Brookhaven, GA Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

Sec. 27-957 of the Brookhaven Code governs retaining walls, and it works through a cap, two tiers of variance, and a documentation requirement. Retaining walls on RS-zoned lots may not exceed four feet in height. Two variance routes sit above that line. The community development director is authorized to grant an administrative variance allowing retaining walls of up to six feet in RS districts, and the board of appeals is authorized to grant a variance allowing retaining walls of up to eight feet. Both decision-makers must find that exceptional topographical restrictions exist on the lot in context with the adjoining property that were not created by the applicant or owner. A hillside the owner cut into does not qualify.

The engineering requirement is written into the variance. In addition to the materials otherwise required with a variance application, the applicant for every retaining wall height variance shall submit a certified field run site plan or a topographical map certified by an engineer or landscape architect. The same documentation is required for a setback variance under subsection (a)(2).

Outside RS districts, subsection (c) sets a different test: the maximum height of a retaining wall may not exceed the horizontal distance between the face of the wall and the property line of a lot containing a residential use.

Setbacks are separate from height. On a lot with a single family detached dwelling, a retaining wall under four feet in height must be set back at least the vertical height of the wall face at any point along the wall. A wall of four feet or more must be set back four feet, or 50% of the required side building setback, whichever results in a greater setback. Window wells are exempt from that setback rule, and the board of appeals can vary it where exceptional topographical restrictions exist.

Subsection (d) bars retaining walls from transition buffers. Subsection (e) lets lawfully established nonconforming retaining walls be repaired and replaced as long as the height does not increase and the footprint does not grow by more than ten percent. The section was amended most recently by Ord. No. 2025-04-01 on 4-22-2025.

Retaining walls also need the permit in Sec. 27-953, and the fee is the one in the community development fee schedule.