Fence laws in Sterling Heights, Michigan
What the Sterling Heights municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Sterling Heights sets no rule of its own, the Michigan rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Sterling Heights, Michigan, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A fence may stand on a lot line in Sterling Heights, but no part of it may cross one, and the chapter says so twice in consecutive sentences before handing the survey to the owner: the person erecting the fence is responsible for determining the location of property lines, and the answer turns on whether the fence is on the line and who owns it now. The figure is 3 feet, for privacy screen setback from a lot line.
- How tall
- On an interior lot a fence, including a sight-obscuring one, may be erected on any side or rear lot line and along the front yard setback line, and it has to be not less than three feet nor more than six feet above grade level at any location, and the answer turns on the kind of lot and whether the fence sight-obscures. The figure is 6 feet, for tallest fence on an interior lot.
- Permits
- Building any fence or privacy screen in Sterling Heights without a permit is unlawful, with no height threshold anywhere in the chapter, and the answer turns on whether a contractor was hired, and whether the thing is a masonry wall.
- Pool barriers
- Michigan puts no pool fence height in its own statute.
- Spite fences
- Sterling Heights has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Sterling Heights leaves the measuring rule to the local unit of government that adopts the zoning ordinance.
- Corner lots
- Sterling Heights solves the corner lot problem with a projection rather than a triangle, and the sentence that does it is careful about which of the two front yards it means, and the answer turns on whether the fence obscures sight, and which front yard it is in. The figure is 10 feet, for projection into the side street front yard.
- 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
- Every fence and privacy screen in the city has to be of an ornamental type, built of metal, ornamental wire within a stated gauge range, wrought iron, wood or another durable ornamental material of similar nature that meets the performance standard criteria in the Building Code, and the Building Official decides whether a decorative fence is structurally sound, and the answer turns on the material and what the fence encloses.
- Livestock
- Michigan sets no height, wire count, board count or post spacing for a farm fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Sterling Heights?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Sterling Heights answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is on the line and who owns it now.
A fence may stand on a lot line in Sterling Heights, but no part of it may cross one, and the chapter says so twice in consecutive sentences before handing the survey to the owner: the person erecting the fence is responsible for determining the location of property lines. A privacy screen is different and has to sit at least three feet in from any lot line. Orientation is fixed for anything sight-obscuring, with the supporting posts, cross-members and protruding bolts, screws and hardware inside the lot and facing the interior of the property of the person who built it, and a fence abutting a public street faces its posts toward the property of whoever pulled the permit. Maintenance is written to survive a sale. Whoever built or commissioned the fence maintains it and the area next to it, a later owner of the property inherits that duty, and where a fence on a lot line is jointly owned or its ownership cannot be determined, each neighbor maintains the face that looks at their own land.
All fences shall be built by the party desiring the same so as not to have any part of the fence encroaching upon adjoining property.
19-12, with 19-5, 19-7 and 19-15
The answer turns on whether the fence is on the line and who owns it now.
- any fence
- No part of it crosses the line, and the builder locates the line.
- a privacy screen
- Three feet in from any lot line. 3 ft
- a fence on the line with unclear ownership
- Each neighbor maintains the side facing their own property.
Also on fences on the property line in Sterling Heights
- 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 Sterling Heights?
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Sterling Heights answers this, but the answer changes depending on the kind of lot and whether the fence sight-obscures.
On an interior lot a fence, including a sight-obscuring one, may be erected on any side or rear lot line and along the front yard setback line, and it has to be not less than three feet nor more than six feet above grade level at any location. Both ends of that range are real. A fence under three feet is as much a breach as one over six, which rules out the low ornamental border most cities encourage at the front, and the phrase at any location means the range is tested along the whole run rather than at one post. Fences are not permitted to extend into the front yard at all on an interior lot. A privacy screen is held to six feet, permitted in the rear yard only, and barred from the front yard. Every one of these allowances is granted on the same condition, that adequate access for firefighting is provided.
A fence, including one of sight-obscuring design, may be erected upon any side or rear lot line and along the front yard setback line, provided the fence is not less than three feet nor more than six feet above grade level at any location, and provided further that adequate access for firefighting is provided.
The answer turns on the kind of lot and whether the fence sight-obscures.
- an interior lot
- Between three and six feet, and nothing in the front yard. 6 ft
- the shortest a fence may be
- Three feet. 3 ft
- a privacy screen
- Six feet, rear yard only. 6 ft
Also on fence height in Sterling Heights
- 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 Sterling Heights?
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Sterling Heights answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether a contractor was hired, and whether the thing is a masonry wall.
