Fence laws in Sandy Springs, Georgia
What the Sandy Springs municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Sandy Springs sets no rule of its own, the Georgia rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Sandy Springs, Georgia, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Sandy Springs writes its boundary rule about what is underground, and the answer turns on whether the part in question is above or below the ground. The figure is 3 feet, for landscape strip beside a tall street fence.
- How tall
- Between the primary street and the front wall plane of a house, a solid or opaque fence or wall in Sandy Springs may not exceed four feet, and the answer turns on where the fence stands and how open it is. The figure is 4 feet, for solid fence in front of the house.
- Permits
- Gates carry more rules in Sandy Springs than fences do, and the answer turns on what is attached to the fence. The figure is 30 feet, for setback for a gate from the pavement.
- Pool barriers
- Georgia's public pool rules set barrier requirements and then leave home pools out.
- Spite fences
- Sandy Springs has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Sandy Springs measures a fence from the finished grade to the highest point of the fence or wall between columns or posts. The figure is 3 feet, for how far a column may pass the fence.
- Corner lots
- Sandy Springs leaves corner clearance to the minimum sight distance requirements, which the section does not state.
- Retaining walls
- Sandy Springs 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
- Fences in Sandy Springs have to be built of wood or of metal, ornamental metal included, and a wall has to be opaque for at least a foot of exposed height at its base and made of brick, stone, stucco or another durable opaque material, with metal or wood pickets allowed for ornament, and the answer turns on the material, the color and whether the fence faces a street. The figure is 24 feet, for spacing of masonry piers.
- 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 Sandy Springs?
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Sandy Springs answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the part in question is above or below the ground.
Sandy Springs writes its boundary rule about what is underground. Fence and wall footings have to be entirely contained within the property and may not encroach onto a property line, which is stricter than the usual rule about the visible fence and rules out the wide footing a masonry wall would otherwise need on the line. Nothing asks for consent from the adjoining owner, so a fence may still sit on the boundary provided its foundations do not cross it. Orientation is settled in a sentence that names both directions: walls and fences are constructed with the finished side facing toward the street and adjoining properties, away from the improvement the fence is meant to screen. Where a fence parallel to a street stands at least six feet tall, a minimum three foot landscape strip has to be provided between it and the street.
Setback Fence and wall footings must be entirely contained within the property and cannot encroach onto a property line.
8.3.10.B.1, with C.2.a.iv and C.2.b.i
The answer turns on whether the part in question is above or below the ground.
- the fence itself
- It may sit on the line.
- the footings
- Entirely inside the property.
- which side faces out
- The finished side, to the street and the neighbors.
- a six foot fence along a street
- A three foot landscape strip. 3 ft
Also on fences on the property line in Sandy Springs
- 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 Sandy Springs?
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Sandy Springs answers this, but the answer changes depending on where the fence stands and how open it is.
Between the primary street and the front wall plane of a house, a solid or opaque fence or wall in Sandy Springs may not exceed four feet. It may go higher, but only with a spaced picket design approved by the Director, and the code states the geometry rather than leaving it to taste: the gap between pickets has to be at least two inches, and the picket to opening ratio has to be at least two to one for vertical pickets or one to one for horizontal elements. So the way to buy height at the front is to give up half the surface. Everywhere else, including side and rear yard residential fences, a solid or opaque fence may run to eight feet above grade. Eight feet is two above the common figure. Columns and ornaments may exceed the maximum by up to three feet, which is a generous allowance and one of the largest in this set.
Fences and walls located between the primary street and the front wall plane of a house may contain a solid or opaque fence or wall no more than 4 feet in height. A fence may exceed 4 feet in height where designed with a spaced picket design approved by the Director.
The answer turns on where the fence stands and how open it is.
- a solid fence in front of the house
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a spaced picket fence there
- Taller, with the Director approving. 2 in
- anywhere else on the lot
- Eight feet above grade. 8 ft
- a column or an ornament
- Three feet above the maximum. 3 ft
Also on fence height in Sandy Springs
- 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 Sandy Springs?
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Sandy Springs answers this, but the answer changes depending on what is attached to the fence.
Gates carry more rules in Sandy Springs than fences do. A gate, electric or manual, has to open inwardly toward the property and has to stand at least thirty feet from the edge of the pavement, which is far enough back that a car waiting for it to open is off the road. Public and private streets may not be gated at all, so the allowance is for individual properties only. A gate may be up to three feet taller than the fence it is attached to but otherwise follows every design standard in the article, and a stand-alone gate on a private driveway has to carry masonry piers on both sides. A gate serving a private residential driveway has to include a means of access for emergency responders approved by the fire marshal. Separately, any fence that includes electrical equipment requires an electric building permit, and a pool enclosure has to satisfy this division and the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code.
