By Gus Pearcy
A Brownsburg homeowner will likely have to remove a cedar fence she put up because it is in a utility easement. She made a last-ditch appeal to the town council at a special meeting held July 25.
Brandi Carroll erected the fence in March of 2017 in the West Wynne Farms subdivision, just two months after the town passed an ordinance prohibiting any structures within a flood easement.
At that time, Carroll called the town planning department and was told that she didn’t need a permit for a fence. She received written permission from Platinum Properties, the developer, to put up the fence. So she built the fence at her house in the 8300 block of Templederry Drive.
Two years later, in March, she received a letter from the town explaining that she would have to either move or tear down the fence because it violated Chapter 151 of the Municipal Code. She has appealed all the way to the Brownsburg Town Council. The council held a special meeting July 25 to address the matter.
Carroll said she was not aware of the easement of the flood route and did not see any documentation of it on the plot plan of her home when she closed on the house. She told the council that it would cost her $750 to remove the fence and $2,460 to have it moved out of the easement. She said the fence value was $6,000.
Council member Chris Worley said it was an unfortunate situation but if an exception was made for Carroll, then several other homeowners would be asking for the exception. He made a motion to have the fence removed by the homeowner. It failed to receive a second.
Town Council President Brian Jessen asked the town planning department to contact Platinum Properties to see if they could help pay for the fence to be either moved or removed.
Jessen later said it was an unusual situation.
“I’d like to see the ordinance stay in place and hold ground on that,” Jessen said, “but we also need to review the ordinance itself where it talks about enforcement to see who should be reviewing these.”
At the last minute, council was made aware that the home in question had been sold and the closing was July 31. The special meeting was recessed until 5:30 p.m. Monday in council chambers while the town contacts the developer.