Fence laws in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
What the Cuyahoga Falls municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Cuyahoga Falls sets no rule of its own, the Ohio rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- The face of a Cuyahoga Falls fence may be located up to but not over an adjacent property line, so building on the boundary is allowed and crossing it is not, and the answer turns on what is already standing on the line. The figure is 0 feet, for setback from an adjacent property line.
- How tall
- In every Cuyahoga Falls residential district a fence in front of the front building line, or on the street side of a corner lot, is held to four feet and has to be an open fence with at least forty percent aggregate opening over its surface, with all the openings equally distributed, and the answer turns on the district and whether the fence is in front of the building line. The figure is 4 feet, for fence in front of the front building line.
- Permits
- Cuyahoga Falls treats a fence as a site element, and building a site element without an approved zoning certificate is a violation of the code in its own words, and the answer turns on whether the certificate comes before the work or after. The figure is 14 days, for time to correct a condition after a ticket.
- Pool barriers
- Ohio requires a 48 inch barrier around a public swimming pool, measured from the ground to the top of the fence. The figure is 48 inches, for perimeter barrier around a public swimming pool.
- Spite fences
- Cuyahoga Falls has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- The fencing section states four feet, six feet and eight feet and never says in its own text what they are measured from.
- Corner lots
- Cuyahoga Falls runs one vision clearance triangle and sizes it by what is crossing, and the answer turns on what the two lines crossing are. The figure is 20 feet, for leg of the triangle where two streets meet.
- Retaining walls
- A retaining wall four feet tall or less needs no approval in Ohio, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall. The figure is 4 feet, for retaining wall height at or below which no approval is required. It reaches one, two and three family dwellings only.
- Materials
- Cuyahoga Falls writes a closed list, and the answer turns on the district, the yard and the material. The figure is 4 feet, for maximum height of a chain link fence.
- Livestock
- Ohio names one build as the standard for a fence on a line where livestock are kept, and calls it a preferred partition fence. The figure is 48 inches, for height above the ground of the barbed wire strands on a woven wire preferred partition fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Cuyahoga Falls?
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Cuyahoga Falls answers this, but the answer changes depending on what is already standing on the line.
The face of a Cuyahoga Falls fence may be located up to but not over an adjacent property line, so building on the boundary is allowed and crossing it is not. The rule that catches people is the next one: where an existing fence, driveway or other accessory structure already runs along that line, the face of the new fence has to stand at least three feet away from it. So the second neighbor to build loses three feet of yard. A fence has to sit at least one foot back from any public right-of-way whatever else the section allows. When a fence is installed or replaced the old fence has to be removed, and parallel fences in close proximity are not permitted on a lot. The finished side has to face the adjoining property or the public right-of-way, and the owner or agent carries the job of working out where the property lines actually run.
The face of the fence may be located up to but not over an adjacent property line.
The answer turns on what is already standing on the line.
- an empty line
- Right up to it. 0 ft
- a fence or drive already there
- Three feet away from it. 3 ft
- a public right-of-way
- One foot back. 1 ft
- replacing a fence
- The old one comes down.
Also on fences on the property line in Cuyahoga Falls
- set in state lawWhere a fence already stands on the line between two Ohio properties, both owners keep it in good repair in equitable shares, which means each pays a fair part rather than a strict half. Where no fence has ever stood there, section 971.07 puts the whole cost on the owner who builds it. That owner then files a sworn statement of the cost with the county recorder and can claim a share back later. Section 971.04 lets the two owners sign their own written agreement, and that agreement replaces the statute. ORC 971.06(A)Ohio · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Cuyahoga Falls?
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Cuyahoga Falls answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district and whether the fence is in front of the building line.
In every Cuyahoga Falls residential district a fence in front of the front building line, or on the street side of a corner lot, is held to four feet and has to be an open fence with at least forty percent aggregate opening over its surface, with all the openings equally distributed. Requiring the openings to be spread evenly is what stops an owner meeting a forty percent target with a solid fence and one gap. Behind the front building line a fence may reach six feet. The mixed use districts and the general design districts run the same four feet and six feet, and in both a side or rear fence may go to eight feet where limited and conditional uses are allowed, with the approval of the Planning Director. A wall is treated more strictly than a fence at the front, capped at two and a half feet, and a hedge over fifty percent opaque in front of the building line has to be kept to the same two and a half feet.
