Woodbury, MN Fence Regulations: Fence Permit Requirements (2026)

Article IV of chapter 6 governs fences citywide, and only one subsection of it conditions a fence on obtaining a permit. Section 6-140(b) allows fences in business and industrial districts to go up to six feet on the lot line as of right, then adds that fences in those same districts may be erected to a height of eight feet with a security arm for barbed wire, but only subject to a special use permit. Every other height allowance in the article, the six-foot residential rear/side fence in section 6-140(a), the 30-inch front yard limit in section 6-140(d), the eight-foot setback rear yard option in section 6-140(e), and the four-foot side-yard-forward-of-the-house rule in section 6-140(f), is stated without any permit or application step attached to it.

Subsection (c) reinforces that commercial and industrial fences exceeding the base height limits must still respect front and side yard setbacks and stay outside ten feet of a rear lot line, and may never exceed the height of the principal structure, but again ties no separate permit process to ordinary height compliance. Where a resident disagrees with how the height rules apply to a specific lot, section 6-137 provides an appeal path through the variance procedure in chapter 24, article II, division 5, which functions as the article's only other formal city-review process for a fence. Placement questions along property lines and within easements are handled administratively under sections 6-143 and 6-146 rather than through a permit application.