Vail says no to backyard fence

VAIL, Colorado – A Vail woman threatened to sue the town of Vail Tuesday night after the Vail Town Council upheld the Design Review Board’s denial of her request to build a backyard fence.

“Guess we’ll have to sue,” Miriam “Mikki” Futernick said as she exited the council chambers.

Vail Design Review Board co-chair Tom DuBois said the board denied the request for several reasons, including that Futernick wanted to enclose too large of an area with the fence.

Futernick got choked up as she presented her side of the appeal to the Town Council. She said she feels she wasn’t treated fairly by the Design Review Board, and that “somebody on that Design Review Board doesn’t like fences.”

“I need this fence for my protection and my privacy,” Futernick said.

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Turns out the town of Vail as a whole doesn’t generally like fences, as the town code discourages the use of fences, said Councilwoman Margaret Rogers.

Rogers, who also spent five years on the Design Review Board, said the town rarely allows fences and Futernick’s request did not provide some kind of unusual circumstance for why a fence should be allowed on her property.

The council agreed the size of the fence seemed to be the issue, and advised Futernick to resubmit an application to the Design Review Board for a smaller enclosed area.

Community Editor Lauren Glendenning can be reached at 970-748-2983 or lglendenning@vaildaily.com.