A Wyckoff homeowner's six-foot privacy fence, installed without a permit at the corner of Ellis Place and George Place, was formally denied by the Planning Board after a fight that stretched across eight months and seven meetings — even though three of his neighbors spoke up in his favor.

The dispute traces back to a November 2022 Zoning Board approval letting Zach Fox expand his home at 441 Ellis Place, contingent on a revised landscaping plan. According to Township Engineer Mark DiGennaro, that approval covered an existing chain-link fence — not a replacement. A landscape plan submitted after the approval showed a six-foot vinyl privacy fence, but DiGennaro told the board that change was never reviewed or publicly noticed as a variance. Fox built the vinyl fence anyway. A year after he moved in, the township told him it wasn't approved. [1]

Fox brought his case to the Planning Board on Oct. 8, 2025. "I was under the impression that, since the landscaping plan was approved, so was the fence. Nobody let me know," he told the board. He'd already paid fines for the unpermitted work and didn't want to take the fence down. Board members offered alternatives: a four-foot open aluminum fence, or moving the vinyl fence back roughly eight feet from the property line. Fox declined both. "I will not take the fence down; I am open to planting greenery to soften the color, but I will not remove the fence," he said. Fox also grounded his resistance in his family's history with the property. "I've lived in this neighborhood for 30 years. It's literally the house I grew up in. My dad passed away Christmas morning from covid. I bought my mom's house to take care of her. I put an in-law suite in on one side so that way she could live with us," he told the board. [11] Mayor Rudy Boonstra was skeptical of granting a variance at all: "I am not convinced that this fence needs to stay where it is or that we should grant a variance, it sets a bad example and it's a big structure, eight feet off the property line." The board carried the matter to gather more information. [2][3]

At a Nov. 12, 2025 public hearing, three neighbors spoke in Fox's favor. John Surgent of 445 Ellis Place said the fence was visually unobtrusive and improved the neighborhood's appearance. Robert Hyman of 438 George Place said it raised no safety concerns. Damien Correa, a neighbor since 2007, said white fences were common in the area and the Fox fence was not an eyesore. Chairman Rob Fortunato said Fox had been offered reasonable accommodations and declined them, and that installing the fence without a permit worked against him — Wyckoff's ordinance prohibits solid white fences in front yards. Mayor Boonstra added that if a permit had been obtained, the board would have reviewed the fence's location before it was ever built, and would not have approved it where it currently stands. Vice Chairman Sarah Caprio noted that open or semi-open four-foot fences are permitted in front yards without a variance. The board voted 9-0 to deny the application, with Township Committee Liaison Mae Bogdansky abstaining. [4][5]

New Jersey law requires a board to formally memorialize — write up and adopt — a resolution within 45 days of a vote. Instead of the denial becoming official on that schedule, Fox's attorney, Ken Porro, asked the board at its Dec. 10, 2025 meeting to hold off, explicitly waiving the deadline on the record and saying he hoped to negotiate a compromise. The board agreed to carry the matter to January. [6]

At the Jan. 14, 2026 meeting, Porro appeared again, asked for more time "to allow further discussions toward an amicable resolution," and again waived the statutory clock. The board carried the resolution to March 11, then again to April 8. [7]

Porro's office called the April 8 request the final adjournment, but unlike the earlier carries, the board's vote to approve it split 5-2, with Boonstra and board member Sarah Caprio voting no, Fortunato recusing himself, and Mayor Roger Lane abstaining. [8]

The board formally memorialized the denial in a resolution adopted June 10, 2026, signed by Board Secretary Mia Larrea and Vice Chairperson Sarah Caprio. [9] Township Committee Liaison Boonstra confirmed the outcome at the Township Committee's June 23 meeting: "The board also memorialized the denial of the fence application at 441 Ellis Place, or the fence construction, I should say, 441 Ellis Place." [10]

The Planning Board's own June 10 minutes had not been posted to the township website as of this writing; the resolution's text was obtained through a subsequent public court filing.