Lakewood, WA Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

090(B)(13), separate from ordinary fences even though both can sit within a required setback. A wall built between lands of different elevations to resist lateral displacement, control erosion, or protect a structure can be placed within a required yard setback up to a maximum height of four feet on front property lines and eight feet on side and rear property lines, provided the applicable sight-distance and building permit requirements are met. Where a slope is terraced with more than one wall, the code requires at least two feet of minimum horizontal distance between the back edge of the lower wall and the front edge of the upper wall, so the walls do not function as a single taller structure in disguise.

Whether that wall needs a building permit at all turns on Title 15, which adopts the International Building Code locally. 2 so that a retaining wall not over four feet, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, is exempt from a building permit, provided it is set back from adjacent property lines or structures by a distance at least equal to its own height and the retained material slopes 1:2 or flatter away from the wall, unless it supports a surcharge or impounds hazardous liquids. 090(F)(3) faces the additional fifty-foot shoreline setback on top of these height rules.