Gates must open inwardly (doors opening towards the property) and must be located a minimum of 30 feet from the edge of pavement.
The answer turns on what is attached to the fence.
- a driveway gate
- Thirty feet off the pavement, opening inward. 30 ft
- a street
- It may not be gated at all.
- a fence with electrical equipment
- An electric building permit.
- a pool enclosure
- This division and the pool and spa code.
Also on permits in Sandy Springs
- 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 Sandy Springs
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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 Sandy Springs 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 Sandy Springs
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Sandy Springs 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 Sandy Springs 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 Sandy Springs
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Sandy Springs answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Sandy Springs measures a fence from the finished grade to the highest point of the fence or wall between columns or posts. Saying between the columns is the precise part: the reading is taken at the fence panel rather than at the post, so a tall pier does not set the height of the fence it supports. The next sentence then gives the post its own allowance, permitting column and ornament heights to exceed the maximum by no more than three feet. Together the two rules mean an eight foot fence may carry an eleven foot pier at each end without either number being in dispute. The datum is the finished grade, so ground worked up under a fence raises the fence with it, and the section states no separate rule for a sloping boundary. A fence built on top of a retaining wall is sent to the retaining wall section, where the combined height of the two is capped.
Height is measured from the finished grade to the highest point of the fence or wall between columns or posts. Column and ornament heights are permitted to exceed the maximum height by no more than 3 feet.
3 fthow far a column may pass the fence
Also on how height is measured in Sandy Springs
- left to the townGeorgia 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. O.C.G.A. 36-66-3(5)Georgia · Statute
Fence rules for corner lots in Sandy Springs
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Sandy Springs does not set this. It leaves it to the minimum sight distance requirements, which the section does not state.
The obstruction paragraph asks a fence to satisfy four things at once and gives a number for none of them. Fences, walls, hedges and other vegetation must not obstruct the minimum sight distance requirements, must not prohibit proper lines of sight for public safety and law enforcement, must not impede the flow of water or the normal pattern of natural wildlife, and must not impair or block the vision of vehicle drivers so as to constitute a safety hazard. The minimum sight distance requirements are referred to rather than stated, and the other three are written as standards to be judged. Naming law enforcement sightlines and wildlife movement alongside driver visibility is unusual and it widens the test well past the ordinary corner triangle. What an owner can measure instead is the four foot limit in front of the house and the thirty foot gate setback.
Obstruction Fences, walls, hedges and other vegetation must not obstruct the minimum sight distance requirements
The code hands this to the minimum sight distance requirements, which the section does not state, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on corner visibility in Sandy Springs
- 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 Sandy Springs
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Sandy Springs 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 Sandy Springs 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 Sandy Springs
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Sandy Springs answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material, the color and whether the fence faces a street.
Fences in Sandy Springs have to be built of wood or of metal, ornamental metal included, and a wall has to be opaque for at least a foot of exposed height at its base and made of brick, stone, stucco or another durable opaque material, with metal or wood pickets allowed for ornament. Anything not on the list needs the Director. Chain link is allowed only in side and rear yards that are not parallel to a street, and only vinyl coated. Solid vinyl fencing is prohibited outright, though an existing vinyl fence may be replaced in kind. Barbed wire, razor wire and concertina wire are all prohibited. Then comes the rule almost nobody else writes: only black, white or earth tones are permitted, and primary and neon colors are prohibited. A street facing fence in a residential estate district has to carry masonry piers at least twelve inches wide separating panels of about twenty-four feet, and at any point where the fence changes direction.
Only black, white or earth tones are permitted. Primary and neon colors are prohibited.
The answer turns on the material, the color and whether the fence faces a street.
- the permitted materials
- Wood or metal for a fence, masonry for a wall.
- chain link
- Side and rear only, vinyl coated, not along a street.
- solid vinyl, barbed, razor or concertina wire
- Prohibited.
- a street facing fence in a residential estate district
- Masonry piers about every twenty-four feet. 24 ft
Also on materials in Sandy Springs
- 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 Sandy Springs
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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 Sandy Springs 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 Sandy Springs 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 Sandy SpringsSandy Springs Development Code, Article 8, Section 8.3.10, 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 Sandy Springs 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