Manchester Council issued a new fence ordnance mid December and it appears the only tangible difference from codified ordinance is the inclusion of a 1 foot fence setback.
Elements mix maintenance requirements, address vegetation and oddly include hedges. It is unnecessary and wasteful to combine elements that already exist in more detail with current codified ordinance, especially considering council does not enforce ordinance uniformly. The good news is the less specific new ordinance supersedes stricter ordinance so there is considerably more leeway to stray.
Supersession and severability clause’s, general haphazard construction and graphics to illustrate simple concepts raise the question, “why waste hundreds of taxpayer dollars concocting a NEW, less functional ordinance?
Considering the failure and refusal of council, community staff, inspector and law enforcement individuals to uniformly follow codified ordinance for, fences, setback, maintenance, material storage and property coverage, this rewrite doesn’t make sense.
Maybe it’s because Robert Rolen died in a fire last October, 6 short blocks from the fire station and it’s still under investigation 4 months later. The damage occurred in an environment that failed to meet numerous ordinance so maybe this “NEW” ordinance was thrown together in a questionable attempt to protect someone or someone’s from culpability or liability.
The 1 foot setback creates requires property owners to trespass to comply, it creates a hardship for yard maintenance and creates the potential for assault.
Rational standard fence setback is universally two (2) or three (3) inches. One foot does not allow property owners space to trim between the fence and the property line and two – one foot setbacks doesn’t eliminate trespass which Manchester cannot override.
In my block, council allowed; installation of unsightly hate fences, illegal fence construction, violations of property setback, and unpermitted – non-complying sheds. One resident took 42 feet from a neighbor, decades later purchased the land leaving the selling property violating the building to property ratio.
I don’t believe in blind adherence but when raising some of these issues to community staff and council they flatly refused to enforce ordinance. That’s 4 out of 5 properties surrounding me that council allowed and supported the violation of state and local ordinance. Is this just a waste of taxpayers money and the NEW ordinance will be enforced like existing ordinance?
I prefer getting and try to get along with neighbors. I fully support the modern movement for open space. To achieve that neighbors must mutually respect each other and work out problems to the MUTUAL satisfaction of both as governed by the law.
Rational ordinance design should create a better environment and support agreeable behavior between residents instead of another arbitrary ordinance used as punishment.
Short of that, Manchester council should not create ordinance that encourages and ineffectively protects scofflaws and criminals who push their way by threat of violence. They should create laws that build understanding and make Manchester a better place to live for everyone.
What's next? 