Fence laws in Kettering, Ohio
What the Kettering municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Kettering sets no rule of its own, the Ohio rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Kettering, Ohio, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Kettering asks for three feet of setback from a right-of-way and states no setback from an ordinary side or rear lot line, so a fence may run along the boundary between two houses, and the answer turns on whether the neighbor puts it in writing. The figure is 3 feet, for setback from a right-of-way.
- How tall
- Kettering splits the front yard limit by what kind of fence it is, and the answer turns on the yard, whether the fence is a privacy fence, and how the ground falls. The figure is 4 feet, for fence or wall in a front yard.
- Permits
- Kettering runs two documents and they do different jobs, and the answer turns on whether the step is building or occupying.
- 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
- Kettering has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Kettering answers the post question directly and answers it both ways. The figure is 12 inches, for how far a decorative post may rise above the fence.
- Corner lots
- Kettering does not give a fixed number of feet for its sight triangle, and the answer turns on the width and speed of the street. The figure is 3 feet, for bottom of the protected band.
- 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
- Kettering asks for permanent material, naming wood, stone, rock, concrete block, masonry brick, brick, decorative wrought iron and high grade matte vinyl, and then adds a design rule almost nobody else writes: no more than three such materials in one design, and the design has to be uniform along the whole length, although it may change as it turns from one yard into another, and the answer turns on the material, the yard and the district. The figure is 6 feet, for height above grade barbed wire may start at a utility site.
- 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 Kettering?
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Kettering answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the neighbor puts it in writing.
Kettering asks for three feet of setback from a right-of-way and states no setback from an ordinary side or rear lot line, so a fence may run along the boundary between two houses. What it does regulate at that boundary is which way the structure faces. All structural supports have to be erected on the inside of the area being enclosed, which puts the flat face toward the neighbor. Then comes the clause worth knowing about: where a fence adjoins the side or rear lot line of another lot, the supports may face outward if the adjoining owners provide a signed and notarized letter approving it. A notarized letter also appears in the height rules, where it lets a taller fence stay after an abutting business property becomes conforming. In both places the code turns a neighbor agreement into something the city will act on.
A fence that adjoins the side or rear lot line of another lot may be erected with such supports on the outside of the area to be enclosed if the adjoining property owners provide a signed and notarized letter attesting to their approval of this situation.
The answer turns on whether the neighbor puts it in writing.
- the posts
- Inside the fenced area.
- a notarized neighbor letter
- They may face outward.
- a right-of-way
- Three feet back. 3 ft
- a line between two houses
- No setback stated. 0 ft
Also on fences on the property line in Kettering
- 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 Kettering?
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Kettering answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, whether the fence is a privacy fence, and how the ground falls.
Kettering splits the front yard limit by what kind of fence it is. An ordinary fence or wall in a front yard may be four feet, and a privacy fence in the same place is held to three. Side and rear yards take six feet. A street side yard on a corner lot runs off its own table, which pairs each height with a setback: a privacy fence or wall may be six feet if it meets the street side yard setback, or three feet if it stands three feet off the right-of-way, and a non-privacy fence may be six feet at the setback or four feet at three feet off the right-of-way. Eight feet is available in a rear or side yard in four named situations, including where the ground-floor elevation of the house on the abutting lot is at least four feet higher than the elevation at the lot line. A security fence may reach seven feet including its security features.
The maximum height found within this table does not apply where the use regulations in Chapter 1137, Standards for Specific Uses, require a higher fence or wall for screening or security purposes.
Section 1147.08.2, with 1147.08.3 and 1147.08.9
The answer turns on the yard, whether the fence is a privacy fence, and how the ground falls.
- a front yard
- Four feet, or three if it is a privacy fence. 4 ft
- a side or rear yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a neighbor house four feet higher
- Eight feet along that line. 8 ft
- a security fence
- Seven feet with its features. 7 ft
Also on fence height in Kettering
- 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 Kettering?
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Kettering answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the step is building or occupying.
Kettering runs two documents and they do different jobs. A Zoning Permit comes first: no development, development activity or temporary use of property is permitted unless the Zoning Administrator has issued one, and the permit certifies that the proposed use and development comply with the whole zoning code. A Zoning Certificate comes at the other end, because no use or occupancy of property is permitted until the Zoning Administrator has issued one of those. Either has to be applied for by the owner or an appointed agent, and both are issued through the administrative decision process in Section 1153.09. The fence section itself says in a margin note that fences and walls require a permit and points the reader at the Planning and Development Department. Additional fence height may also be permitted or required by the Planning Commission as a condition of a conditional use approval.
