Fence laws in Marietta, Georgia
What the Marietta municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Marietta sets no rule of its own, the Georgia rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Marietta, Georgia, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Most cities say the finished side faces out and leave the argument there, and the answer turns on the design of the fence. The figure is 2 feet, for clearance from a public right-of-way.
- How tall
- Outside the light industrial, heavy industrial and planned industrial districts, a Marietta fence or wall in the front yard of a parcel on a public or private street may not exceed four feet and has to be ornamental or decorative in nature, and the answer turns on the district, the yard and the class of street. The figure is 4 feet, for fence in a front yard.
- Permits
- Where the article requires a fence, Marietta ties it to occupancy rather than to a permit: the fence has to be completed before the primary use structure is occupied, and the answer turns on what the fence is for. The figure is 4 feet, for shortest pool enclosure fence.
- Pool barriers
- Georgia's public pool rules set barrier requirements and then leave home pools out.
- Spite fences
- Marietta has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Marietta 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
- The corner rule in Marietta is one sentence long, and the answer turns on the district, and whether the Public Works Director approves. The figure is 15 feet, for distance the rule reaches from a corner.
- Retaining walls
- Marietta 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
- Marietta boxes barbed wire in from two directions, and the answer turns on where on the fence the device sits and what the yard faces. The figure is 6 feet, for height 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 Marietta?
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Marietta answers this, but the answer changes depending on the design of the fence.
Most cities say the finished side faces out and leave the argument there. Marietta defines the term: the finished side is the side of the fence that contains no visible support structures. Two designs are then named as allowable exterior finishes either way, a shadowbox fence and a dual sided fence with decorative elements on both sides such as trim, post caps and cross beams, and the ordinance prints example pictures of both a finished and an unfinished side. Chain link is exempt from the rule entirely, which follows from the definition rather than being an arbitrary carve out, since a chain link fence has no side without visible structure. On distance, the only rule is against the street: except as otherwise provided, a fence or wall may not be constructed within two feet of a public right-of-way. Nothing sets a distance from an interior lot line, asks for consent from the adjoining owner, or divides the cost.
The finished side of a fence shall be to the exterior. For purposes of this section, the finished side of the fence shall be defined as the side of the fence that contains no visible support structures.
The answer turns on the design of the fence.
- an ordinary fence
- The side with no visible structure faces out.
- a shadowbox or dual sided fence
- Either face counts as finished.
- chain link
- The rule does not apply.
- a public right-of-way
- Two feet clear. 2 ft
Also on fences on the property line in Marietta
- 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 Marietta?
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Marietta answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, the yard and the class of street.
Outside the light industrial, heavy industrial and planned industrial districts, a Marietta fence or wall in the front yard of a parcel on a public or private street may not exceed four feet and has to be ornamental or decorative in nature. In a major side yard, or in the rear yard of a double frontage lot, the figure is six feet and the same ornamental requirement applies. In all other instances a fence may reach eight feet, which is two above the common figure. A subdivision entrance fence or wall along the right-of-way in a residentially zoned area gets eight feet as well, but with conditions: it has to be maintained by the owner or an established homeowners association, be made of high grade metal, wood, brick, stone or stucco, carry columns of brick, stone or stucco spaced no more than forty feet apart, and be reviewed and approved by city staff before construction. On industrial property the front yard figure rises to six feet, but only on an arterial or collector street.
Fences or walls within the front yard of any parcel of land on a public/private street shall not exceed 4 feet in height and shall be ornamental or decorative in nature. Fences or walls within major side yards or within the rear yard of double frontage lots shall not exceed 6 feet in height and shall be ornamental or decorative in nature.
The answer turns on the district, the yard and the class of street.
- a front yard
- Four feet, ornamental. 4 ft
- a major side yard or a double frontage rear yard
- Six feet, ornamental. 6 ft
- anywhere else
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a subdivision entrance
- Eight feet, with columns every forty and staff approval. 40 ft
Also on fence height in Marietta
- 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 Marietta?
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Marietta answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the fence is for.
