Owners of corner lot in Bretton Woods granted partial variance for 6-foot privacy fence after neighbor opposition

The Seminole County Board of Adjustment on July 28 approved a variance allowing a 6-foot privacy fence to be placed closer to the street than the county's land development code normally allows for corner lots at 271 Woodlake Drive in the Bretton Woods subdivision.

The owners, Julian Maeso and Ines Negrin, sought relief because the property is treated as having two front yards. Maeso told the board the lot orientation was dictated by Seminole County traffic engineers and that the corner designation prevented him from installing a typical 6-foot privacy fence in what functions as his only backyard. "We're simply asking to be allowed the same use of our properties that other enjoy by placing that 6 foot privacy fence at property line," Maeso said.

The relief requested would have allowed the fence at the property line. Traffic engineering had "no objection" to the fence placement for site visibility, and staff reported five letters of support and one letter of objection in the file. But neighbors said the subdivision's now-expired covenants and neighborhood character counseled for a larger setback. Cynthia Stump, whose address is listed as 249 Woodlake Drive, told the board she submitted a petition signed by 21 neighbors asking the board to require the five-foot setback in the covenants: "We feel like it should be set back, the 5 feet," Stump said.

Board members discussed harmony in the neighborhood and the unusual lot layout caused by engineering decisions. An initial motion to deny the variance failed for lack of a second. A later motion to approve the variance as requested was amended on the floor: board member Blake Wright moved to approve subject to the fence being set back 2.5 feet from the property line (i.e., moved in 2.5 feet from the applicant's requested line). The motion was seconded by Jeff Evans and passed, with Judge Bravo recording the lone dissenting vote.

The record shows the applicant argued the hardship was not self-created and that similar variances had been granted previously for corner lots with comparable constraints. Staff clarified the minimum lot size for R1AA zoning in the subdivision has been 11,700 square feet since the plat and that the house orientation was required to avoid placing a driveway on a major thoroughfare.

The board's approval requires the fence location to match the revised distance approved by the board; the approval does not alter private covenants and does not change the county's statement that any hedges or plantings taller than four feet would be treated as a fence under the land development code.