Southampton changes zoning code on fence heights

A change in Southampton's zoning code approved this week means that most waterfront homeowners can no longer put up a new fence more than 4 feet high along the side of the road.

The law applies to anyone living on a lake or a pond or a stream, but excludes oceanfront homes.

The town had been getting complaints that waterfront homeowners were putting up roadside fences 6 feet high. Town code had allowed any homeowner to put a fence as high as 6 feet in the backyard. Some owners with houses facing the water regard the roadside section of their property as the backyard.

The town board voted unanimously Tuesday to change the code after hearing that some fences were creating unsightly walls, safety hazards by making it impossible for drivers to pull off the road in an emergency and - in the case of masonry walls - interfering with drainage.

The new code says existing fences taller than 4 feet are legal and can be replaced with a fence of the same height. A homeowner would need to produce a certificate of compliance or show the fence listed on a certificate of occupancy.

The code does not apply to hedges, other plants or trees, so homeowners can plant such green, living walls of any height along the roadside for privacy.

Even so, homeowners with hedges are not totally unregulated in Southampton.

Trees that grow over driveways must be trimmed so that no branch is less than 14 feet off the ground, openings in the hedge for a driveway must be at least 14 feet wide and - at some point in any long, winding driveway - there must be an open area at least 14 feet long, 14 feet wide and 14 feet high.

Those regulations were adopted a year ago, after complaints that fire trucks and ambulances could not negotiate some of the narrow driveways.