Fence laws in Cleveland, Tennessee
What the Cleveland municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Cleveland sets no rule of its own, the Tennessee rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Cleveland, Tennessee, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Cleveland requires each part of a required yard to be open and unobstructed from the lowest point to the sky, listing only the ordinary projection of sills, belt courses, cornices, buttresses, ornamental features and eaves as exceptions, none of them projecting more than thirty-six inches, and the answer turns on what is being placed in the yard. The figure is 15 feet, for setback for a fenced poultry enclosure.
- How tall
- Cleveland states no maximum fence height for a house lot, and the answer turns on what the fence is required to screen and how wide the buffer is. The figure is 8 feet, for wall or fence screening a neighborhood commercial lot.
- Permits
- Tennessee has no fence permit rule of its own.
- Pool barriers
- Cleveland sets no statewide pool barrier rule. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Spite fences
- Cleveland has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Cleveland never says what a fence height is measured from. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Corner lots
- Tennessee has one rule about seeing down the road, and it covers a new driveway onto a state highway. It reaches new driveways built inside the right of way of a state highway only.
- Retaining walls
- Cleveland leaves retaining walls to the 2018 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, and its Sections R105.2 and R404. It reaches one and two family homes only.
- Materials
- Where a solid wood fence forms part of a landscape buffer in Cleveland it has to be built in a sturdy and workmanlike manner using pressure treated wood designed for privacy fencing, with tightly spaced vertical slats of eight inches or less in width, and the answer turns on whether the fence is part of a buffer and which district it is in. The figure is 8 inches, for maximum width of a slat in a buffer fence.
- Livestock
- Tennessee counts more than wood and wire as a farm fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Cleveland?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Cleveland answers this, but the answer changes depending on what is being placed in the yard.
Cleveland requires each part of a required yard to be open and unobstructed from the lowest point to the sky, listing only the ordinary projection of sills, belt courses, cornices, buttresses, ornamental features and eaves as exceptions, none of them projecting more than thirty-six inches. Unlike most codes in this set, that list does not name a fence, so the ordinance never says in terms whether a fence may stand in a required yard or on a lot line, and the answer has to be inferred from the fact that no fence rule exists to prohibit it. Where the ordinance does place a fence it is inside a landscape buffer along a side or rear line, and where it does set a distance from a line it is for something else: a fenced enclosure for domesticated fowl may not sit within fifteen feet of any abutting property line, and no henhouse or enclosure is permitted in a front yard.
Each part of a required yard shall be open and unobstructed from the lowest point to the sky, except for the ordinary projection of sills, belt courses, cornices, buttresses, ornamental features and eaves.
The answer turns on what is being placed in the yard.
- a required yard
- Open to the sky, with a short list of exceptions.
- a fence
- Not named in that list at all.
- a buffer
- A fence sits along the side or rear line.
- a poultry enclosure
- Fifteen feet from any abutting line. 15 ft
Also on fences on the property line in Cleveland
- set in state lawIn Tennessee a neighbor can get out of paying for a shared fence when one side is a farm and the other is not. The owner of the side that is not farmland can say in writing that the fence is not theirs to build or keep up. The notice goes by registered mail with a return receipt, or any other way that gives written proof it arrived, and it counts from the day the farm owner gets it. Once it is delivered, the farm owner cannot be sued over the fence being missing or in bad shape. Public Chapter 266 of 1999, Section 2, adding a section to T.C.A. Title 44, Chapter 8, Part 2Tennessee · Statute
- set in state lawThat way out lasts only while the land stays out of farming. The law counts land as non-farm when it is not farmland, has a house on it, and keeps no livestock. The day the land stops fitting that description, the notice stops working. If the farm owner built a fence while it was working, the other owner then pays a fair share of what the fence cost. A fight over the amount goes to the process in section 44-8-204. Public Chapter 266 of 1999, Section 2, subsection (d)Tennessee · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Cleveland?
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Cleveland answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the fence is required to screen and how wide the buffer is.
Cleveland states no maximum fence height for a house lot. Every height in the ordinance belongs to a fence the city is requiring rather than permitting. Where a neighborhood commercial district adjoins residential property, the side and rear lines need a planted strip of three to ten feet or an attractive wall or fence of at least eight feet. The landscape buffer rules then use fences as a way of buying width: a Type B buffer of twenty feet may shrink to fifteen with an eight foot solid wood fence, a Type C buffer of twenty-five feet to twenty with an eight foot solid fence, a Type D buffer carries an eight foot solid fence as part of its design, and on older lots of record the reduced buffers may use a six foot fence where the side or rear line is under two hundred and twenty-five feet. So a fence in Cleveland is a screening device with a minimum height rather than a privacy structure with a maximum one.
The planted area shall be 3-10 feet in width and consist of vegetation that will provide screening protection for the residences, or an attractive wall or fence may be provided that is a minimum of eight (8) feet in height.
Neighborhood commercial district standards
The answer turns on what the fence is required to screen and how wide the buffer is.
- an ordinary house fence
- No height stated anywhere.
