Webster Groves Residents Protest Algonquin Fence

The Webster Groves City Council sought residents’ input about an ordinance regarding front yard fence requirements at a public hearing Tuesday night.

The ordinance, if passed, would amend the city’s zoning code to require front yard fences in residential areas to be decorative and at least 50 percent open. The ordinance also would require any fences built in residential areas on non-residential properties, for example schools or churches, to be approved by the Architectural Review Board.

Most community members in attendance showed up to the hearing to protest a particular fence recently built around the . The fence is a 4-feet-tall stockade fence, which residents say blocks visibility on certain corners, creates a safety hazard for people walking after dark and is just plain ugly.

Webster Groves resident Mary Ellen Kruger presented a petition to the council with 104 signatures of community members who would have objected the fence's construction if given the chance. She also brought a section of stockade fence to the hearing in order to demonstrate that simply removing every other slat would improve its appearance and make the fence less opaque. Pam Larson, another resident, asked the council for immediate relief if possible.

"We're here because we're suffering," Larson said. "They're going to put bushes all around their side, and when those golfers go through on their golf carts, they'll barely notice it probably. We can do nothing on our side. We want a friendly open neighborhood; we want to have it restored to what it was for a hundred years before they got there with this stockade fence."

City Attorney Helmut Starr said that because the fence at Algonquin is already constructed, the height and openness requirements of the amendment in question would not affect the structure. It could be three to seven years before the city could ask Algonquin to replace the fence with one that complies with the proposed amendment, he added.

City Manager Steve Wylie told residents that the city could however reinspect the intersection where there are concerns about visibility. The city could then explore possible solutions to the problem with Algonquin management.

As the council debated the fence ordinance, questions arose about the definition of a decorative fence, and whether the current amendments do enough to correct visibility problems like the one residents complained of with the Algonquin fence. Mayor Gerry Welch suggested reducing the maximum height of residential decorative fences from 4 to 3.5 feet. The council agreed that the measure would help correct visibility issues.

Councilman Ken Burns suggested that the 50 percent openness ratio was too large and limited residents' options in fence designs. Also, some debate occurred about whether the language of the ordinance suggests that horizontal supports would count against openness or not.

Before the council votes on the ordinance at its March 15 meeting, city staff will reconsider language that deals with horizontal supports, as well as determine the definition of “decorative,” in regard to residential fences.