A homeowner on Lebanon Road in Fannin County has built a fence, using pressure treated 6x6 posts, in the county’s right of way that county officials have deemed to be potentially dangerous.
“From what I’ve seen, that’s a pretty dangerous thing right there,” Chairman Stan Helton said. “As you’re going in towards Highway 2, you have kind of a gentle curve there. If somebody hit that with a motorcycle, I’d be very concerned about it.”
Building Inspector Keith Nicholson explained that the fence is placed approximately 8 to 10 feet off the edge of the pavement of Lebanon Road, which is well within the right of way that designates 50 feet from the center line. The homeowner had also not submitted a variance request for the fence.
“My biggest concern would be, because that is on a hill through there, if somebody gets a little too much speed up, the road’s a little icy or something, that’s when they’ll go into it.”
Nicholson had called the homeowner to ask him to move it, and the homeowner responded, “What if I don’t?” He then stated that he would contact his lawyer to see what his options were.
Nicholson urged that it was necessary that the fence be removed from the right of way.
“I don’t know why we’ve got such a big right of way there, but we do,” he said. “It needs to be off our right of way. If he wants to ask for a variance, he can do that. That’s on him. It would be up to you or the next board to approve a variance there to be a little closer, but for now it needs to be off of the right of way. Torn completely down and then ask for a variance.”
County Attorney Lynn Doss had sent a letter to the homeowner alerting them to the dilemma, and had not heard back prior to the meeting.
“If it’s on the county right of way, it can be cleared,” Doss said. “I haven’t gotten any response, and I haven’t heard from an attorney, but I know that the Road Department clears things off of the right of way every day.”
She also told the board that the Fannin County School System has had to re-route some bus traffic down that way following Tropical Storm Zeta, therefore the fence is also a potential danger to students and bus drivers.
“It’s essentially a guard rail,” Post One Commissioner Earl Johnson said. “My main concern is safety. If a car, or anything, hits that fence, it’s going to stop and if it doesn’t stop, with the height of those posts, it’s just a liability for the county.”
Johnson recalled the original barbwire fence that had been in place on the property prior to the new fence, approximately 4 to 5 feet behind where the new fence stands.
“The options are that the county can go remove it tomorrow, I would think, if it’s on county right of way,” he said. “But, there are other fences that are close and on the right of way through there. The problem with that fence is that its way to close, I think we can all agree.”
He noted that the home on the property was likely just barely off the 50 foot right of way itself, and explained that he didn’t want to be “complicated” with the homeowner.
“There’s precedents set there with fences, but its just not a wood fence like that,” he said. “If you hit a pastor fence, you’re going to knock posts down. A fence like that, you hit one post, it’s going to move almost every post or break the rail. I think that’s the concern that I have. If we go to say, anyone has to move their fence off the right of way, we’re going to move half of Highway 2, I’m going to have to move part of mine.”
Nicholson suggested requiring the homeowner to move the fence at least 55 feet from the center line of the road, allowing him to come within 5 feet of the right of way, which would be considered at 20 foot variance.
Johnson suggested asking the homeowner to remove the fence, and allow him to build a new fence, using 4x4 posts rather than 6x6 posts, where the original fence stood.
Helton asked Nicholson and Public Works Director Zack Ratcliff to determine what would be possible using Johnson’s suggestion, however the homeowner would have to submit a variance request. Doss agreed to send the homeowner a letter with the request.