Brookhaven, GA Fence Regulations: Fence Permit Requirements (2026)

Sec. 27-953 opens Division 3, Fences and Walls, in the zoning chapter of the Brookhaven Code, and it sets one blanket rule: walls, fences, and retaining walls must be permitted by the community development department prior to installation. The permit comes first, before the first post is set or the first block is laid. The section prints no size threshold and no exemption for low or decorative structures, so the requirement reaches all three structure types.

To receive a permit, the applicant must submit a complete application to the community development department. What happens next depends on the structure. For walls and fences, once the department holds a completed, compliant application, it shall issue the permit on the day it receives that application, and the property owner pays nothing. For retaining walls, the applicable fee is the one listed in the community development department fee schedule as adopted by the city council, so the price of a retaining wall permit is set by council action and not by the section itself.

The permit is tied to compliance. The section closes by stating that permits shall only be issued for walls, fences, and retaining walls that conform to the provisions of the section. That links the application to the rest of Division 3: the height limits in Sec. 27-954, the material and design rules in Sec. 27-955, the rule in Sec. 27-956 that a wall or fence required by the zoning ordinance or by a condition of zoning approval must be in place before a certificate of occupancy for the principal structure, the retaining wall standards in Sec. 27-957, and the corner-lot visibility triangle in Sec. 27-959. A plan that breaks one of those standards does not qualify for the same-day, no-cost issuance, because the permit can only go to a conforming structure.

The department that issues the permit is also the enforcer. Article XI of the zoning chapter makes the community development director responsible for the interpretation, administration and enforcement of the zoning ordinance, so the same office that reviews the application handles complaints about work done without one.