Zoning board approves privacy-fence variance for 8019 Concord; patio request withdrawn

The Huntington Woods Zoning Board of Appeals approved a variance Monday, Sept. 8, allowing a privacy fence along a 55-foot section of 8019 Concord to exceed the usual side-yard height restriction; the fence will measure 7 feet from the homeowner's side and 6 feet from the adjacent neighbor's side. The board also accepted the applicant's withdrawal of a requested 135-square-foot front-yard patio variance.

The variance matters because the property has a very narrow practical backyard and the homeowners said the enclosed space is needed for child and pet safety. Hank, a city staff member who presented the case to the board, described the request as three separate variance issues: a height variance for the fence, a location/privacy variance for installing a privacy fence in the side yard, and a front-yard accessory-structure (patio) variance. The board granted relief only for the privacy-fence portion and limited it to the specific segment described in the application.

At the hearing the applicant (identified in the record as the homeowner at 8019 Concord) said he and his wife, Erica, had closed on the house the month before and…