Fence laws in Johnson City, Tennessee
What the Johnson City municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Johnson City sets no rule of its own, the Tennessee rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Johnson City, Tennessee, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Fences, walls and landscaping appear as the third item on the list of structures permitted to encroach into the minimum yard setbacks of the district regulations, and unlike almost everything else on that list they carry no distance limit, and the answer turns on which structure is being placed in the setback. The figure is 3 feet, for projection allowed for an awning or canopy.
- How tall
- The Johnson City zoning code never states a maximum height for an ordinary fence, and the answer turns on what the fence is required to screen. The figure is 7 feet, for required dumpster screening fence.
- Permits
- Tennessee has no fence permit rule of its own.
- Pool barriers
- Johnson City sets no statewide pool barrier rule. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Spite fences
- Johnson City has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Johnson City 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
- Johnson City protects a band from three feet all the way to fifteen feet, which is the tallest ceiling in this set and is written for trucks as much as cars, and the answer turns on the class of the two streets and whether they are on the same grade. The figure is 20 feet, for triangle leg where two minor streets meet.
- Retaining walls
- Johnson City 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
- Johnson City names no material for an ordinary fence and names only two wherever it requires one, and the answer turns on whether the fence is required by the code and which district it is in.
- Livestock
- Tennessee counts more than wood and wire as a farm fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Johnson City?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Johnson City answers this, but the answer changes depending on which structure is being placed in the setback.
Fences, walls and landscaping appear as the third item on the list of structures permitted to encroach into the minimum yard setbacks of the district regulations, and unlike almost everything else on that list they carry no distance limit. An awning or canopy may project three feet, non-enclosed steps or stairs six feet, an overhanging roof or eave on a building over thirty-five feet may project three feet, and an open fire escape six feet. A deck may not come closer than seven and a half feet to a side or rear property line, and in the R-1 and R-2 districts has to meet the principal building setback. The fence has none of that, so it may run to the boundary. Where a commercial property adjoins a residential development, permanent garbage disposal equipment has to sit at least twenty feet from the commercial property line, which is the one distance in the section written about a neighbor rather than about a yard.
Fences, walls, and landscaping.
The answer turns on which structure is being placed in the setback.
- a fence or wall
- May encroach into any minimum yard setback.
- an awning
- Three feet. 3 ft
- a deck
- Seven and a half feet off the side or rear line. 90 in
- orientation and cost
- Neither is addressed.
Also on fences on the property line in Johnson City
- 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 Johnson City?
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Johnson City answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the fence is required to screen.
The Johnson City zoning code never states a maximum height for an ordinary fence. Every height it gives belongs to a fence the code is requiring rather than permitting. A dumpster visible from a street right-of-way or residential property has to be screened on three sides by a seven foot masonry wall or wood fence. Mechanical equipment larger than five feet by five feet by four feet high has to be screened by a wall or fence that exceeds the height of the equipment by at least six inches, and the maximum height of such a required fence or wall is seven feet. A buffer yard option is a six foot wood fence or masonry wall with six evergreen trees. An off-premises parking lot facing a local street needs an eight foot opaque wooden fence or masonry wall, and an outdoor dining area in the West Walnut Street district needs an eight foot masonry wall or wood fence at the rear. An animal confinement in the agricultural district needs at least six feet.
Said fence or wall shall exceed the height of the mechanical equipment by a minimum of six inches. The maximum height of a required fence or wall shall be seven feet.
The answer turns on what the fence is required to screen.
- an ordinary house fence
- No height stated anywhere.
- a dumpster screen
- Seven feet of masonry or wood. 7 ft
- mechanical equipment
- Six inches above the equipment, capped at seven feet. 6 in
- an off-premises parking lot
- Eight feet, opaque. 8 ft
Also on fence height in Johnson City
- 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 Johnson City?
