Conway, AR Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

Conway regulates retaining walls through its hillside excavation rules in Chapter 5.32 rather than a standalone fence ordinance, because the walls the code cares about are the engineered soil retention systems built to hold back cut or fill slopes. Section 5.32.03 requires that any excavation or fill slope steeper than three feet horizontal to one foot vertical be supported by an engineered soil retention system, meaning a retaining wall, and it caps an individual wall at fifteen feet in height; taller sites must instead use a series of terraced walls with landscaped terraces rather than one tall structure.

Once a wall or series totals more than eighty-seven inches, the visible face must be architectural stone or another aesthetic material the City Engineer approves, and once the structural system exceeds forty-eight inches, the design must carry the stamp and signature of a professional engineer licensed in Arkansas. Terracing itself is regulated too: each terrace must be at least as wide as it is tall, up to a ten-foot maximum, planted with dense evergreen screening and understory trees no more than fifteen feet apart. All of this flows from the excavation plan permit required under Section 5.32.01 and Section 5.32.02, filed with the City Engineer at 100 East Robins Street, with a fee of one hundred dollars plus fifty dollars per acre, capped at five hundred dollars under Section 5.32.04, and a denial can be appealed to the Mayor.

Violating the design standards or building without the required permit is punishable under Section 5.32.06 by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than two thousand five hundred dollars, with each day of violation counted separately.