Coeur d'Alene, ID Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

The rule sits in Coeur d'Alene Municipal Code § 17.06.035, Prohibited Activity, in the general zoning provisions of Title 17. Subsection A.1 bars filling in and raising the natural grade of an individual residential lot or a single commercial lot. The finished grade must be equal to or within one foot (1') of the natural grade of the lot. Filling is allowed on lower lots so long as the finished grade is not greater than the adjoining lots. Subsection A.2 then prohibits berming up and building retaining walls at the back of a sidewalk that is not at the natural grade prior to development activity. The sidewalk elevation is the reference point, so a wall that props a yard up above a sidewalk sitting lower than the lot's original elevation falls inside the ban.

Two carve-outs follow. Subsection A.3 says the prohibitions do not apply to projects over one and one-half (11/2) acres or master planned communities where grading and contouring is done in a methodical manner to benefit the project and does not negatively impact adjacent properties, and as approved by the Planning Commission with a project request. Subsection A.4 adds that hillside lots shall comply with the allowable disturbed area requirements. That section does not list the disturbed-area numbers, so a hillside owner needs the separate hillside standard before designing any wall.

Subsection B puts a duty on the applicant: natural grade elevation must be established by the applicant at time of obtaining a building permit and noted on the site plan or plan set. In practice the City reviews the grade line at permit stage, not after the wall is built.

The quoted section sets no wall height cap and no engineering threshold. A separate rule applies on Lake Coeur d'Alene shoreline property. Section 17.08.220 A measures building height under § 17.02.065C, except that where site work such as a retaining wall or an earth berm is used to create finished grades higher in elevation than preexisting grade, preexisting grade is used to determine building or structure height. Raising the lot with fill or a wall therefore does not raise the allowed height there.