GILLETTE, Wyo. – An ordinance that would allow residents to have taller fences within city limits will go before the Gillette City Council on Tuesday for its third and final reading.
If approved, the ordinance will allow city residents to build fences up to eight feet tall, according to the City of Gillette.
Taller fences have been a request fielded by the City Planning Division over the past five years to allow for increased privacy and protection from neighboring landowners, per the city.
“The City Planning Division has considered these requests and can find no real justification to not allow an increase in fence height with certain stipulations as represented in the proposed ordinance,” the city says.
With the ordinance, the long-standing maximum fence height of 6.5 feet for side and rear yards will be raised to 8 feet, though the maximum fence height for front yards will remain at 4 feet, per the city.
The ordinance will also allow the construction of walls and retaining walls up to 8 feet tall, including a screening fence plus barbed wire, the city says, adding that all sight triangles must be clear or covered with an open meshed fence.
Fences and walls still need to be approved with a building permit and be engineered to withstand local wind loads, the city says.
“Though this is an added cost to the homeowner, this requirement provides for public health, safety, and welfare of all citizens who desire taller fences, walls, and retaining walls as well as their neighbors,” according to the city.
