She’s fighting with the city over this? What city had rules for how you can decorate your property? I can see a draconian HOA having an issue with this, but I was under the impression the city never cares unless there’s a code violation.
Depending on the city they can be every bit as petty. Especially small towns that want to appear higher class than they are.
My hometown has city ordinance over fences. They have a max height and need to not block the view of the houses too much. It’s in place to keep the welcoming feel of the town iirc. So yeah depending on the place the city could be getting involved directly
I’d fight that. Surely there’s a fourth amendment argument there (e.g. I need it to be high enough that police looking over it would constitute an illegal search).
My city limits fence heights, but the limit is 1.8m. a cop would need to be pretty tall to see over
Anyway, if you want more height you could grow a hedge. Also if you don’t like the setback rules, a hedge can regain all the lost front yard
We have a fair few hedges.
