The Kalamazoo Zoning Board of Appeals voted to approve a variance for 130 Portage St. on Dec. 11, allowing a 2.5-foot picket fence around ground-mounted mechanical equipment where the zoning ordinance generally requires a solid fence tall enough to screen such units. The board adopted the finding of fact and then approved the variance in roll-call votes with all present members voting yes.

Brandon Woodle, a landscape architect with SmithGroup, presented the Farmers Alley pedestrian-space project and said the lower, transparent picket fence is being requested to increase visibility through the narrow, triangular site and to address documented safety concerns. Woodle said an email from “Matt Huber or Hover,” identified in the project packet as a deputy police chief with KDPS, supported a lower fence to “increase visibility through and around this space.” He also described plans for new sidewalks, irrigation, native plantings and a security camera to accompany the improvements.

Staff and the acting secretary told the board the equipment area is largely visible only from Farmers Alley and is boxed in by surrounding buildings; they warned that a full 5-foot solid screen would create blind spots. Staff described the location as a ‘‘peninsula’’ of mechanical equipment projecting from a parking ramp and cited safety and the site’s unique constraints in supporting the variance.

Woodle said the project will remove two poor‑condition trees and some arborvitae, preserve one healthy tree, and add three new shade trees and native groundcovers. Staff noted 73 notices of public hearing were mailed and no public responses were received; there were no callers or members of the public who spoke for or against the request during the hearing.

The board recorded its roll-call approval after moving and seconding a finding of fact that incorporated the staff packet and public-notice record. The decision does not change the site’s zoning classification and applies only to the screening requirement identified in chapter 50-8.5(d)(2)(b)(2) of the zoning ordinance.