Walton County, FL Fence Regulations: Fence Permit Requirements (2026)

Walton County does not have a standalone fence permit section; instead, the exemption lives inside the general definitions that govern when any permit is required. Section 6-29(a)(1) defines a structure broadly, as anything constructed or erected with a fixed location on or below the ground that measures 30 inches or more above natural grade, and lists walls, decks, signs, billboards, liquid storage tanks, antennas and towers as examples. That same definition then states its one named exception: fences not requiring a foundation. Because a permit is only required under Section 6-29(a)(1) for work on a building or structure, an ordinary residential fence set on posts, without a poured foundation, falls outside the structure definition and outside the permit requirement entirely.

A fence built with a foundation, such as a masonry or engineered retaining-style fence wall, is a structure under the same definition and needs a permit like any other construction, including the certified survey or notarized plot plan required under Section 6-27 and the standard plan review and permit fees set by resolution of the Board. Building a foundation fence without that permit exposes the owner to the same 100 percent penalty on the usual permit fee that applies to any other unpermitted structure under Section 6-29(c).