Mark R. Madler
City officials are expecting a full house Tuesday night for a public
hearing on proposed changes to the ordinance controlling fence and
wall heights for private residences.
The main change before the City Council would increase the maximum
fence and wall height to 4 feet from 3 feet for front yards.
At least one resident is concerned about a provision requiring
fences and walls to meet the new standards within a one- to
three-year period or be torn down.
"I'm totally against it if they want everybody at 4 feet," said
Lincoln Street resident Barbara Bartman, who has a 5-foot-high fence
on her property. "I don't think 5 feet is all that high."
The proposed fence height was chosen because it allows for
additional security, greater variety of design and is the standard
size of pre-fabricated fencing sold by home improvement stores, city
officials said.
The ordinance change would also address vegetation such as hedges
that act as a fence or wall, and would propose a ban on chain-link
fencing in front yards or exposed side yards.
"This is a very complicated issue and a one-size-fits-all is not
going to work," resident Carolyn Berlin said.
In the late 1990s, the fence issue was brought before the city
Planning Board although no changes were recommended because of the
challenges involved implementing a citywide uniform policy, said
Berlin, who served on the board at that time.
Rancho District resident Michael Scandiffio was critical of the
city not crafting standards for each of the different neighborhoods
and instead assumes that residents are not creative and lack a sense
of style.
The city should have done an inventory of problem areas and then
tailored the ordinance to address those problems, Scandiffio said.
"You don't do an ordinance against un-stuccoed blank walls and
chain-link fences and wipe out every other category of wall, fence
and hedge done in an aesthetic way," said Scandiffio, an architect
and real estate developer.
The city's current fence and hedge ordinance, adopted in 1967,
restricts front- and sideyard fences and hedges to three feet; and
rear and interior fences and hedges to eight feet. The ordinance has
no regulation on design or materials for fences.
Enforcement is done on a reactive basis when a complaint is made,
said Assistant City Manager Mike Flad.
Mayor Jef Vander Borght is looking for a compromise that will
cover a large majority of fences and walls. But he is anticipating
that the height restriction will be less of an issue than in
