Birchim: Yes the fencing was permitted

Neighbors in Lincolnville are asking Historic City News for details about a 57-inch brick masonry fence with black metal pickets that was installed from the west-most corner of the 102 Bridge Street property along the south border to the intersection with Martin Luther King Avenue.

Most of the properties within a block have either open yards with no fences, very short stone fences that you could step over, or short white picket fences along the sidewalk.

“It does not fit the character of the neighborhood, nor even the character of the building,” one resident, Adam McAlmont, wrote on a community facebook page. “The fence they have put up along the street gives me the wrong impression, that the owner feels the community is unsafe.”

According to city code: “No fence, wall, hedge or other visual barrier exceeding thirty (30) inches in height shall be permitted within twenty-five (25) feet of any intersection, except in historic preservation districts 1, 2 and 3.”

So, Historic City News asked the director of the City Planning and Building Department, David Birchim, “Did your department approve plans for the brick and metal fencing to the south of the 102 Bridge Street restaurant?”

Observing that the city did give a permit for the 8-foot-high wooden fence along Oneida at the intersection of St Francis, one reader stated, “I don’t understand why the fence ordinance is sometimes ignored.”

Another reader familiar with the property observed that the 57″ brick columns need footers and that the property owner knows that the location is in an Archaeological Zone. She questioned whether the number of columns and depth of the footers would have required an inspection under the city’s archeological ordinance.

“Yes the fencing was permitted,” Birchim responded.

As to those with specific questions, Birchim invited any Historic City News reader who might want to look at the roll of construction plans, showing the fencing, to inspect the plans in his office.