Lucas Board of Adjustment denies variance request for fence at 23 Cedar Bend Trail

The Lucas Board of Adjustment denied an applicant’s request to allow a board‑on‑board privacy fence inside setback lines at 23 Cedar Bend Trail after concluding the hardship appeared self‑imposed.

Chair Charles Corporon opened the public hearing and city staff explained that an initial permit application for a 6‑foot cedar board‑on‑board fence was denied because city code requires fencing in required front, side and rear yard setbacks to be at least 50% see‑through. Staff said a portion of the board‑on‑board fence was constructed before permit issuance and that an amended, partially see‑through plan had been submitted but the permit fee remained unpaid as of 08/25/2026. In presenting the staff report, the city staff said, “The alleged hardship is self imposed.”

Applicant Taylor Waters, who introduced herself and said she and her fiancée Jordan Putty purchased the house last month, said the enclosure was built to contain their goats — she identified them as Mary Kate and Ashley — and argued that moving the fence 20 feet inward would materially reduce usable livestock area and require rebuilding the enclosure. “This isn’t primarily a privacy fence. It’s Mary Kate and Ashley’s fence,” Waters said, asking the board to consider the specific facts and neighbor support she reported.

Board members questioned whether documentation existed of the three neighbors the applicant said had contacted the city in support; the applicant said the neighbors mailed letters and emailed on the day they received the notice, while staff said they were not aware of receiving those emails. The city attorney advised the board that a variance is a request for relief from the ordinance and must meet the board’s variance standards; several members said the circumstances appeared self‑imposed and did not meet those standards.

A motion to deny the variance was made and seconded; the board voted to deny the request and the chair announced the denial and the right to appeal. Chair Corporon read the appeal instructions included in the board’s findings: the applicant may appeal the decision by filing a verified petition in district court, county court, or county court at law within 10 days after the board’s decision is filed in the board’s office. The public hearing was closed at 6:44 p.m.

The board’s decision was presented as a denial of the variance; the exact numeric vote tally is not specified in the transcript.