Fence laws in Parma, Ohio
What the Parma municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Parma sets no rule of its own, the Ohio rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Parma, Ohio, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Parma is one of the few cities in this set that keeps a fence out of the side yard as well as the front, and the answer turns on the yard and where the side door sits. The figure is 5 feet, for distance a fence may run past the side door.
- How tall
- Parma sets one height and applies it to a whole family of things rather than to fences alone, and the answer turns on what kind of boundary device it is and what the lot is used for. The figure is 6 feet, for fence, hedge or other boundary device.
- Permits
- Before any boundary device goes up in Parma the owner has to get a permit from the Building Commissioner, with the fee set in the general fee schedule, and the answer turns on whether a neighbor signs or a surveyor does. The figure is 120 months, for age limit on an accepted boundary survey.
- 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
- Parma has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Parma answers the question most codes leave open. The figure is 6 feet, for height measured from the ground to the top of the fence.
- Corner lots
- Parma draws no sight triangle and no protected band of heights, and the answer turns on whether the obstruction is a fence or a planting. The figure is 1 foot, for clearance from the sidewalk on a corner lot.
- 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
- Parma writes a closed list rather than a set of bans, and the answer turns on the material and the district. The figure is 3 inches, for largest opening allowed in a wire mesh 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 Parma?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Parma answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard and where the side door sits.
Parma is one of the few cities in this set that keeps a fence out of the side yard as well as the front. Fences are permitted only in rear yards, and the code then fixes where the rear yard starts using the house itself: a fence may come no further toward the street than five feet past the side door, or past the steps to the side door. Where there is no side door the line is the rear wall of the house. No fence may be erected between the sidewalk line and the front of the building. Two more rules govern the boundary itself. A fence may not be installed directly along another fence on the same property line of an abutting owner, which stops the double fence that happens when two neighbors each build their own. And the supporting posts have to be on the side of the property being fenced, so the posts face in and the flat side faces the neighbor.
Fences shall be permitted only in rear yards, as defined in Section 1505.25(b). In no case shall fences extend any further towards the street than five feet past the side door or the steps to the side door of the residential structure.
Section 1529.23(a)(2), (a)(3), (e) and (f)
The answer turns on the yard and where the side door sits.
- a rear yard
- Where a fence is allowed.
- how far forward
- Five feet past the side door. 5 ft
- a neighbor fence already on the line
- No second fence beside it.
- the posts
- On the inside, facing the owner.
Also on fences on the property line in Parma
- 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 Parma?
Compare fence height across all 50 states
Parma answers this, but the answer changes depending on what kind of boundary device it is and what the lot is used for.
Parma sets one height and applies it to a whole family of things rather than to fences alone. No fence, hedge, trellis, retaining wall or other device used to mark or establish a boundary line may exceed six feet, whether it sits on the line or inside it. A hedge is held to the same six feet as a board fence, which is unusual, and so is a retaining wall used to mark a line. On a public facility, retail, office, commercial or industrial lot the Planning Commission may approve a fence taller than six feet where it is needed to screen the lot from neighboring residential property. A snow fence is a separate case with a four foot limit, and it may only stand between the first of November and the first of April. Shrubbery kept for decoration is outside the section altogether except near a driveway.
No fence, hedge, trellis, retaining wall, or other device used to mark or establish boundary lines around property, or within the property line, exceeding six feet in height, shall be erected, altered reconstructed or relocated on any lawn adjacent to any boundary line of any lot or parcel of land, or any part thereof, in the City.
Section 1529.23(a)(1), with (g) and (i)
The answer turns on what kind of boundary device it is and what the lot is used for.
- a fence, hedge or trellis
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a business or industrial lot
- Taller with Planning Commission approval.
- a snow fence
- Four feet, November to April. 4 ft
- decorative shrubbery
- Outside the section, except near a driveway.
Also on fence height in Parma
- 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 Parma?
Compare permits across all 50 states
Parma answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether a neighbor signs or a surveyor does.
Before any boundary device goes up in Parma the owner has to get a permit from the Building Commissioner, with the fee set in the general fee schedule. What follows is the part that separates Parma from most cities. Unless the work simply replaces an existing permitted device, no permit issues until one of two things happens: proof that notice has been given to all affected property owners, by a signed waiver of the permit application, or verification from a registered professional surveyor establishing where the property lines run, and that stamped boundary survey has to be dated within the last ten years. So a disputed line has to be settled before the fence exists rather than after. An electrified fence needs both an electrical permit and a fence permit, three complete sets of plans, a site plan, fence details, electrical details to Article 250 of the National Electrical Code, an energizer output certification and the location of the Knox Box for emergency access.
