Fence Rules in Atlanta - Washington Park, Georgia

Required: a certificate of appropriateness from the Atlanta Urban Design Commission to erect any new structure in the Washington Park Landmark District. A fence or wall is a structure under Atlanta's code, so a new fence needs one. The certificate is required in addition to any other permit required by city ordinance. A certificate is also required to change the exterior appearance of any structure in the district, so altering an existing fence needs one too. Certificate type: the code sets four types and does not say which one a fence falls under. Ask the commission which type your project needs before you apply. Repairs: ordinary repair and maintenance in a landmark district takes a type I certificate, which the commission's director may approve. Repair using the same material and design as the original is ordinary repair. Where the historic preservation regulations are at variance with any other adopted code, the most restrictive, or the one imposing the higher standard, governs.

R-1 to R-5: 4 ft max. R-G: 4 ft max. All other districts: 9 ft max. Corner lots: the side street yard counts as a front yard.

R-1 to R-5: 6 ft max. R-G: 8 ft max. All other districts: 9 ft max. Within 20 ft of a street intersection: 2.5 ft max.

The Washington Park chapter sets no fence or wall height of its own, so Atlanta's citywide limits govern and they depend on your zoning district. How height is measured: the vertical distance from the finished ground level, or from the top of a retaining wall, to the highest point of the fence. Fence on a retaining wall: where the retaining wall extends above the grade level of the surface it retains, that additional height is included in the allowed height of the fence placed on it. R-1 to R-5: the 4 ft and 6 ft figures are the limits where no retaining wall is built, and a fence at the top of a permitted retaining wall is capped at the same 4 ft in front and 6 ft in the side and rear yards. Corner lots: where a lot adjoins a street other than in its frontage, a yard at least half the width of the required front yard must be provided along that street, and it carries the same limits as a front yard. In R-1 to R-5 that puts the 4 ft front yard limit along the side street, not the 6 ft side yard limit. Near a street intersection: in any dwelling district, and notwithstanding the district limits, no fence or wall over 2.5 ft may be erected or maintained within 20 ft of any street intersection, measured from the grade at the intersecting street right-of-way lines. Greater height: the board of zoning adjustment may grant a special exception in any district for greater height. Where the historic preservation regulations are at variance with any other adopted code, the most restrictive, or the one imposing the higher standard, governs.

Side street yard: the yard along the side street is a half-depth front yard, so the 4 ft front yard limit governs there in R-1 to R-5, not the 6 ft side limit. Near a street intersection: in any dwelling district no fence or wall over 2.5 ft within 20 ft of any street intersection. That 2.5 ft cap is measured from the grade at the intersecting street right-of-way lines, and it applies notwithstanding the district height limits. Visibility triangle: nothing may be erected, placed, planted or allowed to grow so as to materially impede visibility between 2.5 ft and 8 ft above the grade of the adjoining sidewalk or right-of-way, inside the triangle bounded by the first 20 ft along the intersecting edges of the right-of-way and a line connecting the ends of those lines. Driveways: a visibility triangle is also required where a driveway meets a street, measured 20 ft along the intersecting edges.

The Washington Park chapter names no approved fence material. Material enters the review through the further standards that apply to a type II or type III certificate of appropriateness. One of those standards is that contemporary design for alterations and additions is not to be discouraged where it does not destroy significant historical, architectural or cultural material and is compatible with the size, scale, color, material and character of the property, the neighborhood or the environment. Fence or wall: Atlanta's code counts a barrier at least 50 percent open as a fence, and one 50 percent or more closed as a wall. The citywide front yard provision for R-1 to R-5 is written for fences, while the side and rear provision covers fences or walls.

Barbed wire and razor wire: in no district shall any part of any fence contain barbed wire or razor wire along the public right-of-way, or along any private drive that services pedestrians. The Washington Park chapter prohibits no fence material by name.

You are in the Washington Park Landmark District. These rules apply on top of Atlanta's citywide code.

Fences and walls may be permitted in any yard, subject to the height and sight distance requirements established by these or other regulations. The Washington Park chapter sets no fence setback of its own.

Certificate of appropriateness: required for all proposals for renovation or addition to existing buildings or new construction in the district, and to change the exterior appearance of any structure there. Minimum standards: the chapter's regulations are minimum standards which must be followed, and the Atlanta Urban Design Commission applies them. Review guidance: in deciding any certificate application the commission is guided by the purposes of the historic preservation chapter, by findings in the ordinances designating buildings and sites for protection, and by the purposes and objectives contained in the district's own regulations. Type II and type III certificates: eight further standards apply to these two types. Among them, contemporary design for alterations and additions is not to be discouraged where it does not destroy significant historical, architectural or cultural material and is compatible with the size, scale, color, material and character of the property, the neighborhood or the environment. Design review: major site renovation, major alteration, or existing planting is subject to design review by the commission. The code joins those three by or and leaves the phrasing unclear, so the commission decides what falls inside it. Trees and shrubs: a certificate of appropriateness is also required for any alteration to existing sidewalks, removal of any tree 4 inches or greater in caliper, or removal of shrub massings or hedges over 3 ft in height. Tree replacement: any tree 4 inches or greater in caliper, measured 4 ft above the ground and outside the building side, that is cleared for any reason must be replaced with a tree of at least 1.5 inches caliper. Clearing a fence line can trigger this. Broad variance: if the commission determines an application is at broad variance with the intent of these regulations, it must institute public notification and public hearing procedures.

The Washington Park chapter sets no gate rule, and Atlanta's citywide fence provisions set none. A gate in a fence line is part of the structure you are erecting, so the citywide height limits above and the certificate of appropriateness reach it.

The Washington Park chapter sets no floodplain rule for fences, and Atlanta's citywide fence provisions set none. Flood area work is governed instead by the flood area regulations in the environment chapter of the general Code of Ordinances, which sit outside the zoning code.

The Washington Park chapter sets no color rule for fences. Color enters the review through the further standards that apply to a type II or type III certificate of appropriateness. One standard asks that contemporary design be compatible with the size, scale, color, material and character of the property, the neighborhood or the environment. Another asks that material replacing a deteriorated architectural feature reflect the material being replaced in composition, design, color, texture and other visual qualities.

Washington Park is governed by Chapter 16-20D of Atlanta's zoning code. The chapter runs to two sections and sets no fence height, no fence material and no fence setback of its own, so Atlanta's citywide fence rules supply every number on this page. What the district adds is review. All proposals for new construction in the district require a certificate of appropriateness from the Atlanta Urban Design Commission, and a fence is a structure, so a new fence needs one before the work starts. The chapter's only sentence about fences binds city personnel changing the physical appearance or functional character of the landscape, walks, walls and fences, planting or buildings of Washington Park itself. It sets no height and no material for a private fence. Where the historic preservation regulations are at variance with any other adopted code, the most restrictive, or the one imposing the higher standard, governs. Clearing a fence line can trigger the chapter's tree removal and tree replacement rules. The code does not say which of the four certificate types a residential fence falls under, so ask the commission before you design the fence.