Elgin church's fence plan riles neighbors

The Harvest Bible Chapel's plans to erect an 880-foot-long fence has ruffled feathers of its Elgin neighbors, who have complained they have received little or no information from the church and they are afraid it will ruin their views of nearby open space.

Meanwhile, Elgin officials are reviewing whether the six-foot-tall cedar privacy fence can be built now or if it will require church officials to seek permission from the city's plan commission and ultimately the city council.

“That is what the legal department is in the process of determining right now,” said Sarosh Saher, senior planner for the city.

Several neighbors recently voiced their concerns to the council, saying they had received little feedback from the church and that they were worried the fence would be ugly.

Saher said the fence would run north-south along the western boundary line of Harvest Bible Chapel's, 1000 Randall Road, and butt up against eight homes in the Highland Glen subdivision.

Harvest Bible Chapel applied for the fence permit on Oct. 8, Saher said.

Under normal conditions, an organization or homeowner must apply for a fence permit and it can be approved by the city staff without public input.

Saher said the city's legal department is reviewing whether there are any conditions in a 2004 development agreement prohibiting a fence.

If so, Harvest Bible Chapel must seek a change to the agreement and go before the city's plan commission, which makes recommendations that must be OK'd by the city council.

Several phone messages to Trei Tatum, the church's pastor of operations, and other staff members were not returned.