It is more labored, because it's attempting to convey a more complicated concept. However, the distinction is not pedantic. This is saying 'there is one fence near here, somewhere within this range'. The other statement means 'there are two fences here enclosing this range.'. These are not at all interchangeable statements.
On the abundance of extraterrestrial life after the Kepler mission Amri Wandel
Some recent calculation of the Drake Equation with estimates of the likelihood and logevitiy of civilizations
Related: The Great Filter and Planets in the habitable zone, the Drake Equation, and the Great Filter