Shall be an open fence with at least forty (40%) aggregate opening over the surface of the fence with all openings equally distributed.
Section 1145.09(A)(1) and (A)(2)
The answer turns on the district and whether the fence is in front of the building line.
- in front of the building line
- Four feet, forty percent open. 4 ft
- behind the building line
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a limited or conditional use
- Eight feet with the Planning Director. 8 ft
- a wall or a solid hedge at the front
- Two and a half feet.
Also on fence height in Cuyahoga Falls
- no rule, documents checkedOhio sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. Chapter 971 is about who pays for a fence on the line and never caps one. The six foot figure in the Residential Code of Ohio is the point where approval starts being needed, not a ceiling. Cities and townships set the height. ORC ch. 971Ohio · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Cuyahoga Falls?
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Cuyahoga Falls answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the certificate comes before the work or after.
Cuyahoga Falls treats a fence as a site element, and building a site element without an approved zoning certificate is a violation of the code in its own words. The Planning Division reviews applications for the construction or alteration of a building, structure or site element and issues the certificate once the code has been met, and no department may issue any permit, license or certificate that conflicts with the code, with any such issuance being null and void. The penalty for going ahead anyway has two parts. A violation is a minor misdemeanor, rising to a fourth degree misdemeanor for a repeat within two years, with each day a separate offense. And where construction happens before the certificate is issued, the application fee itself is increased under the schedule of fees, so the paperwork costs more after the fact than before.
Construction of any building, structure or site element without obtaining an approved zoning certificate shall be considered a violation of this Code.
The answer turns on whether the certificate comes before the work or after.
- any fence
- A zoning certificate first.
- building first
- The application fee goes up.
- a violation
- A minor misdemeanor, each day its own.
- a non-compliance ticket
- Fourteen days to put it right. 14 days
Also on permits in Cuyahoga Falls
- set in state lawA fence six feet tall or less needs no building approval in Ohio. Ohio calls the step approval rather than a permit, and the Residential Code of Ohio puts a fence at or under six feet on the list of work that skips it. The same list covers a detached shed under 200 square feet, a retaining wall under four feet with no extra load pressing on the dirt behind it, and a sidewalk or driveway no more than thirty inches above the ground. Work that skips approval still has to meet every other rule in the code. OAC 4101:8-1-01, Section 102.10Ohio · Building code
Pool fence requirements in Cuyahoga Falls
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Ohio answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Ohio requires a 48 inch barrier around a public swimming pool, measured from the ground to the top of the fence. It is a health department rule and it reaches a public pool that is newly built or heavily rebuilt. Gates have to lock, and a gate the public uses closes and latches on its own with the latch at least 38 inches up. Horizontal pieces on the outside face that would make the barrier easy to climb are not allowed. The Residential Code of Ohio has no swimming pool chapter of its own.
This one is Ohio law, not Cuyahoga Falls law. All Ohio findings
The perimeter barrier shall be at least forty-eight inches in height from the ground to the top of the fence.
48 inperimeter barrier around a public swimming pool
Spite fence laws in Cuyahoga Falls
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Cuyahoga Falls law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Ohio has no spite fence law. Chapter 971 is the fence chapter and every section in it deals with fences on the line, cost shares, fence viewers and township trustees. Chapter 3767 is the nuisance chapter and it never names a fence. A fence built out of ill will is handled by a nuisance lawsuit or by a city or township rule.
