It

just made sense to residents of Stonebriar

subdivision on Old Norton Road to fence in their

back yards.

The

problem is that, because their back yards abut

Old Norton Road, they're not back yards.

According to definitions in city ordinances,

they're front yards, and Fayetteville laws don't

allow front yards to be fenced.

During

tonight's City Council work session and Monday's

council business meeting, Teri Race Galloway will

appeal the city Planning Commission's denial of

his request for an exception to that rule.

The

commission voted 3-1 to deny the request, with

member Segis Lipscomb opposed, and rendered he

same vote on a similar request from Larry

McMichael.

Homes

in the subdivision face the subdivision street

Verdon Hill, with rear yards abutting Old Norton.

The city defines that situation as double

frontage.

Six-foot

privacy and safety fences already are in place in

the subdivision, because residents didn't know

about the city's ordinance banning fences for

double frontage lots, McMichael and Galloway told

the Planning Commission.

They

need their fences so their children and pets can

play in the back yard in safety, the residents

told commissioners. In addition to his request

for the variance, Galloway has filed a

constitutional objection to the ordinance, saying

it deprives him of proper use of his property.

"I

think people move in just like he did... they

don't know this ordinance exists," said

Lipscomb during the May 25 Planning Commission

meeting. "I don't think it's that

commonplace when somebody moves into a city that

they aren't allowed to build a fence," she

added.

"Let's

get the ordinance changed if you think it's

capricious and arbitrary," commission

Chairman Bill Talley responded.

Meanwhile,

commissioners said, they aren't allowed to grant

variances because the residents didn't know about

the ordinance.

City

Council will discuss the matter during its work

session tonight at 7 at City Hall, with a vote

scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m.

Also

on the agenda:

� Proposals for widening, curb

and gutter, sidewalks and drainage improvements

for Church Street between Lanier Avenue and

Georgia Avenue. The project is one element in the

city's downtown revitalization efforts. Impact

fees will pay for the work.

� Award of a bid for drainage

improvements on Wyngate Circle. The city plans to

replace a 36-inch storm sewer with a 54-inch pipe

to relieve flooding of upstream property. City

engineer Don Easterbrook said the county Public

Works Department has agreed to help with other

flooding problems in the same area, providing

labor and equipment for similar work at Wedgewood

Drive and paces Drive.

� A rezoning and annexation

request for Argonne Forest, a 127-acre

subdivision and 17-acre office park planned for

New Hope Road at Ga. Highway 314. The Planning

Commission has recommended that the annexation be

approved, but that the residential portion of the

project be zoned R-30, requiring

three-quarter-acre lots, rather than R-22 as

developer Bob Rolader is requesting.

Rolader

told The Citizen recently that he can't make the

project work if the land is zoned R-30. He plans

152 homes and 15 office lots. Council won't act

on Rolader's request Monday, because such

requests have to be formally read twice. Second

reading will be in July.

� A request from Fenwyck

subdivision for speed humps. Two humps would cost

about $1,000 each, Easterbrook informs the

council, adding that the homeowners' association

is expected to assume the cost. Easterbrook said

he is checking with the state Department of

Transportation to make sure installation of speed

humps won't keep the state from resurfacing the

subdivision streets later on.

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