Lawrence, KS Fence Regulations: Fence Permit Requirements (2026)

Lawrence City Code § 5-223(a)(2) lists fences not over six feet high among the specific items exempt from the building permit that § 5-220 otherwise requires for any structure erected in the city. Section 5-220 itself requires anyone who intends to construct, enlarge, alter or repair a structure, including a fence, to first apply to the building official and obtain a permit before starting, so once a fence exceeds six feet the general rule controls and the owner must file the application described in § 5-227: identifying and describing the work, giving the property's legal description or address, stating the estimated valuation, and paying the permit fee set under § 5-254.

The exemption for six-foot-and-under fences sits alongside other permit-free site improvements in the same subsection, including retaining walls up to six feet and uncovered decks under 30 inches above grade, but a taller fence is treated the same as any other structure subject to chapter 5's ordinary permit, application review and inspection sequence in §§ 5-227 through 5-235. Because § 5-223's introductory sentence makes clear that a permit exemption never authorizes work that otherwise violates the code, a fence built at or under six feet still has to meet any other applicable city requirement, including the placement and location standards in the city's separate Land Development Code, chapter 20, which this office administers apart from the building-permit rules discussed here.