This one is Ohio law, not Cuyahoga Falls law. All Ohio findings
Documents read before writing that:
- ORC ch. 971Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules
- ORC ch. 3767Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules
How fence height is measured in Cuyahoga Falls
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Cuyahoga Falls answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The fencing section states four feet, six feet and eight feet and never says in its own text what they are measured from. It relies on fence height as a term defined in the definitions chapter, and the vision clearance rules use that same defined term. The one measuring sentence a fence owner meets directly is in the vision clearance triangle, and it picks an unusual reference: height and clearance there are measured from the street curb, or from the pavement edge closest to the obstruction where no curb exists. So near a corner the answer depends on the road rather than on the ground the posts sit in. Nothing in the fencing section addresses a berm, a fence on top of a retaining wall, or a post cap, although the walls section does require a retaining wall over ten feet to be tiered in two to three foot increments.
Height and clearance shall be as measured from the street curb or, where no curb exists, from the pavement edge closest to the obstruction.
Also on how height is measured in Cuyahoga Falls
- left to the townOhio never says what the height of a fence at a house is measured from. The one measured height in the fence chapter is the 48 inches from the ground up to the barbed wire on a preferred partition fence, and that is a farm rule. For everything else, section 713.06 lets a city planning commission split the city into zones and set the height of buildings and other structures in each one, and section 519.02 gives township trustees the same power outside a city. The city or township rule is where the measuring point is written. ORC 713.06Ohio · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Cuyahoga Falls
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Cuyahoga Falls answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the two lines crossing are.
Cuyahoga Falls runs one vision clearance triangle and sizes it by what is crossing. Twenty feet where two streets meet or where a street meets a railroad, ten feet where a street meets an alley, ten feet at any driveway except a single or two-family one, which gets five feet, and ten feet where a driveway meets an internal access drive. Inside the triangle no fence, hedge, wall, screening or other solid obstruction may have a fence height over four feet, or an opacity over twenty-five percent above a height of two and a half feet, and nothing overhanging may hang lower than eight feet. Tree trunks standing on the effective date, street lighting and utility poles are exempt, and so is everything in the MU-6 downtown district. The section says in terms that these restrictions take precedence over any other requirement of the code they conflict with.
These restrictions take precedence over any other requirements of this Code with which they may conflict.
The answer turns on what the two lines crossing are.
- two streets
- Twenty feet along each line. 20 ft
- a house driveway
- Five feet. 5 ft
- inside the triangle
- Four feet, and a quarter open above thirty inches. 25%
- downtown
- The MU-6 district is exempt.
Also on corner visibility in Cuyahoga Falls
- set in state lawOhio has a state rule about blocking a driver view, and it covers signs rather than fences. Section 5547.04 makes a sign or poster put up near a public highway an obstruction when it hides the view of drivers at a curve or where roads cross, and the county commissioners enforce that. The section names no triangle and no distance, and it says nothing about a fence. O.R.C. 5547.04Ohio · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Cuyahoga Falls
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Ohio answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A retaining wall four feet tall or less needs no approval in Ohio, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall. The pass is gone if the wall carries a surcharge, which means an extra load pressing on the dirt behind it. Ohio calls the step approval rather than a permit. A wall that skips approval still has to meet every other rule in the code.
This one is Ohio law, not Cuyahoga Falls law. All Ohio findings
Retaining walls which are not over four feet (1219 mm) in height
OAC 4101:8-1-01, Section 102.10
4 ftretaining wall height at or below which no approval is required
Fence materials allowed in Cuyahoga Falls
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Cuyahoga Falls answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, the yard and the material.
Cuyahoga Falls writes a closed list. In a residential district a fence may be wood or vinyl simulating wood, wrought iron or aluminum simulating wrought iron, stone, brick, concrete with a stone or brick veneer, or precast concrete simulating stone or brick. Chain link, including vinyl clad chain link, is allowed only in a rear or side yard and only up to four feet, which is two feet shorter than the fence limit for that same yard. An electrified fence is allowed for domesticated animals in the NP-1, R-R and R-1 districts only. Anything else needs the Planning Director to accept it as a material commonly used for fencing. The mixed use districts drop chain link from the list entirely and add public art as a permitted element, and where a wood or vinyl fence is used there it has to carry masonry supports spaced no more than sixteen feet apart.
Chain link or vinyl clad chain link, in the rear or side yard only with a maximum height of 4 feet.
