Label
Zoning & Planning Committee
Title
Amending Toledo Municipal Code (TMC), Part Eleven, Subsection 1105.0303; modifying "Fences and Hedges" -Barbed Wire Prohibited; to also prohibit electric fences; and declaring an emergency.
Summary
SUMMARY & BACKGROUND:
The current Zoning Code does not define or provide regulations for the use of electric fences. This omission has led to uncertainty about where electric fences are allowed in certain zoning districts. The proposed text amendment provides clarity that electric fences are allowed in specific zoning districts, subject to certain regulations.
The current Zoning Code outlines fence regulations for barbed wire, razor wire, and concertina in TMC?1105.0303. It states that these types of fences are prohibited in all zoning districts except Industrial Districts and then only in the side and rear yards, when the location is not within fifty-feet (50') of a Residential District, and not in the front yard setback or anywhere along a street right-of-way. However, the current prohibition does not include or consider the use of electric fences. Due to this oversight, staff determined it would be in the best interest to complete a study of other Ohio city's Zoning Codes and summarize the standard requirement for electric fences in different zoning districts.
The Zoning Codes from other Ohio cities were all similar in their regulations on barbed wire and electrical fences. All jurisdictions reviewed prohibit the use of electrical fences in residential districts but allow them industrial districts, with certain conditions. In fact, the City of Toledo is one of a few cities reviewed without regulations on electric fences in the zoning code. Cities reviewed include Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton, Maumee, and Perrysburg.
In addition to other Zoning Codes in Ohio, the Ohio Revised Code has building standards which outline the minimum state requirements for electric fences or "battery-charged fences"...
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