Jodie Vanderwall had appeared at the Sept. 15 HDC meeting with an application to add a fence around garden areas at 26 Amity St. That application was rejected because placement of the fence would have qualified as border fencing, with tighter restrictions on materials and height.
Last week, Vanderwall returned with a revised plan, calling for enclosing four sections of garden with a total of 600 square feet. The fence would be welded wire, at a height of 42 inches. Vanderwall explained that she would string fishing line on the fence poles to a height of seven feet to keep deer out of the gardens.
Cogan asked if the fishing line would strangle the deer, but Vanderwall said she has had a similar fence in place for more than a year, and the deer have not even attempted to jump over it. “It’s the only thing I’ve found that works,” she said. Cogan leapt to the defense of the deer, saying, “The deer were here before we were.” Bright reminded her, “We don’t need to discuss deer issues.” Commissioner Steve Holifield noted that people use the fishing line deterrent all over town. In response to a question, Hevrdejs said the guidelines do not address the issue.
At that point, commissioner Randy Maddox noted that garden fences enclosing fewer than 1,000 square feet do not require HDC approval. Hevrdejs said Vanderwall had completed an application anyway, as “an effort of good faith” to show her intent to work with the commission. Although commissioners agreed that Vanderwall could proceed without their approval, they voted unanimously to approve the application.