Parma, OH Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

23(a)(1) folds retaining walls into the same boundary-marking category as fences, hedges and trellises: no retaining wall on any residential lawn adjacent to a lot line may exceed six feet in height, that height measured vertically from the ground surface to the top of the wall under subsection (c). Subsection (b) requires the landowner to secure a permit from the Building Commissioner before erecting a retaining wall, paying the fee set in Chapter 185's General Fee Schedule. The Commissioner cannot issue that permit until either the applicant submits proof that all affected neighboring property owners were notified and signed a waiver of objection, or a registered professional surveyor verifies the applicant's property lines with a boundary survey dated within the prior ten years.

As with fences generally, subsection (g) lets commercial, industrial and public-facility lots exceed the six-foot cap with Planning Commission approval, though that carve-out does not apply to the height-measurement rule in subsection (c). 12 sets minimum footing dimensions of eight inches thick by twenty inches wide for plain concrete construction.