Minneapolis, MN Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

Section 540.890(a) of the Minneapolis Zoning Code starts from a blunt rule: every required yard stays open and unobstructed from ground level to the sky unless the section says otherwise. Table 540-22, Permitted Obstructions in Required Yards, supplies the exceptions, and retaining walls appear in it twice.

The first row covers retaining walls where natural grade is retained. It carries a P in all three columns, so the wall is permitted in a front or corner side yard, an interior side yard, and a rear yard. That row prints no height figure and points to no other chapter. It covers a wall that holds back soil that was already on the lot.

The second row covers retaining walls that do not retain natural grade, meaning walls built to hold fill that raises the ground. This row applies in the front yard only, and the proposed grade may be increased to match the top of the existing slope or up to three feet in height above natural grade, whichever is less. As a worked example, if the existing slope tops out two feet above natural grade, the fill stops at two feet, and if the slope rises five feet, the cap is three feet. No P is printed under the interior side or rear yard columns for this second type, and under section 540.890(b) a structure sits in a required yard only where the table marks a P.

Section 540.890(d) adds a setback. No permitted obstruction can sit closer than one foot from the property line, and the exceptions to that one-foot rule name driveways, walkways, fences, detached accessory buildings, firewood storage, and household refuse containers. Retaining walls are not on that list, so a retaining wall stays at least one foot back from the lot line.

Nonresidential lots get a separate sentence in section 540.890(c): required interior side yards for nonresidential uses stay unobstructed, except that fencing and retaining walls are allowed. The next sentence in (c) says that where a rear yard abuts a required side yard, only fencing is allowed there. Section 540.890(i) also treats a rear yard that abuts a required side yard as an interior side yard when reading Table 540-22. The current text of section 540.890 was amended by Ord. No. 2025-023, § 26, adopted 5-15-2025.