A zoning administrator hearing Tuesday will consider whether to grant a front-yard variance for a 5-foot fence at a home at 375 West I St.

Suzanne Thorsen, Benicia’s associate planner, said in a Jan. 5 report that the applicants, Aaron and Sabrina Boone, asked for the variance.

Under city codes, any fence higher than 3 feet must be placed 15 feet from the front property line, Thorsen wrote.

“The maximum height of a fence or wall in the RS (single-family residential) District is six feet, except that within 15 feet of the front property line abutting a street, the maximum height shall be three feet,” she wrote.

But the Boones want to put a 5-foot fence on the front property line, which is 7 feet closer to West I Street than an existing fence, she wrote.

The home is part of the Staley Beach Homes subdivision, seven lots along West I and West J streets developed in the 1970s with homes oriented toward the mid-block alley and arranged to give occupants “the best possible view of the Carquinez Strait,” Thorsen wrote, quoting from an earlier staff report.

The Boones’ homesite has a two-story 1978 house and a pool, she wrote. When the home was built, Benicia officials also granted a variance for a 4-foot fence to be built 10 feet from the property line, because the pool was seen as an “attractive nuisance,” she wrote.

In 1982, a second variance allowed a fence to be built 7 1/2 feet from the front property line, but that fence has fallen into disrepair and must be replaced, Thorsen wrote.

Instead of replacing the fence where it is, she explained, the Boones want to build a new fence closer to West I Street approximately on the property line, about 8 1/2 feet from the back of the sidewalk.

State building codes require any swimming pool, spa or hot tub be protected by a barrier at least 5 feet above grade, Thorsen wrote, and the Boones are trying to comply with that requirement.

She wrote that city employees agree with the Boones that “there are unique hardships associated with the property which warrant consideration for a fence variance,” although she said staff doesn’t support putting the fence directly on the property line.

Instead, she wrote, staff recommends that the fence be built at least 2 1/2 feet from the front property line, putting it in line with the second tier of a retaining wall on the property of the Boones’ neighbor, at 387 West I St.

“This distance will accommodate adequate area for landscaping of the new retaining wall to enhance and unify the appearance of the neighborhood, while allowing an expanded functional backyard area for the homeowner,” Thorsen wrote.

In addition, she recommended that landscaping be required to soften the appearance of the fence and blend it with other features of the neighborhood. She wrote that the Boones have expressed willingness to follow those conditions.

The hearing will start at 11 a.m. Tuesday in the Commission Room of City Hall, 250 East L St.

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