Hilliard zoning board approves two variances allowing 6-foot privacy fences on adjacent corner lots

The Hilliard Board of Zoning Appeals approved two variances on Sept. 18 allowing six-foot privacy fences to be installed past the city's build-to line on adjacent corner lots fronting Bradford Drive and Revere Drive.

Board members voted 4-1 on each request to permit the fences, which city staff had recommended denying because the privacy fences would extend into areas the zoning code intends to keep visually open. The board attached three conditions to both approvals: the applicants must obtain a fence permit before installation, the fence cannot exceed six feet in height above grade, and the fence must be installed outside the public right of way.

City staff summarized the two requests during the meeting and recommended denial. Staff noted the lots are through/corner lots with multiple street frontages and that the relevant provision in local law (Hilliard Code section 11.21.021(L)) generally prohibits privacy fences past the build-to line in a front yard. Staff said code allows an aluminum or wrought-iron style fence to be located partway between the build-to line and the property line, but that style does not provide privacy. Staff also provided visual references to several prior variance requests dating from 2011 to 2019 and noted consistency concerns.

Jeff Bay, owner of Fence and Deck Doctors and the contractor on the Bradford Drive application, told the board he was "confused why we weren't allowed to go" past the build-to line in this case and said the homeowner sought privacy from school traffic and passersby. Bay said posts left on the site were installed by a prior contractor and would be removed before the new fence is installed. He also said the proposed privacy fence would align visually with other fences already present a short distance along the same street.

Staff said the Bradford Drive parcel ' where the proposed fence would be sited in red on the plan ' would have a roughly 5-foot setback from the sidewalk on that frontage, and that the applicant proposed to extend a six-foot privacy fence to the northern face of a detached garage in the northwest corner of the lot. For the Revere Drive parcel staff said the replacement privacy fence would use the exact location of an existing chain-link fence and appeared closer to the right-of-way than the Bradford property'staff estimated the distance at roughly 18 to 24 inches but did not provide a formal survey distance during the hearing.

Board discussion touched on sight-line and uniformity concerns. One member referenced a series of lots on Davidson Road where several similar requests had been approved previously and observed that approving the two current requests would make that stretch more visually consistent with what already exists. Another member expressed concern that the privacy fences could alter the neighborhood's character along the public right of way.

After the votes, the board listed the same installation conditions for both approvals: obtain a fence permit before construction; limit the fence to six feet above grade; and install the fence outside the public right of way. The board recorded the votes 4-1 on each motion; Mills recorded the single dissent on both cases.

Votes at a glance

- BZA 25-25 (3869 Bradford Drive): Variance to permit a six-foot privacy fence past the build-to line on a corner/through lot; approved 4-1. Conditions: fence permit required before installation; maximum height 6 feet; fence installed outside right of way.

- BZA 25-245570 (Revere Drive): Variance to permit a six-foot privacy fence replacing an existing chain-link fence at the same location, sited closer to the right of way; approved 4-1. Conditions: fence permit required before installation; maximum height 6 feet; fence installed outside right of way.

What happened next

The board had no additional cases on the agenda for next month and adjourned after the two votes.