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Applicant seeks front-yard fence to contain dogs; board cites ordinance and asks for survey
Summary
An applicant who identified herself as Kathleen asked to install a fence extending toward the front of her Garfield-area house to give two small dogs space. Planning staff and the chair cited the city's fence ordinance and precedent concerns; the board advised the applicant to obtain a property survey and consult the building department. No variance was approved on March 5.
An applicant who identified herself as Kathleen requested permission to install a fence running from the front corner of her house back to the alley to create a secure yard for two small dogs. “I have 2 little dogs and the lot is consumed by house mostly all the way back to the alley,” Kathleen said while describing the property and showing photos she described as AI-generated representations of her plan.
The chair and planning staff said Hobart’s fence rules make front-yard fences an exception reserved for unusual lot configurations and cautioned against setting a precedent. “We can't be careful, because if we allow you to do that, then we're setting precedent,” the chair said. Planning staff explained the ordinance’s narrow allowance for exceptions: extraordinary circumstances must relate to the land (for example, a lot that effectively places the front yard where the ordinance would normally treat it as backyard), not to an owner's health or financial status. “Those extraordinary circumstances … in order to apply have to do with the land,” planning staff said.
Board members and staff walked through aerial imagery and discussed alternatives: placing a gate or man door on the garage to access an existing side area, or moving fencing to the side yard rather than extending fully to the curb. Planning staff and the chair repeatedly recommended the applicant obtain an official property survey to confirm property lines and encouraged her to work with the building department before reapplying. “You need to have a survey done, like, an actual survey to find out how much space you have there,” a board member said; the applicant acknowledged she would pursue a survey.
No vote to grant a variance or to approve the proposed front-yard fence was recorded in the transcript. The board’s direction was procedural: obtain a survey, consult building/inspection staff, and return with corrected or complete materials if seeking formal relief.
