Sandy, UT Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

Sandy City Code 21-28-8 governs any retaining wall that protects a cut below or a fill above natural grade and sits on a line separating lots or properties: such a wall cannot exceed five feet in height. Where the cut or fill to be retained runs higher than five feet, the code requires the retaining walls to be stepped and separated horizontally by a minimum of five feet rather than built as one tall face. The uppermost of the stepped walls may still be topped by a fence, wall, or hedge up to whatever height would otherwise be allowed at that location if no retaining wall existed at all, so a homeowner isn't automatically capped below the normal six-foot residential fence allowance once the retaining structure itself tops out at five feet.

The Planning Commission holds authority to grant a special exception to the stepping requirement where the property owner can show it would cause an unreasonable hardship, and the code gives a concrete example: where stepping the wall would eliminate the side or rear yard, leaving the owner with a strip of unusable yard space under five feet wide, or where stepping simply isn't practical given the uses on adjoining property. This section sits in Chapter 21-28, Fencing, and interacts directly with Section 21-28-3's fence-height rules: that section separately caps the combined height of a fence plus retaining wall at 11 feet total, measured from the highest grade, unless another provision of the chapter allows more.