Planning commissioners debate limits on privacy fences near trails and open space

Planning commissioners discussed whether Highland should continue to require privacy fences adjacent to trails and open-space corridors to be limited to 4 feet of solid material with the top 2 feet open.

The discussion centered on three staff-presented options: keep the current code that applies the 4-foot solid / 2-foot open rule to any land designated as open space or trail corridor; limit the rule to areas identified as trail corridors (places with a planned or future trail) while allowing full privacy fences where there is only open space; or apply the restriction only where an actual trail exists. Staff described the issue as arising from a question forwarded to the commission by the City Council about narrow open-space strips that are not likely to host trails in the near term.

The topic mattered to commissioners…