Livonia, MI Fence Regulations: Height Limits (2026)

Chapter 15.44 of the Livonia Code of Ordinances, not the Zoning Ordinance, governs fence height and location in residential districts; the Zoning Ordinance's own Section 7.24(1) expressly defers to this chapter for yard fences. Section 15.44.090(A) sets the baseline: a partition fence in the required side or rear yard cannot be sight-obscuring or exceed four feet in height, measured from the ground, and no fence may be erected in the front yard closer than the house's front building line or the minimum required front yard, whichever sets the fence back further. Fences at the rear of double-frontage lots must keep the same setback from the rear street as the minimum front yard.

A homeowner can go taller only with a written-consent privacy fence under Section 15.44.090(B): those must sit on the lot line, cannot extend past the back of the house except to enclose a side door, and are capped at six feet four inches, measured to the highest point of the fence or its supporting structure. Separately, Section 15.44.080 protects sightlines at intersections: nothing over 30 inches, whether fence, wall, hedge, or landscaping, may stand within the triangular area formed by drawing a line 25 feet along each right-of-way from a street corner. Corner-lot fences also cannot sit within the corner side yard unless the Police Department confirms the design will not block driver sightlines and it aligns with any neighboring fence at six feet or less. Every fence needs a building permit under Section 15.44.050 before construction begins.