COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The Coldwater Zoning Board of Appeals granted a height variance request Wednesday night for a new five-foot residential fence at Belle and Michigan Avenues.
The front yard fence being replaced was built in 2011.
Applicant Sandy Ball’s request covered two areas. The Zoning Ordinance limits fences located within a front yard to a maximum height of four feet, six inches. Ball requested the installation of a six-foot fence but agreed to the five-foot fence which was approved by the Z.B.A..
The Zoning Ordinance also requires that any fence located within a front yard be decorative and have at least 50 percent opacity. The applicant sought relief to allow for the installation of a solid fence instead.
Ball said her dogs are tall enough to possibly jump a four-foot fence or go through a picket fence. She added a picket fence also would allow views of the dogs and people may cause the animals to charge.
That corner has always been an eyesore, and worse than that, a traffic hazard. Between the fence and the tall weeds she calls flowers.j8