Where the article requires a fence, Marietta ties it to occupancy rather than to a permit: the fence has to be completed before the primary use structure is occupied. That makes the certificate of occupancy the enforcement point and stops a screen from being deferred to a later phase. Two categories are lifted out of the fence section entirely. Telecommunications towers answer to Section 712.07 instead, and retaining walls are not subject to Section 710.04 at all, so a retaining wall in Marietta is governed by other parts of the code and not by the fence heights. Every property remains subject to the corner visibility rule regardless. A swimming pool has to be enclosed by a fence of not less than four feet with a self-closing, self-latching gate, unless the Director of Development Services approves otherwise, which leaves one named route to a different arrangement.
When this article requires a fence to be constructed, such fence shall be completed prior to occupancy of the primary use structure.
The answer turns on what the fence is for.
- a required fence
- Finished before occupancy.
- a retaining wall
- Outside the fence section.
- a pool
- Four feet, with a self-closing gate. 4 ft
- a telecommunications tower
- Section 712.07 instead.
Also on permits in Marietta
- 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 Marietta
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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 Marietta 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 Marietta
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Marietta 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 Marietta 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 Marietta
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Marietta 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 Marietta 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 Marietta
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Marietta answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, and whether the Public Works Director approves.
The corner rule in Marietta is one sentence long. In all districts except the central business district, no fence, structure, sign, planting or other obstruction above three feet may be maintained within fifteen feet of the intersection of the right-of-way, unless the Public Works Director approves it. Three things are worth noticing. The central business district is exempt outright, which is how a downtown street wall is allowed to run to the corner. The fifteen feet is measured from the intersection of the right-of-way rather than from the curb or the street center lines, so it sits on the lot. And the Director can approve an exception, which makes the rule a default rather than an absolute. The fence section points at this rule from its own text, saying all properties must also be in accordance with Section 716.04, so satisfying the four foot front yard limit proves nothing about the corner.
In all districts except CBD, no fence, structure, sign, planting or other obstruction (above a height of 3 feet) shall be maintained within 15 feet of the intersection of the right-of-way unless approved by the Public Works Director.
The answer turns on the district, and whether the Public Works Director approves.
- the size of the area
- Fifteen feet from the intersection of the right-of-way. 15 ft
- what may stand there
- Anything three feet or under. 3 ft
- the central business district
- Exempt.
- an approval from Public Works
- It can be waived.
Also on corner visibility in Marietta
- 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 Marietta
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Marietta 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 Marietta 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 Marietta
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Marietta answers this, but the answer changes depending on where on the fence the device sits and what the yard faces.
Marietta boxes barbed wire in from two directions. A fence with barbed wire, spikes, similar devices or an electric charge may not contain them within six feet of ground level, and those devices may not rise more than twenty inches above the height of the fence. So the wire has to sit high enough to be out of reach and low enough not to become extra height. On top of that, no fence at all may carry wire, spikes or a charge in a yard fronting a street on residentially, commercially, central business district or office zoned property, so street frontage is wire free across most of the city. Separately, a decorative or ornamental fence required by the section has to be built of durable materials such as wood, brick, stone, wrought iron or split rail, and may not be built of exposed concrete block or of used or discarded material in disrepair, with pallets, tree trunks, trash, tires and junk named.
A fence equipped with or having barbed wire, spikes, or similar device, or electric charge shall not contain said devices within 6 feet of the ground level.
The answer turns on where on the fence the device sits and what the yard faces.
- the bottom of the wire
- Six feet above the ground. 6 ft
- the top of it
- Twenty inches above the fence. 20 in
- a yard fronting a street
- No wire, spikes or charge at all.
- pallets, tires or junk
- Never a fence material.
Also on materials in Marietta
- 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 Marietta
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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 Marietta 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
8 documents, of which 2 were published by Marietta 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 MariettaMarietta Code of Ordinances, Zoning Ordinance, Section 710.04, 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
- City of MariettaMarietta Code of Ordinances, Zoning Ordinance, Section 716.04, Corner visibility clearance
- 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 Marietta 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