PERGOLAS, DECKS & FENCES IN ADDISON, TX

Addison is a 4.4-square-mile town, in the Town’s own words an urban enclave, about thirteen miles north of downtown Dallas on Belt Line Road and the Dallas North Tollway. It incorporated in 1953 to avoid annexation by Dallas and grew from 595 residents in 1970 to 14,166 in 2000, according to the Handbook of Texas. Most of its housing is multifamily: the Town’s 2016 housing inventory counted 1,467 single-family homes, 555 townhomes and 345 condominiums against more than 7,000 multifamily units, with the largest single-family neighborhoods at Les Lacs (733 homes) and Midway Meadows (284).

That makes Addison a small-lot town. A Town housing workshop memo (dated 2015, in the Council’s July 2016 packet) noted that detached homes in Addison tend to sit at a higher density than in surrounding communities, and townhome courtyards are smaller still. On a lot that size, the job is rarely a big pavilion. It is a pergola that shades the back door without darkening the house, a low deck that turns a sloping strip into usable floor, a fence that gives privacy from the neighbor’s second-floor window, and planting that does not need much room or water. Archetex designs those pieces together, around how the space is used and how it connects to the home.

The Town’s rules shape the design. Patio covers and gazebos are accessory buildings that need a permit, and fences need one whether new or replaced. Addison’s fence ordinance caps fences at 8 feet, keeps them behind the front yard setback, bans wire fabric, chain and secondhand materials, and requires a matching stain or paint on wood. One local catch: because welded wire fabric is on the banned list, a cedar fence with a welded-wire infill panel is not an approved residential fence in Addison. Archetex lays fences out to the lot’s real lines and grade and builds them in one consistent pattern from corner post to corner post, which the ordinance also requires.

Many Addison townhomes and subdivisions have a homeowners association, and the Town’s permit checklist tells homeowners to check their deed restrictions and covenants. Ask the HOA what it needs to see, often a drawing, the materials and the colors, and get its sign-off in writing before applying to the Town, so the permit drawings and the approved design are the same. Archetex gives a written price after a free site visit.