No development, development activity, or temporary use of property is permitted unless a Zoning Permit has been issued by the Zoning Administrator.
The answer turns on whether the step is building or occupying.
- building a fence
- A Zoning Permit first.
- using the property
- A Zoning Certificate.
- who may apply
- The owner or an appointed agent.
- extra height
- The Planning Commission may allow it.
Also on permits in Kettering
- 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 Kettering
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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 Kettering 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 Kettering
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Kettering 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 Kettering 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 Kettering
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Kettering answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Kettering answers the post question directly and answers it both ways. Decorative posts, finials, post caps and similar decorative fencepost elements may extend up to twelve inches beyond the maximum fence height. Lattice work, additional screening and pickets may not extend beyond it at all. So a cap is a decoration and a lattice topper is more fence. The code also uses elevation rather than a single grade line where the ground falls between two lots, allowing eight feet along a line where the ground-floor elevation of the abutting house is at least four feet above the elevation at that lot line. What the fence section still does not say is which side of a sloping fence the height is read from, or how a fence on a retaining wall is treated, although a wall that retains has to come with engineering documents.
Decorative posts, finials, post caps, and other commonly utilized decorative fencepost elements may extend up to 12” beyond the maximum fence height. Lattice work, additional screening, or pickets shall not be allowed to extend beyond the maximum fence height.
12 inhow far a decorative post may rise above the fence
Also on how height is measured in Kettering
- 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 Kettering
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Kettering answers this, but the answer changes depending on the width and speed of the street.
Kettering does not give a fixed number of feet for its sight triangle. The size is a function of street width and speed, and the triangle itself is built from three points: the driver eye position fifteen feet behind the curb or edge of roadway, the approaching vehicle, and the potential point of impact. Where the cross street has more than two lanes the triangle uses the vehicle in the lane nearest the centerline from the right and the vehicle nearest the curb from the left. Inside it nothing may be erected, placed, planted or allowed to grow so as to impede vision between three feet and eight feet above the grade of the driveway, alley, street or other access point. The required distances come from a table of minimum sight distances rather than from the fence rules, so the answer on a given corner depends on the road in front of it.
On any portion of a site that lies within the minimum sight triangle, nothing shall be erected, placed, planted or allowed to grow in such a manner so as to impede vision between a height of 3’ and 8’ above the grade of the driveway, alley, street, or other access point.
The answer turns on the width and speed of the street.
- the protected band
- Three feet up to eight. 3 ft
- the triangle size
- Set by street width and speed.
- the driver eye point
- Fifteen feet behind the curb. 15 ft
- a wide cross street
- Measured from two different lanes.
Also on corner visibility in Kettering
- 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 Kettering
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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 Kettering 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 Kettering
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Kettering answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material, the yard and the district.
Kettering asks for permanent material, naming wood, stone, rock, concrete block, masonry brick, brick, decorative wrought iron and high grade matte vinyl, and then adds a design rule almost nobody else writes: no more than three such materials in one design, and the design has to be uniform along the whole length, although it may change as it turns from one yard into another. Chain link and wire mesh are permitted in rear yards only, with one exception for industrial uses in the N, I and LI pattern districts, where chain link may reach six feet in a side yard. Any chain link, rigid woven wire or wire mesh, and its posts and supports, has to be factory coated in a dark color such as black, dark brown or dark green. Prohibited outright are cast off or secondhand items, corrugated or galvanized sheet metal, plywood, particle board, paper, plastic tarp and fence screen, and barbed or razor wire except around a water, sewer or electric substation site with the barbs at least six feet up.
No more than three such materials may be incorporated into a design. The design must be uniform along the entire length of such structures.
The answer turns on the material, the yard and the district.
- one design
- Three materials at most, uniform throughout.
- chain link
- Rear yards, in a dark factory coating.
- barbed wire
- Utility sites only, six feet up. 6 ft
- salvaged or sheet material
- Prohibited.
Also on materials in Kettering
- 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 Kettering
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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 Kettering 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 Kettering
- 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
11 documents, of which 1 was published by Kettering itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Ohio Laws and Administrative RulesOhio Revised Code, Chapter 971, Fences
- City of KetteringCity of Kettering Zoning Code, Chapter 1147, Section 1147.08, Fences, Walls, Hedges, Privacy Screens
- 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
- 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
- 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 Kettering 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