12/09/10 A 6 foot high stockade fence that has been in place for forty years was the subject of discussion at the Plymouth Board of Zoning Appeals this week. Dave and Michelle Langdon purchase the property in the 90’s and at that time of purchase the fence was already in place. Apparently a complaint or question on the location of the fence was brought to the City Building Commissioner and he determined there was no variance in place for the fence.
The rental duplex at 222 North Plum Street sits at the corner of Plum and Washington Streets. Because the house sits on a corner the duplex has two front yards which require a setback and a variance to allow for a fence in the front yard that is 6 feet tall.
The Langdons appeared before the Plymouth BZA Tuesday night and brought a letter of verification from the people who put the fence up in 1970. They also explained that each year they power-wash the fence and weather-proof it, thus giving the appearance of it being newer.
Since the fence has been in place for forty years members of the BZA felt like the fence was grandfathered in. They passed a motion to grandfather the fence and allow the variance for the fence.
The only other item on the agenda was the request of Steve Davis and Rhee Ann Baumgartner for a variance of development standard to reduce the side-yard setback from the standard of 10 feet to 3 feet to allow for a detached garage at 1300 Lake Avenue.
The property sits immediately to the east of the Washington School playground on Lake Avenue. The home and front yard are level and then in the back yard the property slopes down dramatically. The couple wants to place the garage near the home but not too close causing the need for the variance.
Looking at photographs of the home and property the Plymouth Board of Zoning Appeals approved a variance with a minimum of 3 feet at the west property line.
