If a homeowner’s yard has more than a 10-foot elevation difference from a neighboring yard, Benicia Municipal Code specifies that a fence on the mutual property line can be no taller than 3 feet.

During its meeting Thursday, the Benicia Planning Commission decided to stick to the code.

The commission, minus members Suzanne Sprague and Stephen Young, who recused themselves because of conflicts of interest, unanimously agreed with Robert and Suzanne Peters, 560 Sandy Way, who appealed a ruling by City Manager Brad Kilger.

Kilger, acting as the city’s community development director, said the Peterses’ neighbor, John McLaughlin, 1507 Karen Drive, could have a 4-foot fence, as long as the top foot was lattice or some other partially transparent construction.

McLaughlin said he needed the fence for privacy. In fact, he has been trying since 2012 to get the fence built.

During Thursday’s meeting, he said the Peterses repeatedly had urged his landscapers to cut his plantings lower, and that the shrubbery and other plantings that had been screening his home from his neighbors had become diseased and damaged by rock salt thrown in his yard.

At one point, while he didn’t accuse the Peters family directly, he asked the commission to ask Peters who might have thrown the salt.

The Peterses said they had been trying to resolve the matter for just as long, including asking the McLaughlins to join them in mediation sessions.

The couple said they bought their home more than 20 years ago because of its view of the Carquinez Strait, and the shrubbery gradually had obscured that view. The original portion of the fence, then standing 5 feet, 5 inches, was begun while they were on vacation, and also obstructed the view.

Kilger ruled Feb. 3 that the McLaughlins could build a 4-foot fence, so long as the top foot would be of some construction that isn’t solid. The Peterses appealed that decision to the Planning Commission.

“Where do we begin with this?” Commissioner Rod Sherry said as he pondered how the panel should wade into the ongoing dispute between neighbors. “I feel like Rodney King — ‘Can’t we all just get along?’”

Sherry pointed out that, depending on how the elevation differences are calculated, the McLaughlins actually might qualify for a 6-foot fence.

But Commissioner George Oakes had no qualms, saying Benicia is a “land of levels.” He pointed to Waters End, where neighbors have little expectation of privacy because of extreme elevation changes, and said other places in the city are similar.

Oakes urged tearing down the taller fence and replacing it with one standing only 3 feet tall.

Commissioner Belinda Smith said she wanted stronger findings by staff to justify a taller fence, and agreed with Sherry that the ways elevations are calculated “are ambiguous.”

But Smith sided with Oakes that the code’s 3-foot standard should be maintained. “I have a problem with a four-foot fence when the ordinance says three.”

“Nobody’s going to be happy,” newly elected Chairperson Donald Dean said. The rest agreed with that; Sherry called the matter “messy,” and Smith said, “It’s really up to the property owners to deal with it.”

However, the panel ultimately decided to “go with consistency,” as Dean worded it, upholding the Peterses’ appeal and saying the 3-foot limit should be applied.

The matter may not be settled; the commission’s decision can be appealed to the City Council.

In other business before the commission Thursday, the panel issued use permits to two fitness companies.

CrossFit 707, owned by Spencer and Kara Purves, has grown in membership since it initially moved to 4856 East Second St. The Purveses had sought permission to operate in 538 Stone Road in the Benicia Industrial Park.

The commission limited class sizes and restricted places where clients could exercise outside, in part to accommodate parking and also to prevent possible conflict with any industrial neighbors.

The panel also issued a use permit to Denise Brazeal, who has bought 714 First St., the former site of Benicia Bay Company. To keep it consistent with other gyms operating on First Street, at Smith’s suggestion the commission limited her hours to 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

However, if Brazeal’s clientele expands and she needs to stay open longer, city employees could make an administrative decision to modify the use permit to accommodate additional hours, the commission decided.

The panel also reviewed the city’s General Plan Implementation report, adding a few comments that will be incorporated into the report before it’s presented to City Council.