Bowie, MD Fence Regulations: Height Limits (2026)

City Code § 26-2 sets Bowie's fence and wall standards under Chapter 26, Zoning, administered locally even though Prince George's County controls the base zoning. Subsection J caps height directly: fences and walls, including retaining walls, taller than six feet may not stand in any required yard and must meet the same setback requirements that apply to main buildings on the lot. On corner lots, § 26-2E(1) adds a distance rule that functions as Bowie's version of a visibility setback: where the building restriction line of the side street yard sits 25 feet from the property line, fences are barred from that side yard entirely, and any fence in the rear yard of the same corner lot must stay at least 15 feet from the property line along the side street.

An exception lets a fence occupy any part of the side street yard where that yard's lot line is simply a continuation of the rear lot line of the neighboring parcel. Section 26-2H allows the Board of Appeals, sitting under Chapter 1A's Administrative Review Board, to grant a variance from these height and setback figures under the standards in § 26-15. Fences that predate the November 24, 1992 effective date of Ordinance No. O-19-92 and no longer comply are grandfathered as nonconforming uses under § 26-2G, and can be repaired, though not relocated or resized, without losing that status.

Code Compliance within Community Services enforces § 26-2 citywide; a fence built over height or inside a barred corner setback draws a citation under § 26-13.