Clayton County, GA Fence Regulations: Fence Permit Requirements (2026)

Sec. 30(E) states plainly that a fence permit shall be required for all work performed in association with the construction, alteration, or relocation of a fence or wall, except where otherwise specified herein. The ordinance then carves out five specific exemptions in Sec. 30(E)(1): repairs to an existing fence or wall that involve no structural changes; replacement of an existing fence with a new one of the same type, height and location, as long as the replacement is otherwise fully compliant; installation of gates up to eight feet wide in an existing fence with no structural changes; wire or wood fences tied to an active farm on parcels of at least three acres with 200 feet of road frontage; and planting continuous hedgerows or similar living fences.

Anything outside those five categories, a new fence, a taller or relocated fence, or a change in fence type, needs a permit application filed with the Community Development Department under Sec. 30(F). The application must include a plot plan or lot survey showing every existing and proposed fence, wall, structure, easement and setback dimension, plus a detail drawing of the proposed fence with its dimensions. If the fence or wall is proposed on the property line itself, the applicant also has to submit written consent from every adjacent property owner, or a certified survey confirming the boundary location, before the county will issue the permit.

Fences built before the current ordinance that no longer conform can stay in place as legal nonconforming structures under Sec. 30(G), but only until they are removed, extended or altered, at which point they must be brought into full compliance.