Board allows 8‑foot, low‑opacity fence at 5601 Santa Fe Avenue after repeated approvals

The Dallas Board of Adjustment granted two special exceptions allowing an eight‑foot high fence and a fence panel with less than 50% open area at a property on Santa Fe Avenue.

Attorney Robert Baldwin, representing the property owner Leila Mont, said the owner previously had received approvals for a projected front yard and that a contractor built the fence before the contractor obtained the required fence permit. Baldwin told the board the property’s location along the six‑lane Santa Fe/Beacon corridor and the existing pattern of side‑yard fences on the block weighed in favor of maintaining the fence, and he presented site plans and elevations showing the constructed condition.

Board members said they were persuaded by the project’s prior review history and by the property’s context along a major thoroughfare. The board voted 4‑0 on both motions: one to allow the 8‑foot fence in a projected front yard as a special exception to the fence‑height requirement, and another to allow the fence panels to have less than 50% open surface area where they would otherwise be required to be more open. Both approvals included conditions requiring compliance with the most recent submitted plans.

One board member said the item offered an example of the value of having experienced representatives before the board; another member noted the fence had been considered previously and that the board had no evidence the fence created safety or visibility problems. The board recorded the approvals and instructed staff to include the fence location and opacity conditions in the permit record.