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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 Johnson City 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 Johnson City
- no rule, documents checkedNothing in the Johnson City zoning code requires a permit for a fence. The setback exceptions section lists a fence among the things allowed to encroach and attaches no application, fee or review. The vision clearance section states a prohibition and no approval route. The screening rules require a fence in named circumstances and are checked when a site plan is reviewed rather than when a fence goes up. There is no fence permit, no administrative approval, no variance route written for a fence, and no delegation to a building department of the kind Chattanooga and Franklin both use. The one approval named anywhere near a fence belongs to the City Forester, who may approve shrubs other than those on the Screening and Buffer List, and to the City Forrester named in the planned arterial business district rules for trees planted beside a required fence. 4.10Johnson City · Zoning code
Pool fence requirements in Johnson City
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Johnson City 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 Johnson City 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 Johnson City
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Johnson City 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 Johnson City 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 Johnson City
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Johnson City 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 Johnson City law. All Tennessee findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Rule 0780-02-02-.01Tennessee Secretary of State
Also on how height is measured in Johnson City
- no rule, documents checkedThe vision clearance section is precise about measurement, requiring every distance to be taken horizontally from the point where the two street right-of-way lines meet, and supplying a rule for rounded corners where that point has to be assumed. No comparable sentence exists for fence height. Because the code sets no maximum height for an ordinary fence there is nothing for a datum to attach to, and the heights it does state for required screening are given without one, so a seven foot dumpster screen on sloping ground has no stated starting point. Nothing addresses a berm, a fence on a retaining wall, or ground raised before the posts go in, and no allowance is given for a post cap. The one height in the code tied to something physical is the mechanical equipment screen, which has to exceed the height of the equipment by at least six inches. 4.11Johnson City · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Johnson City
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Johnson City answers this, but the answer changes depending on the class of the two streets and whether they are on the same grade.
Johnson City protects a band from three feet all the way to fifteen feet, which is the tallest ceiling in this set and is written for trucks as much as cars. No fence, wall, shrubbery or other obstruction to vision in that band is permitted inside a sight distance triangle at the intersection of street right-of-way lines, or of a street and a railroad, in every district except the Central Business District. The triangle comes in three sizes. Two minor streets crossing give twenty feet along each right-of-way line. A minor street meeting an arterial or collector gives twelve feet by forty feet, with the forty measured along the arterial or collector. Two arterials or collectors crossing give dual twelve by forty triangles. Where the two streets or the street and railroad are not on the same grade, at an overpass or underpass, no triangle is required at all, and where a corner is rounded the measurement runs from where the lines would have met.
In the case of minor intersecting streets, two of these points shall be located on each street’s right-of-way line a distance of 20 feet from the point of intersection of the two street rights-of-way. In the case of a minor street intersection with an arterial or collector street, the required sight distance triangle shall measure 12 feet by 40 feet along the street rights-of-way similar to the above method, with the 40-foot measurement being taken along the arterial or collector street.
The answer turns on the class of the two streets and whether they are on the same grade.
- two minor streets
- Twenty feet along each line. 20 ft
- a minor street meeting an arterial
- Twelve by forty feet. 40 ft
- the protected band
- Three feet to fifteen feet. 15 ft
- an overpass or underpass
- No triangle required.
Also on corner visibility in Johnson City
- set in state lawTennessee 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. Tenn. Comp. R. and Regs. 1680-10-01-.03, Manual section 5.2Tennessee · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Johnson City
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Johnson City 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 Johnson City 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 Johnson City
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Johnson City answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is required by the code and which district it is in.
Johnson City names no material for an ordinary fence and names only two wherever it requires one. A dumpster screen is a masonry wall or a wood fence. A mechanical equipment screen is a masonry wall or a wood fence, or a row of evergreen shrubs from the published Screening and Buffer List. A public utility facility over four feet high is screened the same way. A parking area visual screen is a masonry wall, a wood fence, or a landscaped strip at least four feet wide capable of creating an opaque screen. Chain link, vinyl and metal panel never appear. In the mixed use districts a different standard applies to any fence: walls and fences have to be constructed of exterior building materials similar to the principal building, which ties the fence to the architecture rather than to a list. All required screening has to be maintained by the property owner.
If visible from any street right-of-way or residentially zoned property, screening shall be required on three sides by either a seven-foot masonry wall or wood fence.
The answer turns on whether the fence is required by the code and which district it is in.
- a required screen
- Masonry or wood, or listed evergreens.
- a mixed use district
- Materials similar to the principal building.
- an ordinary house fence
- No material named.
- maintenance
- On the property owner.
Also on materials in Johnson City
- 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 Johnson City
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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 Johnson City 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
8 documents, of which 3 were published by Johnson City 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 Johnson CityJohnson City Zoning Code, Article IV, Application of Regulations, Section 4.10, Exceptions on Setbacks
- 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 Johnson CityJohnson City Zoning Code, Article XII, Landscape Regulations, Section 12.5, Protective Screening
- Tennessee Secretary of StateRules of the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Division of Fire Prevention, Chapter 0780-02-02, Codes and Standards
- City of Johnson CityJohnson City Zoning Code, Article IV, Application of Regulations, Section 4.11, Vision Clearance
- 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 Johnson City 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