Building any fence or privacy screen in Sterling Heights without a permit is unlawful, with no height threshold anywhere in the chapter. Who has to get it is written out rather than assumed: the owner of record, as the Assessment Department has it, is responsible unless the owner can affirmatively demonstrate that a contractor was hired, in which case the responsibility moves to the contractor. That shifts the exposure for an unpermitted fence onto the trade rather than the homeowner where a trade did the work. The application goes to the Building Department with a fee set in the annual appropriations ordinance, and a permit issues only after the department has reviewed the completed application and determined that the fence complies with all city ordinances and state law. A masonry wall is not permitted as of right at all and may be allowed in appropriate circumstances on terms set by the Board of Ordinance Appeals.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to construct or cause to be constructed any fence or privacy screen upon any property within the limits of the City of Sterling Heights without first having obtained a permit therefor in the manner hereinafter provided.
The answer turns on whether a contractor was hired, and whether the thing is a masonry wall.
- the owner doing the work
- The owner obtains the permit.
- a contractor hired
- The contractor obtains the permit.
- a masonry wall
- Only on terms set by the Board of Ordinance Appeals.
Also on permits in Sterling Heights
- 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 Sterling Heights
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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 Sterling Heights 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 Sterling Heights
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Sterling Heights 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 Sterling Heights law. All Michigan findings
Documents read before writing that:
How fence height is measured in Sterling Heights
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Sterling Heights does not set this. It leaves it to the local unit of government that adopts the zoning ordinance.
Michigan 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.
This one is Michigan law, not Sterling Heights law. All Michigan findings
A local unit of government may adopt land development regulations under the zoning ordinance designating or limiting the location, height, bulk, number of stories, uses, and size of dwellings, buildings, and structures that may be erected or altered, including tents and recreational vehicles.
The code hands this to the local unit of government that adopts the zoning ordinance, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on how height is measured in Sterling Heights
- no rule, documents checkedEvery height in Chapter 19 is stated above grade level at any location, and the chapter never says what grade level is. There is no definition of it in the definitions section, no instruction about a fence crossing a slope, no rule about a fence set on top of a berm or a retaining wall, and no statement about which of two neighboring lots the reading comes from where they sit at different levels. The phrase at any location does settle one part of it, making the limit apply along the run rather than at a single point, so a fence that is four feet at one end and seven at the other fails. Below ground the chapter is silent as well, setting no depth for a post and no footing requirement, and leaving structural soundness to the Building Official and to the performance standard criteria of the Building Code. 19-2, DefinitionsSterling Heights · Building code
Fence rules for corner lots in Sterling Heights
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Sterling Heights answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence obscures sight, and which front yard it is in.
Sterling Heights solves the corner lot problem with a projection rather than a triangle, and the sentence that does it is careful about which of the two front yards it means. A sight-obscuring fence of between three and six feet may sit on any side or rear lot line without encroaching into the required front yard, and on top of that it may project not more than ten feet into the required front yard which would be a side yard if the lot were an interior lot. So the street the house does not face gives up ten feet of its setback and the street the house does face gives up none. A non-sight-obscuring fence is treated more generously, allowed on any side or rear lot line and along any front building line at three to six feet, and allowed into the required front yard itself at a reduced three to four feet.
In addition, a sight-obscuring fence of such size may project not more than ten feet into the required front yard which would be a side yard if it were an interior lot.
The answer turns on whether the fence obscures sight, and which front yard it is in.
- a sight-obscuring fence on a corner lot
- Ten feet into the side street front yard. 10 ft
- a non-sight-obscuring fence in a required front yard
- Three to four feet. 4 ft
- every height allowance
- Conditional on access for firefighting.
Also on corner visibility in Sterling Heights
- 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 Sterling Heights
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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 Sterling Heights 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 Sterling Heights
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Sterling Heights answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material and what the fence encloses.
Every fence and privacy screen in the city has to be of an ornamental type, built of metal, ornamental wire within a stated gauge range, wrought iron, wood or another durable ornamental material of similar nature that meets the performance standard criteria in the Building Code, and the Building Official decides whether a decorative fence is structurally sound. Barbed wire is unlawful partially or wholly around any property, street, alley, lane or public highway, or in front of any public place or space, and the same section bars fences with sharp or pointed tops, affixed spikes, projecting nails or other pointed instruments of any kind. Electrified fencing gets its own section and is written around the effect rather than the wire, making it unlawful to maintain a fence charged or connected with an electrical current in such manner as to transmit that current to persons, animals or things coming into contact with it.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to erect, build or construct, or cause to be erected, built or constructed, a barbed wire fence partially or wholly around any property, street, alley, lane or public highway or in front of any public place or space.
The answer turns on the material and what the fence encloses.
- any fence
- Ornamental type, of a durable listed material.
- barbed wire, spikes or a pointed top
- Unlawful.
- an electrified fence
- Unlawful where it can pass current to anything touching it.
Also on materials in Sterling Heights
- 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 Sterling Heights
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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 Sterling Heights 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 Sterling Heights
- 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 Sterling Heights itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Michigan LegislatureMichigan Compiled Laws, Chapter 43, Fences and Fence Viewers, Act 34 of 1978
- City of Sterling HeightsSterling Heights Charter and Code of Ordinances, Chapter 19, 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 Sterling Heights 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