"Goedjn" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 12:24:16 -0700, "Zootal" nousenetspam at dead ice
dot us wrote:

I live in Lebanon, OR. The city prohibits the constructing of a fence
within
15 feet of the property line on any side of a property facing a street. I
have a large square lot on a corner, and I want to put up a fence around
my
barkyard. Not being able to go to within 15 feet of my property line means
I
loose a big chunk of my back yard.

Does anyone have any experience on getting a variance from the city to do
something like this, IE put a fence closer to the property line when the
city rules/laws say you can't? How would you go about doing so, what are
the
chances of success?


What do you want the fence to do, and how do they define "fence"?
Does a hedge count? How about an earth berm? Or a series
of concrete statues?
(They're not going to give you a variance.)


This information is published in a "fence building guideline" that explains
that oh, by the way, there is a 15 foot setback along front and side lots
where *nothing* can be more then 30 inches high.

I want the fence so I can include that area (about 15 X 100 feet or so) in
my back yard, plant fruit trees and vegetables, and enjoy my property with
security and privacy that a fence gives. If I can't do it, I'll have to rip
out 5 fruit trees that I planted a few months ago, and put up the fence 15
feet into my current back yard area and basically kiss all of that property
goodbye. There is little I can do with it if it's outside the fence.

The current fence is actually a foot or two into city property. The previous
owner put it there - I did not know it wasn't on the property line until we
started to research this. So I loose about 3 feet to the city since it's not
my property to start with, then I loose 15 feet more because of their
setback.