The city has reached an agreement with a father of nine who, without a permit, built a six-foot fence around his property to protect his children from traffic.
Michael B. Wilde, 510 S. Larsen Drive, will move a section of the fence 24-feet back from a neighbor's driveway. He also has agreed to remove some vegetation that affected the neighbor's view of the sidewalk and busy street."I feel good about what we've settled on. It still gives my children some protection," Wilde said.
He built the wooden fence earlier this year without a permit because his children, the youngest of which is 6, were in danger from traffic on 500 South. Last week, the city's Board of Adjustment told him the fence must come down, that no variance existed in city code.
At the time, he said he planned to fight the decision.
But now he has already moved two sections and will complete the rest of the work after he recuperates from surgery, he said.
Wilde's neighbors told the board that the wooden fence blocked their views of 500 South and the sidewalk. Some suggested he build a shorter, chainlink fence.
Neighbor Paul Barron said Friday he'll wait to see the move before commenting. But removing the two sections has "helped some," he said.
Until last week, city code kept all owners of corner lots from building a fence closer than 20 feet from the sidewalk. Now, the ordinance allows construction of a fence next to the sidewalk if it doesn't block others' view of the street or sidewalk.