Fence laws in Lansing, Michigan
What the Lansing municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Lansing sets no rule of its own, the Michigan rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Lansing, Michigan, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- In Michigan the owner who builds a fence on the line pays for it and for keeping it up, and the neighbor owes nothing.
- How tall
- Lansing starts every front yard fence at three feet and then sells height for transparency, at a different price depending on the use, and the answer turns on the use, the yard, and how open the fence is above three feet. The figure is 3 feet, for front yard fence without the openness.
- Permits
- A hedge is the hardest thing to put in a Lansing front yard above three feet, and the list of conditions is five long, and the answer turns on whether the thing is a hedge or a fence, and what the abutting owners say.
- Pool barriers
- Michigan puts no pool fence height in its own statute.
- Spite fences
- Lansing has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Lansing gives grade level its own subsection and uses it to close the usual workaround and open a practical allowance in two sentences, and the answer turns on whether the ground was altered or was already uneven.
- Corner lots
- Lansing writes its visibility test as a standard rather than a dimension, and it is the condition attached to every taller front yard fence: vision through the fence may not be materially obstructed from any angle, so as to obstruct the view of vehicular traffic on adjacent streets or public ways or of pedestrian traffic on adjacent sidewalks, and the answer turns on the angle the fence is seen from, and whether it is a corner or a driveway.
- Retaining walls
- A retaining wall in Michigan needs no building permit if it is four feet tall or less, measured from the bottom of the footing up to the top of the wall. The figure is 4 feet, for height at or below which a retaining wall needs no building permit. It reaches one and two family homes and townhouses under the Michigan residential code only.
- Materials
- Lansing names what a fence may be made of and then rules out a great deal else, and the answer turns on the material, the yard and the district. The figure is 30 feet, for clearance from a residential parcel for barbed wire.
- Livestock
- Michigan sets no height, wire count, board count or post spacing for a farm fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Lansing?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Michigan answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
In Michigan the owner who builds a fence on the line pays for it and for keeping it up, and the neighbor owes nothing. Most states split that cost. The neighbor starts owing a share of what the fence is worth now only when that neighbor or their renter begins using it to hold animals, and even then the neighbor can build a separate fence instead. The whole act covers only fences that hold animals, because section 43.51 defines a fence that way.
This one is Michigan law, not Lansing law. All Michigan findings
The owner of real property who constructs a fence shall pay for the construction and maintenance of that fence.
How tall can a fence be in Lansing?
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Lansing answers this, but the answer changes depending on the use, the yard, and how open the fence is above three feet.
Lansing starts every front yard fence at three feet and then sells height for transparency, at a different price depending on the use. A residential fence may go to four feet if at least half of its surface above three feet is open space uniformly distributed, and if vision through it is not materially obstructed from any angle. A commercial, industrial or institutional property, or a residential one with more than twenty units, may go to six feet, or eight if industrially zoned, on a stiffer test: seventy five percent open above three feet, the same vision condition, and made only of wrought iron or a material that resembles it. Side and rear yards take six feet, and eight is available only where the property or its neighbor is commercial or industrial, the ground is at least a foot lower than the abutting land or the neighbor use endangers health or safety, and the Zoning Administrator approves.
A fence within the front yard of a residentially zoned or used property may be erected or maintained to a height above three feet, but not to exceed a height of four feet, if the fence meets all of the following requirements:
The answer turns on the use, the yard, and how open the fence is above three feet.
- a front yard fence generally
- Three feet. 3 ft
- a residential front fence half open above three feet
- Four feet. 50%
- a commercial front fence three quarters open and of wrought iron
- Six feet, or eight in industrial. 75%
- a side or rear yard
- Six feet, or eight with the Zoning Administrator and three conditions. 6 ft
Also on fence height in Lansing
- no rule, documents checkedMichigan sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The state fence act defines a fence by what it holds in, not by height, and names no number. The seven feet in the residential code rules is the point where a permit starts being needed, not a cap. The city, village or township sets the limit. MCL 43.51Michigan · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Lansing?
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Lansing answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the thing is a hedge or a fence, and what the abutting owners say.
A hedge is the hardest thing to put in a Lansing front yard above three feet, and the list of conditions is five long. The owner prepares and submits a written plan to the Zoning Administrator meeting the landscaping, screening and buffering requirements. The abutting road must not be a local street as the Comprehensive Plan defines one, unless the abutting property is industrial. The hedge must not obstruct a motorist view and must meet the clear vision corner rules. Every abutting property owner has to submit a written statement that they do not object to the plan. And the Zoning Administrator has to approve it. The same official approves the eight foot side or rear fence and the barbed wire request, which makes that one office the gate for every exception in the section.
All abutting property owners submit a written statement that they do not object to the plan.
The answer turns on whether the thing is a hedge or a fence, and what the abutting owners say.
