City committee backs zoning changes By Ray Barrington News-Chronicle Changes to zoning laws allowing higher fences and more liberal rules for older lots got an approving nod from the Green Bay Advisory Committee on Tuesday. The changes must go to the city's Planning or Improvement and Service committees and to the full City Council for final approval. The changes are aimed for the most part at older lots in the central city. In many cases, setbacks required for those lots make repairs and replacement of buildings unfeasible. The new rules would allow slightly smaller setbacks - the space between the lot line and a building - and allow replacement of smaller buildings if more than 50 percent of the value of the original building remains. The rules also would allow slightly higher fences around a property, as high as four feet in front of a house if the fence is 50 percent open. Setback rules on higher backyard fences also would be eased. The new ordinance also would change the definition of pools, ponds and spas for more uniform enforcement. Pools would be divided into temporary and permanent, allowing lower enforcement levels on, say, an inflatable wading pool as opposed to a sturdier but movable above-ground pool. Ponds also were redefined to better differentiate them from pools. And the city would have power to fight houses that did not conform to the front-door-toward-sidewalk look of most of Green Bay. Some examples given were houses placed sideways on long, narrow lots, and houses where the garage door was given front space with the front door set back.