Roanoke, VA Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

Roanoke's zoning ordinance treats retaining walls separately from ordinary fences and walls. 2-410(a), the section that otherwise caps fence and wall height by zoning district, states outright that the supplemental regulations of that section shall not apply to retaining walls, so a retaining wall is not subject to the fence chapter's height schedule, its solid-fence-in-the-front-yard restriction, or its zoning-permit triggers for fences. Appendix A defines a retaining wall as a wall or terraced combination of walls designed to retain or restrain the lateral forces of soil similar in height to the wall, that is not used to support, found, or provide a wall for a building or other structure.

2-205(e), lists retaining walls as a permitted encroachment into the front, side, and rear yard alike, marking 'Yes' in all three columns with no maximum encroachment distance specified, unlike bay windows, chimneys, or overhanging roofs, which are capped at 1 to 2 feet of encroachment. 2-647 requires that the base of any retaining wall five feet or more in height, located within 10 feet of a property line, be screened with evergreen shrubs planted to a minimum height of 18 inches, wherever the wall faces an abutting residential district, a multiple purpose district, a PUD district, or any public right-of-way.

That buffer is a landscaping requirement enforced through development plan review, not a structural permit or engineering-certification standard; the zoning ordinance's fence height and setback rules simply do not reach retaining walls at all.