Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

Section 225-61 of the Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Code, added 3-14-2000 by Ord. No. 2000:6, sits in the land use chapter among the subdivision improvement standards. It requires that retaining walls greater than six feet in height be tiered at every six-foot interval of height. Each tier must be set back a minimum of three feet so there is room for landscape plantings, and landscaping is required at each tier level to reduce the appearance of height and mass.

The rule carries a grandfather clause. It does not apply to a development that received preliminary major subdivision approval, preliminary major site plan approval, final subdivision approval or final site plan approval by a Planning Board resolution adopted before the provision took effect, as long as that approval has not expired. For those projects the requirements and conditions in the resolution of approval apply instead.

The zoning chapter adds yard rules in § 430-11, Fences and walls. Necessary retaining walls required for site grading, up to a height of four feet, are permitted within a front yard, subject to sight triangle considerations, and there must be at least three feet of planted space between each subsequent tiered retaining wall. That section also states that retaining walls are subject to all applicable construction codes and permits.

The construction fee schedule in § 124-5 prices the permit by wall. A wall with a surface area of 550 square feet or less at a Class 3 residential structure pays a flat $175 per wall, and a larger one pays $250. A newly constructed wall at any other structure is charged on the alteration unit cost per $1,000 of the cost of construction, with a $500 minimum. Surface area is measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall multiplied by the length, and height means the combined height of all walls on the same slope.