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Barbara Schultz’s house on South Schumaker Drive has had a chain-link fence around it since 2003.
The sturdy fence serves its purpose of keeping Duchess, her 11-year-old Irish setter, from wandering the neighborhood.
But now the retired Salisbury University professor and other Salisbury property owners are gearing up for a fight with the city over proposed new regulations for fences in residential districts that would strictly prohibit the use of chain-link and other wire fencing.
Arising from residents' concerns about depressed property values, an amendment to the city’s zoning code to change the rules for fences will be up for final approval at Monday night’s City Council meeting, but some modifications are expected to be made by then, said Mayor Jake Day.
Schultz and others disagree that the fences devalue properties.
“I don’t think they’re an eyesore,” she said. “And they’re good for keeping in pets and kids.”
Across town, Pinehurst Avenue resident Leslie Yarbo thinks the new rules are “misdirected.”
“The focus should be on what’s truly unattractive,” she said. “If aesthetics are the issue, let’s look at the whole city.”
The proposed changes also have caught the attention of the Salisbury Area Property Owners Association, a group representing landlords, which has asked City Council members to vote against the measure.
“The city has more pressing matters than restricting use of legitimate building materials,” the group’s president Bret Hopkins wrote in an email to council members. “Let’s get refocused on making the city a better place to work, play and live.”
Chain-link and wire fencing offers many advantages, including the ability of police officers to see into yards which promotes safety, he said. It also helps reduce blight because there is no surface area for graffiti.
Hopkins said the fencing is an affordable option that is easy to install and resists rust and mildew. It keeps small children and pets in, while keeping wild animals out.
Lynne Bratten, who owns rental properties in the city, agrees that while wire fences may not be as aesthetically pleasing as solid wood or vinyl, they have a lot of advantages.
The houses Bratten owns in the Church Street area have fences made of what she calls farm wire that help keep cars from driving on the grass and kids from running through yards. The wire fences also allow visibility to police officers patrolling the neighborhood, she said.
“I respect that chain-link and substantial wire fences are from a previous generation, however; they do provide security and safety to my properties and my clients,” she wrote in a letter to council members. “They allow them to see who and what is going on behind and around them, they prevent trespassing, they stop unlawful traffic through back and side yards, and they do not encourage or promote graffiti.”
The proposed new rules are what Bratten considers an invasion of property owners rights that, she says, came directly from the mayor himself.
“Why does his opinion of aesthetics get legislated?” she said. “It bothers me on so many levels.”
The proposed changes for fences are just one part of the city’s efforts to update its zoning code that dates back to the 1980s, Day said.
The city also will take a look at revising other parts of the zoning code including historic district guidelines, parking and signage, he said.
The use of chain-link fencing is something cited by property appraisers and developers as having a direct negative impact on property values, Day said. And it is something city residents have said they would like to see changed.
“This is one people often mention,” he said.
In addition to prohibiting chain-link fences in residential zones, the proposed amendment to the zoning code would ban fences made of scrap lumber, chicken wire, hog fencing, wooden pallets, garage doors, sheet metal and tarps.
Chain-link fences would still be allowed in certain commercial and industrial districts but must be installed with screening slats.
The Salisbury Planning Commission held a public hearing on the changes and several members raised concerns over the proposed new rules, but later agreed to them and forwarded then with a favorable recommendation to the mayor and council.
The City Council held a public hearing and first reading on the amendment June 12.
The ordinance to amend the zoning code will be on the City Council’s July 10 agenda for final approval, but Day said he and council members have discussed some modifications in response to the concerns of landlords.
“There are some perfectly reasonable points in there,” he said.
City officials were drafting modifications in time for Monday night’s meeting. Day said it is possible the council members may delay a vote in order to hold another work session.
Among the modifications would be allowing the use of chain link fences in back and side yards, as well as inside the property’s perimeter for dog runs or chicken wire around a garden, he said.
Once approved, the rules would apply only to new fences. Existing fences would be allowed to remain in place, but replacement fences would have to be made of approved materials.
Day said there are no penalties for violations but, in order to build a fence, property owners have to get a permit from the city.
Yarbo said most of Salisbury’s residential neighborhoods already look good, and the real eyesore is the commercial Route 13 corridor.
Route 13 aesthetics are expected to addressed by the city in the near future. She also thinks chain-link fences might be an appropriate option in some of the city’s poorer area.
“In some neighborhoods, chain link might be an improvement,” she said.
Chain link and wire might also be the only fencing materials some property owners can afford, she said.
Chain-link fencing costs between $6 and $8 per foot, compared to a 4-foot wood fence at $9 and a 6-foot wooden fence at $15 per foot, according to the website landscapenetwork.com.
Vinyl and wrought iron are even more costly, running $20 to $30 per foot, according to the website.
Bratten said the use of sturdy wire and chain-link fencing is an affordable and effective way for homeowners to protect and maintain their property.
“I support the desire to improve the aesthetics of the city and feel strongly that this can be accomplished through maintenance and repair of the fences currently approved,” she said.
Schultz said chain-link fences are durable and a good value.
“It will be here long after I’m not,” she said.
Twitter: @LizHolland5
Proposed changes
A proposed amendment to Salisbury’s zoning code would ban fences made of chain link, scrap lumber, chicken wire, hog fencing, wooden pallets, garage doors, sheet metal and tarps. Chain-link fences would still be allowed in certain commercial and industrial districts, but it must be installed with screening slats.
Since the ordinance was presented, City Council members have discussed some modifications to allow the use of chain-link fences in back and side yards, as well as inside the property’s perimeter for dog runs or chicken wire around a garden.
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