DuPage zoning hearing: owner seeks variance to build 6-foot privacy fence closer to Lenox corner

Ryan Rechtsorski, the property owner, asked the DuPage County zoning hearing officer on June 25 for a variance to install a six-foot, fully closed vinyl privacy fence on a corner lot at Lenox and South.

The request originally included two variations: allowing a six-foot 100% closed privacy fence within a 10-foot corner side-yard setback and within a 30-foot front-yard setback. The hearing officer said one of those variations was no longer necessary because a recent ordinance change provided the same relief.

Rechtsorski told the hearing the existing wooden picket fence was removed and the proposed fence would be located along the side yard. “We’ve got three little kids and two dogs that would escape out of the 50% open,” Rechtsorski said, describing the family’s safety and privacy concerns. He said the residence has been in his wife’s family for about 50 years and the couple bought the house “a couple years ago.”

Lisa Cathcart, representing Great Bank Trust Company, said the trust holds a nearby property and asked that the location not encroach on the trust’s land. A township highway commissioner inspected the proposed location and, after initial confusion about the earlier picket fence, indicated yesterday that the highway department no longer objects to the fence plan at 940 South Road and confirmed the closest point of the new fence is about 22 feet from the street, 25 feet at the farthest point.

The hearing officer said the petition included a 1993 survey as an exhibit and noted that the survey “is a little more than a year old, which is what we usually require.” After questioning about the precise fence line and site plan markers, the officer closed the hearing. “And, unless you have anything else, I'll close the hearing and render a decision within two weeks, and then it'll go to the county development committee and finally the full county board,” the hearing officer said.

No county agencies registered objections on the record, and the hearing officer said the case had been published in the Daily Herald on April 30 and was previously heard May 15 and continued to the June 25 date. The officer will issue a written decision and, if relief is recommended, the case will be scheduled for DuPage County Development Committee consideration and, subsequently, a full county board vote.

The record for this petition includes a 1993 survey and site plan submitted as exhibits; the hearing officer asked parties to ensure any final site plan clearly shows the fence alignment relative to lot lines.

A written decision from the hearing officer is expected within two weeks; no final county-level action was taken at the June 25 hearing.