Anchorage commissioner moves to approve 8-foot Girdwood fence on Hightower Road

The Anchorage Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday approved a variance letting Girdwood homeowner Douglas Menish build an 8-foot fence in front of his house on Hightower Road, well above the height code allows in a front setback.

Commissioner Edith McKee made the motion, and it passed with no testimony from the public at the hearing. The Planning Department had recommended approval, finding the request met all eight standards for a variance.

Menish's application says his lot sits about 2 feet below the road, so a shorter fence would do little to block headlights, noise and passersby. His house is about 200 feet west of the entrance to Holtan Hills, a planned subdivision, and he wrote that all of its construction traffic passes his lot. The Girdwood Board of Supervisors has said the subdivision is expected to bring about 2.5 times as many homes onto Hightower Road.

Under questioning from commissioners, Menish said the house was nearly finished at the end of 2024 and that the side facing the road has a lot of glass. He said the fence would be built of siding turned horizontally to match the house.

Safety came up over sight lines. A neighbor had written that it would partially block views of moose and bears along the path children use to walk to school. Menish submitted a surveyor's drawing showing the sight lines stay clear even if the fence sits right at the property line, and the municipal traffic department confirmed by email that the layout meets the requirement, staff said.

Commissioner Jeff Raun supported the variance but questioned staff's finding that the fence fits Girdwood's small-town feel. "When I think of Girdwood, I think of open spaces and trails, not 8-foot-tall fences," he said.

During the hearing, staff clarified that because the lot is in a commercial-residential zoning district, the front-setback limit there is 3½ feet, not 4.