Blaine, MN Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

Blaine does not regulate retaining walls in a standalone section; instead they are folded into the landscaping standards of Sec. 129-7, which applies to construction in the city's R-3A, R-3B, R-3C, RF, DF, B-1 through B-4, I-1, I-1A, I-2, I-2A, PBD, RR, POD, and MU zoning districts. Sec. 129-7(b)(4) requires that a detailed landscape plan include typical sections and construction details of fences, retaining walls, berms, and other landscape improvements, meaning a wall's height, materials, and placement must be engineered and shown to the zoning administrator before site plan approval, not built ad hoc during construction.

The grading control that most often forces a retaining wall sits in Sec. 129-7(g): a final slope grade steeper than a 3:1 ratio (one foot of vertical rise for every three feet of horizontal run) is not permitted without special approval or an alternative treatment such as terracing or a retaining wall, and berms used for required screening are held to that same 3:1 maximum. Because these grading and wall requirements are part of the mandatory landscape plan, they are cross-checked against the grading and drainage plan required for the same site plan submission under Sec.

129-6(a)(5), which must show two-foot contour intervals and any proposed stormwater facilities. A wall built to hold a slope steeper than 3:1 therefore needs to be documented on both plans and approved by the zoning administrator as part of one coordinated site plan review, rather than approved piecemeal.