CITY, HOMEOWNERS CROSS SWORDS OVER TALL FENCE

Winona Waldron wants to keep her front-yard garden free of drug paraphernalia.

That's why the 31-year-old stay-at-home mom is scrapping with the
City of Victoria over the fence at her 115-year-old Vic West home.
The 1.83-metre structure is far taller than the 1.22-metre maximum
height restriction set out in Victoria bylaws.

Waldron moved into the Wilson Street house in June 2002. At that
time, the front fence was under the height limit. She said that over
the next few years she collected used hypodermic needles and
methadone bottles from the front yard and the backyard shed. The
fence just wasn't much of an obstacle to drug users, she said.

Last August, she and her husband had had enough. The old fence had
fallen down in the spring, so after some debate they put up a tall
wooden one in its place.

"We certainly had a sense of security we didn't have before," said
Waldron. "When you have kids you don't want to have to scour the
yard every time you let them out to play."

Cian is three years old, Mattigan is nine months.

The fence worked -- Waldron hasn't found any drug debris since it
was built. But last November, the couple received a letter from the
city saying there had been a complaint about their fence.

Cliff Carter, the bylaw officer who responded, guesses the
complainant thought the new fence didn't quite fit in with the
heritage-designated house it fronted.

"The city doesn't go out looking for over-height fences, but if we
get a complaint we have to go out and do something," said Carter,
adding he has sympathy for Waldron.

He suggested she write to the city explaining her conundrum and
asking for special permission to keep the fence. His superior, Stan
Schopp, manager of development and regulatory services, looked at
the letter but decided to go ahead with the complaint.

A few months went by, then Waldron received another letter from the
city, this time ordering the fence's demolition. Now, she's awaiting
a June 21 hearing with the city's private-property maintenance
committee to decide what will happen with the barrier.

There are ways that Waldron can keep her fence, according to Carter.
The bylaw itself says council can grant permits to get past the
fence height restriction. The committee, made up of three council
members, could give Waldron an exemption or it could forward the
issue on to council itself for consideration. Or Waldron could file
a variance request with the city.

Coun. Pam Madoff, liaison to Vic West, said going to the
private-property maintenance committee is usually a last resort.

"This has been going on since last November," said Madoff. "So there
would have been lots of opportunity for her to make an appeal to
city council or to contact me directly and see if there's anything I
could do in terms of offering advice or explaining what the
process is, which is often the role we play as liaisons to the
neighbourhoods."

Drug paraphernalia is a problem in every neighbourhood of Victoria,
according to Madoff. While she has received complaints of used
needles in the area in the past, she doesn't see any
disproportionate problem in Vic West. She said this kind of issue is
often addressed by the local block watch in conjunction with a
police liaison. Waldron's neighbourhood doesn't have an active block watch.

If forced to take down the fence, Waldron plans to shorten it to the
1.22-metre maximum and plant something that would bring the height
back up, much like the full hedge in the adjoining yard. There is no
bylaw covering hedge height.