Elkhart BZA allows 6-foot privacy fence to remain with conditions

The Elkhart City Board of Zoning Appeals on July 10 approved a developmental variance allowing an existing six-foot opaque fence to remain in the corner side yard at 2204 Ninth Street, subject to conditions that the petitioner reverse the rear east property-line fence panels so the finished side faces outward by Oct. 31, 2025.

Petitioner Nicole Rivera told the board she bought the house recently and believed a parcel adjacent to her home belonged to her property; she said she began the fence project after receiving a permit and later learned the lot divisions differed from what she expected. Rivera described emotional distress over the situation and said she was willing to reverse the rear panels as a condition.

Zoning staff reported the petitioner submitted a fence permit on Oct. 3, 2024 that staff approved; when the fence was installed it extended past the plane of the house along Fieldhouse Street and the rear panels were installed with the finished side inward, contrary to the ordinance. Staff noticed the violation on May 21, 2025, met with the petitioner, and offered the option to correct the violation or file for a developmental variance. Staff said it had no formal recommendation for approval but noted the requested condition is consistent with proposed regulations in the city's anticipated unified development ordinance (UDO).

The staff report documented 28 mailed notices with one response in favor. Staff recommended as a condition that the petitioner reverse the rear fence panels by Oct. 31, 2025. A board member moved to approve developmental variance 25BZA16, adopting the petitioners' documents and presentation and the staff findings; the motion passed unanimously on roll call (Mulvaney — yes; Newbill — yes; Elijah Rykov — yes). The board verbally encouraged the petitioner and welcomed her to the neighborhood.