Fence Regulations in Michigan (2026)

Battle Creek, Michigan caps residential fences at four feet in the primary and required secondary front yard and six…

Clinton Township caps residential fences at four and one-half feet under Section 1472.03(f), though the Building…

Dearborn caps residential line fences at six feet, bans fences in the front yard, tapers corner-lot fences to two feet…

City Code Sec. 13-3 caps residential fences at six feet in the rear yard and generally bars fences in the front or side…

Detroit caps residential fences at 4 feet in front yards and 6 feet on sides and rear, with materials, post placement…

In the City of Flint, residential fences set back 50 feet or more from the front property line can stand six feet tall…

Fence standards, finished-side orientation, corner-lot visibility, and pool barriers, are set by your city or township…

Solid, opaque privacy fences and walls in Grand Rapids are capped at 3 feet in front yards and 6 feet in side and rear…

In the City of Kalamazoo, residential fences are capped at four feet in a front yard and four feet in a corner side…

Kent County sets no fence-height rule. In Michigan, fence height is regulated by each city, village, or zoned township…

Lansing caps front-yard fences at three feet (four feet if half-open) and side/rear fences at six feet, eight feet with…

Livonia caps a standard side or rear yard fence at four feet, allows a privacy fence up to six feet four inches with a…

Macomb County does not zone private land, so it sets no countywide fence-height cap. Height limits are established by…

Oakland County has no county-wide fence height ordinance; rules are set by each city, village, or township. Suburban…

Pontiac caps residential front-yard fences at four feet in R-1 and R-2 districts, and rear or interior side-yard fences…

Residential fences in Rochester Hills top out at six feet along side and rear lot lines and three feet in a front or…

City of Royal Oak fences may rise no more than six feet in side and rear yards, and no more than four feet in a front…

In the Charter Township of Royal Oak, Michigan, residential fences six feet or less sit behind the front building line…

Southfield bans front-yard fences on residential lots unless they qualify as a decorative or living fence, and caps…

Interior-lot fences in Sterling Heights must stand three to six feet above grade and stay out of the front yard; corner…

Residential fences in Taylor cannot exceed six feet in the side or rear yard under Zoning Section 15.03(b). Decorative…

Troy residential fences top out at 6 feet, dropping to 30 inches in the area ahead of the front building line. Corner…

Warren caps ordinary residential fences at four feet and privacy fences at six feet under Zoning Ordinance Sections…

Westland only allows a privacy fence in an interior lot's side yard if the neighbor consents in writing; rear-yard…

Wyoming, Michigan caps fences at six feet in side and rear yards but only 36 inches in the front yard, and the building…

In the City of Battle Creek, Michigan, no one can build a permanent fence without first getting a permit, unless the…

Clinton Township requires a fence permit from the Building Department before any fence is installed, erected, or…

Dearborn requires a compliance certificate, the city's version of a fence permit, before building, replacing, removing…

In the City of Dearborn Heights, no fence may go up until the Building and Engineering Department issues a zoning…

Detroit caps front yard fences at four feet (three if opaque) on single- and two-family lots, six feet on side and rear…

Flint requires a permit before erecting or altering any fence, issued through the Division of Building and Safety…

Fence permits in Grand Rapids run through the City's general Zoning Permit process: the Planning Department reviews…

Erecting, re-erecting, altering, relocating or making a major repair to any fence or privacy screen in Livonia requires…

In the City of Pontiac, a fence counts as a structure under Zoning Ordinance § 7.301, which means building or replacing…

In Rochester Hills, erecting, constructing, or altering a fence, wall, or protective barrier on non-residential…

Anyone building or installing a fence in the City of Royal Oak must first obtain a fence permit from the Building…

In the Charter Township of Royal Oak, Michigan, a fence permit from the Building Official is required before any fence…

Village Code § 430-4 bars placing fences or other obstructions in any Shelby Village street or right-of-way except…

Building a fence in the City of Southfield always triggers some form of city review. Residential lots (R-A through R-E)…

Sterling Heights requires a building permit before anyone constructs a fence or privacy screen anywhere in the city…

Building a fence in the City of Taylor, Michigan requires a building permit from the Development Services Department…

Troy requires a Building Department permit before any fence goes up. Chapter 83, Sec. 5 of the City Code makes…

Before erecting any fence or wall in Warren, owners must obtain a permit from the Division of Buildings and Safety…

Westland requires a building department permit before constructing any fence in the city, whether residential…

