FENCE RULES – FORT THOMAS (CITY), KENTUCKY
OVERVIEW
Residential fences are permitted on private property within City of Fort Thomas, subject to local regulations. For properties located outside City of Fort Thomas municipal limits, Campbell County regulates fences in unincorporated areas.
Local fence rules appear primarily in the Official Unified Development Ordinance of the City of Fort Thomas, especially the zoning-permit section, the residential fence and wall standards in the temporary and accessory structure regulations, and the visibility standards for intersections, curb cuts, pedestrian crossings, and railroad crossings. Additional fence-related requirements appear in the City of Fort Thomas Code of Ordinances, General Services permit materials, pool regulations, right-of-way permit materials, and Design Review Board materials.
This page focuses on typical single-family residential fencing. If the jurisdiction’s adopted materials do not state a specific limit or requirement, this page notes that the code does not specify one.
Compiled From the Official Unified Development Ordinance of the City of Fort Thomas, Ordinance O-10-2024, the City of Fort Thomas Code of Ordinances, General Services Department permit materials and FAQs, Design Review Board Certificate of Appropriateness materials, Fort Thomas Design Guidelines and Procedures, and city right-of-way permit materials as of June 2026.
GOVERNANCE
The City of Fort Thomas regulates land use, zoning, subdivision, accessory structures, fences, walls, and related development activity through the Official Unified Development Ordinance of the City of Fort Thomas.
The General Services Department is the public-facing city department for building and zoning regulations, building permits, zoning violations, and related property questions. The UDO identifies the Zoning Administrator as the official responsible for issuing Zoning Permits, issuing Certificates of Zoning Compliance, interpreting and enforcing the UDO, maintaining zoning records, and addressing zoning complaints involving illegal uses, structures, signs, and fences.
The City Code adopts the Kentucky Building Code and Kentucky Residential Code by reference and designates the appropriate city official as the local enforcement agent. For residential fences, however, the city publishes its own local fence-permit and zoning-permit requirements, so the local permit workflow controls the homeowner-facing process.
The Design Review Board may be involved when a property is located in an applicable design-review, Central Business District historic overlay, Tower Park historic overlay, Midway, Town Center, or other review area where exterior work, walls, fences, landscaping, or site modifications are subject to design review or a Certificate of Appropriateness.
Fort Thomas does not use a single stand-alone fence chapter for all residential fence questions. The operative rules are spread across UDO Section 1.5, UDO Section 5.1, UDO Section 5.0.04, residential district provisions, pool regulations, streets and sidewalks rules, Design Review Board materials, and right-of-way permit materials.
PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS
• Fence Permit: A permit is required for a fence in City of Fort Thomas. The General Services FAQ states that a permit fee must be paid and that the permit can be obtained through the General Services office.
• Zoning Permit: The UDO requires a Zoning Permit before activity occurs on a lot or parcel for listed activities that include fences, driveways, and decks. For single-family detached dwellings, two-family dwellings, and accessory uses, the application is reviewed and approved by the Zoning Administrator.
• Building Permit Application: The city’s building permit application includes Fence as a type of improvement. The site-plan portion asks the applicant to show distances from lot lines and the dimensions of the proposed structure.
• Survey: The General Services FAQ states that the City does not require property owners to have a survey done to install a fence. The UDO separately states that the Zoning Administrator may require a field survey during construction to verify lot lines, building locations, or setback distances.
• Kentucky Residential Code Context: The City Code adopts the Kentucky Building Code and Kentucky Residential Code by reference. The Kentucky Residential Code’s fence-related building-permit exemption does not remove the City of Fort Thomas local fence permit, zoning permit, height, visibility, placement, design-review, pool-barrier, right-of-way, easement, or private-restriction requirements.
• Contractor / Occupational License: The city building permit application asks for a Fort Thomas Occupation License Number for the contractor. The General Services FAQ states that every business operating in Fort Thomas must complete an occupational license application for Fort Thomas and Campbell County.
• Design Review / Certificate of Appropriateness: In applicable review areas, exterior work, site modification, walls, fences, landscaping, and related visible work may require review by the Design Review Board or a Certificate of Appropriateness. Fort Thomas design guidelines for Midway and Town Center include a Walls and Fences section, and the UDO separately regulates the Central Business District Historic Overlay District and Tower Park Historic Overlay District.
• Pool Fences: A fence used as part of a swimming-pool enclosure is reviewed under the city’s pool rules and the applicable pool permit process, not only as an ordinary yard fence.
