct the public hearing, review the information provided, and adopt the staff recommended resolution to deny the variance request," staff said.

The applicant, speaking for the daycare operator, told the commission that construction-phase burglaries and ongoing suspicious activity at the site prompted the request. The applicant said the operator expects mostly infants and an overwhelmingly female staff once the facility opens and expressed concern that a 4-foot fence could be scaled in an emergency. "With a 4-foot fence, anybody can scale it ... and basically hold our staff or children hostage," the applicant said, adding that the operator uses 6-foot fencing at other locations and preferred a metal, see-through fence so staff could observe the street and playground.

Commissioners pressed the applicant about whether the security incidents reflected a long-term safety risk after construction is finished and noted the city's police department advised recent thefts were likely tied to the site being under construction. Several commissioners said that the property's physical characteristics had not changed since the project was approved and that the applicant had the option to apply for different mitigations. Commissioners concluded staff could not make the necessary legal findings and that allowing a 6-foot fence in the corner side setback would amount to a special privilege relative to neighboring properties.

A motion to deny the variance with prejudice passed on a 5-0 roll-call vote: Commissioners Chiang, Culin/Coffin, Mascaro and Vaverick and Chair Field all voted yes. The commission's action leaves the previously approved 4-foot fence and state requirements in place for the daycare.

The commission heard no public comment on the item. The applicant may consider alternatives discussed at the hearing, such as changes in fence material, additional staffing strategies, or landscape treatments, but any change that increased fence height within the corner side setback would require a successful variance application that meets the three required findings.

What happens next: the variance was denied with prejudice, and the existing approvals (including the 4-foot fence) remain the operative approvals for the site at 620 Contra Costa Boulevard.