Fence laws in Johns Creek, Georgia
What the Johns Creek municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Johns Creek sets no rule of its own, the Georgia rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Johns Creek, Georgia, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Walls and fences constructed along all property lines in Johns Creek have to be built with a finished side toward the neighboring property, and the rule is written about every property line rather than only about the ones facing a street, and the answer turns on whether the line faces a street. The figure is 3 feet, for setback and landscape strip at a street.
- How tall
- Johns Creek states its height rule in a single sentence and draws no distinction between the front of a lot and the back, and the answer turns on whether the part measured is fence or column. The figure is 8 feet, for fence in a residential district.
- Permits
- The fence section opens with the permit rule rather than closing with it, and the answer turns on the district and what the fence is built of.
- Pool barriers
- Georgia's public pool rules set barrier requirements and then leave home pools out.
- Spite fences
- Johns Creek has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Johns Creek leaves the measuring rule to each Georgia county and municipality, through the zoning ordinance it adopts. It reaches land inside a Georgia county or city that has adopted zoning only.
- Corner lots
- Johns Creek leaves corner clearance to the minimum sight distance requirements in the City of Johns Creek Development Regulations.
- Retaining walls
- Johns Creek leaves retaining walls to the International Residential Code, 2024 Edition, with Georgia Amendments, whose text is not printed by the state. It reaches one and two family dwellings and townhouses only.
- Materials
- In every single family detached development in Johns Creek, wire and plastic fencing may not be used alongside a street right-of-way, and chain link with plastic or wooden inserts is named so the usual substitution is caught too, and the answer turns on the district and whether the fence faces a street. The figure is 6 feet, for height barbed wire has to start at.
- Livestock
- Georgia writes a hard fence spec for one kind of farm. The figure is 8 feet, for minimum fence height around a farmed deer facility. It reaches licensed deer farms only.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Johns Creek?
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Johns Creek answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the line faces a street.
Walls and fences constructed along all property lines in Johns Creek have to be built with a finished side toward the neighboring property, and the rule is written about every property line rather than only about the ones facing a street. Nothing sets a distance from an interior line and nothing asks for consent from the adjoining owner, so a fence may sit on the boundary. Against a street the section is firmer: a fence or wall has to be set back at least three feet from a public right-of-way, and a minimum three foot landscape strip has to sit between the fence and that right-of-way, so the gap is planted rather than bare. A gate is held much further out, with no part of an automobile gate allowed within twenty feet of a public right-of-way and no gate or vehicle permitted to obstruct the right-of-way whether the gate is open, closed or halfway.
Fences Along All Property Lines. Walls and fences constructed along all property lines shall be constructed with a finished side toward the neighboring property.
The answer turns on whether the line faces a street.
- an interior lot line
- On the line, finished side out.
- a public right-of-way
- Three feet back, planted. 3 ft
- an automobile gate
- Twenty feet clear of the right-of-way. 20 ft
Also on fences on the property line in Johns Creek
- no rule, documents checkedNo cost sharing rule for a boundary fence was found in Georgia's statewide codes. The state residential code covers construction and says nothing about who pays for a fence on a line, and the state pool rules do not reach it. Georgia does not publish the Official Code of Georgia Annotated as free text on a state site, so a statute outside the state minimum standard codes could not be read and ruled out here. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 110-11-1-.25Georgia · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Johns Creek?
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Johns Creek answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the part measured is fence or column.
Johns Creek states its height rule in a single sentence and draws no distinction between the front of a lot and the back. Fences and walls may not exceed eight feet from grade in residential districts, and that is the whole of subsection E. Eight feet is two above the common figure and there is no lower number for a front yard anywhere in the section, which is rare. Columns and ornaments may then exceed that maximum by up to three feet, a generous allowance, so an eight foot fence may carry an eleven foot pier. Nothing is said about height in the non-residential districts, so those are governed by the materials rules, the setback and the landscape strip instead. Grade is the datum, and the section states no separate rule for a sloping boundary or for a fence built on a berm.
Height. Fences and walls shall not exceed a height of eight feet from grade in residential districts. Column and ornament heights are permitted to exceed the maximum fence/wall height up to 3 feet.
The answer turns on whether the part measured is fence or column.
- any residential yard
- Eight feet from grade. 8 ft
- a column or an ornament
- Three feet more. 3 ft
- a front yard
- No separate figure is stated.
Also on fence height in Johns Creek
- no rule, documents checkedGeorgia sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The state minimum standard residential code covers building homes and the structures beside them and names no fence height, and the state pool rules do not reach a yard fence. Height is set by city and county zoning. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 110-11-1-.25Georgia · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Johns Creek?
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Johns Creek answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district and what the fence is built of.
