Fence laws in Savannah, Georgia
What the Savannah municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Savannah sets no rule of its own, the Georgia rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Savannah, Georgia, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Savannah settles orientation in a single line: fences are constructed with the finished side facing adjacent properties or street rights-of-way, and the answer turns on how tall the fence is and what it encloses. The figure is 1 foot, for setback for each foot above six.
- How tall
- A residential fence in Savannah is held to four feet in a front yard, and to eight feet in an interior side yard, a rear yard, or a street side yard behind the front of the house, and the answer turns on the yard, the use, and how open the fence is. The figure is 4 feet, for fence in a front yard.
- Permits
- Savannah requires a Fence Permit for a wood or chain link fence over seven feet, which means an ordinary six or eight foot residential fence in a side yard is caught only once it passes seven, and the answer turns on what the fence is made of and whether it has a footing. The figure is 7 feet, for height that triggers a fence permit.
- Pool barriers
- Georgia's public pool rules set barrier requirements and then leave home pools out.
- Spite fences
- Savannah has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Savannah measures a fence from the finished grade at its base to the top of the fence, and says in the same sentence that posts and columns are not included, and the answer turns on what part of the fence is being measured. The figure is 1 foot, for extra height for a slim post.
- Corner lots
- The visibility triangle in Savannah is formed by running forty feet along each of two intersecting right-of-way lines and joining the points, and the standard applies to every lot formed by the intersection of public or private rights-of-way, vehicular access easements or driveways, so a driveway counts as squarely as a street corner, and the answer turns on whether the City Manager modifies it for the site. The figure is 40 feet, for leg of the visibility triangle.
- Retaining walls
- Savannah 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
- Savannah publishes a closed list of permitted fence materials rather than a list of banned ones, and anything not on it needs the Planning Director, and the answer turns on the use, the district and whether the fence faces a street. The figure is 30 feet, for spacing of masonry pilasters.
- 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 Savannah?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Savannah answers this, but the answer changes depending on how tall the fence is and what it encloses.
Savannah settles orientation in a single line: fences are constructed with the finished side facing adjacent properties or street rights-of-way. The section states no distance from an interior lot line and asks for no consent from the adjoining owner, so an ordinary fence may sit on the boundary. Two situations move it back. A barbed or concertina wire fence along a street right-of-way has to stand at least ten feet from the property line and be screened by vegetation. And a pool enclosure has to be set back at least one foot from the property line for every foot it exceeds six feet in height, provided the pool is in a rear yard, which is a sliding setback rather than a fixed one and gets steeper the taller the fence is. Every pool has to be completely enclosed by a fence or wall of at least four feet whose openings will not pass a four inch sphere, with self-closing and self-latching gates that open away from the water.
Fences shall be constructed with the finished side facing adjacent properties or street rights-of-way.
The answer turns on how tall the fence is and what it encloses.
- an ordinary fence
- On the line, finished side out.
- a pool fence above six feet
- A foot back for every foot over. 1 ft
- a wire fence along a street
- Ten feet back and screened. 10 ft
Also on fences on the property line in Savannah
- 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 Savannah?
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Savannah answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, the use, and how open the fence is.
A residential fence in Savannah is held to four feet in a front yard, and to eight feet in an interior side yard, a rear yard, or a street side yard behind the front of the house. Eight feet is two above the common figure. The front yard number is not the end of it, because additional height is permitted where the design standards are met, and those standards trade height for transparency: the fence may reach six feet, measured to the top of the post, so long as the whole of it above three feet is at least seventy percent open. Perimeter fencing for a residential development or an apartment complex gets eight feet. Nonresidential uses get eight feet and may ask for more as a special exception. An open fence round a basketball or tennis court may reach ten feet, and a baseball backstop or a batting cage is excluded from the limit altogether.
The maximum height of the fence or wall shall be six (6) feet. For the purpose of this fence location, the height shall be measured to the top of the post or column. The overall design of the area of the fence or wall above three (3) feet in height shall be a minimum of 70% open.
The answer turns on the yard, the use, and how open the fence is.
- a residential front yard
- Four feet as of right. 4 ft
- a front yard fence that is mostly open above three feet
- Six feet. 70%
- a side, rear or rear street yard
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a tennis or basketball court
- Ten feet of open fence. 10 ft
Also on fence height in Savannah
- 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 Savannah?
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Savannah answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the fence is made of and whether it has a footing.
Savannah requires a Fence Permit for a wood or chain link fence over seven feet, which means an ordinary six or eight foot residential fence in a side yard is caught only once it passes seven. The second half of the rule works differently: a masonry or concrete fence, or any type of fence structure intended to have a footing, requires a permit at any height. So the trigger is what holds the fence up rather than how tall it stands, and a low brick wall needs a permit while a taller wooden fence may not. Two categories sit outside the section altogether. Retaining walls and noise barriers are exempt from the whole of Section 9.6, and a temporary fence for a construction site is allowed where the City Manager or a designee approves it. Detention and correctional facilities are exempt from the height and materials standards but not from the rest.
