Council debates front yard fence variances
Two months after the council approved a variance for an already installed front yard fence, a similar case was brought to the council at the July 12 meeting.
The similarities are causing some council members to ask how far these exceptions should go.
The July 12 council meeting discussed the front yard fence at 112 Hollywood Boulevard. This fence was built in 2018, but the city never approved a permit or a variance for the fence. The yard has front yard hedges that also violate the city ordinance.
Homeowners Chris and Beth Allison said they didn’t realize the hedges were also in violation, and they asked the council to delay their vote until the July 26 council meeting so that the Allisons could consider proffers.
Beth Allison said they would like to keep the fence so that their child has a safe place to play. Hollywood Boulevard is a busy street and has an entrance to U.S. 280.
Ward 4 Councilor Barry Smith said she sympathized with the Allisons. If the Allisons had come to the council in advance and asked for a variance, Smith said she probably would have voted yes.
“We’ve had several things happen like this recently where we’ve had people come after the fact and say, ‘We’re so sorry. We didn’t realize that’s what we were supposed to do.’ And at some point, it’s hard to keep approving things that people have done the wrong way,” she said.
At the May 10 Council meeting, the council approved a front-yard fence variance on Lake Ridge Road, a fence which the homeowners had also already installed.
Not following proper procedures puts the council in a predicament and could open “Pandora’s box” for future dilemmas, said Ward 2 Councilor Andrew Wolverton at that May 10 meeting. It took two months for another already installed front yard fence to come before council.
Council President Alex Wyatt said he has concerns with the way the council is handling front-yard fences.
“We keep chipping away at it,” he said. “If we believe that front-yard fences are OK, then that’s fine. I don’t have any issue with that. But we as a city have said through an ordinance that we don’t like or don’t want front-yard fences. Up until a couple of months ago, the only front-yard fences that were approved dealt with children with special needs.
“Where I get uncomfortable in terms of approving these is an equity issue. … If it’s OK for you to have one, who is it not OK to have one on Hollywood? If it’s OK for everyone on Hollywood to have one, then is it OK for everyone on Oxmoor to have one? … The justification is the same. We have kids in almost every house, and we have traffic that is dangerous to those kids. I get concerned about the precedent we’re setting each time we open this exception up further and further.”
The Allisons will consider proffers and will state these at the July 26 meeting. Visit thehomewoodstar.com for updates.