Montgomery County, PA does not regulate fence height countywide; the Municipalities Planning Code (Act 247, 53 P.S. §10101 et seq.) reserves zoning and fence rules to the 62 townships and boroughs. Typical local rules: Norristown Borough caps front-yard fences at 4 feet and rear/side yards at 6 feet, requiring a zoning permit for new fences. Lower Merion Township limits frontage fencing to 4 feet in LDR/MDR districts, with side, rear, and frontage-facade fencing allowed up to 6 feet (8 feet in industrial). Spite fence claims are governed by Pennsylvania common law (Cohen v. Perrino, 50 A.2d 348). Apply through your municipal zoning office.
Pennsylvania's Municipalities Planning Code (53 P.S. §10101 et seq.) gives zoning authority - including fence height, setback, materials, and corner-lot sight-triangle rules - to townships and boroughs, not counties. As a result, Montgomery County itself issues no fence permits and sets no fence heights. Each of the 62 municipalities maintains its own zoning ordinance on eCode360 or the local website. Norristown Borough (Chapter 350, Zoning, plus the supplemental regulations at §350-176) limits front-yard fences to 4 feet and rear/side yards to 6 feet, and requires a zoning permit for new fences and for substantial repair/replacement; small picket-replacement repairs are exempt. The Norristown Code Enforcement Department (610-270-1441) administers permits. Lower Merion Township's zoning code (Chapter 155) regulates fences by district: in LDR (Low Density Residential) and MDR (Medium Density Residential) districts, frontage fencing is limited to 4 feet, while frontage-facade, side, rear, and secondary-frontage fencing can reach 6 feet; in the Industrial district, those higher categories may reach 8 feet. Retaining walls in Lower Merion may not exceed 6 feet within a setback or 8 feet beyond. Frontage and frontage-facade fencing, plus repair/replacement of nonconforming fences, requires a zoning permit. Abington Township and most other municipalities follow similar 4-foot front / 6-foot rear patterns with permits for fences over 4 feet. Pennsylvania has no statewide fence-height statute; spite-fence disputes between neighbors are handled in equity under the common-law nuisance doctrine recognized in Cohen v. Perrino, 355 Pa. 455 (1947). Local zoning-hearing-board variance procedures (53 P.S. §10910.2) allow relief from strict height limits for hardship.
A fence built without a required zoning permit, or exceeding the local height limit, can trigger a zoning-enforcement notice (53 P.S. §10616.1), an order to remove or modify the fence, and per-day fines up to $500 plus court costs in district court. Lower Merion penalty schedules run $100-$1,000 per offense. Repeat or willful violations can be enjoined in equity. Sight-triangle violations on corner lots may also be cited by the local police or public works department.
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See how Montgomery County's height limits rules stack up against other locations.
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