A dispute between neighbors in the west Augusta’s Highgate neighborhood was on the agenda for the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) June 21 meeting.
Richard and Gwendolyn Bakeman petitioned for a variance at their home on Wheeler Road to install an eight-foot-tall fence at the rear portion of their property, adjacent to Regent Road. The Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance restricts fences higher than six feet along rear or side yards in R-1 Residential zoned areas.
Paul and Carolyn Simon own the adjacent property and are developing a home, roughly 20 feet from the Bakemans’. The proposed fence would be along the front corner of the Simons’ house, along the back of the Bakemans’ property line.
“Just to give us a little bit of privacy in my own backyard, which we had before that original property was destroyed and several trees taken down,” said Richard Bakeman to the board, referring to a smaller house that was demolished on the neighboring parcel before the Simons began construction on their home. “Now a big house is within 20 feet of the property line; so we just wanted to add a little bit more privacy that we originally had.”
Bakeman explained to the board members that the windows to the Simons’ house face his backyard, making the Bakemans’ swimming pool deck visible from the Regent Road property.
The Simons objected to the request, with Paul Simon saying that a six-foot fence would suffice for privacy and that the eight-foot fence, which would be in view from the front door of their home, would “look like a stockade.” He further noted that the Simons own swimming pool would be visible from a treehouse overlooking from the Bakemans’ property.
Board Vice Chair Sean Mooney asked the disputants whether they had tried to discuss the matter beforehand, to seek a mutually beneficial solution. Bakeman and the Simons both indicated that they each had talked about the matter, but had not reached an agreement. The Simons also noted their plan to build their own six-foot fence and plant shrubbery along the property line.
“Before this body makes a decision I just pose it to you both… [to] give yourself a month to discuss in further detail, the landscaping that’s going to provide the necessary privacy,” said Mooney. “We can always revisit this next month.”
Other board members echoed the sentiment, proposing tabling the matter, which board Chair Evett Davis described as “offering an olive branch” before a vote was made one way or another.
“You all still have to live in close proximity with one another,” Davis said. “And so it is the desire of the board for us to try to do things in a peaceful manner, because these are significant dollars that are being spent; this is a significant investment.”
Neither side embraced the suggestion to postpone. Planning staff recommended disapproval of the request. The board ultimately denied the variance request, with all present members voting against it save for Mooney, who abstained.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
