ZoningVerdict

Fences in Sterling Heights, MI

What the Sterling Heights zoning ordinance says about fences, district by district. Section numbers link to the official ordinance.

All districts

Fence rules live in Chapter 19 of the City Code, not the zoning ordinance. Every fence or privacy screen needs a permit from the Building Department before construction (19-3, 19-4).

On interior lots, a fence, including a fully sight-obscuring one, may run along side and rear lot lines and along the front yard setback line at 3 to 6 feet above grade; fences may not extend into the front yard (19-8.A). On corner lots, a sight-obscuring fence may project up to 10 feet into the street-side front yard, and a non-sight-obscuring fence of 3 to 4 feet may stand in that street-side yard, with special limits where corner rear yards meet an interior side yard (19-8.B).

Barbed wire, spikes, and pointed toppers are prohibited, as are electrified fences (19-9, 19-10). Nothing over 30 inches may stand in the 25 foot corner sight triangle (Section 28.03 of the zoning ordinance). Privacy screens up to 6 feet are allowed in rear yards at least 3 feet off the lot line (19-7). Fence variances go to the Board of Ordinance Appeals, not the Zoning Board of Appeals (19-11).

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