Fayetteville homeowner will be allowed to build a

six-foot privacy fence in her backyard in

violation of the city's development standards.

City

Council approved the precedent-setting variance

Monday following several months of discussion and

a series of meetings both at the City Council and

Planning Commission levels.

City

law prohibits privacy fences in backyards within

the city if those backyards meet the law's

definition of a front yard, which includes any

yard that's next to a street.

Homes

that face two streets legally have two front

yards, and that has created a safety problem for

his child, said Newton Galloway in his appeal of

the Planning Commission's denial of his request

for a variance to allow the fence.

His

son plays in the backyard of the home on Verdon

Hill, and that backyard is next to busy Old

Norton Road, Galloway said.

In

previous meetings, council asked that Galloway

arrange to have restricted styles of fence

included in the neighborhood's covenants, and

provide for extensive landscaping to hide the

fence from the road, among other conditions of

approval.

City

engineer Don Easterbrook pointed out that, once

the variance was granted, any similarly placed

home in the city would be eligible for the same

consideration. "There are quite a number of

lots in the city like that," said Mayor Mike

Wheat.

But

Galloway argued that the conditions placed on

approval of the variance would narrow the number

of eligible lots to those that are on collector

roads like Old Norton, those that can meet the

restrictions on fence style and those where a

safety issue exists.

Council

aprpvoed the variance 3-2, with Larry Dell and Al

Hovey-King opposed. Kenneth Steele, Glenn Brewer

and Walt White voted in favor.

Truck parking

ordinance gets council OK

If

you're currently parking a semi tractor at your

home in the city of Fayetteville, you have 60

days (as of Tuesday morning) to get a permit to

continue doing so.

City

Council Monday approved a new ordinance banning

the parking of such rigs in residential areas,

but exempting owner/operators who already are

doing so. They provided a 60-day deadline for

filing a permit for the "grandfathered"

rigs.

City

officials have been discussing the proposed

ordinance for months. The Planning Commission

recommended the ordinance, but City Council asked

for more study after residents who currently park

their trucks at home objected, saying the

restriction would cause them to lose their

business.

The

grandfather clause solved that problem and, after

a few other changes, council approved the

ordinance Monday.

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