For the purpose of this article, the following words shall have the following meanings, respectively, as set forth below:
Fence.
A mesh, solid, or systematically spaced and adjoined barrier so positioned as to confine, separate or enclose, regardless of the material of which same is made, constructed or grown, which is not a part of or enclosed within any building.
Person.
Any person, firm, association, partnership or corporation.
Swimming pool.
Any enclosure holding two feet of water or more for purposes of recreational swimming or bathing; this shall include spas, saunas, hot tubs, and both above-ground and below-ground pools; this shall not, however, include any such enclosure that is contained entirely within an enclosed building equipped with doors and windows and/or gates equipped with locks sufficient to secure same against unauthorized entry.
(1987 Code, ch. 3, sec. 11A; 2004 Code, sec. 3.901)
(a) 
No person shall build, erect or maintain any new fence, as defined in this article, without first obtaining a permit for such fence from the city.
(b) 
No person shall rebuild any existing fence, as defined in this article, which existing fence is not in conformity with the requirements of this article, without first obtaining a permit for rebuilding such fence from the city.
(c) 
No permit, however, shall be required for the repair or reconstruction, in whole or in part, of an existing fence which does conform to the requirements of this article, provided the rebuilding does not increase the original perimeter of the fence.
(d) 
No permit is required for minor repairs of existing nonconforming fences, and such repairs will be deemed minor if they do not involve more than twenty-five percent (25%) of the above-ground area of the fence, measured from ground to top and from corner to corner, or end to end, or end to corner, on any straight line of the fence.
(1987 Code, ch. 3, sec. 11B; 2004 Code, sec. 3.902)
(a) 
Fence materials; setback.
(1) 
Fence materials.
(A) 
Permitted materials.
Permitted construction materials are brick, stone, masonry, natural and treated woods, ornamental metal, PVC fence material, metal tubing, or wrought iron, decorative aluminum or metal having a factory-applied nonmetallic matte finish, and chain-link. Vinyl or fiberglass composite materials may be utilized if the material is listed, designed, and constructed for fencing materials. Metal posts will be allowed on wood fences.
(B) 
Prohibited materials.
Prohibited construction materials are rope, string, wire products including but not limited to chicken wire, hog wire, wire fabric, barbed wire (except as allowed in other sections of this code), razor ribbon wire and similar welded or woven wire fabrics, chain, netting, cut or broken glass, paper, metal panels, corrugated metal panels, galvanized sheetmetal, plywood, fiberglass panels or plastic panels or any other materials that are not specifically manufactured as fencing materials. No person shall weave or use slats of any material, including but not limited to metal, fiberglass, bamboo, or mesh, through a chain-link fence to create a blind or screening fence in a residential zoning district. No person shall construct a fence, retaining wall, screen or barrier of used, damaged, or unsafe material. The building official may require the applicant to provide the manufacturer’s standards to establish the intended use of a proposed fencing material.
(2) 
Setback.
The following setback restriction applies:
(A) 
Front yard.
No fence, retaining wall, screen, or barrier may be built nearer to the street onto which the main house or building faces than the main house or building itself. Exceptions to this restriction may be made for schools and in commercial and industrial zoning districts, if required for topographical or structural support.
(b) 
Gates.
At least one gate must provide access into the fenced area. A gate must also provide access by a reasonable route to any adjoining alley. Swimming pool gates have additional requirements as hereinafter provided.
(c) 
Height.
The following height requirements shall apply to fences erected in the city:
(1) 
Residential zoning districts.
(A) 
Maximum height: Eight (8) feet.
(B) 
Minimum height: Four (4) feet.
(2) 
Nonresidential zoning districts.
(A) 
Maximum height: Eight (8) feet.
(B) 
Minimum height: Six (6) feet.
(d) 
Placement on property lines; extending outside property line.
A fence may extend up to and include the property line, at the rear and side yards, but shall not violate the setback line on the front yard. No fence, guy wire, brace, vee arm, barbed wire, base or any other structure on a fence shall extend outside the property line of the applicant-owner, or into or across any alley or sidewalk.
(e) 
Placement in floodplain or drainage easement.
No fence may be built into, across or within a floodplain area or drainage easement in any manner which will alter, raise or impede the flow of water in these areas.
(f) 
Construction fences.
Fences required to protect pedestrian traffic around construction sites shall comply with the requirements of section 3306.1 of the current International Building Code.
(g) 
Animal pens.
Fences which will create a dog run or similar small enclosures for animals must be kept five (5) feet from any adjoining property line; provided, however, if the animal has the run of the entire yard of the premises (excluding the front yard), this restriction will not apply.
(h) 
Barbed-wire fences.
Barbed-wire fences used in conjunction with agricultural and related uses in agricultural zoning districts shall be permissible, without restriction, but barbed-wire fences are expressly prohibited in all other zoning districts; provided, however, barbed-wire strands may be placed on top of permitted fences and screening elements in any zoning district for the purpose of security from theft, injury and hazard, such as around utility substations and similar uses, if the top strand is not higher than eight (8) feet, nor the bottom strand not lower than six (6) feet, from the adjacent grade line.
(i) 
Razor wire.
Razor-wire fences or razor wire on top of fences for any purpose is expressly prohibited in all zoning districts.
(j) 
Electric fences.
Electric fences are expressly prohibited in all zoning districts except where agricultural and related uses are permitted, and provided such fences in agriculture zoning districts are plainly marked at appropriate intervals with warnings as to the nature of the fence.
