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Planning board recommends allowing vinyl‑coated chain‑link fences, with limits
Summary
After public comment and debate, the planning board voted narrowly to recommend removing the prohibition on chain‑link fencing from the city's LDRs, amending the language to allow metal chain link only if vinyl coated (black or green). The recommendation will go to the city commission for final action.
The Dade City Planning Board recommended that the city commission remove the existing prohibition on chain‑link fences from the land development regulations, with an amendment limiting permitted chain‑link to metal materials and specifying vinyl coating in black or green.
Staff explained the prohibition dated to the 2014 LDR adoption and said the city commission asked staff to draft language allowing chain link so that existing fences could be brought into compliance and residents could replace or repair fences without costly variances. Board members and many residents debated front‑yard aesthetics, backyard allowances, the cost burden of replacing fences for low‑income homeowners, and whether the city should require coated chain link to make the product less visible.
Public commenters described situations where older chain‑link fences were put in based on incorrect boundary advice and then later became nonconforming; others said vinyl‑coated or black/green options would 'disappear' into landscaping. After discussion a motion (including an amendment that chain link be vinyl coated and limited by color) passed by a narrow margin; the transcript records the final tally as 3 in favor and 2 opposed. The board's recommendation and specific language changes will be forwarded to the city commission for final decision on amending the LDRs.
