FENCES AND HEDGES

I find it hard to believe that in the land of the free our neighborhood council is seriously contemplating a policy that threatens any resident failing to reduce their front fence or hedge to a maximum height of 3 1/2 feet with a fine of $5,000 after 60 days, $10,000 after 120 days, and $15,000 after 180 days of non-compliance. And this is being proposed as a way of enforcing better neighborliness?

I live in the 400 block of Rialto Avenue, a block that is exceptionally neighborly, for instance having closed the street every Halloween for many years. I made a count of how many of the 28 properties in the block were not in compliance. Seventeen, or 61 percent, would be faced with tearing down their existing fences or hedges/trees to comply with the policy. To put it another way, if one assumes this is roughly representative of Venice, 61 percent of Venice residents have chosen over the years to exceed the height limitations for a wide variety of reasons.

In my own case, for instance, my back yard is dedicated to a parking space. If I want to sit outside and read or have drinks I have to use the small front yard. Why should I be forced to be overlooked in these private pleasures by anyone passing within a few feet of where I am sitting?

Or take the exemption proposed for an "attractive gate configuration." Who decides what constitutes an attractive gate? The art police? And if we permit exemptions for attractive gates, why not for attractive fences? Many frontages have both attractive and environmentally desirable shrubs and trees that exceed 3 1/2 feet. Are they to be sawn down to a regulatory height? It sounds more like the edict of the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland.

The entire nature of this proposal runs counter to the spirit of the Fourth Amendment ("The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated"). It is small-minded, attempting to impose a social and aesthetic norm on a community that prides itself on its diversity, and it would amount to a significant financial burden for the majority of Venice residents.

We Venetians have already expressed our preferences in the variety of fences and hedges that have evolved over time. Let democracy prevail. Look around you and listen to the unspoken will of the majority.

Brian Finney