Fence laws in St. Clair Shores, Michigan
What the St. Clair Shores municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where St. Clair Shores sets no rule of its own, the Michigan rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- The article recommends that fences be erected on common lot lines but lets the installing party move the fence in from the line so long as everything else is met, and then attaches a consequence to that choice: whoever put the fence up inside their own boundary is responsible for maintaining the space between the fence and the lot line, and the answer turns on whether the fence sits on the line and what type it is.
- How tall
- St, and the answer turns on the kind of fence and how far forward on the lot it runs. The figure is 78 inches, for tallest privacy fence.
- Permits
- A fence permit application has to be submitted and approved before any fence goes up, on a form the city supplies, with no threshold and no exemption, and the answer turns on whether a waiver is being sought and which body is hearing it. The figure is 10 days, for notice to interested parties before a hearing.
- Pool barriers
- Michigan puts no pool fence height in its own statute.
- Spite fences
- St. Clair Shores has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- The article defines height in the definitions section and takes the reading from the existing average grade of adjoining properties to the top of the tallest structural member, so the datum is shared between the two lots rather than taken on whichever side suits, and the answer turns on whether the thing measured is a fence, a hedge, or the gap under it. The figure is 3 inches, for gap between the ground and the bottom of a fence.
- Corner lots
- The visibility prohibition here is broader than the usual sight triangle and lists things a driver never looks at, and the answer turns on what is being blocked and whether the thing is built or planted.
- 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
- Section 8-249 reads like a specification rather than a list of what is allowed, naming a minimum size for each component: galvanized steel pipe, two inch galvanized steel corner posts, thinner galvanized line posts and cross bars, four inch wooden posts, four inch reinforced posts, and residential chain link fabric at eleven and a half gauge securely fastened to the uprights, and the answer turns on the component and what it is made of.
- Livestock
- Michigan sets no height, wire count, board count or post spacing for a farm fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in St. Clair Shores?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
St. Clair Shores answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence sits on the line and what type it is.
The article recommends that fences be erected on common lot lines but lets the installing party move the fence in from the line so long as everything else is met, and then attaches a consequence to that choice: whoever put the fence up inside their own boundary is responsible for maintaining the space between the fence and the lot line. That single sentence settles the argument about the neglected strip before it starts. The good side rule depends on the kind of fence. For a privacy fence the article recommends both faces look the same, and where they do not, the worse face points at the installer property. For every other fence the post side goes to the installer property as a requirement rather than a recommendation, in side yards and rear yards alike. Section 8-250 hands the rest back to the owner: locating easements, rights of way, utilities and the lot lines themselves, resolving private subdivision restrictions, and settling who pays for the work are all listed as the owner responsibility, and owners are told to work disagreements out before applying for a waiver.
If a fence is erected off the common lot line, the property owner on whose property the fence is erected shall be responsible for maintaining the space between the fence and the lot line.
8-254, with 8-252(a), (e) and (f), and 8-250
The answer turns on whether the fence sits on the line and what type it is.
- a fence set back from the line
- The builder maintains the strip behind it.
- a fence that is not a privacy fence
- The post side faces the installer property.
- locating the line, the easements and the cost
- All of it is the owner responsibility.
Also on fences on the property line in St. Clair Shores
- set in state lawIn 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. MCL 43.53(1)Michigan · Statute
How tall can a fence be in St. Clair Shores?
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St. Clair Shores answers this, but the answer changes depending on the kind of fence and how far forward on the lot it runs.
St. Clair Shores writes its corner lot rule as a staircase rather than a single figure. Along a side street the fence may start at six feet six inches at the rear lot line and hold that as far forward as the front of the house. There it stops and drops to four feet six. From that point it slopes down to the front lot line, finishing no higher than two feet six above the sidewalk. A business property required to put up a masonry wall or solid fence works the same way in three steps, six feet, then four at the residential building line, then two feet six at the front lot line of the residential property. A privacy fence anywhere in the city stops at six feet six, with individual panels capped at six feet, and is not permitted at all on a waterfront or canal lot. A chain link fence is held between three feet and four feet six. School property is the one place six feet is allowed outright.
The owner of a corner property may erect a fence maximum six feet six inches in height along a side street starting at the rear lot line forward to the front of the house, stopping, reducing to four feet six inches in height, then sloping the fence from this point to the front lot line to a height of no more than two feet six inches above the sidewalk at the front lot line.
8-252(b), (c) and (e), with 8-249(11) and 8-253(11)
The answer turns on the kind of fence and how far forward on the lot it runs.
- a privacy fence
- Six feet six, in panels of no more than six feet. 78 in
- a chain link fence
- Between three feet and four feet six. 54 in
- at the front lot line
- Two feet six above the sidewalk. 30 in
- a waterfront or canal lot
- No privacy fence at all.
Also on fence height in St. Clair Shores
- 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 St. Clair Shores?
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St. Clair Shores answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether a waiver is being sought and which body is hearing it.
A fence permit application has to be submitted and approved before any fence goes up, on a form the city supplies, with no threshold and no exemption. What sits behind that permit is unusual: a two-tier appeal process built only for fences. The Fence Arbitration Committee is three people, the City Manager, one Council member and one resident at large, and its power is limited to granting waivers of the fence ordinance. It inspects the property before the hearing and decides on three stated grounds, how reasonable the work would be to the interested parties given public health and safety, practical difficulties created by compliance, and unique conditions or circumstances. Interested parties include the fence installer alongside the applicant and the adjacent owner or occupant, and all of them get written notice at least ten calendar days ahead by first class mail. Filing an appeal stops all work on that fence. A waiver runs with the land and lapses a year from the date granted if the work is not completed. Above the Committee sits a Board of Fence Appeals, three members of the Board of Zoning Appeals, which may reverse, affirm or modify but may not change the terms of the article.
