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Historic board approves fencing and landscaping at Southeast Sanchez property with conditions
Summary
The Ocala Historic Preservation Advisory Board approved a certificate of appropriateness for property owners Tim and Linda Creeley to keep recently installed fencing and landscaping, subject to conditions restricting privacy fence placement, reducing granite landscape material and adding screening and a border to hold gravel.
The Ocala Historic Preservation Advisory Board on May 5 approved a certificate of appropriateness for alterations at 605 Southeast Sanchez Avenue carried out by property owners Tim and Linda Creeley, but the approval included conditions limiting the privacy fence and requiring additional screening and edging.
Staff told the board the property, in the O'Kelly Historic District and built in 1895 in the vernacular Queen Anne Revival style, had installed a 4-foot black aluminum fence, a 6-foot wood privacy fence, landscaping and granite before receiving a COA. Staff said the granite as presented was “not currently appropriate” and recommended conditions because the privacy fence extended past the home's facades. The staff report cited the certificate of appropriateness criteria and fence standards, listed as section 94-82(g)(1) and section 94-86.
Property owner Tim Creeley spoke at the public hearing. He said he did not realize installing landscaping required review and described practical reasons for the gravel along the narrow driveway. Creeley told the board, “I would prefer not to [remove the gravel] because the cars tend to wear that area out,” and explained that peanut grass and mulch were installed to stabilize the yard where there had been no grass.
Board members discussed prior cases and compromises that permitted gravel when paired with defined borders. Several members said the right-side gravel area should be reduced, and recommended adding a hardscape border and 2- to 3-foot tall planting to screen the surface. One member moved to approve the COA with modifications to screen the gravel with higher vegetation, require a border to hold the gravel, and confirm the fence cannot extend past the west and south facades of the house; another member seconded the motion and members voted in favor.
The board recorded the approval with conditions; the staff note that the granite element was not appropriate as presented remains part of the record and will require modification or separate review if the applicant seeks it later.
