Fence laws in Youngstown, Ohio
What the Youngstown municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Youngstown sets no rule of its own, the Ohio rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Youngstown, Ohio, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A Youngstown fence, wall or hedge may be placed up to the property line, and any outstanding posts or supporting rails have to face inward toward the property being fenced, and the answer turns on the yard and whether a corner is involved. The figure is 0 feet, for setback from a property line.
- How tall
- Youngstown writes its height rule as a distance from the street rather than as a list of yards, and the answer turns on how far the fence is from the street and which district it sits in. The figure is 3 feet, for fence near the street right-of-way.
- Permits
- A fence six feet tall or less needs no building approval in Ohio. The figure is 6 feet, for residential fence height at or below which no approval is required.
- 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
- Youngstown has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Youngstown leaves the measuring rule to the planning commission of a municipal corporation, and a township board of trustees outside municipal limits.
- Corner lots
- On a corner lot in a Youngstown residential district nothing except a utility pole or a light or sign standard may be erected, planted or allowed to grow so as to impede vision between thirty inches and ten feet above the center line grades of the intersecting streets, and the answer turns on how the lot sits relative to the street grades. The figure is 50 feet, for leg of the corner triangle.
- 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
- Youngstown gives a closed list of six materials, and the answer turns on the material, what the site is used for and how long the run is. The figure is 100 feet, for longest run without articulation at an arterial.
- 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 Youngstown?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Youngstown answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard and whether a corner is involved.
A Youngstown fence, wall or hedge may be placed up to the property line, and any outstanding posts or supporting rails have to face inward toward the property being fenced. That is the orientation rule most codes write as a finished side rule, turned around and stated as a structural one, and it reaches a hedge as well as a fence. Fences, walls and hedges are permitted in any required setback yard or along the edge of any yard in a residential district, so no setback of their own applies. The one place the code pulls a fence back from a line is a corner, where the visibility triangle takes over. On a corner lot the code also defines which frontage counts as the front: the street that contains the greater number of lots in the block, with the street side yard set at two thirds of the front setback where an occupied house backs onto the lot.
Fences, walls, and hedges may be placed up to the property line, and any outstanding posts or supporting rails shall face inward toward the property being fenced.
Section 1104.05(h)(3)(E), with (h)(1)
The answer turns on the yard and whether a corner is involved.
- a lot line
- A fence may go right up to it. 0 ft
- posts and rails
- Facing in, toward the owner.
- a required setback yard
- A fence is allowed in it.
- a corner lot
- The visibility triangle takes over.
Also on fences on the property line in Youngstown
- 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 Youngstown?
Compare fence height across all 50 states
Youngstown answers this, but the answer changes depending on how far the fence is from the street and which district it sits in.
Youngstown writes its height rule as a distance from the street rather than as a list of yards. Nothing along the sides or the front edge of a front yard may be over three feet within twenty-five feet of the street right-of-way line, and the rule names fences, walls and hedges together so a row of shrubs is caught the same way. Beyond that twenty-five feet the limit rises to six feet in a residential district, eight feet in a mixed use district and ten feet in an industrial district. Open mesh fences on public recreational areas, school grounds, parks and playgrounds are outside the rule altogether, which is how a tall backstop or ball field fence is allowed without a variance.
Fences and walls more than 25 feet from the street right‐of‐way line shall not exceed six feet in height in residential districts, eight feet in mixed use districts, and 10 feet in industrial districts.
The answer turns on how far the fence is from the street and which district it sits in.
- within twenty-five feet of the street
- Three feet. 3 ft
- a residential district beyond that
- Six feet. 6 ft
- an industrial district
- Ten feet. 10 ft
- a park or school
- Open mesh fences are outside the rule.
Also on fence height in Youngstown
- 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 Youngstown?
Compare permits across all 50 states
Ohio answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A 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.
This one is Ohio law, not Youngstown law. All Ohio findings
Fences not over six feet (1829 mm) high.
OAC 4101:8-1-01, Section 102.10
6 ftresidential fence height at or below which no approval is required
Also on permits in Youngstown
- no rule, documents checkedThe Redevelopment Code never names a fence permit. Its procedures chapter runs through site plan review, conditional use permits, certificates of appropriateness, variances, appeals and zoning changes, and a fence appears in none of them on its own. What the code does state generally is that no building or structure may be erected, constructed, reconstructed, moved or altered except in conformity with the regulations for the district it sits in, which makes a fence subject to the rules without saying who checks them or when. Two places do put a fence in front of a reviewer indirectly. A fence that needs articulation may use a feature approved by the Director, and a property inside a historic district needs a certificate of appropriateness for exterior work. Section 1105.04Youngstown · Zoning code
Pool fence requirements in Youngstown
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 Youngstown 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 Youngstown
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
Youngstown 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 Youngstown 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 Youngstown
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Youngstown does not set this. It leaves it to the planning commission of a municipal corporation, and a township board of trustees outside municipal limits.
