Port Orange planning commission motion to allow 6-foot corner-lot fence fails after residents, staff disagree

The Port Orange planning commission voted down a motion to allow a property owner to keep a 6-foot vinyl fence on a corner lot, after staff recommended denial and neighbors and HOA leaders urged consistent enforcement.

Tim Berman, community development staff, told the commission the fence — installed about 2015 and discovered through code enforcement — sits on a corner lot that by code has a primary and secondary front yard. He said the fence’s setback meets sight-triangle requirements and the police reported no accidents, but staff recommended denial because the city’s corner-lot provisions do not allow the taller fence in that secondary front yard location without a variance. “That is why staff’s recommendation was not to approve the variance,” Berman said.

The applicant’s representat…