Waco leaders are mulling a change to the city’s somewhat vague fence ordinance following several years of variance requests from residents piling up.
City staff has been considering changing the ordinance for about a year in an effort to address safety concerns, better-define fence rules and hopefully cut down on the large number of variance requests submitted to the city, Waco Planning Manager Laura Wagstaff said. As it stands now, Waco’s fence ordinance is short and sweet: one paragraph in the code of ordinances dictates that fences on property zoned for residential or office use can be no more than 6 feet tall, while fences in commercial or industrial zones can be no more than 8 feet tall.
The proposed new ordinance would better-define what kind of fences are and are not allowed, in addition to setting rules for fence installation and maintenance. While the 6-foot and 8-foot limits would remain in most places, the proposal adds a 4-foot limits for fences built in front yards, unless the fence is no more than 50% opaque. A fence with widely spaced pickets or bars, for example, could be less than 50% opaque. The rule for front yards would address safety concerns about visibility, Wagstaff said.
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“From a safety point of view, and if you have a 6-foot solid fence all the way around your property, you can’t see kids running out,” Wagstaff said. “The police department may have safety concerns regarding that as well. So just to try to create a little more visibility in the front yard for safety purposes.”
Both the old and proposed ordinances note that fences are subject to the city’s traffic code standards for sight obstructions on public roadways.
Waco Planning Director Clint Peters said the city has seen a lot of variance requests over the last three years from residents requesting to build a fence over the 6-foot limit. The large number of requests signaled to city staff that it was time to take a look at and possibly change the existing ordinance.
Under the proposal, residential fences in backyards may still be 6 feet tall, and it also includes automatic exemptions to reduce the number of variance requests. For example, if a residential fence is adjacent to an alleyway or commercial property, a height of 8 feet would be allowed without a need for a variance.
The proposed update also defines installation and maintenance requirements for fences. Property owners would be responsible for the installation and maintenance of fences, though permits would not be required for installation, Wagstaff said. Peters also said the ordinance will only apply to newly constructed fences and will not be retroactively applied to existing fences.
The Waco Plan Commission discussed the proposed ordinance during a meeting Tuesday. Wagstaff said the Plan Commission will review the draft ordinance during a meeting March 26 before presenting a finalized ordinance proposal for the Waco City Council to review during a meeting April 16.
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