The answer turns on the district, the yard and the material.
- a residential fence
- Wood, iron, stone, brick or a lookalike.
- chain link
- Four feet, side and rear only. 4 ft
- an electric fence
- Animals, in three districts.
- a mixed use district
- No chain link, and masonry supports. 16 ft
Also on materials in Cuyahoga Falls
- set in state lawOhio says what a fence on the line is made of through one defined term, the preferred partition fence. Woven wire, standard or high tensile, with one or two strands of barbed wire on top, meets it on its own. So does a high tensile fence of at least seven strands that is not electric. A barbed wire fence, an electric fence or a live fence, meaning a row of growing plants, counts only when the owners on both sides agree in writing to allow it. Ohio Rev. Code 971.01(F)Ohio · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Cuyahoga Falls
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Ohio answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Ohio names one build as the standard for a fence on a line where livestock are kept, and calls it a preferred partition fence. It is woven wire, standard or high tensile, carrying one or two strands of barbed wire that sit at least 48 inches off the ground. A high tensile fence of seven strands or more that is not electric also counts. Either build follows federal conservation practice standard 382. A barbed wire, electric or live fence counts only when both owners agree to it in writing.
This one is Ohio law, not Cuyahoga Falls law. All Ohio findings
"Preferred partition fence" means a partition fence that is a woven wire fence, either standard or high tensile, with one or two strands of barbed wire located not less than forty-eight inches from the ground or a nonelectric high tensile fence of at least seven strands and that is constructed in accordance with the United States natural resources conservation service conservation practice standard for fences, code 382.
48 inheight above the ground of the barbed wire strands on a woven wire preferred partition fence
Also on agricultural fencing in Cuyahoga Falls
- set in state lawOhio requires the preferred partition fence around a field or pen where livestock are kept when that field touches the line with another owner. An owner may build something stronger and pays the extra cost alone. The rule does not reach two owners who signed a written agreement to do it another way, and it does not reach a fence that was already standing when the section took effect. ORC 971.02(A)Ohio · Statute
- set in state lawOhio puts the duty on the livestock owner and not on the neighbor. An owner who is careless and lets livestock get out of the pen pays for all the harm they do on someone else's land, whether that is injury, death or damage to property. The section never asks the neighbor to have a fence first. ORC 971.18Ohio · Statute
Documents behind this page
13 documents, of which 3 were published by Cuyahoga Falls itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Ohio Laws and Administrative RulesOhio Revised Code, Chapter 971, Fences
- City of Cuyahoga FallsCuyahoga Falls General Development Code, Title 4, Chapter 1145, Landscape Design, Section 1145.09, Fencing
- Ohio Laws and Administrative RulesOhio Revised Code, Chapter 971, Fences
- Ohio Board of Building StandardsOhio Administrative Code, Rule 4101:8-1-01, Administration, Residential Code of Ohio
- City of Cuyahoga FallsCuyahoga Falls General Development Code, Title 1, Chapter 1111, General Provisions, Section 1111.09, Violation and Penalty
- Ohio Laws and Administrative RulesOhio Administrative Code, Rule 3701-31-05.1, Design criteria for new construction or substantial alteration of a public swimming pool on or after April 1, 2011
- Ohio Laws and Administrative RulesOhio Revised Code, Chapter 3767, Nuisances
- Ohio Laws and Administrative RulesOhio Revised Code, Title 7, Chapter 713, Planning
- City of Cuyahoga FallsCuyahoga Falls General Development Code, Title 4, Chapter 1146, Sign Design, Section 1146.05, Sign Vision Clearance Triangle
- Ohio Legislative Service CommissionOhio Revised Code, Title 55, Chapter 5547, County Highways, Use and Obstruction
- Ohio General AssemblyOhio Revised Code, Title 9, Chapter 971, Fences
- Ohio General AssemblyOhio Revised Code, Title 9, Chapter 971, Fences
- Ohio General AssemblyOhio Revised Code, Title 9, Chapter 971, Fences
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 Cuyahoga Falls publishes, plus the Ohio rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Ohio 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