By DAVE HAMRICK
Staff Writer

Neighborhood fence disputes continue to plague the Fayetteville Planning Commission.

The city's ordinances prohibit fences (other than four-foot ornamental fences) in front yards, and its definition of front yards includes any yard that's next to a road or street.

Therefore, the back yard of Diane DuBose's home on McIntosh Place Drive is legally a front yard. The home is on one of a series of lots that face McIntosh Place Drive with Creekwood Trail at their back doors.

DuBose's request for a variance to allow her to erect a six-foot fence in her back yard is one of a series of similar requests in recent months that have left Planning Commission members scratching their heads, and one member arguing that the law should be changed.

Segis “Al” Lipscomb said during last week's commission work session that she feels it's not reasonable to expect homeowners moving into a new subdivision to check city ordinances for laws governing fences. She suggested requiring that real estate agents inform prospective buyers of the law whenever they are selling “double frontage” lots.

“This is not like other zoning laws,” she argued, “because it's so unusual.”

Buyers often don't know about the law until they erect fences and then are cited by the city, Lipscomb said. And in many cases, they assume there's no problem building a fence because they see other fences in the neighborhood that were built before the city law went into effect, she added.

Meanwhile, DuBose's variance request is on the agenda for the Planning Commission's December meeting Tuesday, Dec. 14. She requested that the item be tabled from the commission's November meeting.

Commissioners will discuss Dubose's request during a work session Dec. 7. The work session is normally the second Tuesday with the business meeting the fourth Tuesday, but December's meetings have been moved up to avoid conflicts at Christmas time.

Planning commissioners invited public comment at their November work session since the item was on the agenda, and McIntosh Place neighbors launched into an hour-long discussion that ranged from disagreements over neighborhood covenants to personality conflicts.

Planning Commission acting chairman Kevin Bittinger pointed out that the commission has no jurisdiction over the covenants and other internal neighborhood disputes, but must judge the variance request on its own merits.

He also suggested that Lipscomb e-mail members with her thoughts on changing the ordinance for future discussion.