- a front yard hedge over three feet
- A written plan, the neighbors not objecting, and approval.
- a lot on a local street
- The taller hedge is not available unless the neighbor is industrial.
- an eight foot side or rear fence
- The Zoning Administrator approves it.
Also on permits in Lansing
- set in state lawA fence in Michigan seven feet tall or shorter needs no building permit. The state writes that number into its own rule rather than taking the model code as it comes. Rule 505 replaces section R105.2 of the residential code. The same no permit list also covers a separate shed up to 200 square feet, a retaining wall under four feet with no extra weight on the soil behind it, and a store bought pool less than 24 inches deep. Skipping the permit does not make legal any work that breaks the code or a city rule. R 408.30505Michigan · Building code
Pool fence requirements in Lansing
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Michigan answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Michigan puts no pool fence height in its own statute. The state construction code act builds the Michigan code out of the national model codes, including the International Residential Code, plus whatever changes the director makes. So the fence rule for a pool at a house comes from that model code. The same act says a Michigan version of a code has to be free to the public before anyone can enforce it.
This one is Michigan law, not Lansing law. All Michigan findings
The code shall consist of the international residential code, the international building code, the international mechanical code, the international plumbing code, the international existing building code, and the international energy conservation code published by the international code council and the national electrical code published by the national fire prevention association, with amendments, additions, or deletions as the director determines appropriate.
Spite fence laws in Lansing
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Lansing law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Michigan has no spite fence law. The state fence act covers who pays, who the fence viewer is, and what a fence viewer can decide, and section 43.55 says plainly that a fence viewer does not settle boundary arguments. Nothing in the act turns on why a fence went up or how tall it is. A claim about a fence built to annoy rests on ordinary nuisance law made by judges, and on city zoning.
This one is Michigan law, not Lansing law. All Michigan findings
Documents read before writing that:
How fence height is measured in Lansing
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Lansing answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the ground was altered or was already uneven.
Lansing gives grade level its own subsection and uses it to close the usual workaround and open a practical allowance in two sentences. The grade may not be increased or altered for the purpose of building the fence at a level higher than the natural grade at the fence line, so bringing in soil buys nothing. Against that, where the ground along the line is genuinely uneven, the fence may be built at a continuous even level rather than stepped, provided it follows the average natural grade it stands on. That is the sensible answer to a problem most codes ignore, because a fence built to follow every dip looks wrong and a fence built level from the high point is too tall at the low end.
The grade shall not be increased or altered for the purpose of constructing the fence at a higher level than the natural grade level at the fence line.
The answer turns on whether the ground was altered or was already uneven.
- ground raised to gain height
- Not allowed.
- ground that is naturally uneven
- A level fence, following the average natural grade.
Also on how height is measured in Lansing
- left to the townMichigan never says where a fence height is measured from. Section 125.3201 of the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act lets a local government limit the height of buildings and other structures, and stops there. The state fence law says even less. Section 43.51 calls a fence anything good enough to hold an animal, with no number and no starting point. So the county, township or city writes both the limit and the way it is measured. MCL 125.3201(4)Michigan · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Lansing
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Lansing answers this, but the answer changes depending on the angle the fence is seen from, and whether it is a corner or a driveway.
Lansing writes its visibility test as a standard rather than a dimension, and it is the condition attached to every taller front yard fence: vision through the fence may not be materially obstructed from any angle, so as to obstruct the view of vehicular traffic on adjacent streets or public ways or of pedestrian traffic on adjacent sidewalks. The words from any angle do the work, because a picket fence that reads as open when seen square on closes up when seen along its length, which is exactly the view a driver has. Alongside it the section requires an unobstructed clear vision corner on a front yard corner lot, and the same at a driveway that is not on a corner, in both cases as specified elsewhere in the chapter. Pedestrians are protected explicitly, which many corner rules leave out.
Vision through the fence is not materially obstructed from any angle so as to obstruct the view of vehicular traffic on adjacent streets or public ways or of pedestrian traffic on adjacent sidewalks.
The answer turns on the angle the fence is seen from, and whether it is a corner or a driveway.
- any fence taller than three feet at the front
- It has to pass the any angle test.
- a front yard corner lot
- A clear vision corner as the chapter specifies.
- a driveway away from a corner
- The same clear vision requirement.
