[RP TownTalk] Fwd: Re: Ordinance 2014-OR-01

[Chris Currie]

I was involved in revising Hyattsville's fence ordinance a decade ago.  The
city's Code Enforcement Advisory Committee drafted proposed revisions that
were presented to the Council.  I can't remember precisely whether those
were voted down or whether there was so much opposition expressed by
Councilmembers that they weren't brought to a vote.  In any case, I thought
some of the reforms merited serious consideration by the Council and spent
quite a bit of time refining the proposal to reflect current engineering
standards as well as the tenor of the City's diverse culture.

My vague recollection -- which, again, might not be accurate after all
these years -- is that the committee's draft included a ban on chain link
fencing in the front yard.  In any case, I definitely recall that some
residents asked that this prohibition be included in our ordinance --
specifically citing Riverdale Park's ban on chain link.  (Which is why I
was initially bewildered by the discussion here.)  I conducted an informal
poll of residents about several aspects of front-yard fencing, including
chain link.  A large majority of respondents in my unscientific survey
supported banning chain link; however, a significant minority opposed this.
 Also, then-Mayor Gardiner expressed his opposition to banning chain link
fencing, citing its prevalent use in his West Hyattsville neighborhood.

Because I didn't feel there was really a consensus in Hyattsville to
prohibit chain-link fencing, and that by far the most important goals of
such an ordinance were health and safety, not aesthetics, my proposed
ordinance did not contain a ban of chain-link fencing in residential front
yards.  No Hyattsville Council-drafted legislation ever contained such a
ban.  My bill was passed by the Council in late 2004.

I think every community has its own standards about what is acceptable and
not acceptable in aesthetics.  And it is true that socio-economic factors
tend to play a role in these cultural attitudes.  It is therefore perhaps
unsurprising that University Park and College Park ban front-yard fences
altogether, while Riverdale Park allows them but bans chain link, and
Hyattsville has nothing but height and visibility-through restrictions.  I
don't think there is anything wrong with any of these approaches.

The important thing is that the safety of our citizenry is enhanced by
fence regulation -- particularly of our children.  By prohibiting fencing
in the front yard that is overly tall or not visible through, cars entering
and exiting driveways and intersections can adequately see pedestrians
(especially children, who also are least likely to be careful passing these
vehicular intersection points).

Chris Currie


Message: 1
Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 04:23:12 -0800 (PST)
From: Nina Faye <ns_faye at yahoo.com>
To: "James D. Holmes" <jdholmes at comcast.net>,
        "towntalk at riverdale-park.org" <towntalk at riverdale-park.org>
Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] Fwd: Re:  Ordinance 2014-OR-01
Message-ID:
        <1391084592.17507.YahooMailNeo at web122205.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

I do not know the specifics of the proposed Riverdale fence ordinance, but
I can tell you that we had a Council some years ago in Hyattsville that
tried to outlaw residential chain-link fences.? The citizens made it very
clear that we thought it was a silly effort to legislate aesthetics and was
over-regulation.? We are still trying to rectify some other silly things
that Council did, but the anti-chain-link fence ban went nowhere.? I,
personally, might prefer the "look" of other fencing, but?our current home
came with chain-link.? It has?been very handy for keeping small children
and pets either in or out of the yard.? It also works well as a support for
peas, beans, gourds, morning glories, etc.
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