Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Fence Variance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Kathleen Tellez seeks variance to extend fence toward front of 212 South Ash; board advises survey, cites 1983 ordinance
Summary
Applicant Kathleen Tellez told the Hobart City Redevelopment Authority she wants to install a fence that extends toward the front of her property to give two small dogs yard space; the board advised she must submit a professional survey and noted the city's 1983 ordinance generally bars front-yard fences extending to the curb, with only grandfathered exceptions.
Kathleen Tellez, an applicant and resident, told the Hobart City Redevelopment Authority she wants to install a fence around the front and back of her house to provide “a little bit of space for my dogs to be able to run around a bit.”
The board examined aerial imagery and a site plan while members discussed where a fence might lawfully be placed. The Chair said the city code generally does not permit fences to extend past the front corner of a house toward the curb and warned that allowing such an extension would set a precedent. The Chair explained the city has allowed only limited front-yard fences that were in place before a code change, and that any new extension to the curb line would be inconsistent with the ordinance adopted in 1983.
Board members directed Tellez to obtain a professional property survey to confirm lot lines and usable side-yard space. The Clerk and other members suggested practical alternatives if the survey shows restricted space, including relocating a gate or adding a man door on the garage so the side yard can be used, or running a fence to the front corner of the house rather than out to the curb.
Tellez said there is already an existing fence on one side of the property and that she recently moved in and is on a fixed income, noting cost concerns about changing garage access. The Chair and Committee member discussed the neighborhood context, noting several fences are grandfathered because they predate the 1983 ordinance; board members repeatedly emphasized consistency with the ordinance as the guiding policy.
No final vote on a variance was taken at the meeting. The board advised Tellez to bring a stamped survey to the building department and to coordinate with neighbors and building staff on a revised plan that would meet code or document exceptional lot conditions that might warrant an allowance.
