I dropped the ball in following up on a recent story about continued efforts by two Quapaw Quarter residents to find a way around rules limiting the height of front-yard fences to 40 inches, in keeping with historic practice in the Governor’s Mansion Neighborhood of the Capitol Zoning District Commission.
I wrote earlier that Patrick Cowan was trying again — despite having lost a court case on the issue previously — to get a waiver for a 48-inch wrought iron fence he’s already built around his house at 14th and Scott. The Commission could eventually move to have the fence removed if he’s unsuccessful. Gabe Holmstrom has built a 40-inch fence, which he contends is legal but which the Commission staff says requires a waiver because it’s placed atop a poured concrete wall/foundation and exceeds 40 inches altogether.
The Cowan fence was to come up in July at both the neighborhood advisory committee and then the full Zoning Commission. But proper advance notice to neighbors wasn’t given. So now, the neighborhood committees will take a look Aug. 22 and the full Commission Aug. 29 and consider the Holmstrom waiver request as well.
Also in the neighborhood:
The Zoning Commission will have a special meeting Aug. 14 to consider an application for a Dollar General in the shopping center at Broadway and Roosevelt that began life as a Weingarten’s but has seen several grocery and other tenants in succeeding years. The staff believes a grocery store is compatible with the neighborhood, with the addition of “good neighbor” and signage and design rules that applied to previous tenants. But some neighbors have objected about trash and loitering under previous operation.