Commission grants Ace Hardware landscaping variances but requires privacy fence to protect adjacent homeowner

The commission approved revised landscape plan waivers for the Ace Hardware site on LA‑21 but added a condition that the business install an opaque privacy fence along the rear property line adjacent to a neighboring residential parcel.

Staff told commissioners the store had been constructed and occupied without a certificate of occupancy and that the revised landscape plan did not meet the current Unified Development Code. Staff listed several deficiencies: the plan was short two Class A trees and one Class B tree under the new UDC, the submitted irrigation plan was incomplete (the petitioner requested a waiver of an in‑ground irrigation system), a required parking‑lot island appeared unbuilt on as‑built drawings, and the proposed dumpster enclosure and required fence/gate were not shown on the revised plan. The occupation without a certificate of occupancy is being handled separately through a Bureau of Administrative Adjudication hearing.

The petitioner brought a landscape consultant (Professor Abby) who argued that a driveway cut reduces the effective street‑planting area and that mature trees on adjacent property accomplish the screening the UDC aims to achieve. The store owner, Bonnie Boatner, said customers appreciate the business and asked for relief from excessive plantings in a densely wooded area behind the building. “Our customers love having us there,” Boatner said.

Commissioners pressed the petitioner on irrigation and asked whether a fence could be used to protect the abutting homeowner instead of adding trees in a heavily wooded area. Commissioner Robert said he was troubled that a business had opened without a certificate of occupancy but was willing to allow the variances if the petitioner agreed to install a privacy fence to shield the neighbor and to maintain plantings. The petitioner agreed. Commissioner Robert moved to approve the revised plan and requested waivers with an addendum requiring an eight‑foot opaque fence on the rear boundary; the motion carried after discussion.

The commission’s action approves the submitted planting plan (with the noted numeric counts on the plan) and waives the in‑ground irrigation requirement in light of the property’s use by a hardware store that can use hose bibs and employees to maintain plantings. Staff noted the UDC’s replacement requirement for any trees that die will still apply.

The waiver does not resolve the separate administrative enforcement proceeding related to occupancy and permits; staff said those matters remain pending and are not resolved by the landscape‑plan approval.