Fence laws in Smyrna, Tennessee
What the Smyrna municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Smyrna sets no rule of its own, the Tennessee rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Smyrna, Tennessee, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Fences and decorative fences in Smyrna are allowed to be located along property lines in the side and rear yards, so a fence may sit on the boundary behind the front of the lot, and the answer turns on the yard, the frontage and whether the fence is decorative. The figure is 0 feet, for setback at a side or rear property line.
- How tall
- The Smyrna fence section is about position and never states a height, and the answer turns on where the fence stands and what it screens. The figure is 36 inches, for fence within twenty-five feet of a right-of-way.
- Permits
- Tennessee has no fence permit rule of its own.
- Pool barriers
- Smyrna sets no statewide pool barrier rule. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Spite fences
- Smyrna has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Smyrna 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
- On a corner lot in any Smyrna district except the Central Business District, the protected area is formed by the center lines of the intersecting streets or railroads and a line joining points seventy-five feet from where they cross, and inside it nothing may obstruct vision between three and a half feet and ten feet above the average grade of each street or railroad at its center line, and the answer turns on the district and the height of the obstruction. The figure is 75 feet, for leg of the corner triangle.
- Retaining walls
- Smyrna 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
- Smyrna bans chain link, barbed wire, razor wire and similar fencing within twenty-five feet of a public right-of-way in the districts carrying design standards, which is a rule about the strip a passer-by sees rather than about the district as a whole, and the answer turns on how close the fence stands to a public right-of-way. The figure is 25 feet, for strip in which those materials are prohibited.
- Livestock
- Tennessee counts more than wood and wire as a farm fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Smyrna?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Smyrna answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, the frontage and whether the fence is decorative.
Fences and decorative fences in Smyrna are allowed to be located along property lines in the side and rear yards, so a fence may sit on the boundary behind the front of the lot. No encroachment on the front setback is allowed for an ordinary fence, and on a lot with more than one road frontage that means the setback on which the principal structure faces. On a frontage the structure does not face, a fence may encroach on the front setback provided the intersection visibility rule is satisfied. A decorative fence, which the ordinance defines separately as a designed open or solid fence or wall not erected to enclose, screen or separate areas, may encroach on a front yard setback. Neither kind may encroach on a public right-of-way. And neither may encroach on a public utility or drainage easement without the prior written approval of the Director of Utilities or the Town Engineer, whichever applies.
Fences and decorative fences are allowed to be located along property lines in the side and rear yards.
The answer turns on the yard, the frontage and whether the fence is decorative.
- a side or rear line
- On the line. 0 ft
- a front setback
- No ordinary fence.
- a decorative fence
- May come into the front setback.
- a utility or drainage easement
- Prior written approval.
Also on fences on the property line in Smyrna
- 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 Smyrna?
Compare fence height across all 50 states
Smyrna answers this, but the answer changes depending on where the fence stands and what it screens.
The Smyrna fence section is about position and never states a height. Every fence height in the ordinance belongs somewhere else. In the districts with design standards, fencing or walls within twenty-five feet of a public right-of-way may be no more than thirty-six inches high, and a low wall in that strip has to be between twenty-four and thirty-six inches. A required buffer strip may carry a six foot fence where the Planning Commission finds one necessary, and an opaque barrier of six feet may be required inside the strip. In a commercial or industrial district a sight-obscuring fence of at least eight feet and at least seventy-five percent opaque may be substituted for screening trees or shrubs. Salvage and wrecking storage has to sit inside an opaque fence, screen or wall between eight and twelve feet. A service door facing a residential district needs a solid wall or opaque fence of six to ten feet.
Fencing or walls within 25 feet of a public right-of-way shall be no more than 36 inches in height.
Design standards, Fencing and walls
The answer turns on where the fence stands and what it screens.
- an ordinary house lot
- No height stated.
- within twenty-five feet of a right-of-way
- Thirty-six inches. 36 in
- a commercial screening fence
- Eight feet, three quarters opaque. 8 ft
- a salvage yard
- Eight to twelve feet, opaque. 12 ft
Also on fence height in Smyrna
- 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 Smyrna?
