Before You Build in Lee's Summit, MO: Permit & Rule Checklist (2026)

Lee's Summit administers fence permitting through Development Services. Retaining walls up to 4 feet need no building permit; taller walls do. The city enforces the 2018 International Residential and Building Codes.

Lee's Summit exempts retaining walls 4 feet and under from permits, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top. Taller walls, or any wall carrying a surcharge, require a building permit and engineered plans.

Lee's Summit caps fences at 6 feet in rear and side yards (behind the house's front face) and 4 feet in the front yard. Corner lots must keep the sight-distance triangle clear.

Lee's Summit allows wood, steel, chain-link, and iron fencing in residential areas. Barbed wire and electrified fences are prohibited, and the finished side must face outward toward neighbors.

Lee's Summit requires the finished side of a fence to face outward toward adjoining properties and streets. In the city each owner maintains their own fence; Missouri's partition-fence statute applies only to rural land.

Lee's Summit requires residential pool barriers at least 48 inches high, measured on the side away from the pool. Gates must open outward, self-close, and self-latch under the city's adopted 2018 International Residential Code.

Lee's Summit enforces pool safety through the adopted 2018 residential code and the federal VGB Act: anti-entrapment drain covers, a compliant 48-inch barrier, and GFCI-protected electrical are required on residential pools.

Lee's Summit requires a building permit for every swimming pool and hot tub, above-ground or in-ground. Applications go through the CityView portal with a plot plan and a signed pool fencing acknowledgment.

Lee's Summit requires a building permit for above-ground pools, the same as in-ground pools. Above-ground applications are reviewed by email, and a 48-inch barrier plus a signed fencing acknowledgment are required.

Lee's Summit requires a barrier around every residential pool and spa. Under the adopted 2018 International Residential Code, barriers must be at least 48 inches high with self-closing, self-latching gates, and the homeowner signs a fencing acknowledgment.

Lee's Summit requires a permit for hot tubs and spas, mainly for the 240-volt electrical connection, and the homeowner must sign the city's pool-hot tub-sauna fencing acknowledgment.

Lee's Summit expressly allows accessory dwelling units in most residential districts. An ADU cannot exceed 500 square feet or 50 percent of the main home's floor area, whichever is less, and cannot push impervious lot coverage above 60 percent.

Lee's Summit allows garage conversions with a building permit, but the converted space must meet the adopted 2018 residential code for habitable rooms and the home must keep its required off-street parking.

Lee's Summit requires a building permit for detached accessory structures over 120 square feet, and sheds cannot exceed 250 square feet. Structures over 120 square feet must sit on a permanent 12-inch-deep footing.

Lee's Summit regulates tiny homes by construction type. A foundation-built tiny house must meet the adopted 2018 residential code, and a backyard tiny home is limited by the city's 500-square-foot ADU cap.

Lee's Summit treats carports as accessory structures. A building permit is required for detached accessory structures over 120 square feet, and Unified Development Ordinance setbacks and lot-coverage limits apply.

Open burning is prohibited in Lee's Summit by ordinance and state law. Only agriculturally zoned properties and commercial land-clearing operations can get a Fire Department burn permit, and only vegetative brush can be burned.

Portable fire pits and chimineas need no permit but must sit 15 feet from structures and burn only seasoned firewood. Open recreational campfires require a Fire Department permit each time, stay 25 feet back, and cannot exceed 3 feet wide.

Lee's Summit runs its own municipal water utility, and outdoor watering is voluntary. Missouri sets no statewide watering mandate, and the city publishes conservation tips rather than a mandatory schedule or drought-stage watering ban.

Removing a tree in your own Lee's Summit yard needs no permit; Missouri has no tree-protection statute. New development is different: UDO Article 8 sets landscaping and tree standards, and cutting a neighbor's or public tree carries penalties.

You may prune trees on your own Lee's Summit property without a permit. Dead, diseased, or dying trees must be treated, pruned, or removed under Property Maintenance Code Sec. 16-204. Street trees in the right-of-way are city-managed.