The commission approved a new $ 100 permit application for new and replaced fences in the general residential zone, which would require the property line pin locations to be submitted before work could begin. Fences would only be allowed on the fence builder’s property.

Ashley Dyer, Bellevue land use planner, said the new permit would help prevent inadvertent tampering with neighbors’ property.

“Before that, though, people would build fences and wherever they wanted,” Dyer said. “This makes the rules a bit black and white.”

The measure will now be submitted to the city council for a vote.

If the city council agrees with the recommendation, fences are defined as “a barrier, railing, or other upright structure, typically wood or wire, that encloses an area of ​​ground to form a boundary”.

Fence heights would be limited to 4 feet in front yards, 6 feet in side courtyards and 3 feet in back yards and at intersections.

The P&Z also recommended adding new sidewalk requirements in new subdivisions and other developments that run 500 feet or more along a street. The new code would allow replacement charges if there is no “logical connectivity” to existing sidewalks and infrastructure.

“Sidewalks are a necessary part of the infrastructure,” said Diane Shay, director of community development, who introduced the proposed amendment to the city law.

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“Sidewalks are a necessary part of the infrastructure.”

Diane Shay, Community Development Director

The new regulations would require sidewalks and drainage improvements in all zone districts, but not triggered by conversions or additions to single-family homes and maisonettes in the general residential zone. Residential sidewalks would require street trees of a certain species type and tree fountain grids.

Sidewalks in residential areas would need to be 5 feet wide. 8 foot sidewalks would be required in business and other zones.

A developer or city official can suggest alternatives to the default location or required configuration, e.g. B. Adding a bike lane, says the draft code change.

Shay said the changes to the city’s sidewalk requirements are intended to provide a “better pedestrian experience”. She said Bellevue’s road rights are the widest in the Wood River Valley at 80 feet and are often used for parking and “garbage storage”.

John Kurtz, chairman of P&Z, said the city’s rights of way relate to the construction of sidewalks, but the city is also facing a “rights of way management problem”.

Shay said some road-related issues would be addressed in the coming weeks when city officials put new road standards up for discussion.

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