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 Smyrna 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 Smyrna
- no rule, documents checkedThe Smyrna fence section requires no permit. It sets out four limitations on where a fence may go and names no application, fee, review or inspection. What it does name is two officials with a veto over one situation: a fence may not encroach on a public utility or drainage easement without the prior written approval of the Director of Utilities or the Town Engineer, whichever is applicable. Elsewhere in the ordinance the Planning Commission decides whether a buffer strip needs a six foot fence and what material is acceptable, and the Board of Zoning Appeals approves the screening around a storage area for wrecked or junked cars. So the decisions that exist are attached to a development approval or to an easement rather than to the fence itself, and a homeowner putting a fence along a side line has no stated step to take before building it. 3.180Smyrna · Zoning code
Pool fence requirements in Smyrna
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Smyrna 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 Smyrna 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 Smyrna
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
Smyrna 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 Smyrna 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 Smyrna
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Smyrna 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 Smyrna law. All Tennessee findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Rule 0780-02-02-.01Tennessee Secretary of State
Also on how height is measured in Smyrna
- no rule, documents checkedThe intersection rule is precise about its datum, measuring the protected band from the average grade of each street or railroad at its center line, so on a lot that sits above the road less is caught and on one that sits below it more is. Nothing comparable exists for a fence. Because the fence section states no height there is nothing for a measuring rule to attach to, and the heights that appear in the design standards and the screening rules are given without a datum, so a thirty-six inch fence in the twenty-five foot strip beside a street has no stated starting point on sloping ground. A berm, a fence on a retaining wall and ground raised before the posts go in are all unaddressed, and no allowance is given for a post cap. The section does exempt a necessary retaining wall from the intersection rule, which is the only place a wall and a sight line are reconciled. 3.180Smyrna · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Smyrna
Compare corner visibility across all 50 states
Smyrna answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district and the height of the obstruction.
On a corner lot in any Smyrna district except the Central Business District, the protected area is formed by the center lines of the intersecting streets or railroads and a line joining points seventy-five feet from where they cross, and inside it nothing may obstruct vision between three and a half feet and ten feet above the average grade of each street or railroad at its center line. Three things are worth noting. Seventy-five feet along the center lines is a large triangle, second only to Clarksville in this set. Railroads are named alongside streets, which matters in a town built around a rail line and an airfield. And the rule protects a band with a ceiling as well as a floor, so a tree trunk clear beneath ten feet is not caught while a solid fence is. A necessary retaining wall is expressly not prohibited by the section.
there shall be no obstruction to vision between the height of three and one-half (3 1/2) feet and a height of ten (10) feet above the average grade of each street and/or railroad at the center line thereof.
The answer turns on the district and the height of the obstruction.
- the triangle
- Seventy-five feet along each center line. 75 ft
- the protected band
- Three and a half feet to ten. 10 ft
- a railroad crossing
- Treated like a street.
- the Central Business District
- Exempt.
Also on corner visibility in Smyrna
- 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 Smyrna
Compare retaining walls across all 50 states
Smyrna 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 Smyrna 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 Smyrna
Compare materials across all 50 states
Smyrna answers this, but the answer changes depending on how close the fence stands to a public right-of-way.
Smyrna bans chain link, barbed wire, razor wire and similar fencing within twenty-five feet of a public right-of-way in the districts carrying design standards, which is a rule about the strip a passer-by sees rather than about the district as a whole. Behind that strip the same materials are not mentioned. Inside it a wall has to be concrete, stone, brick or similar material, or a fence has to use solid masonry pillars with wrought iron or similar material between them, and either has to be between twenty-four and thirty-six inches. Where the ordinance requires screening it names what will do: a solid wall or opaque fence for a service door or an outdoor storage area, an opaque or translucent material resistant to deterioration by natural causes for a buffer barrier, and a fence matching the materials of the building it serves for a refuse enclosure. The general fence section names no material at all.
Chain link fence, barbed wire, razor wire, or similar fencing is prohibited within 25 feet of a public right-of-way.
Design standards, Fencing and walls
The answer turns on how close the fence stands to a public right-of-way.
- within twenty-five feet of a street
- No chain link, barbed wire or razor wire. 25 ft
- a wall in that strip
- Concrete, stone or brick, two to three feet.
- a required screen
- Solid wall or opaque fence.
- the general fence section
- Names no material.
Also on materials in Smyrna
- 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 Smyrna
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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 Smyrna 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
6 documents, of which 1 was published by Smyrna 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
- Town of SmyrnaSmyrna Municipal Zoning Ordinance, Article III, General Provisions, Section 3.180, Fences
- 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
- 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 Smyrna 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