Commissioners order removal of fences from undisturbed landscape buffers in Ellis Mountain Drive cases

The Cobb County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 16 denied two requests by homeowners to retain fences placed inside designated landscape buffers near Ellis Mountain Drive and Sage Lake Bend, and ordered the fences removed and natural buffering restored.

Opposing residents and the Winthrop Manor homeowners association testified that the fences and related grading encroached into the 30‑foot natural/undisturbed landscape buffers required by the original rezoning, and that the markers and plats showed the limit of permitted disturbance. Homeowners said they installed fences to secure yards and for child safety; HOA representatives said permitting the encroachment would set an unwanted precedent.

The board found that while some grading and plantings had been permitted in the maintained buffer, fences are not allowed in the natural/undisturbed buffer. The panel denied both requests and set compliance deadlines: remove any fence within the undisturbed buffer by Oct. 16, 2025, and replant or restore disturbed natural buffering, coordinated with the county arborist, by Nov. 16, 2025. Staff noted placards were placed on lots to indicate the buffer line and said developers and homeowners should follow plats and site plans.

Commissioners emphasized that the county will work with property owners to identify an allowable fence line (in front of the marker, outside the undisturbed buffer) so homeowners still can secure yards without disturbing the protected buffer. The motions to deny and to require restoration passed 3‑0, with two commissioners absent.