- a neighborhood commercial boundary
- Eight feet, as a minimum. 8 ft
- a landscape buffer
- Eight feet buys five feet of width.
- an older lot of record
- Six feet on a short lot line. 6 ft
Also on fence height in Cleveland
- no rule, documents checkedTennessee sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The state residential code has no fence rule in it, and the state fence law in Title 44 is about livestock and fences on a property line rather than height. Cities and counties set the limit, and some places have opted out of the state code entirely. Code Adoption HistoryTennessee · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Cleveland?
Compare permits across all 50 states
Tennessee answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Tennessee has no fence permit rule of its own. It uses the 2018 International Residential Code, with state changes, as the code for one and two family homes across the state, and the Fire Marshal lists that code as taking effect on July 16, 2020. The state changes leave alone the list of work that needs no permit, so that list is model code text and not Tennessee text. Counties and cities can opt out of the state code altogether.
This one is Tennessee law, not Cleveland law. All Tennessee findings
International Residential Code (IRC), 2018 edition, published by the ICC, with amendments;
Code Adoption History, residential codes
Also on permits in Cleveland
- no rule, documents checkedNothing in the Cleveland zoning ordinance or municipal code requires a permit for a fence. There is no fence section to attach one to, and the screening and buffer rules that do require a fence are checked when a site plan is reviewed rather than when a fence goes up. The one official with a stated power over fences is the Urban Forester, who may approve a reduction in a landscape buffer where a masonry wall or a planting berm replaces a solid wooden fence, and who may approve an alternative buffer design that provides the same buffering features in the same amounts. In the interstate gateway commercial district a master site plan has to go to the Municipal Planning Commission before any construction, and that plan has to specify the location of proposed planted areas and the type of vegetation or fencing planned for landscaping and buffers, which is the only place a fence is reviewed before it exists. Landscape buffer standards and IGC site plan requirementsCleveland · Zoning code
Pool fence requirements in Cleveland
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Cleveland law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Tennessee sets no statewide fence rule for a pool at a house. The state took up the 2018 International Residential Code along with Appendix Q and nothing else. In that edition the pool fence rules sit in Appendix G, which Tennessee left out, so no state height reaches a pool at a home. Cities and counties can still set one.
This one is Tennessee law, not Cleveland law. All Tennessee findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Code Adoption HistoryTennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, State Fire Marshal's Office
- Codes EnforcementTennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, State Fire Marshal's Office
Spite fence laws in Cleveland
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
Cleveland law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Tennessee has no spite fence law. The state fence law in Title 44, Chapter 8 covers fencing that holds livestock and fences on a property line. It names no height and says nothing about a fence built to bother a neighbor. A fence like that is a nuisance case in court, not a matter of state law.
This one is Tennessee law, not Cleveland law. All Tennessee findings
Documents read before writing that:
- T.C.A. Title 44, Chapter 8Tennessee General Assembly
- Code Adoption HistoryTennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, State Fire Marshal's Office
How fence height is measured in Cleveland
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Cleveland law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Tennessee never says where a fence height is measured from. The state adopts its building and fire codes in one rule of the Division of Fire Prevention, and that rule does name starting points, for buildings. It takes the height of a roof from the lowest fire truck road surface next to the building up to the eave or parapet, and it counts stories from the grade plane, which is the average ground level around the building. Both rules are about buildings. The word fence is nowhere in the chapter, so the state names no starting point for a fence. The city or county ordinance decides.
This one is Tennessee law, not Cleveland law. All Tennessee findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Rule 0780-02-02-.01Tennessee Secretary of State
Also on how height is measured in Cleveland
- no rule, documents checkedWith no maximum fence height anywhere in the ordinance there is nothing for a measuring rule to attach to, and none is stated. The heights that do appear, six feet and eight feet for a buffer fence, eight feet for a neighborhood commercial screen, and six to eight feet for a masonry wall used instead, are given without a datum, so on a sloping boundary it is not settled whether the fence is read from the high side or the low. Nothing addresses a berm under a fence, although a planting berm at least four feet high is named as an alternative to one, and nothing addresses a fence on top of a retaining wall or ground raised before the posts go in. No allowance is given for a post cap. The sign rules show the ordinance can fix a vertical reference when it wants one, measuring a sign face from the ground. Landscape buffer standardsCleveland · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Cleveland
Compare corner visibility across all 50 states
Tennessee answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Tennessee has one rule about seeing down the road, and it covers a new driveway onto a state highway. The Department of Transportation rule at 1680-10-01 takes up the driveway manual, and section 5.2 of that manual says a driveway goes where a driver can see far enough in both directions. Where the view is short, the turns the driveway allows get cut back. The manual prints a triangle showing it. The same rule says plainly that it sits on top of county and city land rules, and that is where a corner triangle for a fence comes from.
This one is Tennessee law, not Cleveland law. All Tennessee findings
Highway entrances should be located to provide adequate sight distance for all traffic movements allowed. Where sight distance requirements are not met, specific movements may be restricted.
