Council minutes, Dec. 2007

SECTION 5 OF THE VILLAGE OF CHEVY CHASE

MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING

Date: December 11, 2007

Time: 7:30pm

Place: 5906 Connecticut Avenue, Chevy Chase Village Hall

Present: Peter Gray; Frances L. Higgins; Ira Rosenbaum; Andrew Smith; 3 Section 5 residents

1. Minutes

Andrew moved that the November 13, 2007, Council meeting minutes be approved as presented. Peter seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

John Stewart, 1 Alden Lane, asked the Council to permit him to extend the width of his driveway apron from its present 11 feet to 15 feet. He said that the reason for this extension is the presence of a Pepco pole on the eastern end of his driveway. There was some discussion. Ira expressed his concern about allowing this resident to widen his driveway apron when recently the Council denied the request of another resident who wished to widen his driveway apron. Andrew moved that John Stewart be allowed to extend the width of his driveway apron by 4 feet from 11 feet to 15 feet. Peter seconded the motion. Peter and Andrew voted for the motion; Ira voted against the motion. Ira said that the Council should develop a policy concerning driveway extensions. Ira said that since the apron was not in need of repair, the Stewarts should pay the cost of the extension. The Council agreed that the Stewarts should pay the cost of the driveway apron extension.

Andrew said that because there were only three Council members present, the Council could not vote to approve the proposed ordinances contained in chapters 1, 5, 6, 9 and 11. Andrew said that the Council has located a Maryland attorney who has agreed to review these five proposed ordinances and determine if there are any instances where the provisions of these ordinances are in conflict with State or County laws. Andrew moved that Section 5 spend $450 to engage Vic Tervala, a Maryland licensed attorney, to review the ordinances contained in chapters 1, 5, 6, 9 and 11 to determine if there are any portions contained in these ordinances which conflict with State or County laws. Ira seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. The manager will give Andrew a copy of the contract from Vic Tervala to sign and return to Mr. Tervala. Mr. Tervala will review the proposed ordinances and send his comments to the Council.

Andrew asked Kevin Bromberg if he had a report from his zoning committee. Kevin said that he did not have a timetable for zoning because he thought that the Council would want set its own timetable. It was suggested that Kevin contact someone from the Town of Chevy Chase to come to Section 5’s January Council meeting and talk about what the Town is doing about zoning. Kevin said that he would contact someone and ask this person to speak for about 15 minutes at the January meeting.

Andrew said that he will put together some material for a proposed ordinance for storm water management and email it to the Council for its review. He will use Section 3’s storm water management ordinance as a model.

Peter said that the resident at 3810 Thornapple St. has erected a fence in the front yard but has not planted any camouflage on the street side of the fence. The resident has planted bushes on the resident’s side of the fence. Peter said that the section of the fence ordinance regarding front yard fences is not clear about the side of the fence requiring a camouflage. There was some discussion. There are other examples in Section 5 where a resident has planted bushes on the street side of a front yard fence. Peter said that he does not want to require the 3810 Thornapple St. resident to plant a camouflage on the street side of the front yard fence. Ira and Andrew asked the manager to call the resident and him/her to plant a camouflage on the street side of the fence.

Peter said that the owner of the property at 7203 Brookville Rd. has erected a fence on the south side of the back yard without a permit and with the unfinished side facing the neighbor. In the permit application for a fence which she has now filed, she has also requested a permit for an additional fence in the back yard and a permit for an extension of the height of the front yard brick fence. The manager suggested that this permit not be granted because it is for proposed work which will not be done until next spring. Also, the manager asked that this permit not be granted because the fence which has already been erected does not have the finished side facing the neighbor. The manager will contact the owner of 7203 Brookville Rd. and tell her that her permit may not be granted because the existing fence does it not meet a requirement of the fence regulations.

Permits granted:

3800 Woodbine St. – stone wall alongside east side of driveway

3605 Underwood St. – fence backyard

The manager said that a resident has complained about the fact that the Council meeting minutes for September and October have not been placed on the web site. The manager will contact Farooq and ask if he has located a web master for Section 5’s web site.

The manager reminded the Council that the fence at 3706 Thornapple St. was erected without a permit and with the unfinished side facing the neighbor. The Council asked the manager to contact the resident and ask him/her to take the necessary action to put the fence in code.

A Section 5 resident has asked the Council to consider renting a large paper shredder for a day and allow residents to shred documents at the town’s expense. The manager has called a company which rents such shredders but no one has returned her call. The manager will continue to contact this company and get back to the Council.

Section 5 has planted 18 trees on public property.

The next Council meeting will be Tuesday, January 8, 2007, at the Village Hall, 5906 Connecticut Avenue, at 7:30pm.