A Fence Makes No Sense

 

Many walls and fences are notorious. The Great Wall of China, The Green Monster, The Western Wall, The US-Mexico border fence to name a few. But their significance pales to that of the fence enclosing your own yard. As a friend descends to another level of fence wars with his neighbor, I wondered what are suburban fences for anyway.

A property fence in the rural farm community is understandable. In fact agricultural law imposes a duty on adjoining landowners to make and maintain a just proportion of the fences between them. A fence has been legally defined as "an enclosing structure of wood, iron, or other material, intended to prevent intrusion from within or without or straying from within." Hardly a definition that would apply to most suburban fences I have seen.

In the suburbs it is pretty much a fence free for all. Counties with a population greater than 1,000,000 are exempt from Illinois fence law.  Debby, at the Village of Arlington Heights Building Services Department, said 'it is crazy out there'. Stories abound about double fences along supposed property lines. Neighbors are not talking for years except in court about a fence.

What exactly is the purpose of a suburban fence? The most common response is to enclose the yard for small children or pets. Although we never allowed our small kids to roam free in the backyard, fence or not. Like wise with our pets. Also when the neighborhood kids were old enough they would hop over fences like running the low hurdles.

Another often sited reason is to mark our property boundary lines. Do we really need a permanent structure to delineate our property? But many front yards have no fences. The privacy fence, whether intended or not, is a slap to your neighbor's face.

Who's fence is it? Sometimes it is difficult to determine who built the fence in the first place. A property survey can be expensive. Who maintains the fence? How much of the fence is your responsibility? What if your neighbor or you neglect care of the fence? What is the aesthetic value of a fence, if there is any?

From a practical standpoint a suburban fence makes no sense. Fences are generally ugly, divisive, costly, a pain to maintain, and serve no real purpose. But it looks as though we are stuck with them anyway. So be nice out there and as Robert Frost said in the Mending Wall, 'good fences make good neighbors.

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