Privacy fence rules in Elburn has neighbors split

After the Elburn Village Board approved a new ordinance that has placed restrictions on where certain fences will be allowed, a number of residents in Fox Pointe Subdivision have been unhappy about the changes – and their timing.

The biggest change to the ordinance, made at the Sept. 3 board meeting, prohibits privacy fencing, or solid fencing, which begins at ground level from being installed in the drainage/utility easements within village residents’ yards. These public easements are within 10 feet of the lot line in the front and back of the lot, and within five feet on the sides of the lot line, so the solid fences going forward will have to be inside of 10 feet in the front and the back of the lot and inside of five feet on the sides. Fences on corner lots must also be 25 inches from any sidewalk or right-of-way.

This change is also the one creating the most anxiety among the residents of Fox Pointe Subdivision, the most recent Elburn development in its initial house-building stage.

Residents who purchased their homes in Fox Pointe but had not yet installed their fencing will have to follow the new ordinance guidelines.

“We bought these homes with the old ordinance,” said Grant McDonald, a Fox Pointe resident who has attended all but one of the Village Board meetings since the beginning of August to follow this issue.

McDonald said he was surrounded by neighbors with privacy fences and would prefer the same kind for their aesthetics. However, he said he was not happy to realize that having to install his privacy fence inside the easements would reduce his usable property by 20%.

According to Village Administrator John Nevenhoven, modern subdivisions have drainage swales in the side and rear yards engineered to guide water toward stormwater inlets, conveying water to ponds to help reduce ponding and flooding.

All recent village subdivisions, including Prairie Valley, Blackberry Creek, Elburn Station and Fox Pointe, have engineered stormwater systems, he said.

Nevenhoven said the installation of privacy fences within the easements has in some situations interfered with the stormwater infrastructure and swales, causing pooling and flooding in theirs or their neighbors’ yards. In addition, there have been situations where underground utilities within the easements had to be accessed, and the fencing made that harder.

Even though the village has approved the modified ordinance, McDonald is still hoping for a different resolution. One suggestion he has offered is the use of maps for the utility boxes that would show the exact location of the various utilities.

Another option that had been considered by the village was to allow the privacy fences to be built in the easement, given a comprehensive inspection by the village engineer, who could verify the fence wouldn’t substantially block the drainage paths. The homeowner would be charged a higher fee, about $525, for this inspection at the time of permitting. McDonald said that he and other residents that he knows would be willing to pay the additional amount, as well as take the responsibility for re-installing the fence should it need to be removed for work to be done.

A real estate broker, McDonald said that since he moved to Fox Pointe in January, he has sold three houses there. However, he said he has spoken with several people lately looking to move to Elburn who have reconsidered due to the issue over fencing.

Homeowners who had their privacy fences installed before the new ordinance became effective have been grandfathered in under the old ordinance, which allows their privacy fences in or outside the easement.

Resident Nikki O’Malley said all of her neighbors have vinyl fences who have been allowed to install them in their easements. She said hers was going to look “bizarre.”

“Here I am, free-standing by myself,” she said.

She said that when they moved in, they had two options, metal fencing and white vinyl.

“I don’t want the Amazon guy or just anyone driving down the street to be able to see my children playing in the yard, and now we’re being penalized for that,” she said.

She said that she and her husband bought this house with a side yard so that her daughter could have the extra room, and now they’re being penalized for wanting to protect their daughter.

“It’s getting more difficult for the village to work within the stormwater and utility easements due to the increasing number of utilities within easements, fence installations and landscaping,” Nevenhoven said. “The village has been receiving more complaints of sinkholes in back yards near storm sewers due to utility companies or fencing rupturing storm structures.”

“Some manholes can’t be opened due to fencing built directly over them,” added trustee Matt Wilson.

“People don’t see the bigger picture until there are problems,” trustee Sue Filek said.