Pottstown, PA Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

Section 9-112(E) sets the excavation-and-fill standards that apply to every activity permitted under a Pottstown grading permit (required by § 9-106 for construction, drainage changes or ground disturbance over 499 square feet). Subsection (E)(1) caps cut and fill slopes at 2:1 unless the slope is stabilized with a retaining wall or cribbing, and the Borough can approve a steeper, unstabilized slope only because of special site conditions. The same subsection requires that cuts and fills not endanger adjoining property, that fill be compacted to minimize sliding or erosion, and that no increased runoff be allowed to leave the site without first being detained to match pre-development rates.

Once a retaining wall goes in under a grading permit, § 9-112(H) makes the property owner responsible for continuously maintaining and repairing it, along with the graded surfaces, antierosion devices, drainage structures and plantings installed with it, except within a state or municipal road right-of-way, which PennDOT or the Borough maintains instead. Section 9-112(C) lets the Borough issue a conditional permit modifying these grading standards, but only on sound engineering practice, and any interested party can appeal that conditional permit to Borough Council the same way a rezoning petition is heard.

Because a retaining wall built to stabilize a slope is part of the grading plan itself, it has to be shown on the plan and narrative required under §§ 9-105 and 9-109, and it is subject to the Code Enforcement Office's random and final inspections under § 9-114 before any use-and-occupancy permit issues.