Council to consider screening standards for trash and equipment

By Kerry Lyman

The Fernley City Council will hold a public hearing Wednesday, Sept. 17 on a proposed ordinance to amend the city’s development code to provide clearer standards for screening trash enclosures and mechanical and electrical equipment.

The first reading of the proposed ordinance was held at the Sept. 3 council meeting. A staff report on the item said recent reviews of commercial projects revealed that current screening requirements are too vague and unclear, prompting the need for more specific language in the code.

The city’s current screening requirements are four paragraphs long, one of which is a single sentence. The proposed screening requirements take up about two pages of text. 

Current requirements say trash enclosure gates “shall be constructed of durable material that screens the trash enclosure.” Proposed changes would require trash enclosure gates to be “steel or other metal material,” while restricting chain link gates to industrial zones only.

New trash enclosure requirements include a concrete floor with a service apron that extends five feet beyond the gate, and that trash enclosures for restaurants have a spill containment system to ensure that liquids remain in the enclosure.

Existing code for transformers, electrical and gas meters, air conditioning units and the like requires that such items “shall be screened or located out of view from public roads, driveways and common public areas such as exterior entrances.” The proposed changes eliminate the “out of view” language and would require such ground mounted equipment to be screened or “incorporated into the structure of the building,” with any screening required to be at least “one foot taller than the height of the electrical and mechanical equipment.” 

Slotted chain link fencing would only be allowed for screening in industrial zones, and “duct work” has been added as an item that needs to be screened.

Current requirements call for rooftop equipment to be screened by a parapet compatible with the building’s architecture. The proposed amendment would require the parapet to be compatible with the building’s architecture “and materials,” and would prohibit the use of chain link fencing as a parapet. 

The Fernley Planning Commission voted 6-1 on Aug. 13 to recommend approval of the proposed ordinance.