Smithsonian expert looks at issues 'Between Fences' in Thunder Bay

The saying goes "good fences make good neighbours".

This week, Thunder Bay city council decided a good fence can only be six feet tall, as the bylaw states. Councillors denied a request for an exemption to allow one homeowner to keep his eightfoot high back fence.

• Thunder Bay man's fence must come down, council decides

But an expert with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D. C. said the current debate over the maximum allowable height is a sign of the role fences play in our society.

Carol Harsh directs the Museum on Main Street travelling exhibit program.

She helped organize "Between Fences", a national travelling exhibit that examined why we build fences, and what they say about us.

'Barbed wire.. sends a certain message'

"You know a big fence with barbed wire across the top sends a certain message and other fences, a picket fence for instance, you might think about being welcoming, that it says home."

Harsh said fences can be a controversial subject in many communities, as evidenced by the debate over height in Thunder Bay.

The manager of licensing and enforcement for the city of Thunder Bay, James Coady, said his officials receive over 40 fence complaints each year.

He said there is no current research to show exactly why the fence bylaw was set at 6 feet, but he believes it probably has to do with historic standards for building materials.

"It's a very common board length to purchase, so one inch by six inch wide by six feet high, that would be a fairly common board for a fence."

Other municipalities in Ontario seem to have changed their bylaws to reflect the metric system.

Both Kenora and Toronto allow back fences to be two metres tall, which is about six-and-a-half feet.

However, Waterloo lets fences in backyards go as high as eight feet.

Harsh said the discussion around height in Thunder Bayis just one of the many ways fences vary from community to community.

"It also digs into the concept of what it means to be a good neighbour. You know gated communities - is it to keep people out, or keep people in."

Harsh said fences are linked to the way we value land, property and ownership.

Fences define property

"People make land property when they own it and use it, but they use fences to define that property."

Harsh said for some people enhancing theirlivesis about creating a space where they feel safe and at peace.

"Lots of people have tall fences in their backyard because they just want privacy. They want to close out the world, come home and live in their own space. It's not necessarily a bad thing."

But Harsh said fences will always be a complicated issue, because they are, by their very design, a division.

"You can see how conflict can arise. Some people come in and say 'It's mine. I own it. Stay out.' And other people say 'Do you really have the right to do that?'. It's a complex situation."

There is no word yet on when the eight foot fence in Thunder Bay may be taken down.