Walton County, GA Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

5(C) sets the height ceiling: no retaining wall may exceed four feet within ten feet of a front property line, a rule that keeps tall walls from crowding the street-facing edge of a lot. Subsection D then layers engineering requirements on top of that height rule. S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards; a pre-qualified vendor's engineered design can substitute if the Building Official accepts it. Smaller retaining needs get a lighter path: where the vertical displacement is 30 inches or less and no permanent structure bears on the retained soil, landscaping timbers, or an approved equal, may be used, with railroad cross ties allowed only in that limited case.

Every retaining wall must show complete dimensions for line and grade and account for foundation drainage, must avoid encroaching on drainage easements, courses or floodplains, and, if visible from the public right-of-way, must be finished in decorative concrete modular block, stone, brick or textured cement masonry rather than left as bare structural material. Any wall taller than four feet, regardless of location, must be engineered and permitted and inspected by the Department for conformance with the approved design.