Fence permit rules in Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor’s fence rules live in Section 5.26 of the city’s Unified Development Code, which is Chapter 55 of the city code. The current printing is the twelfth edition, in force since August 23, 2026, and the fence section was rewritten by Ordinance 24-31 in early 2025. We read it, so the numbers below are the city’s own.

The office is Planning Services, 301 East Huron Street, phone 734-794-6265, email [email protected].

The permit and the fee

A fence of 7 feet or less needs a zoning compliance permit and no building permit. The city’s list of such projects names “Fence (7 feet or less)” directly. Anything taller is not on that list, so ask Planning Services before you order.

The fee is $80. That is the fence permit line on the planning fee schedule that took effect July 1, 2026. The city’s March 2025 guideline sheet still shows $75. You pay when you apply, and applications only go in online through the city’s STREAM system. Paper and emailed forms are no longer accepted.

Height and opacity

Opacity is how solid the fence is, judged head on. The residential table in Section 5.26 reads:

So a 6 foot solid privacy fence is fine along the side and the back. In the front yard you are limited to 4 feet and the fence must be at least half open, so picket, rail or chain link, not solid boards.

The side yard figure is new: until Ordinance 24-31 took effect on February 9, 2025, a side fence could be no more than 80 percent solid.

Corner lots

Where two street lot lines meet, nothing within 25 feet of the corner may stand more than 30 inches above the sidewalk, and it has to be at least half open. The code calls this the street corner triangle, and the rule applies wherever the zoning district has a front setback at all. A 6 foot privacy fence that wraps a corner lot has to stop short of that triangle, and the 4 foot front yard limit runs along both streets.

Where it can go, and how it is measured

• A fence may go anywhere on the lot, including right on the lot line. There is no minimum setback. The whole fence, posts included, has to be on your side of the line.
• The city will not locate your property lines. Look for the pins at the corners, or hire a surveyor.
• Near a shared lot line, height is measured from the highest grade within two feet of either side of the line, so a neighbor’s higher ground does not buy you a taller fence.
• No barbed wire, spikes, nails or electrified fencing, unless another code requires it.

Historic districts and floodplains

If the house is in one of the city’s historic districts, a Historic District Commission application goes in with, or before, the fence permit. The city’s guideline for historic residential property is 3 feet in the front yard and 6 feet in the middle and rear yard, in wood, wrought iron or metal, with chain link only in the rear yard. Plastic and vinyl fencing is listed as not appropriate. A fence in a floodplain needs floodplain review as well, and may need a state permit. The city’s parcel viewer tells you whether either applies to your address.

Ann Arbor Township

Ann Arbor Charter Township is separate from the city and issues its own permit. The township fee schedule adopted December 15, 2025 lists a fence permit at $60, including two inspections. The height rules sit in the township zoning ordinance, Chapter 74, on an online code library we could not read, so we print no number. Township Hall is at 3792 Pontiac Trail, (734) 663-3418, open weekdays 8 to 12 and 1 to 4:30.

Pittsfield Township

South of the city, Pittsfield requires a fence permit from its Department of Community Development. The application, revised September 2025, says:

• Fee: $50 for a residential fence, $150 non-residential, non-refundable, paid with the application.
• A mortgage survey or a sketch showing the fence and its distance from the lot lines.
• Residential limit 6 feet. In the front yard, or along the street side of a corner lot, only a 3 foot ornamental fence.
• A building permit only if the fence is over 7 feet, at a further $50.
• If the fence attaches to a neighbor’s fence or sits within 6 inches of the shared line, the neighbor signs the form.
• A letter from the homeowners association where there is one.

The zoning ordinance behind it, Section 13.06, adds that height near a shared line is measured from the highest grade within two feet, that a retaining wall standing more than 18 inches above the ground it holds counts as a fence, and that sharp points and electric current are out except around farmland.

Community Development, 6201 West Michigan Avenue, (734) 822-3130, [email protected].

What to ask when you call

1. Does my fence need the zoning permit, and what is this year’s fee
2. The maximum height in each yard, and on the street side if the lot is a corner
3. Whether a survey is wanted, or a neighbor’s signature for a fence on the shared line
4. Is the house in a historic district or a floodplain
5. Is there an inspection after it is built

Before anyone digs

Michigan’s one-call law is the MISS DIG act. A dig notice goes in at least 72 hours before digging, counting business hours only, which works out to three business days, and no more than 14 days ahead. It is free. Dial 811 in Michigan or 800-482-7171. A contractor makes the call for his own job.

See your price range

Our Ann Arbor cost page sets out the prices: treated pine privacy from about $28 to $42 a foot installed, cedar $38 to $58, vinyl $35 to $55, chain link from $16. Put your runs into the estimator for your own range, request a quote, and ask the installer whether he pulls the $80 permit or you do.