Washington County, MD Fence Regulations: Height Limits (2026)

3(c): they are exempt from building lines and yard requirements that otherwise force principal structures back to the district's minimum front, side, and rear setback. That exemption is not unconditional. It lapses the moment a fence or wall becomes an obstruction to vision which adversely affects the safety of vehicular or pedestrian traffic, which in practice covers a fence built inside a driveway apron or intersection sightline. 3(c)'s vision-safety test rather than a specific foot measurement. Property owners near intersections or driveway aprons should keep fence and wall height low enough near the corner to preserve a clear line of sight; the county has no separate numeric sight-triangle table for residential fences in the Zoning Ordinance.

Zoning officials from the county's Permits and Inspections Department enforce Article 23 as part of the Zoning Ordinance, and owners seeking relief from an underlying district setback for a different accessory feature can pursue an administrative adjustment or a variance from the Washington County Board of Zoning Appeals; fences already carry the setback exemption, so no such application is required unless the vision-safety standard is at issue.