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Building lines
Posted by neggs on July 16, 2021 at 2:26 pmHello all,
I have a question regarding building lines.
Do they just pertain to buildings or also to fences?
In my neighborhood we never had a front fence erected and now one of my neighbors is planning on putting one up to the front line, my subdivision is 50 years old with 300 houses and not one has a front yard fence. i am anticipating the building department not letting them do that but if they approve it i would like some precedent to show them.
Thank you
Steve
dmyhill replied 2 years, 9 months ago 12 Members · 20 Replies- 20 Replies
Do I understand the question correctly? A guy wants to put a fence up on his own property and you are looking for help to find ways to stop him?
Building set back lines shown on a plat are normally only for buildings, however, I have encountered one case where the city codes officer has interpreted that to also apply to fences. So it would be best to check this out on the subdivision plat and list of covenants before doing anything.
Lots of places have fences on the street side. No general problem there. There may be something in your CC&Rs, if applicable, but there is no general prohibition on such things.
There are likely to local ordinances regarding fence heights, etc. The primary issue is likely to be sight distance for cars and people using the driveway. A driver has to be able to see up and down the street for some reasonable distance before pulling out.
Note that the right of way line – the legal limit of the road – is not (usually) the same as the paved and improved way. Frequently, one could say usually, the right of way line is well back into what unenlightened property owners consider their front yard. A fence that is on or behind the line will be less of a problem than one that is inside the public right of way.
You need to check with your town’s building/code enforcement department. Some require fences to be built on a setback
The only way to stop this; point your finger at the wording in your CC&R’s and let him know that his dues will go for hiring an attorney to stop his flagrant disregard for law, order and unity!
I hope everyone has a great day; I know I will!@dougie
Please spell out C C & R for us hillbillies.
Building setback lines are almost always for buildings, hence the name.
It would make no sense to force someone to build fences 10, 20, or sometimes up to 50 or more feet away from the property line.
I too am interested in why would you want to stop someone from building a fence on their own property, as well as why they would need a permit from a “building department” to do so…
“…people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.” -Neil PostmanAnd, to be clear, the professional you need is a lawyer. They are the ones that party A uses to tell party B what to and what not to do on party B’s property.
You may or may not have a reasonable concern, but it is not a survey issue.
-All thoughts my own, except my typos and when I am wrong.- Posted by: @neggs
What is covered by a building line?
Hmmmm…… why is a mouse when it spins?
@dougie
Very few. But, whatever Mammy Yokum sez is da law.
Where I live this would be initially under the purview of the county or municipality zoning and/or building code having authority where the property is located.
In Maryland there are:
23 Counties
1 Independent City
157 Cities, Towns and Villages
Which give you 181 possible answers to the questions before even considering private covenants and homeowners association regulations.
@norman-oklahoma How tall is green?
Possible you could end up with more than just a fence to look at?
WillyMy HOA doesn’t even allow us to get to the side building lines. We can only come straight back off the rear corners of the house. It’s more so for pools and keeping lake access open otherwise they really don’t want you to have them.
In Alaska I don’t think there are any HOA’s outside of Los Anchorage.
Can you imagine? I remember when I moved from Homer to Seattle and discovered that people thought it was their business to tell others how to maintain their yards. Seemed crazy to me at the time.
-All thoughts my own, except my typos and when I am wrong.
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