Neither the City of Franklin Municipal Code nor the Franklin Zoning Ordinance contains a 'good-side-out' requirement, a partition-fence statute, or a mandatory cost-sharing rule. Boundary fence disputes between neighbors are private civil matters under Tennessee common law. The City regulates fence location only with respect to property lines, easements, sight-distance triangles, and the right-of-way - it does not survey property lines or adjudicate neighbor cost-sharing claims.
A review of Franklin Zoning Ordinance Chapter 13 (Fences, Walls, and Screening) finds no provision dictating which side of the fence must face the neighbor and no provision requiring neighbors to share construction or maintenance costs. The ordinance addresses only height (Sec. 13.1.2), opacity (Sec. 13.1.4), materials (Sec. 13.1.6), and the prohibition on locating fences in easements or rights-of-way. Tennessee does not have a comprehensive statewide 'partition fence' statute equivalent to the laws found in some other states; outside the agricultural fence statutes in TCA Title 44, Chapter 8 (Fences and Property Boundaries), boundary fences are governed by common law principles of trespass, nuisance, and adverse possession. Property line determination is the responsibility of the property owner, who may engage a licensed Tennessee surveyor to set or verify corners; the City of Franklin does not perform surveys. The Department of Planning and Sustainability and Building and Neighborhood Services will refuse to approve a fence that is shown to encroach into a recorded utility or drainage easement, but the City will not enforce private boundary line disputes.
Building a fence over the property line is a civil trespass that the City does not enforce; the encroaching fence must be removed by court order if the neighbor sues. A fence that violates the zoning ordinance (height, opacity, sight-distance, or easement encroachment) can be cited and ordered modified or removed by Building and Neighborhood Services regardless of which neighbor complains.
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