Retaining walls over 4 ft tall (from bottom of footing to top) require a building permit and engineered drawings in Yonkers. Walls with surcharge loads require engineering at any height.
Under NY State Building Code, retaining walls exceeding 4 ft in height (measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall) require a building permit, and walls supporting a surcharge (driveway, structure) require engineered drawings regardless of height. Yonkers' hilly topography makes retaining walls common. The Yonkers Department of Housing and Buildings reviews plans. Walls affecting drainage patterns may also require DPW review.
Unpermitted retaining walls: stop-work order, fines, possible required removal/reconstruction.
Yonkers, NY
Overnight on-street parking is generally allowed on residential streets but subject to alternate-side street-cleaning rules. Some zones require residential p...
Yonkers, NY
Chickens and livestock generally prohibited in Yonkers residential zones. Zoning code allows only conventional household pets in single-family and multi-fami...
Yonkers, NY
Yonkers enforces New York State smoke and carbon monoxide alarm requirements under 19 NYCRR Part 1225 (Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code). All dwelli...
Yonkers, NY
Yonkers is not in a designated wildfire zone. New York does not maintain WUI (wildland-urban interface) fire hazard maps, and Yonkers is a dense urban city i...
Yonkers, NY
Yonkers is an urban municipality with no defensible-space brush-clearance mandate. Property owners must keep lots free of overgrowth, debris, and nuisance ve...
Yonkers, NY
Rainwater harvesting is legal in NY State and in Yonkers. No permit needed for residential rain barrels used for outdoor irrigation.
Side-by-side rule comparisons with other cities in Westchester County.
See how other cities in Westchester County handle retaining walls.
See how Yonkers's retaining walls rules stack up against other locations.
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