Huron city commission meeting
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HURON — A residential fence installed on the property line in southeast Huron without a building permit will be allowed to remain, but will have to be moved should an alley be dedicated, the City Commission decided Monday.
In a unanimous vote, the board approved a variance requested by Rose Roth, project address 404 and 414 26th St. S.E., to allow the fence to remain zero feet from the south property line where code requires a five-foot setback to provide room for solid waste containers and snow.
Roth said she had relied on her contractors to install the fence correctly. She only learned a building permit was needed after the fence had been installed in 2017.
Had a building permit been obtained, City Planner Ralph Borkowski said he would have visited the site and pointed out the required setbacks.
Last week, a hearing examiner recommended that the fence be relocated by May to meet the proper setback.
Greater Huron Development Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer David McGirr, however, said he believes it was an honest mistake because the plat doesn’t show the presence of an alley along the south side of the Roth property.
Also, he said the city hasn’t been in the business of building alleys for decades. GHDC owns property in that area, but it is unclear what kind of development may come along in the future.
Meanwhile, commissioners approved second and final reading of a $31,500,878 appropriation ordinance for 2019, which is about 1 percent higher than the 2018 budget of $31,330,122.
Mayor Paul Aylward noted that health insurance costs came in with a decrease with total savings citywide of $69,456. He and other board members praised city employees at a time when other organizations are seeing health insurance rates rise.