Prior to the erection or installation of any fence, an application for a fence permit must be submitted and approved. A fence permit shall be applied for at the City upon a form to be supplied by the City.
The answer turns on whether a waiver is being sought and which body is hearing it.
- any fence
- A permit application, approved before work starts.
- a waiver
- The Fence Arbitration Committee, with ten days written notice to the neighbors. 10 days
- an appeal filed
- All work on the fence stops.
- a waiver granted
- It runs with the land and lapses after a year unfinished.
Also on permits in St. Clair Shores
- 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 St. Clair Shores
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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 St. Clair Shores 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 St. Clair Shores
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St. Clair Shores 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 St. Clair Shores law. All Michigan findings
Documents read before writing that:
How fence height is measured in St. Clair Shores
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
St. Clair Shores answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the thing measured is a fence, a hedge, or the gap under it.
The article defines height in the definitions section and takes the reading from the existing average grade of adjoining properties to the top of the tallest structural member, so the datum is shared between the two lots rather than taken on whichever side suits. The same definition handles a hedge separately, allowing four feet at the front of the house and sloping to no more than two feet six above the sidewalk at the front lot line, which it calls the maximum allowable height of growth. Underneath, the article repeats one figure three times: the gap between existing grade and the bottom of any fence may not exceed three inches. Below ground, posts or any other member of equal stability go at least forty-two inches down, embedded in concrete or by another accepted industry practice.
Height means the distance measured from the existing average grade of adjoining properties to the top of the tallest structural member of fence
8-247, definition of Height, with 8-249(6) and 8-252(e)
The answer turns on whether the thing measured is a fence, a hedge, or the gap under it.
- a fence
- From the average grade of the adjoining properties to the tallest member.
- the gap underneath
- Three inches at most. 3 in
- below ground
- Forty-two inches, set in concrete. 42 in
Also on how height is measured in St. Clair Shores
- 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 St. Clair Shores
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St. Clair Shores answers this, but the answer changes depending on what is being blocked and whether the thing is built or planted.
The visibility prohibition here is broader than the usual sight triangle and lists things a driver never looks at. A fence may not obstruct access to, or the visibility of, fire hydrants, water meter wells, other utility reading devices, or vehicular or pedestrian traffic. So the same sentence protects the fire service, the meter reader and the person walking past. The corner property gets a second requirement on top of its stepped heights: the fence along the side street has to be of a material that does not obscure the vision of vehicular or pedestrian traffic, which makes transparency a condition rather than a trade for height. Hedges fall under the same regime, since hedge rows in any yard are considered fences, and a hedge that is dead, dying or diseased, over the allowed height, or creating an obstruction is prohibited in its own right.
Fences which obstruct access to, or the visibility of, fire hydrants, water meter wells, other utility reading devices, or vehicular or pedestrian traffic.
8-253(4), (6) and (7), with 8-252(b)
The answer turns on what is being blocked and whether the thing is built or planted.
- any fence
- It may not hide a hydrant, a meter, or the traffic.
- a corner property along a side street
- Built of material that does not obscure vision.
- a hedge row
- Treated as a fence, and it has to be alive and in bounds.
Also on corner visibility in St. Clair Shores
- 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 St. Clair Shores
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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 St. Clair Shores 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 St. Clair Shores
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St. Clair Shores answers this, but the answer changes depending on the component and what it is made of.
Section 8-249 reads like a specification rather than a list of what is allowed, naming a minimum size for each component: galvanized steel pipe, two inch galvanized steel corner posts, thinner galvanized line posts and cross bars, four inch wooden posts, four inch reinforced posts, and residential chain link fabric at eleven and a half gauge securely fastened to the uprights. Every structural member has to be surface coated against rust and corrosion, pressure treated against rot, or made of something impervious to rust, corrosion, rot and sunlight, and the coating has to be reapplied as needed. Every fence has to be self-supporting. Acceptable privacy fence materials are naturally durable wood, treated wood such as cedar or redwood, approved synthetic materials, metal, or anything else the city approves. The prohibitions include spikes, nails, barbed wire and razor wire, any fence using shock or electrocution, and fences made of broken concrete or masonry block stacked in piles or rows. Any fence installation or repair using electricity at all needs a permit and a final inspection from the city electrical inspector.
All structural members shall be surface coated to prevent rust and corrosion, pressure treated to prevent rot, or be of a material that is impervious to rust, corrosion, rot, and/or deterioration from sunlight.
8-249, with 8-253(2), (3) and (8)
The answer turns on the component and what it is made of.
- structural members
- Coated, treated, or made of something the weather cannot touch.
- spikes, barbed wire or razor wire
- Prohibited.
- anything electrical
- A permit and a final inspection from the electrical inspector.
Also on materials in St. Clair Shores
- 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 St. Clair Shores
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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 St. Clair Shores 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 St. Clair Shores
- 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 St. Clair Shores itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Chapter 43, Fences and Fence Viewers, Act 34 of 1978
- City of St. Clair ShoresSt. Clair Shores Code of Ordinances, Chapter 8, Article V, Fences
- 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
- 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 St. Clair Shores 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