Also on corner visibility in Lansing
- set in state lawMichigan has a 1925 law about fences that sit in the road. Act 368 of 1925, in Chapter 247 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, lets the commissioner in charge of a road order an owner to pull back any fence, building or other thing that crosses into a public highway, and gives the owner thirty days. The order has to state how wide the road is and where the fence sits compared to the center line. An owner who ignores it owes a dollar a day. The law covers the road itself and nothing else. A clear view triangle at a corner comes from a city rule written under the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act. MCL 247.171Michigan · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Lansing
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Michigan answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A retaining wall in Michigan needs no building permit if it is four feet tall or less, measured from the bottom of the footing up to the top of the wall. The footing sits below the ground, so the four feet starts lower than the yard does. Michigan writes this itself. Rule 505 replaces section R105.2 of the residential code. A wall holding up a surcharge needs a permit at any height. A surcharge means extra weight pressing on the soil behind the wall, such as a driveway or a building. Skipping the permit does not make legal any work that breaks the code or a city rule.
This one is Michigan law, not Lansing law. All Michigan findings
A retaining wall that is not more than 4 feet (1 219 mm) in height measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, unless supporting a surcharge.
4 ftheight at or below which a retaining wall needs no building permit
Fence materials allowed in Lansing
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Lansing answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material, the yard and the district.
Lansing names what a fence may be made of and then rules out a great deal else. The permitted list is chain link, treated wood, brick, poured concrete, wrought iron, vinyl or a similar material the Zoning Administrator approves. Front yards lose most of that: uncoated chain link, wire, cyclone, wood pallets, livestock, event or crowd control and snow fencing, along with anything made of flexible materials, are prohibited in front yards in every zoning district. A separate sentence bars materials never intended for a house anywhere on the lot, naming plywood, wood pallets, scrap wood, scrap metal, construction materials, cattle gate fencing and chicken wire, and requires the fence to be securely anchored in the ground according to its design. Barbed wire exists only in the IND-1 district, on written request and written approval from the Zoning Administrator judged on demonstrated need, safety and reasonableness, and never on a fence of six feet or less, within ten feet of a public sidewalk, or within thirty feet of a neighboring parcel in residential use.
Fence types including uncoated chain-link, wire, cyclone, wood pallets, livestock, event or crowd control, snow fencing and fences made of flexible materials, or similar fences are prohibited in front yards in all zoning districts.
1250.04.06(c)(1)f, (c)(1)h and (d)
The answer turns on the material, the yard and the district.
- a front yard
- None of the named lightweight or temporary types.
- anywhere on the lot
- Nothing made of scrap, pallets, cattle gate or chicken wire.
- barbed wire in the IND-1 district
- Written approval, and thirty feet clear of housing. 30 ft
Also on materials in Lansing
- set in state lawMichigan says in its construction code act what a low voltage electric fence is. It counts as one only if it stands on land zoned for something other than homes and runs off a battery of 12 volts or less. It also has to sit inside a fence or wall that carries no current and stands at least 5 feet tall. It stops at 10 feet and carries shock warning signs no more than 60 feet apart, written in English and Spanish. A fence that meets the whole list needs no permit when a registered alarm company installs it. MCL 125.1528aMichigan · Building code
Livestock and boundary fence law in Lansing
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Michigan answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Michigan sets no height, wire count, board count or post spacing for a farm fence. The fence viewers act defines a fence by what it does rather than what it is made of, so anything that holds an animal counts, and so does a natural barrier such as a river or a thick hedge. The animals it has to hold are the ones named in the running at large act: cattle, horses, sheep, swine, mules, burros or goats.
This one is Michigan law, not Lansing law. All Michigan findings
means a structure or natural barrier which is sufficient to confine an animal as defined in section 1 of Act No. 328 of the Public Acts of 1976
Also on agricultural fencing in Lansing
- set in state lawMichigan puts the duty on the animal owner across the whole state. An animal may not run loose anywhere in Michigan. The owner may not let it happen, and neither may anybody else who knows what they are doing. Running at large means the animal is off the owner's land and out of the owner's control. A person whose property gets damaged can ask the owner to pay, and nothing in the act asks that person to have built a fence first. MCL 433.12Michigan · Statute
Documents behind this page
10 documents, of which 1 was published by Lansing itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Chapter 43, Fences and Fence Viewers, Act 34 of 1978
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Chapter 43, Fences and Fence Viewers, Act 34 of 1978
- Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Construction CodesMichigan Administrative Code, Construction Code, Part 5, Residential Code, R 408.30500 to R 408.30547g
- City of LansingLansing Codified Ordinances, Part 12, Title 6, Chapter 1250, Section 1250.04.06, Fences and hedges
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Stille-DeRossett-Hale Single State Construction Code Act, Act 230 of 1972
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Chapter 43, Fences and Fence Viewers, Act 34 of 1978
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Michigan Zoning Enabling Act, Section 125.3201
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Act 368 of 1925, Highway Obstructions and Encroachments, Section 247.171, Encroachments; removal order, service; temporary permit
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Stille-DeRossett-Hale Single State Construction Code Act, Act 230 of 1972, Section 28a
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Animals Running at Large, Act 328 of 1976
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 Lansing publishes, plus the Michigan rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Michigan 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