(k) 
Corner lots.
In order to prevent blind intersections, no fence shall be built to extend into the triangular area formed by the extension of the two curb lines to a point:
(1) 
25 feet from their intersection, for the intersection of a street and an alley, and connecting the points to form a 45-degree triangle; or
(2) 
45 feet from the intersection, for the intersection of two streets, and connecting the points to form a 45-degree triangle.
This restriction shall not apply in agricultural zoning districts or undeveloped areas, provided the fence is of wire strands or open mesh wire or similar construction that will not be any impediment to vision.
(l) 
Reconstruction of existing fences.
When a permit is required for the reconstruction or repair of any existing fence by prior provisions of this article, such existing fence must be updated to meet all of the requirements of this article in the making of such repairs and/or reconstruction.
(m) 
Screening of nonresidential uses.
Nonresidential uses shall be screened from view by any adjacent residential uses by solid fencing or walls along the length of the property on the side and rear yards and within the property required to erect the fencing. These fences or walls shall not encroach on any setbacks.
(n) 
Trash receptacles.
Outside storage areas of trash/recycling receptacles shall be at the rear or side of the building and completely screened by a solid fence or wall, which includes the gate. These areas of receptacles shall not encroach on any setbacks or buffer strip.
(o) 
Maintenance.
No wall or fence shall be constructed or maintained in a manner that would endanger the health and safety of the general public. The property owner shall be responsible for the maintenance of the fence or wall to ensure that it is neat and functional.
(1987 Code, ch. 3, sec. 11C; Ordinance 830, sec. 5, adopted 6/13/06; Ordinance 1128 adopted 10/9/18; 2004 Code, sec. 3.903)
(a) 
It shall be unlawful to build or maintain a swimming pool that is not completely enclosed within a building within the city, unless said swimming pool is enclosed with a fence that meets the requirements herein set forth.
(b) 
Every such swimming pool within the corporate limits of the city must be enclosed with an approved fence that is:
(1) 
At least 6 feet in height and so constructed that children cannot crawl under it;
(2) 
Be of materials having no opening, other than for doors and gates, larger than 4 square inches; and
(3) 
Be equipped with self-closing and self-latching gates or doors in good working condition, with the self-latching devices attached to the top one-third (1/3) of the door or gate.
(c) 
All doors and gates to the pool fence must be so equipped, and merely locking a non-self-latching/non-self-closing gate or door does not meet this requirement.
(1987 Code, ch. 3, sec. 11D; Ordinance 830, sec. 6, adopted 6/13/06; 2004 Code, sec. 3.904)
Every fence hereafter constructed, materially repaired or reconstructed within the corporate limits of the city shall be subject to inspection by the city at any time. If such inspection reveals that no permit has been obtained for such fence as herein required, or that such fence is not being constructed or repaired or reconstructed so as to conform to the requirements of this article, the city inspector will place a red tag thereon forbidding further work upon such fence. It shall be unlawful for any person to remove such red tag until all requirements of this article have been met, or the inspector has removed such tag and given permission to proceed. It shall also be unlawful for any person to do further work upon such fence, or in furtherance of its construction, repair or reconstruction, until such red tag has been lawfully removed from the fence site.
(1987 Code, ch. 3, sec. 11E; 2004 Code, sec. 3.905)
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of this article, or fail to comply with any requirement hereof, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. Each day that any violation of any provision of this article continues is expressly declared to constitute a distinct and separate offense, and this provision is particularly intended to apply to the continued work upon or the continued existence of any fence not meeting the requirements of the section or built without a permit required by this article.
(1987 Code, ch. 3, sec. 11F; 2004 Code, sec. 3.906)
(a) 
The city council may grant a variance or waiver from the requirements of this article in accordance with this article. The city council may grant a variance or waiver, after a public hearing, by an affirmative vote of a majority of the city council members present and voting on the matter.
(b) 
The applicant for a variance or waiver must provide in the application a specific explanation of the grounds or reasons upon which the variance or waiver request is based.
(c) 
At the time the variance or waiver application is filed, the applicant shall pay a fee in the amount set forth in the fee schedule in appendix A of this code to defray the costs of handling and processing the application. This fee shall not be refundable regardless of the disposition of the application.
(d) 
Notice shall be sent by United States mail, return receipt requested, not less than 10 days before the public hearing, to all property owners (as the ownership appears in the most current tax rolls for the city) whose property is located within 200 feet of any portion of the boundary of the property for which a variance or waiver has been requested.
(e) 
In order to grant a variance or waiver, the city council must determine that a literal enforcement of the regulations will create an unnecessary hardship or a practical difficulty for the applicant, that the situation causing the unnecessary hardship or practical difficulty is unique to the affected property and is not self-imposed, that the variance or waiver will not injure and will be wholly compatible with the use and permitted development of adjacent properties, and that the granting of a variance or waiver will be in harmony with the spirit and purpose of this article.
(f) 
The terms and conditions of the variance or waiver, if granted, shall be noted on the permit. If a variance or waiver application is denied by the city council, no other variance or waiver or like kind relating to the same building or proposed building shall be considered or acted upon by the city council for a period of six (6) months subsequent to the denial.
(1987 Code, ch. 3, sec. 11G; 2004 Code, sec. 3.907; Ordinance adopting 2021 Code)