Board approves clear-vision variance but upholds 4-foot front-fence limit at Monte Vista property

The San Antonio Board of Adjustment on June 2 approved variances narrowing required corner and driveway clear-vision distances for 133 West Craig Place but declined to allow the property’s eight-foot wrought-iron perimeter fence to remain above the historic-district limit.

The board voted to grant a 15-foot-6-inch variance to allow a 9-foot-6-inch corner clear-vision and a 7-foot variance to allow an eight-foot driveway clear vision, finding the reduced sight triangles would not create a traffic hazard. But after separate votes the board rejected a motion to permit a taller front fence and also rejected an appeal of the Office of Historic Preservation (OHP) and Historic and Design Review compliance board decision that the front fence be lowered to 4 feet.

Those twin outcomes leave the property with a permitted clear-vision variance but subject to the Office of Historic Preservation’s certificate-of-appropriateness limit on front-yard fences. OHP staff had told the board the fence exceeds the historic-guideline maximum and that the historic review body had approved the fence only with the stipulation that it not exceed 4 feet.

Why it matters: Residents and the historic-neighborhood association said a lower, predominantly open fence would preserve neighborhood character and sight lines at…