Residents request survey exemption on fences

WORLAND – A Worland resident approached the Board of Adjustment and Planning Commission (BAPC) and city inspector about a fence concern following the adoption of the revised Chapter 24 – Zoning of the Worland City Code.

Under the new chapter a new fence on “the rear and side yard may be placed on any portion of the side and rear yard … by finding the existing legal corners or a professional survey.”

Lacey Shaffer said the concern arose after she went to the humane society to adopt a dog for her children and was told she could not adopt a dog without a fenced yard.

Shaffer was willing to get estimates on fence, but found out an interior fence could not be put up without the survey, and the survey costs just as much as it would be to put in a $3,000 fence.

She asked the board, “Are there any thoughts on modifications or exclusions (for surveys) … we’re not wanting to go and build out to our alleys. There’s an existing partial fence in the back and we have come into agreement with our neighbor where our property line is … so we were just wondering if there was any room to allow a case-by-case basis?”

City Building Inspector Nick Kruger said this has come up before numerous times and agreements between neighbors do not always work out long term because in his time as a building inspector he’s seen numerous people buy homes where the new buyer does not agree with the previous owner’s decision to move property lines.

“We looked into the existing property lines and binding contracts and we could not find where the original subdivision plat could be modified in a two-party agreement between two land owners and still be binding for a future land owner,” Kruger said.

Shaffer said she has been in contact with a lawyer to make the contract a legal binding document and the lot line agreement between her neighbors would be included with the property taxes in the assessor’s office, but to her understanding it might not hold for 40 years.

Kruger said he and City Planner Ron Vanderpool can give an estimate where things are at, but have no liability and even if they were to tell a resident something that turned out to be false they would have no liability and as a building official he does not feel right to give her the OK.

“The only people in state statute that can define a property line are licensed surveyors,” he said, and added, “It’s really any new structure, extension to any existing structure or fencing that triggers this requirement (surveyor) based on this section of chapter 24,” Kruger said.

After much discussion the BAPC tabled the issue and decided to put it on their agenda for the next BAPC meeting on Aug. 11.

BAPC Chair Garret Immesoete said the board may have to address the fence ordinance and other things to clean up the chapter in a resolution for the city council to approve.