Bethlehem, PA Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

29, any land with a gradient over 15 percent falls under the City's steep-slope development standards, and subsection (e), "Maximum Vertical Drop Of Terraces," governs retaining walls built to manage that grade: each terrace is capped at a five-foot vertical drop, and the City Planning Commission may require an appropriate fence at the top of the wall as a condition of approval. Subsection (f), Submittal Requirements, ties this into the subdivision review process: an applicant proposing a use affected by the steep-slope section must submit slope mapping (based on two-foot contours unless the City Engineer pre-approves a different interval), showing areas over 15 percent and over 25 percent slope, plus the location of the proposed construction area, as part of preliminary subdivision plans or a separate plot plan for an existing lot.

03(E)(9) (Overall Requirements; Erosion Control, Excavations, Fills and Retaining Walls), require that cut slopes be no steeper than 2:1 and fill slopes no steeper than 3:1 unless stabilized by a retaining wall or cribbing, and require plans submitted to the Bureau of Planning and Zoning to show the exterior appearance of any retaining wall visible from a street or another dwelling. That same provision flags that walls of four feet or greater typically also fall under the Construction Code, and walls of five feet or greater are independently regulated by the Zoning Ordinance, meaning a taller wall can trigger both a building permit and zoning review.