Somerset building engineer to retire; staff flag fence code violations at multiple addresses

Somerset’s town manager announced that Building Engineer Doug submitted his retirement letter, with a last day of Jan. 31, 2025, and that Doug has offered to consult during the transition. "He has been working at the town since 2015 as building engineer," the manager said; the council agreed it must accept the letter under town code.

Doug then gave the building‑department report and described multiple fence issues. He said a recently constructed fence at 4716 Fallstone and an adjacent property do not conform to the town’s fence regulations and that owners had been issued notices but had not responded. Doug said the fence on one property begins closer to the curb than the approved site plan indicated and another fence may exceed permitted heights and faces the finished side toward a neighbor—both deviations from code. He recommended sending stop‑work orders or staff work orders to compel compliance.

Councilors asked staff to make additional outreach attempts before escalating enforcement. Councilor Kumar and others noted staff already had emailed owners and suggested one more contact attempt prior to issuing stop‑work orders. Councilors also raised related permitting questions about screen‑porch additions and lot‑coverage calculations; Doug said the department is reviewing submitted plans and will require lot‑coverage calculations for screened porches that become part of a building footprint.

Next steps: staff will attempt further contact with the property owners and, if there is no response, will issue work orders or stop‑work orders as appropriate while continuing permit reviews for pending additions.