The fence section opens with the permit rule rather than closing with it. Fences and walls that conform to the provisions of the section are permitted by the Community Development Department, so approval is administrative and follows compliance rather than discretion. One class is lifted out entirely: fences erected for agricultural purposes in the AG-1 district are exempt from permit requirements, though not from the rest of the section, so an AG-1 farm fence still answers to the materials rules and the sight distance requirement. Two other approvals sit inside the section. The architectural treatment of a poured concrete, common aggregate block or concrete block wall has to be approved by the Director. And landscape areas or strips required by the section have to be maintained in accordance with the Tree Preservation Ordinance, which carries its own enforcement.
Fences and walls which conform to the provisions stated herein shall be permitted by the Community Development Department. Fences erected for agricultural purposes in the AG-1 District shall be exempt from permit requirements.
4.11, opening paragraph, with C and D.1
The answer turns on the district and what the fence is built of.
- a conforming fence
- Permitted by the department.
- an agricultural fence in AG-1
- No permit required.
- a concrete or block wall
- The Director approves its treatment.
Also on permits in Johns Creek
- set in state lawGeorgia sets no statewide fence permit exemption, so each local government writes its own. Georgia adopted the 2024 International Residential Code as its state minimum standard code for one and two family homes, then deleted Chapter 1. Chapter 1 is the part of the model code holding the permit rules and the list of work that needs no permit. It stays in the book only as a guide local governments can copy when writing their own procedures. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 110-11-1-.25Georgia · Building code
Pool fence requirements in Johns Creek
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Georgia answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Georgia's public pool rules set barrier requirements and then leave home pools out. The scope rule excludes a private pool, hot tub or spa that serves a single family home and is used only by the people living there and their guests. It also excludes pools at apartment complexes, country clubs and subdivisions open only to residents. A barrier at a Georgia home pool comes from the state minimum standard residential code and from local ordinance instead.
This one is Georgia law, not Johns Creek law. All Georgia findings
These rules shall not apply to private swimming pool and hot tubs or spas serving a single-family dwelling and used only by the residents of that dwelling and their guests
Spite fence laws in Johns Creek
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Johns Creek law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
No spite fence rule was found in Georgia's statewide codes. The state residential code is about construction and sets no test tied to why a fence went up. Georgia does not publish its annotated code as free text on a state site, so the search here covered the state minimum standard codes and the state pool rules only.
This one is Georgia law, not Johns Creek law. All Georgia findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 110-11-1-.25Georgia Secretary of State, Rules and Regulations
- Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-5Georgia Secretary of State, Rules and Regulations
How fence height is measured in Johns Creek
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Johns Creek does not set this. It leaves it to each Georgia county and municipality, through the zoning ordinance it adopts.
Georgia never says where a fence height is measured from. The Zoning Procedures Law defines a zoning ordinance as the local rule that sets the uses and development standards of property, and a fence height with its starting point is one of those standards. The state minimum standard codes chapter never uses the word fence, so the building side of state law does not pick the question up either. That leaves how a fence is measured, whether from natural grade or finished grade and what happens when a fence sits on a retaining wall, to the county or city ordinance that sets the number.
This one is Georgia law, not Johns Creek law. All Georgia findings
"Zoning ordinance" means an ordinance or resolution of a local government establishing procedures and zones or districts within its respective territorial boundaries which regulate the uses and development standards of property within such zones or districts.
The code hands this to each Georgia county and municipality, through the zoning ordinance it adopts, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence rules for corner lots in Johns Creek
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Johns Creek does not set this. It leaves it to the minimum sight distance requirements in the City of Johns Creek Development Regulations.
The paragraph is headed Visibility Triangle and contains no triangle. Fences, walls and the vegetation used with them must not obstruct the minimum sight distance requirements specified in the City of Johns Creek Development Regulations, which the Director of the Community Development Department administers. No leg length, no protected band of heights and no figure of any kind appears in the zoning ordinance, so an owner cannot check a corner against the fence section alone and the number that actually governs sits in a separate document. The same cross reference governs gates, which may not obstruct that minimum sight distance whether open, closed or in an intermediate position. What the zoning ordinance does supply at the street is the three foot setback, the three foot landscape strip and the ban on wire fencing along a single family street frontage, none of which is a sight distance rule.
Visibility Triangle. Fences, walls and vegetative materials used in association therewith must not obstruct the minimum sight distance requirements which are specified in the City of Johns Creek Development Regulations administered by the Director of the Community Development Department.
