Timnath
Timnath council advances vinyl fencing allowance, sets Oct. 27 hearing
The amendment would also require neighborhood-meeting notices to include an owner’s or applicant’s address and phone number. Whether the 500-foot notice radius should expand remains unresolved; the ordinance would take effect if adopted on second reading.
The Timnath Town Council approved a land-use code amendment on first reading that would allow vinyl fencing. It set a public hearing and second reading for Oct. 27.
The hearing and second reading are set for 6 p.m. at the Timnath Administration Building, 4750 Signal Tree Drive. The proposed ordinance would take effect upon adoption at second reading.
“I’m wondering why we’re including that as a permitted fencing material,” a council member said, pointing to vinyl’s combustibility and emissions when burned. The member also asked whether the change would exceed state requirements or expand the area affected. A staff member said an exemption for vinyl near structures in the Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code prompted the provision, offering developers and property owners another material option while taking homeowner costs into account. Another staff member said vinyl is flammable but meets the code’s combustibility standards under that exemption.
Homeowner association standards govern most residential areas, a staff member said. Relatively few areas would be affected by the fence provision, the staff member said. Existing fences would not have to comply with the new code, but new or replacement fences would when a permit was required, the staff member said.
Neighborhood-meeting notices must be mailed at least 15 days before a meeting to specified owners and interested parties, property owners within 500 feet and appropriate referral agencies. A copy must go to the Community Development Department for approval before mailing. The amendment would also require notices to give the property owner’s or applicant’s address and phone number as contact information.
The 500-foot notice radius remains an open question. “I would prefer that we extend that for purposes of overlays and zoning changes to be a quarter of a mile,” a council member said, citing their potential impacts and the possibility of missing property owners in undeveloped GMO land. Another speaker was open to a wider radius but wanted comparisons with other jurisdictions and cost information for extending it to 1,000 or 1,250 feet before the next meeting. The member who proposed the quarter-mile radius agreed to gather more information and consider an amendment if needed.