Council hears staff proposal to ease setbacks and allow protective netting at 4th Street Park

Barton Briarley presented a proposed text amendment to the city's O-1 open-space zone intended to make setbacks and fence standards more practical for park development, particularly for the planned expansion adjacent to 4th Street Park.

Briarley said the amendment would make side and rear setbacks uniform and reduce certain required distances so that amenities such as dugouts, pavilions and competition-level fields can fit without encroaching on private property. He also proposed clarifying fence rules for open-space zones and allowing thin, low-visibility "field protective netting" above 7-foot fences for ball fields so that neighbors retain sight lines while preventing balls from leaving the park.

On definitions, Briarley quoted the code language included in the proposal: "field protective netting providing the netting consists of dark colored open mesh flexible net material with low profile strands designed to minimize visual obstruction..." He said the planning commission reviewed the amendment and recommended adoption, and that private owners of O-1 parcels had been notified and given opportunity for comment.

Councilors asked about how sides vs. fronts are determined for irregular park parcels, whether adjacent homeowners would be affected, and how the amendment relates to a broader zoning recodification. Staff said the change aligns with the recodification and that impacts on private property would be limited to public park footprints, not homeowners' land. No final action was taken; staff indicated a separate site or zone-change presentation will follow.