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Council advances policy to streamline fixes for small boundary encroachments
Summary
Council reviewed draft Resolution 26-31 to allow an administrative process for small, pre-2020 boundary encroachments under specified size and cost limits, and scheduled the item for a vote next week to give staff authority to implement procedures.
Councilman Ezra Nair introduced a draft policy (Resolution 26-31) intended to let property owners apply to correct minor boundary encroachments that occurred prior to 2020. The proposal would create an application process, a staff/land-use review step, and allow the council discretion to waive acquisition costs for small encroachments under proposed thresholds (for example, $20,000 or 300 square feet in the draft).
"This would provide a relatively low cost solution to address some of these issues," Nair said during the presentation. Affected homeowners described examples of late-2010s fences, garden beds and peach trees that were not disclosed at sale. Dave Hite, who identified himself as a Maples resident, said his fence and a small garden were in place before he purchased the house and that moving the features would provide little public benefit.
Staff and councilmembers discussed whether the planning commission or the DRC should provide a recommendation to ensure conformity with land-use approvals. The council asked staff to incorporate a land-use authority/DRC review into the proposed process. Councilmembers also asked staff to prepare the item for a formal vote next week and to draft the application process so individual cases can be handled quickly without creating a blanket precedent.
