Planning commission revamps fencing ordinance

The fencing ordinance will receive another makeover.

The planning commission voted to amend the fencing ordinance which will allow for a seven-foot fence, with 75 percent visibility in fences higher than four feet.

The planning commission wrestled with the changes for more than an hour. The major topic of concern was how high does the fence have to be to keep deer out of a homeowner’s yard. Initially, the proposed ordinance called for a maximum of a six-foot fence, with 50 percent visibility in the fencing material above four feet.

However, many said six-feet would not be high enough to keep deer out of residents’ yards.

“We need to allow the people to protect themselves,” board member and Saratoga town councilman Steve Wilcoxson said.

Despite agreeing residents should be allowed to put up fencing high enough to keep deer and animals out, many commission members felt there needed to be a limit on height and materials. One of the more outspoken members was Greg Cooksey, who said if there is not a limit on fencing height and materials, people’s fences could get out of control.

“If we are going to allow six-foot fences, why not just allow eight-foot solid stone walls, with glass on the top, with barbed wire, and everything else and just make compounds,” Cooksey said. His comments were referred to as facetious by several of the commission members.

Another concern with fence height was the impact of property values throughout town. Commission Chairman Rory Grubb still stands by his statement from July’s meeting, saying there perhaps needs to be differing fencing regulations for different neighborhoods throughout town.

The commission eventually decided any fence above four feet would need 75 percent visibility. Shannon said 75 percent visibility would be too difficult to regulate.

“Who is going to do the math,” Shannon said. “Fifty percent is easy — it’s every other board.”

Several audience members claimed they were forced to build seven-foot fences themselves in order to keep deer out of their yard. Many members of the commission took the advice of the residents and decided to implement seven foot fences into their ordinance. Additionally, the commission adopted 75 percent visibility in fencing above four feet.

In a separate interview, Wildlife Biologist with the Wyoming Game and Fish Will Schultz said he would not count on seven-foot fencing to 100 percent keep the deer out of residents’ yards.

The commission will vote on the amendments in the next planning commission meeting.

Moratorium on special use permits

The planning commission discussed a moratorium on the enforcement of special use permits pertaining to home occupations .

Planning commission member Tom Knickerbocker argued for placing a moratorium on special use permits pertaining to home occupations because he said a decision cannot be reached until the master plan is completed.

The planning commission has sporadically discussed an ordinance change in special use permits since December 2013.

The commission met in a February special meeting to complete the ordinance, but had additional questions for the town attorney. Since then, the commission has not been able to complete the ordinance.

Wilcoxson said it is time for the planning commission to take action on the hot-button issue.

“We can’t just ignore the law,” Wilcoxson said. “You have to ask for either a moratorium or you have to change the law.”

Grubb agreed it was time to enforce the ordinance.

“Until it is changed, they need to go with what they have,” Grubb said. “I have said it publicly, and I will say it again tonight, I think we need to enforce it. We are opening ourselves up to all kinds of stuff if we just let a moratorium on special use permits. Anybody can do anything they want to because there is a moratorium … and frankly that seems crazy.”

After previous discussions with town attorney Tom Thompson, Cooksey stated home occupation infractions are extremely hard to enforce.

“There is not a judge in Wyoming that will enforce it,” Cooksey said.

Shannon said placing a moratorium on special use permits for home occupations until the master plan is completed keeps the planning commission “in limbo.”

“We decided in December to recommend these changes to the town council. I still feel we should move ahead, make the corrections that the attorney suggested and finalize the proposal for the town council.”

The planning commission members agreed with Shannon, and voted to move forward with finalizing the ordinance.

Bylaws

In order to cease the continual debate over bylaws, the planning commission decided to delegate a small task-force to tackle the project.

The alterations of bylaws have been discussed since the early part of the 2014. The planning commission has made minimal progress. Cooksey, Shannon and Knickerbocker will meet outside the meetings to complete a final draft of the bylaws and submit it to the board for final approval. The special committee will have the bylaws completed and ready for the commission’s view by the next planning commission meeting.

The next meeting will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 14 at Saratoga Town Hall.