Fencing ordinance sees cuts

For those who are waiting for the fencing ordinance to be finalized, they are going to be waiting a little bit longer.

The Saratoga Planning Commission met March 10 to discuss the new fencing ordinance that had been rewritten by planning commission member Tom Knickerbocker.

Discussion went on for nearly an hour before the board decided to remove most of the wording to simplify the ordinance.

The ordinance is to be amended with the changes and presented to the board for next month.

The reason for the change in the ordinance is to protect property from deer. Since deer can jump fence up to six feet high, the planning commission has spent the last few months reviewing and rewriting the ordinance.

One of the concerns the planning commission has - they want to avoid unintended consequences.

Discussion of whether to require property owners to have their property surveyed was discussed and comments were made that it would add an expense to the property owner.

Since most of the older lots in town have not been surveyed, there could be property disputes.

Saratoga Town Engineer Chuck Bartlett recommended rather than requesting property stakes, which would required a survey, to change the wording to property corners.

Bartlett said since it is the property owner’s responsibility to know where his property line is, there is no liability to the town.

Commission member Will Faust, who is also the town council representative, said that the law can not be written to cover every possibility and that as long as “the buck stops with the board”, he has no problem going through each permit for approval.

Commission member Greg Cooksey had reservations about setting a precedence if the planning commission approves a fence for one property owner, but not another.

Once the ordinance has passed through the planning commission, it will have to go to the council and three readings before it becomes law.

The next planning meeting is at 5:30 p.m., April 14, 2015 at the Saratoga Town Hall.