After initially saying it was premature to get involved, the Porter Board of Zoning Appeals relented Wednesday and gave Ray Cahnman his public hearing.

April 21 the BZA will consider his request to erect a 6 foot-tall solid fence along his south lot line at 311 Duneland Dr.

Cahnman related in detail for the BZA his boundary dispute with a neighbor saying the fence would put an end to any encroachment on his property.

The BZA is working under the new Porter Beach overlay zoning requirements adopted in December. Among other things, Cahnman’s fence would exceed both the allowable height of 48 inches, and at the 80 feet requested the 16-foot maximum length.

BZA member Lorain Bell at first moved to table Cahnman’s petition to give the neighbor time to have his own land survey done. “I don’t like getting in the middle of this thing,” he said.

Cahnman maintains the survey he commissioned should be sufficient. “How many surveys do I have to get? What’s the incentive for him to do (a survey)? Do I have to wait, and I have no authority to make him do it?”

BZA attorney Patrick Lyp said his fear was that as soon as the fence would go up, the town would be dragged into a lawsuit. He also said there is a process working through Porter County to definitively determine property boundaries.

If the property line is in dispute, the BZA can’t allow a fence to be built along it, said town planner Jim Mandon. Cahnman said the BZA could give him permission to build the fence on his lot line and where that is is to be determined.

Mandon reminded Cahnman that he would have to satisfy three requirements to be granted variances for the fence, including that he has practical difficulty in the use of his property because of some condition peculiar to it. Cahnman said he can prove his case so Lyp recommended moving to a public hearing.

The subsequent motion passed 4-0 with member Elka Nelson, a Porter Beach resident, absent.

On a 3-1 vote with Bell dissenting, the BZA granted variances for Christopher and Amy Palmer to erect a security gate across their private driveway at 555 N. Wagner Rd. The fence will be no more than 5 1/2 feet tall, made of wrought iron, set back 30 feet off Wagner, and can be operated by emergency responders through a coded keypad.

Palmer attorney Greg Babcock presented a letter from Porter fire chief Lewis Craig approving the keypad system; a back-up generator will assure its operation in a power failure.

Babcock noted a similar gate with keypad already is in use for another property in town.

The Palmers requested the gate as an added layer of protection due to break-ins at their home. A public hearing previously was conducted on the petition.

After the meeting Bell said he voted no because the BZA was setting a precedent and opening the door to more such requests. “If they want to live in a gated community, live in a gated community,” he added.