Dallas Board of Adjustment grants fence exceptions at 3226 Longview Avenue

The Board of Adjustment Panel C on Jan. 23, 2025 granted two special exceptions allowing a six-foot, largely opaque fence at 3226 Longview Avenue, the home of applicant Raul Cortez Garcia.

The first motion, made by board member Andrew Finney and seconded by Agnes Sachington, approved a special exception to the Dallas Development Code’s fence-height requirement to permit a six-foot fence. The board voted 4–0 to grant the exception, with one member recused. The motion required compliance with the most recent version of the submitted plans.

A second motion, again moved by Finney and seconded by Sachington, granted a special exception to the code’s openness (surface-area) requirement to allow a fence with less than 50% open surface and located less than 5 feet from the front lot line. That motion also passed 4–0. The board attached the same condition: compliance with the opacity and fence-location details shown on the most recent submitted plans.

Applicant Raul Cortez Garcia told the board he built the fence after being told by a city office that a permit was not required. He described the project as a neighborhood-standard fence and said it is intended to protect his household and pets. “We have 4 doggies,” Garcia said during his presentation, adding that he noticed similar fences nearby and that he had taken care to comply with visibility triangles at the alley and driveway.

Garcia presented photos and a map showing roughly a four-block radius of comparable fences. He said code-enforcement complaints from neighbors led to the current case. The board heard no speakers in opposition.

Board members discussed the site’s layout and neighborhood character. The applicant’s lot was described during the hearing as a key lot — a configuration that can make side-yard and front-yard setbacks interact differently than on standard lots; the board noted that this is one reason a variance/special exception was appropriate for the property’s circumstances. One board member described the fence as “aggressive” in appearance relative to the generally more open character of the neighborhood but said that, on balance, the fence did not adversely affect neighboring properties and supported approval.

The board’s orders require that the fence be built and maintained in the locations and with the height and opacity shown in the most recent submitted plans. The board’s administrator will mail the written orders to the applicant; those documents will become part of the public record.