City Council Approves Fences, Accessory Structures Ordinance
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Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
Warsaw City Council Monday approved an ordinance for fences and accessory structures. Warsaw Plan Commission previously made a favorable recommendation for the ordinance. Mike Klondaris, councilman, made the motion to approve the ordinance, seconded by Charlie Smith. Tim Dombrosky, assistant city planner, reviewed the ordinance with the council. The ordinance has a section for vision and clearance and states no fence or visual obstruction, including plants, is to be erected within the space horizontally 10 feet from the travel surface of a street or 3 feet of the travel surface of an alley and vertically between 3 feet and 8 feet high. No permanent obstruction taller than 3 feet is to be installed within 6 inches of a public sidewalk. The ordinance states that for accessory structures the total size of a permitted structure must be no larger than 7 percent of the lot size. General provisions in the ordinance state the city is not responsible for fences removed or damaged as a result of placement in an easement, fence permits are subject to review by the city stormwater department, total fence height must include but not be limited to man-made mounding and support structures, and must not include decorative post tops. In other business, Diane Quance, council president, said she will serve on the Environmental Policy Committee for Indiana cities and towns. Joe Thallemer, Warsaw mayor, said a citizen reported smelling a foul odor Monday. The building inspector and stormwater coordinator were sent out and they determined someone dumped drywall mud into the stormwater drain that was starting to rot. A machine was used to suck the material out. “It’s illegal to put anything down the storm drain,” Thallemer said. Cindy Dobbins, councilwoman, said people have been using downtown dumpsters to put their used and unwanted tires in. People are encouraged to dispose of the tires at Smith Tire or Monteith Tire. Quance said she has discovered tires dumped in Pike Lake and trash bags that have been dumped in the lake that have wrapped around fish, turtles and logs. The council also reviewed 2016 budget review dates. The council will review non-profit budget requests Aug. 3 at 6 p.m., departmental budgets Aug. 17 at 6 p.m. and adopt the budget Oct. 19 at 7 p.m.