A Fence Permit is required to construct a wood or chain link fence over seven (7) feet in height. Masonry and concrete fences or any type of fence structure that is intended to have a footing requires a Fence Permit.
The answer turns on what the fence is made of and whether it has a footing.
- a wood or chain link fence
- A permit above seven feet. 7 ft
- anything with a footing
- A permit at any height.
- a retaining wall or a noise barrier
- Outside the section entirely.
- a construction site fence
- Allowed with City Manager approval.
Also on permits in Savannah
- 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 Savannah
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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 Savannah 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 Savannah
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Savannah 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 Savannah 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 Savannah
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Savannah answers this, but the answer changes depending on what part of the fence is being measured.
Savannah measures a fence from the finished grade at its base to the top of the fence, and says in the same sentence that posts and columns are not included. Where the finished grade changes the fence height changes with it, so a fence running downhill is read section by section rather than from one datum. A post may then pass the limit by a stated amount that depends on how thick it is: one foot where the post is less than six by six inches, and two feet where it is six by six or greater. Scaling the allowance to the size of the post is unusual and it rewards a substantial column over a tall thin one. Barbed and concertina wire, where it is permitted at all, is also left out of the calculation, but is capped at three horizontal strands extending no more than eighteen inches above the top. A fence on top of a retaining wall is measured from the finished grade on the higher side.
The height of a fence or wall shall be measured from the finished grade at the base of the fence or wall to the top of the fence or wall but shall not include posts or columns. Where the finished grade changes, the fence height shall change with the grade.
The answer turns on what part of the fence is being measured.
- a post under six by six inches
- One foot above the limit. 1 ft
- a post six by six inches or more
- Two feet above the limit. 2 ft
- a fence on a retaining wall
- Measured from the higher side.
- an entry feature or sign
- Twelve feet. 12 ft
Also on how height is measured in Savannah
- 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 Savannah
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Savannah answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the City Manager modifies it for the site.
The visibility triangle in Savannah is formed by running forty feet along each of two intersecting right-of-way lines and joining the points, and the standard applies to every lot formed by the intersection of public or private rights-of-way, vehicular access easements or driveways, so a driveway counts as squarely as a street corner. Inside the triangle there may be no obstruction between three feet and ten feet above the level of the adjacent driving surface, and the right-of-way between the triangle and the street has to stay clear through the same band. Forty feet is a large leg by the standards of this set. One release is written in: the City Manager or a designee may modify or eliminate the requirement where unusual topography, site conditions, historic development patterns or other circumstances would make full compliance unnecessary or inconsistent with the surrounding development. In a city built round squares and walled lanes, the historic pattern clause is the one that matters.
The visibility triangle is formed by following the right-of-way lines of two (2) intersecting right-of-way lines for a distance of 40 feet from their point of intersection, and connecting these points with an imaginary line, thereby making a triangle.
The answer turns on whether the City Manager modifies it for the site.
- the size of the triangle
- Forty feet along each right-of-way line. 40 ft
- the clear band
- Three feet to ten feet above the driving surface. 3 ft
- a driveway
- Treated the same as a street.
- a historic development pattern
- The City Manager may modify or remove it.
Also on corner visibility in Savannah
- 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 Savannah
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Savannah 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 Savannah 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 Savannah
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Savannah answers this, but the answer changes depending on the use, the district and whether the fence faces a street.
Savannah publishes a closed list of permitted fence materials rather than a list of banned ones, and anything not on it needs the Planning Director. The list runs wrought iron and extruded aluminum, split-face concrete masonry units, brick, stone laid with mortar or dry stacked, stucco, composite materials, vinyl, and decay-resistant wood at least five eighths of an inch thick. Chain link is permitted only for single and two-family uses and in the agricultural districts, and in an industrial district only where it is galvanized and color coated in black, dark green or dark brown. Barbed and concertina wire are industrial only, have to start at least six feet above the base, and where they face a street the fence has to stand ten feet back from the property line and be screened by planting on a schedule set out in a table. One design rule applies to every long fence: along a street right-of-way an opaque or semi-opaque fence has to be interrupted by masonry pilasters or columns at intervals of no more than thirty feet.
Along street rights-of-way, opaque and semi-opaque fences and walls shall be interrupted at intervals not exceeding 30 feet by masonry pilasters or columns.
The answer turns on the use, the district and whether the fence faces a street.
- the permitted list
- Closed, unless the Planning Director adds to it.
- a long fence along a street
- A pilaster at least every thirty feet. 30 ft
- barbed or concertina wire
- Industrial only, six feet up, and screened. 6 ft
- chain link
- Houses and farms, or coated in industry.
Also on materials in Savannah
- 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 Savannah
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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 Savannah 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 Savannah 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 SavannahSavannah Code of Ordinances, Chapter 3, Zoning, Section 9.6, 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 SavannahSavannah Code of Ordinances, Chapter 3, Zoning, Section 4.2, Visibility Triangle
- 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 Savannah 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