WLNS fortifies the Fourth Estate with 8-foot fence

WLNS-TV is building an 8-foot-tall wrought iron fence with spikes in front of its Saginaw Street headquarters after the Lansing Board of Zoning Appeals denied its request last year for a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire.

The Nextstar Media Group station originally requested permission to build a sturdier fence last summer to align with recommendations from the Department of Homeland Security.

WLNS general manager Marci Daniels said in August the news station was considered “critical infrastructure” because it broadcasts information to the public during emergencies. She also said WLNS had faced threats of violence, including an incident in which a hammer-wielding individual chased an employee and damaged cars.

A 6-foot-tall chain-link fence topped with barbed wire was already in place on other parts of the property before current zoning regulations took effect. To align with them, the city required the barbed wire along Howard Street to be removed, citing it as a safety hazard, according to the minutes from the Sept. 12 Board of Zoning Appeals meeting.

Chain link fences are not permitted in front yards, according to a local ordinance, both for aesthetic reasons and because the material wears and rusts easily

Wrought iron is an approved material, but such a fence would typically be limited to 4 feet high in a front yard. Zoning administrator Susan Stachowiak confirmed this week that the city approved the taller fence. The variance request allowing the height increase was approved unanimously last September, just as the original proposal was unanimously denied.

Community members argued that the barbed-wire fence was unsafe and would de-value the neighborhood.

Not all are happy with the new version. Longtime eastside leader Nancy Mahlow, who opposed the original proposal, called the approved wrought-iron fence “very sad.”