Gwinnett County, GA Fence Regulations: Height Limits (2026)

1 sets the baseline: no fence anywhere on a lot in unincorporated Gwinnett County may exceed 4 feet in height once it sits inside the required front yard setback, and even outside that setback, in a side or rear yard, the ceiling is 8 feet. The County measures height at the fence itself rather than by zoning district, so the same limits apply whether the lot is zoned single-family residential, multifamily, or commercial. 2 then carves out five specific exceptions. A fence built to enclose an approved stormwater management facility can go up to 6 feet.

A fence or wall enclosing a private sports court, such as a tennis or pickleball court, can reach 12 feet, but only within a required rear or side yard setback, not the front. The Board of Commissioners can also condition approval of a rezoning or special use permit on a taller screening wall or fence wherever it finds screening necessary, overriding the standard heights case by case. A through lot, one that fronts on two streets, can carry a 6-foot fence along the property line that has no driveway access, since that line functions more like a side yard than a street-facing front.

Subdivision entrance features, the decorative walls and signage many Gwinnett neighborhoods build at their entrances, are separately capped at 10 feet. None of these exceptions touch the separate fence-material rules found elsewhere in the code, so a taller fence permitted under one of these five exceptions must still meet whatever material standard applies to its location.