Skowhegan, ME Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

The Shoreland Zoning Ordinance of the Town of Skowhegan, amended through June 5, 2021, regulates retaining walls in Section 15(B)(5). The rule applies only on land within two hundred and fifty feet of the normal high water line of a great pond or river, within two hundred and fifty feet of the upland edge of a freshwater wetland, or within seventy-five feet of a stream (Section 3). A wall elsewhere in the town is not reached by this section.

The starting rule is that retaining walls that are not necessary for erosion control shall meet the structure setback. Section 15(B)(1) sets that setback at one hundred feet, horizontal distance, from great ponds classified GPA and rivers that flow to them, seventy-five feet from other water bodies, tributary streams or the upland edge of a wetland, and twenty-five feet in the General Development District.

A low retaining wall and associated fill can be built inside the setback only if all of the listed conditions are met. The site has been previously altered and has no effective vegetated buffer. The wall sits at least 25 feet from the normal high-water line. The site is legally existing lawn or is eroding from lack of natural vegetation and cannot be stabilized with plantings. The total height of the walls, in the aggregate, is no more than 24 inches. The walls are outside the 100-year flood plain shown on FEMA maps or the flood of record. The area behind the wall is revegetated, with no patios or decks in the setback area. A vegetated buffer is established within 25 feet of the water when none exists: native species only, shrubs plus woody and herbaceous vegetation, mulch where ground cover is lacking, and a minimum buffer width of 15 feet.

A wall that needs to touch the water is treated differently. Section 15(B)(1)(a) says the water body, tributary stream or wetland setback does not apply to structures requiring direct access to the water as an operational necessity, naming piers, docks and retaining walls.

Section 15(B)(5) sets numeric conditions and does not call for an engineer's stamp. Section 16(B) bars any activity requiring a permit until the permit is issued, and Section 16(C)(1) requires a written application with a scaled site plan.