The Mandeville Planning and Zoning Commission granted one homeowner permission to split his two lots and another permission to put up a fence.

The city’s Comprehensive Land Use Regulations Ordinance requires that lots have a 90-foot or larger frontage. If someone owns two smaller contiguous lots they are prohibited from splitting the two lots by right.

Nick Gristina applied to the commission Tuesday night requesting permission to do just that. Together, the two lots at 209 Lamarque Street had a frontage of approximately 128 feet. Gristina was given permission to split them into two lots, each with 64-foot frontages.

Four of the six commissioners present voted in his favor. Nixon Adams, Leonard Rorhbough, Larry Rase and Michael Blache voted for the variance, and Ren Clark and Dennis Thomas voted against. Commissioner John Moore was absent.

“As you move away from the lake it (the neighborhood) has a tendency to become more dense with smaller frontages,” Planning Director Louisette Kidd told the commission before the vote.

Adams agreed, saying the change in the density of neighborhoods occurs around Claiborne Street.

This area is in a larger area that was considered early this year for a rezoning, which would have allowed by right theses smaller lots. The rezoning was not passed.

Since that item was recently discussed and decided against, Thomas said he felt to approve a variance for the same thing would “be a waste of the public funds” used to hire the consultant that recommended against making the change at this time.

Adams said he did not hear any complaints about having smaller lots on Lamarque Street during those discussions. He said the rezoning was pulled from the table because of complaints from neighbors in neighborhoods closer to the lake that were included. He said he felt the smaller lots are appropriate with the area along Lamarque Street.

Blanche said he has a problem with requiring property owners to keep two lots together under any circumstances.

He stressed that they are both lots of record and to prohibit them from being split would be a violation of property rights.

In the other case Douglas and Serita Luicidi were granted permission to install a fence around their lot at 800 Dupre Street.

The CLURO requires all wood fences along a street to be less than 4 feet. The Luicidis requested permission to install a 6-foot wood fence along the Montgomery Street side of their property. Their reason was that they have very little back yard and will use their side yard as their back yard.

The commission compromised and gave them permission to install the 6-foot privacy fence but required the first 10 feet to be the same 4-and-a-half-foot wrought iron fence that will go across the front of the property.

Other cases voted on Tuesday evening include:

• Rezoning a piece of property on Decker Drive back to M-1 Light Industrial. The property will be used for the expansion of Marine Technologies.

• The approval of a zoning permit for the Trace Units to be built across the street for the Trailhead. The development will house residential, office and retail units.