The City of Medford is formulating new fence rules.
The City Council meets as a committee throughout Monday night to discuss the new regulations for fences and other changes in city regulations.
The city’s current fence rules cover industrial and commercial areas, and the decree expands these areas to include residential areas.
Zoning requirements include that all fences should be constructed of suitable materials made for this purpose and should be kept in good repair. All fences should be installed in such a way that the finished surface (one side of the fence does not contain any exposed supports or frames) faces the outside of the section where the fence is located. When the fence height requirement of a lot is stricter than that of the adjacent lot, both lots should follow the stricter requirements of the two. Finally, apart from the open-face fence, no fence shall be set up in the "visual clearance triangle".
For residential areas, the following amendments include: The height of the front yard fence should not exceed 4 feet. The side and rear fences must not exceed 6 feet. Within 5 feet of the entrance of any driveway or street or alley: no more than 3 feet in height, except for chain-link fences with meshes of 2 inches or more, where the above height restrictions are allowed. Finally, except for buried dog fences, barbed wire or electric fences are not allowed in all areas.
In commercial/industrial areas, the amendments include: the height of the fence shall not exceed 12 feet, and the barbed wire is only allowed to be on top of the safety fence with a height of more than 6 feet.
City coordinator Joe Harris updated the committee's information about ongoing projects in the city. Employees of power and utility companies are still working as long as possible because the weather is clear and people are still working. The public works team is still making concrete and asphalt as needed. The wastewater will be inspected on Wednesday, October 27th.
Harris explained: "The city insurance company has refunded it, and we hope to update the lighting on the river."