The code hands this to the minimum sight distance requirements in the City of Johns Creek Development Regulations, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on corner visibility in Johns Creek
- left to the townGeorgia writes no sight triangle into state law. The Zoning Procedures Law confirms that the zoning power belongs to each county and city, and says the chapter itself only sets the least procedure a local government has to follow when it uses that power. So the corner clearance rule, both the shape of the wedge near an intersection and the height nothing may pass inside it, is written in the local zoning ordinance. The state minimum standard codes chapter never mentions a fence, so it adds nothing here. O.C.G.A. 36-66-2(a)Georgia · Statute
Retaining wall rules in Johns Creek
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Johns Creek does not set this. It leaves it to the International Residential Code, 2024 Edition, with Georgia Amendments, whose text is not printed by the state.
Georgia writes no rule of its own for a wall that holds back earth. The Board of Community Affairs adopts a list of state minimum standard codes, and the residential one on that list is the International Residential Code, 2024 Edition, with Georgia Amendments. So the rule is whatever that model code says, and the state does not print its text.
This one is Georgia law, not Johns Creek law. All Georgia findings
The following are the current state minimum standard codes for construction as adopted by the Board of Community Affairs.
Current State Minimum Codes for Construction
The code hands this to the International Residential Code, 2024 Edition, with Georgia Amendments, whose text is not printed by the state, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Johns Creek
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Johns Creek answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district and whether the fence faces a street.
In every single family detached development in Johns Creek, wire and plastic fencing may not be used alongside a street right-of-way, and chain link with plastic or wooden inserts is named so the usual substitution is caught too. The one exception written back in is chain link used as a security fence round a stormwater facility. Barbed wire is treated separately and by district: it may be used in the AG-1 agricultural district where it goes with a legitimate agricultural pursuit, may not be approved for any single family dwelling lot even inside AG-1, and may be used as security strands in all districts other than the single family ones provided it sits at least six feet above grade. Poured concrete, common aggregate block and concrete block walls need their architectural treatment approved by the Director. Where the ordinance or a zoning condition calls for a solid or opaque fence, the visual density has to be such that it cannot be seen through.
Barbed wire may be used for security strands in all but single-family dwelling districts at a height of at least 6 feet above grade.
The answer turns on the district and whether the fence faces a street.
- a street frontage in a single family development
- No wire or plastic fencing.
- a single family lot
- No barbed wire, even in AG-1.
- any other district
- Security strands from six feet up. 6 ft
- a stormwater facility
- Chain link is still allowed.
Also on materials in Johns Creek
- set in state lawGeorgia has one statewide description of an electric security fence, which it calls a fence detection system, and the first item on the list is where the fence may sit. It has to be on land that is not zoned for homes. O.C.G.A. 36-60-12.1Georgia · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Johns Creek
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Georgia answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Georgia writes a hard fence spec for one kind of farm. A licensed deer farm has to ring the part of the site holding farmed deer with a fence at least eight feet tall. The bottom six feet is woven mesh, in a design, strength, gauge and mesh the Department of Agriculture approves. Wire added on top to reach eight feet may be smooth, barbed or woven, with strands no more than six inches apart. Trees and structures that could fall and break the fence have to come out.
This one is Georgia law, not Johns Creek law. All Georgia findings
Any portion of such facility within which farmed deer are maintained shall be surrounded by a fence with a minimum height of eight feet with the bottom six feet made of woven mesh and constructed of a design, strength, gauge, and mesh approved by the department
8 ftminimum fence height around a farmed deer facility
Documents behind this page
7 documents, of which 1 was published by Johns Creek itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Georgia Secretary of State, Rules and RegulationsGeorgia Administrative Code, Rule 110-11-1-.25, International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings (IRC), 2024 Edition with 2026 Georgia State Amendments
- Georgia Secretary of State, Rules and RegulationsGeorgia Administrative Code, Subject 511-3-5, Public Swimming Pools, Spas, and Recreational Water Parks
- City of Johns CreekJohns Creek Code of Ordinances, Appendix A, Zoning, Section 4.11, Fences and Walls
- Georgia Department of Community AffairsOfficial Code of Georgia Annotated, Title 36, Local Government, Chapter 66, Zoning Procedures, published by the Department of Community Affairs
- Georgia Department of Community AffairsCurrent State Minimum Codes for Construction
- Georgia General AssemblyGeorgia Senate Bill 182, 2021 Regular Session, as passed
- Georgia Department of AgricultureOfficial Code of Georgia Annotated, Title 4, Animals, Chapter 4, Article 5, Deer Farming
What this page does not cover
A city ordinance is not the only rule that reaches a fence. The zoning district a parcel sits in can change the height allowed on it, and so can an overlay district, a recorded easement, a fire hazard severity zone or a coastal zone. A homeowner association can be stricter than the city and nothing in the municipal code will say so. None of those appear here.
The rules above are the ones Johns Creek publishes, plus the Georgia rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Georgia has the state layer in full.
This is general information drawn from published government documents. It is not legal advice, ordinances are amended, and the date beside each finding is the date the document was read. How findings are made · What the terms mean