Before putting up, rebuilding or changing any fence in Wyoming, Michigan, the property owner needs the building…

Wayne County doesn't issue general residential fence permits; that's set by each city or township's own code. The one…

Dearborn splits boundary-fence maintenance by post location: whoever's land holds the posts maintains specific halves…

When a Dearborn Heights property owner puts up a new privacy fence next to an existing chain-link fence on a shared…

Detroit requires adjoining lot owners to jointly build and maintain the partition fence between their properties, with…

When two adjoining Flint properties carry different zoning, the fence rule on that shared property line is set by…

Livonia's fence ordinance puts upkeep of a lot-line fence on whoever currently owns the property it stands on, not on a…

Macomb County has no shared-fence ordinance. Boundary fences fall under Michigan's statewide Fences and Fence Viewers…

Royal Oak's Fence Ordinance puts fence repair and upkeep on whoever owns or leases the property where the fence sits…

In the Charter Township of Royal Oak, Michigan, no fence can project beyond the fence owner's property or obstruct an…

Westland lets neighbors split a boundary fence's cost and upkeep by written mutual consent, or a building department…

Troy lets any lot owner build and keep a fence along the line shared with a neighboring lot or along a street or alley…

Battle Creek, Michigan does not treat a retaining wall as a fence, but a retaining wall over four feet tall must have a…

Dearborn Heights treats a retaining wall as zoning-regulated work: City Code Sec. 36-4 lists retaining walls among the…

In the City of Flint, retaining walls are excluded from the fence ordinance entirely and must instead meet Building…

Grand Rapids zoning caps retaining wall height under Table 5.2.11.C and requires a Zoning Permit for any wall over…

Livonia's zoning ordinance lets a homeowner build a retaining wall inside a required front, side or rear setback only…

West Bloomfield Township requires an engineer's calculations for any retaining wall thirty inches or taller, and a…

In Wyoming, Michigan, building or relocating a retaining wall goes through plan review under Table 90-502 of the Zoning…

Westland lets homeowners build retaining walls, garden walls, steps, and paved terraces up to three feet above finished…

On residential property in the City of Flint, barbed wire fencing is flatly prohibited, and no fence anywhere in the…

Grand Rapids prohibits barbed wire and electrically charged fences on any residential property citywide; barbed wire is…

Kalamazoo City Code § 22-14 bans barbed wire on any fence, barrier or structure within six feet of the ground anywhere…

Livonia's fence ordinance bans barbed wire between or abutting residential properties, bans electrified fences that…

Barbed wire and electrified fencing are outright banned within the City of Pontiac under City Code Section 86-254, with…

Taylor prohibits barbed wire, razor wire, spikes, nails and any other sharp point on top of or along a fence, plus…

Warren bans razor wire, barbed wire and electrically charged fencing on any property in the city under Zoning Ordinance…

Westland bans electrified fences and any electrical attachment on a fence in every zoning district, and prohibits…

Battle Creek, Michigan bans barbed wire, razor wire, concertina strands, single wire and cattle fencing, and bars…

Clinton Township expressly prohibits barbed wire and electrically charged fences under Section 1472.03(e), with one…

Dearborn Heights bans barbed wire and razor wire on any residential fence citywide under City Code Sec. 13-7, and Sec…

Detroit bans single- and two-family homes from attaching barbed wire to any fence, and prohibits razor wire and…

Lansing bans razor wire, concertina wire, and electrified fences outright, and allows barbed wire only in the IND-1…

Troy bans electrically charged fences citywide and bars barbed wire in residential zones, except barbed wire used to…

Dearborn requires fence posts of iron pipe, wood, or reinforced concrete set three feet deep in concrete, and bans…

Oakland County municipalities universally prohibit barbed wire, razor wire, and electrified fences in residential…

Residential fences in Rochester Hills must be wood, metal, brick, masonry, or a comparable all-weather solid material…

Royal Oak's fence ordinance requires all fence and privacy-screen materials to be identical or reasonably compatible in…

In the Charter Township of Royal Oak, Michigan, fences must use materials commonly used in conventional fence…

In the City of Southfield, residential fences cannot be built from stockade panels, uncoated chain link, or slats…

Sterling Heights requires fences and privacy screens to be built of ornamental metal, wire, wrought iron, wood or…

Wyoming, Michigan's zoning code requires every fence in the city, residential or commercial, to be of an ornamental…