Ohio 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.
This one is Ohio law, not Youngstown law. All Ohio findings
for the limitations and regulation of the height, bulk, and location, including percentage of lot occupancy, set back building lines, and area and dimensions of yards, courts, and other open spaces, and the uses of buildings and other structures and of premises in such zones or districts
The code hands this to the planning commission of a municipal corporation, and a township board of trustees outside municipal limits, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on how height is measured in Youngstown
- no rule, documents checkedThe fence rules state three feet, six feet, eight feet and ten feet and never say what the bottom of a fence is measured from. No grade is named, a berm is not addressed, a fence on a retaining wall is not addressed, and no allowance is made for a post cap, although columns and pilasters are required every twenty-five feet on a long run without saying whether they may stand above the fence. The visibility rule shows the code fixing a datum when it wants one, protecting the band between thirty inches and ten feet above the center line grades of the intersecting streets. What the fence rules measure instead is horizontal distance: twenty-five feet from the street right-of-way line decides which height limit applies, and that is a line a survey can settle rather than a slope that has to be judged. Section 1104.05(h)(2)Youngstown · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Youngstown
Compare corner visibility across all 50 states
Youngstown answers this, but the answer changes depending on how the lot sits relative to the street grades.
On a corner lot in a Youngstown residential district nothing except a utility pole or a light or sign standard may be erected, planted or allowed to grow so as to impede vision between thirty inches and ten feet above the center line grades of the intersecting streets. The restricted area is a triangle bounded by the two street right-of-way lines and a diagonal joining them fifty feet from where they meet, or from the point where their tangents meet on a rounded corner. Fifty feet is one of the largest triangles in this set, and the protected band starts low at thirty inches, so very little escapes it. The datum is the center line grade of the roads rather than the ground at the fence, which means a lot sitting above the street loses height and one sitting below it gains some.
On corner lots in residential districts nothing except utility poles and light or sign standards shall be erected, planted, or allowed to grow so as to impede vision between a height of 30 inches and ten 10 feet above the center line grades of intersecting streets.
The answer turns on how the lot sits relative to the street grades.
- the triangle
- Fifty feet along each right-of-way line. 50 ft
- the protected band
- Thirty inches up to ten feet. 30 in
- a rounded corner
- Measured from where the tangents meet.
- a utility pole or sign standard
- Named as the only exception.
Also on corner visibility in Youngstown
- 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 Youngstown
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 Youngstown 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 Youngstown
Compare materials across all 50 states
Youngstown answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material, what the site is used for and how long the run is.
Youngstown gives a closed list of six materials. A wall or fence has to be built of integrally colored, split face or ground face concrete masonry units, or concrete masonry painted, stuccoed or faced with another permitted material, or stone whether natural or simulated, or brick, or wrought iron or other decorative metal, or wood painted or stained. Chain link that is visible from an adjoining right-of-way is prohibited on any site that is not in the industrial category of the use table, except where it is needed for public safety during approved construction. On top of the material list the code asks for articulation: a fence facing a collector or arterial street may not run more than a hundred feet, and one facing any other public street more than fifty feet, without a change in material or texture, an offset in the alignment, a landscape pocket or a similar feature approved by the Director, with columns or pilasters no more than twenty-five feet apart.
Chain link fencing visible from adjacent rights‐of‐way shall be prohibited on all sites that contain a use other than a use in the Industrial category of Table 1103‐A, except as necessary to ensure public safety during approved construction activities on the site.
Section 1104.05(h)(4)(B), with (h)(3)
The answer turns on the material, what the site is used for and how long the run is.
- the material list
- Masonry, stone, brick, metal or wood.
- chain link in view of the street
- Industrial sites only.
- a long run at an arterial
- Articulated every hundred feet. 100 ft
- any other street
- Every fifty feet. 50 ft
Also on materials in Youngstown
- 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 Youngstown
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 Youngstown 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 Youngstown
- 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 Youngstown itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Ohio Laws and Administrative RulesOhio Revised Code, Chapter 971, Fences
- City of YoungstownYoungstown Redevelopment Code, City Ordinance 13-56, Chapter 1104, Development Standards, Section 1104.05(h), Wall and Fence Regulations
- 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 Youngstown 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