Submission to the Building Commissioner of proof that notice has been given to all affected property owners, by proof of signed waiver of the permit application
Section 1529.23(b), with Section 1529.231(d)
The answer turns on whether a neighbor signs or a surveyor does.
- any boundary device
- A permit from the Building Commissioner.
- the neighbor route
- A signed waiver from everyone affected.
- the surveyor route
- A stamped survey under ten years old. 120 months
- replacing a permitted fence
- Neither is required.
Also on permits in Parma
- 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 Parma
Compare pool barriers across all 50 states
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 Parma 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 Parma
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
Parma 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 Parma 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 Parma
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Parma answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Parma answers the question most codes leave open. The height of a fence is the distance vertically from the surface of the ground to the top of the fence. That settles the ordinary case and it makes clear a fence on a berm or on raised ground is read from the new surface rather than from the old one, because the code names the surface of the ground and not a grade fixed somewhere else. It is one sentence and it does the work of a page. Two things it does not reach: a fence on top of a retaining wall, where the code never says whether the wall counts as part of the height, and a post cap, which gets no allowance. And one carve out is written into the section itself, because the rule about the height of any fence does not apply to public facility, retail, office, commercial and industrial lots, where the Planning Commission may approve something taller for screening.
The height of any fence shall be the distance vertically from the surface of the ground to the top of the fence.
6 ftheight measured from the ground to the top of the fence
Also on how height is measured in Parma
- 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 Parma
Compare corner visibility across all 50 states
Parma answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the obstruction is a fence or a planting.
Parma draws no sight triangle and no protected band of heights. On a corner lot it instead ties the fence to the house: the fence may not start any closer to the street than the setback of the house, and it has to stay at least one foot off the sidewalk on the side of the property. Where the city does write about seeing past something, it is about planting rather than fencing, and it is measured from a driveway rather than from a corner. Decorative shrubbery may not grow above three feet when it is more than fifteen feet from where a driveway meets the public sidewalk, and no more than eighteen inches when it is within fifteen feet of that point. A tree in a side yard within fifteen feet of that same point has to be trimmed so the lowest branches are five feet off the ground.
Erection of a fence on a corner lot shall not start any closer to the street than the setback of the house and not less than one foot off the sidewalk on the side of existing property.
The answer turns on whether the obstruction is a fence or a planting.
- a corner lot fence
- No closer than the house setback.
- the sidewalk
- A foot of clearance. 1 ft
- shrubs near a driveway
- Eighteen inches within fifteen feet. 18 in
- a tree in a side yard
- Branches trimmed to five feet up.
Also on corner visibility in Parma
- 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 Parma
Compare retaining walls across all 50 states
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 Parma 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 Parma
Compare materials across all 50 states
Parma answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material and the district.
Parma writes a closed list rather than a set of bans. Permitted fences in every residence district are picket, ranch including split rail and western rail, basketweave, stockade, board on board and chain link, and the chain link may carry metal, plastic, vinyl or fiberglass inserts. Masonry walls of brick, random stone or ashlar, coursed stone or ashlar, or decorative block are permitted with the approval of the City Planning Commission. What is prohibited is written by dimension: wire mesh fences with openings between the wires larger than three inches, and individual strand type wire fences. Electrified fences are prohibited unless they comply with the separate electrified fence section, which confines them to the Industrial A, Industrial Park and Research Manufacturing districts, bars them from any residential location, and allows them only for businesses in the federal Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program.
Prohibited fences include wire mesh fences which have openings between the wires of larger than three inches, individual strand-type wire fences, and electrified fences, unless in compliance with Section 1529.231.
The answer turns on the material and the district.
- a residence district
- A named list, and nothing else.
- wire mesh
- Openings no larger than three inches. 3 in
- a masonry wall
- Planning Commission approval.
- an electrified fence
- Three industrial districts, never at a house.
Also on materials in Parma
- 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 Parma
Compare agricultural fencing across all 50 states
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 Parma 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 Parma
- 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 Parma itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Ohio Laws and Administrative RulesOhio Revised Code, Chapter 971, Fences
- City of ParmaCodified Ordinances of Parma, Part Fifteen, Chapter 1529, General Building Regulations, Section 1529.23, Fences, Hedges and Trellises
- 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 Parma 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