Homewood BZA denies variance for privacy fence that exceeds height over engineered retaining wall

The Homewood City Board of Zoning Adjustment on June 2 denied a variance request for a privacy fence installed on top of a newly engineered retaining wall at 1644 20 Eighth Avenue South, finding the request did not meet the approval threshold.

Danny Treywick, vice president of engineering with GSLD Land Management, told the board the fence sits on an engineered retaining wall and exceeds the zoning-permitted height by about 2 feet, 3 inches because the homeowner’s lot is at a lower grade than adjacent properties. "We had to tear out her old retaining wall and reengineer a new wall," Treywick said, explaining why the fence now measures above the allowable height.

Treywick said both adjacent neighbors had signed letters of approval for the fence alignment and that the work followed a building permit that had addressed the retaining wall. City staff clarified the building permit application had covered the retaining wall but had not separately included fence details, which would have triggered zoning review for fence height. Staff said the master plan showing a 6-foot privacy fence was not part of the building permit submittal.

Board members examined how the fence attaches to the wall and noted the posts are bolted into a notch in the cap of the retaining wall. Members also raised that the measurement for fence height is taken from the lot where the fence is placed; a neighbor at a higher grade would not need a variance measured from their lot.

A motion to approve the variance was moved and seconded. Roll-call votes were recorded; while several members voted yes, the motion did not achieve the required unanimous positive votes among seated members and the board denied the variance. The board advised the applicant to contact zoning staff for next steps and for details on how to proceed.