Lower Merion, PA Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

Section 155-3.7E addresses retaining walls directly within the Township's fences-and-walls chapter: the height of a retaining wall may not exceed six feet within the applicable setback and may not exceed eight feet beyond it. Section 155-3.7F follows with a spacing rule for stacked or terraced walls: where a sequence of retaining walls is required to manage a grade change, they must be spaced at minimum intervals specified in the underlying zoning district, with a default minimum interval of 10 feet between walls in the sequence, except in the LDR districts where that 10-foot interval does not apply.

These retaining wall rules sit alongside the Township's broader fence and wall framework in Section 155-3.7, so a retaining wall built as part of a landscaping or grading project must still respect the six/eight-foot height split by setback location even though it is not a decorative fence. Because retaining walls are regulated under the same zoning article as fences, a wall exceeding these limits is treated as a zoning nonconformity subject to Article XI relief through the Zoning Hearing Board rather than a building-code structural filing alone, though taller engineered walls may separately trigger Uniform Construction Code permit review for structural safety.