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Piedmont commission approves retroactive Monticello fence with design conditions
Summary
After neighbor testimony and debate about whether an earlier denial could be revisited, the Planning Commission approved a retroactive design review for a fence at 104 Monticello Avenue, requiring a cap detail, board replacement, vertical rhythm and landscape screening as conditions.
Jonathan Essner asked the Piedmont Planning Commission on April 13 to reconsider a 2024 section of fence built at his corner property at 104 Monticello Avenue and seek retroactive design review approval. Essner told commissioners the section matched a portion the city approved in 2020 and that 22 neighbors signed statements of support.
Commissioners raised concerns about scale, streetside visibility on the corner lot and how much of the fence had been built without permits. Commissioner Yee and others said the earlier 2020 approval covered only part of the enclosure and that extending the fence around the corner raised distinct design issues under the city’s fence-and-wall guidelines.
Several commissioners said option B — adding a cap or band and modest detailing — would address the design-guideline requirement that front-yard-facing fences be visually interesting. Commissioner Ortiz said the cap would “do the trick” to give the long run of fence more architectural interest, while Commissioner Rowland cautioned that a simple cap might not be sufficient on every portion of the long face of fence and urged careful detailing.
The commission’s motion approved the project under a CEQA Class 3 exemption and added five conditions of approval: implement the option-B cap detail consistent with staff photos, replace knotty boards with clearer-grade boards, add a rhythm of vertical expressions to provide scale, submit a final landscape plan to integrate plantings along Monticello and Ramona avenues, and comply with standard encroachment and legal-defense conditions in the staff report. The motion passed on a unanimous roll-call vote.
What happens next: The applicant must deliver final drawings for staff review and obtain any required revocable encroachment permit from Public Works before building permits are issued.
