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Board moves to formally correct erroneous fence permit for corner lot on Arlington Heights Road
Summary
The trustees approved a variance to allow a four‑foot picket fence located 10.5 feet from the Arlington Heights Road right‑of‑way after staff acknowledged a permit was issued in error; staff said the permit will be corrected and the fence will be legalized under variance conditions.
The Itasca Village Board on Aug. 5 approved a variance to allow an existing four‑foot picket fence on a corner lot to remain 10.5 feet from the Arlington Heights Road right‑of‑way rather than the 31.39 feet required by code. The fence was installed under a permit later determined to have been issued in error.
Why it matters: The action regularizes an existing nonconforming fence and avoids putting the property owner in the position of immediate removal; the board and staff discussed how the permit error occurred and steps taken to prevent similar misses.
Staff explanation and board discussion: Community development staff explained that the fence permit for the property was processed and the neighboring property was told they needed a variance; staff then discovered the first permit did not include the required variation. "It was a fence permit issued... it was an error. It was just missed," a staff member said, noting consulting planners handled some permit reviews at the time and that the village now has an in‑house planner and a community development director who were not in place when the error occurred. The staff recommendation, and the board’s action, will allow issuance of a corrected permit for the existing fence. Trustees also discussed whether the village could adopt clearer standards or give staff limited authority to approve routine corner‑lot fence requests in appropriate circumstances to reduce repeat variance items.
Board action: Trustees moved and seconded approval; a roll call recorded the vote in favor. The transcript shows staff and trustees agreed that the permitted fence is modest, set back sufficiently, and that regularizing the permit is a reasonable corrective step while staff also reviews process improvements.
Context: Staff noted that corner side‑yard fence variances are common and that the village can consider policy changes to reduce repetitive variance requests by delegating more routine decisions or establishing clearer guardrails.
