Zoning board overturns director’s order, allows Newman family to keep perimeter fence in Highlands Park

The Walton County Zoning Board of Adjustment on Sept. 25 upheld an appeal filed by Paul and Cynthia Newman and reversed a director’s determination that required the Newmans to move a six-foot wooden fence 10 feet inside a platted landscape buffer in the Highlands Park subdivision. The board’s de novo review concluded that the county’s land-development code is ambiguous on whether perimeter fences are permitted inside a required landscape buffer; the board voted to resolve that ambiguity in favor of the property owner.

Why it matters: The ruling affects where property owners may place fences relative to platted landscape buffers in older Walton County subdivisions. Several speakers warned the decision could create inconsistent outcomes unless the county clarifies its code; proponents argued the ruling protects a core property right to exclude trespassers.

What the appeal contested: The Newmans installed a six-foot wooden fence at or just inside their rear property line to stop repeated trespassing and, by their account, to protect the household from nearby beehives and safety risks. Planning staff…