Lee County, NC Fence Regulations: Fence Permit Requirements (2026)

Lee County's Unified Development Ordinance funnels every construction project through the permit chain set out in UDO Section 3.2 before any development activity begins on unincorporated land: a zoning clearance permit from the Department of Community Development, then a building permit from the joint Sanford/Lee County Inspections Division under UDO Section 3.2.4.1. That chain only reaches a 'structure,' and Appendix A's countywide definition carves fences out of that term by name, alongside ditches, utility poles, freestanding mailboxes, on-grade slabs, walks, driveways and landscaping materials. Because a fence is not a 'structure' for zoning-clearance purposes, installing one in unincorporated Lee County does not by itself trigger the UDO Section 3.2.3.1 permit requirement or the accompanying building-permit step.

This is narrower than the county's own Residential Design Standards Overlay District, UDO Section 4.15.2.1, which does regulate fence height, materials and sight-triangle placement, but that overlay applies only 'within the zoning jurisdiction of the City of Sanford' and has no force in unincorporated territory. A separate definition, 'Structure, permanent' (Appendix A), does list a fence as an example of a permanent structure for other UDO purposes such as setback and nonconformity provisions, so a fence can still be reached by district-specific standards even though it escapes the general permit trigger.

Anyone who does build a genuine 'structure' without the required zoning clearance faces enforcement under UDO Section 1.6: a first offense draws a ten-day written warning from Community Development, after which an uncorrected violation carries a $100.00-per-day civil penalty collectible as a civil debt in district court, with repeat violations on the same property escalating to an immediate $100.00 penalty plus the same daily accrual. Decisions of the department may be appealed to the Board of Adjustment under UDO Section 3.7.