Tenn. Comp. R. and Regs. 1680-10-01-.03, Manual section 5.2
Also on corner visibility in Cleveland
- no rule, documents checkedNeither the zoning ordinance nor the municipal code sets a sight triangle for a fence. The ordinance defines a corner lot and sets rules about which frontage counts as the front, the lot width and the setbacks, and never mentions vision at an intersection. The only visibility rules in the whole document are written about other things: planted areas at the entrances and exits of a neighborhood commercial district may not obstruct traffic visibility or create a hazard for pedestrians, screening required elsewhere in the code may not be accomplished in a way that creates a traffic hazard, and the sign regulations hold a sign face near an exit drive to no higher than thirty inches or no lower than seven feet and say visibility triangles on adjacent streets are to be preserved in accordance with a drawing. No comparable sentence exists for a fence. Requirements for corner lotsCleveland · Zoning code
Retaining wall rules in Cleveland
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Cleveland does not set this. It leaves it to the 2018 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, and its Sections R105.2 and R404.
Tennessee has no rule of its own for a wall that holds back earth. It uses the 2018 International Residential Code, with state changes, as the code for one and two family homes, and it names no height at which such a wall needs a permit. So the rule that applies is the model code text, which the International Code Council sells and which no Tennessee state site prints. Counties and cities can opt out of the state code, which is what makes the answer local in some places.
This one is Tennessee law, not Cleveland law. All Tennessee findings
International Residential Code (IRC), 2018 edition, published by the ICC, with amendments;
Currently Adopted Codes, residential code
The code hands this to the 2018 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, and its Sections R105.2 and R404, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Cleveland
Compare materials across all 50 states
Cleveland answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is part of a buffer and which district it is in.
Where a solid wood fence forms part of a landscape buffer in Cleveland it has to be built in a sturdy and workmanlike manner using pressure treated wood designed for privacy fencing, with tightly spaced vertical slats of eight inches or less in width. The Urban Forester may allow a further reduction of up to five feet in a Type A, B, C or D buffer where a masonry wall of six to eight feet faced with stone, brick or cut faced block replaces the wooden fence, or where a planting berm at least four feet high is worked into the design. In the interstate gateway commercial district chain link, woven wire and barbwire fencing are prohibited in any required front yard or anywhere visible from the public right-of-way, with woven wire and barbwire allowed on land used agriculturally for keeping livestock, and chain link allowed for safety or security during construction so long as it comes down before the certificate of occupancy. Outside those places the ordinance names no fence material.
using pressure treated wood designed for the construction of privacy fences with tightly spaced vertical slats of 8 inches or less in width.
Landscape buffer standards, with the IGC district standards
The answer turns on whether the fence is part of a buffer and which district it is in.
- a buffer fence
- Pressure treated, slats eight inches or less. 8 in
- a masonry wall instead
- Six to eight feet, faced, and five feet off the buffer.
- the gateway commercial district
- No chain link, woven wire or barbwire on show.
- a construction site
- Chain link until the certificate of occupancy.
Also on materials in Cleveland
- set in state lawTennessee keeps a list of fences that count as good enough to hold farm animals, and the legislature has only made that list longer. An act of 1999 added two things to it. One is a fence made of man made materials sold for fencing, put up the usual way. The other is any system or device built on technology that is accepted for holding farm animals, which is where an electric fence fits. The same act lets the commissioner of agriculture add detail by rule, and says the law still works where no such rule exists. Tenn. Code Ann. 44-8-102(b)Tennessee · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Cleveland
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Tennessee answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Tennessee counts more than wood and wire as a farm fence. A fence made of man made materials sold for fencing counts, as long as it is put up the usual way and holds farm animals. So does any system or device built on technology that is accepted for holding farm animals, which is where an electric or wireless fence fits. An act of 1999 added both. The commissioner of agriculture can write rules adding detail, and the law still works where no such rule exists.
This one is Tennessee law, not Cleveland law. All Tennessee findings
In addition to subsection (a), sufficient fencing shall include: (1) fence constructed from synthetic materials commonly sold for fencing, if such materials are installed pursuant to generally acceptable standards, to confine or restrict the movement of farm animals
T.C.A. § 44-8-102(b), as added by Public Chapter 266 of 1999
Documents behind this page
7 documents, of which 2 were published by Cleveland itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Tennessee General AssemblyPublic Chapter No. 266, Senate Bill No. 658 (1999), an act to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 44, Chapter 8, relative to fencing and grazing
- City of ClevelandCleveland Zoning Ordinance, Appendix C to the Cleveland Municipal Code, updated March 2024
- Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, State Fire Marshal's OfficeCodes Enforcement, Code Adoption History
- Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, State Fire Marshal's OfficeCodes Enforcement
- City of ClevelandThe Cleveland Municipal Code, prepared by the Municipal Technical Advisory Service
- Tennessee Secretary of StateRules of the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Division of Fire Prevention, Chapter 0780-02-02, Codes and Standards
- Tennessee Department of TransportationManual for Constructing Driveway Entrances on State Highways, 2015 Edition, adopted by Rule 1680-10-01-.03
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 Cleveland publishes, plus the Tennessee rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Tennessee 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