Board approves 6-foot front-yard fence variance for corner lot at 220 South 29th Street

The Purcellville Board of Zoning Appeals voted to grant a variance allowing a 6-foot front-yard fence on the West J Street side of the corner lot at 220 South 29th Street after a public hearing and discussion.

Planning manager Jordan Andrews summarized the application and the ordinance baseline that a front-yard fence is limited to four feet in the town's zoning rules; Andrews said staff "doesn't find anything specifically unique here in the presented variance" but noted the site includes a prescriptive utility easement adjacent to the property that may create practical constraints on placing a taller fence elsewhere on the lot. The applicant's materials and aerials, Andrews said, include sight-line diagrams and photos the board could review as part of its deliberation.

The applicants, identified in the meeting materials as James Sheeran and Alexandra Denali, told the board the request responds to safety and privacy concerns tied to two utility poles that create a roughly 9-foot setback 'dead zone' along the J Street frontage. The applicant said on the record: "I think that building a 6 foot fence, would be, you know, at least provide a little bit more security and privacy, in this regard." He said people routinely park on the grassy area and sometimes walk right up to the yard, and he expressed concern about child safety, noise and the maintenance advantages of a horizontal board fence.

During questioning board members pressed whether moving the fence closer to the poles would reduce parking; the applicant and staff explained that Dominion's prescriptive easement and the practical needs of utility crews make moving the fence closer risky and potentially unsafe when crews must access poles. Andrews told the board: "So the town is not prohibiting them from having their fence closer" — the limit is the utility prescriptive easement and not a town prohibitory rule regarding the poles' location.

A board member who joined remotely and was identified in the meeting as Salinas moved to grant the variance; a second motion followed and the board voted with all present members saying "aye." The chair declared the motion carried. The board directed that the remote attendance by the member be noted in the minutes.

Next steps: the approval was recorded in the meeting minutes; the variance's effective conditions and any required permit or inspection steps were not detailed aloud during the hearing and would proceed through normal permitting processes.