Clayton County, GA Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

Unlike ornamental or privacy fences, a true soil-retaining wall is not assigned its own height cap in the Clayton County Zoning Ordinance. The fence-and-wall table (Sec. 6.30) covers only decorative and obscuring walls; a retaining wall is treated as a structure and requires a building permit under the county's adopted building codes, with engineered plans typically required for taller or load-bearing walls. Sec. 6.34 (Landscaping Standards) expressly restricts placement: no retaining wall may extend into an existing or proposed right-of-way or easement without written permission from the controlling agency. Drainage, grading and buffer requirements elsewhere in the code also apply.