• Right-of-Way Work: A separate city right-of-way cut permit is published for work involving cutting, excavating, or boring in the city right-of-way. A fence project must not be placed in a public right-of-way or handled in a way that interferes with traffic-control devices or required visibility.
• Floodplain and Stream Conditions: The City Code adopts current FIRMs and a Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance by reference. The code does not publish a separate residential fence-only floodplain approval procedure in the materials reviewed for this page. Mapped floodplain, floodway, stream, grading, drainage, or land-disturbance conditions should be treated as site-specific review issues through the General Services Department or applicable floodplain authority.
FENCE PLACEMENT RULES
• Residential Fence Classification: For residential uses in residential zoning districts, Fort Thomas uses Figure 5.1-1 of the UDO to distinguish Type A and Type B fence locations.
• Type A Location: Type A fences are the fences shown in the front/street-facing fence area in Figure 5.1-1. Type A fences are limited to the classes and height stated in the UDO’s residential fence figure.
• Type B Location: Type B fences may not be constructed any nearer to any street than the required front-yard setback for that zoning district. In practical zoning terms, Type B fences are the taller fences placed behind the required front-yard setback line.
• Required Setbacks: The UDO allows fences and walls in required setbacks only when they comply with Section 5.1 temporary and accessory use/structure regulations. Standard residential fences are therefore not governed only by the principal-building setback table; they must be checked against the UDO’s specific fence and wall figure.
• Property Lines: The ordinance does not state a setback requirement for standard residential fences from property lines; however, fences must be located entirely on the owner’s property and must not encroach into rights-of-way or easements.
• Residential Cluster Development Overlay: In the Residential Cluster Development Overlay District, the location, height, and type of fences, walls, and signs are as approved on the Development Plan that accompanies the rezoning to the RCD-O district, or as otherwise required by applicable UDO sections.
• Retaining Walls: A combination fence and retaining wall may be erected. The retaining-wall portion may extend up to the higher finished grade, and the fence portion must comply with the class and height allowed for the applicable zoning district. Where the grade difference requires guards under the Kentucky Building Code, the fence or guard must meet both the UDO and KBC minimum standards.
• Pool Location Relationship: Private swimming pools are permitted only to the side or rear of the principal dwelling, must be at least 60 feet from the front lot line, must meet side setback requirements, and may encroach up to 10 feet into the required rear setback. A pool fence or wall must also satisfy the pool-barrier rules when required.
• Right-of-Way and Traffic Devices: No sign, structure, tree, planting, vegetation, fence, or other obstruction may protrude over or into a street, road, or highway in a way that interferes with traffic-control devices.
• Utility Safety: Kentucky law requires notice through Kentucky 811 before excavation where Kentucky’s underground utility damage-prevention law applies. For fence projects that involve digging, including fence post holes, notice must be given not less than two full working days and not more than 10 full working days before excavation begins, unless a different future start date is allowed by law. Kentucky locate requests are valid for 21 calendar days from the initial request. Kentucky law also includes exemptions, including certain agricultural tilling and certain nonmechanized excavation on private property where no operator right-of-way or easement is encroached.
FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES
• Residential Front / Street-Facing Area: In residential zoning districts, Type A fences may use Class 1 or Class 2 fences and walls and may be built up to a maximum height of 3 feet.
• Residential Fence Behind Required Front Setback: In residential zoning districts, Type B fences using Class 1, Class 2, Class 3, Class 4, Class 6, or Class 7 may be built up to a maximum height of 6 feet, provided the fence is not constructed nearer to any street than the required front-yard setback for that zoning district.
• Residential Chain-Link Class: In residential zoning districts, Type B Class 5 fences may be built up to a maximum height of 4 feet, provided the fence is not constructed nearer to any street than the required front-yard setback for that zoning district.
• Clear Sight Triangle: No fence, wall, hedge, tree, structure, or other obstruction above 3 feet, measured above curb level, may be erected, placed, maintained, or continued within the triangular portion of a corner lot formed by measuring 20 feet from the intersection of the right-of-way lines of two streets, or from the intersection of a street right-of-way line and a railroad right-of-way line, and joining those points with a straight line.
• Intersections, Curb Cuts, Pedestrian Crossings, and Railroad Crossings: No structure, vehicle, tree, planting, vegetation, sign, fence, obstacle, or portion of one may be placed or retained in a way that obstructs visual clearance and creates a potential hazard from inadequate sight distance at intersections, curb cuts, pedestrian crossings, or railroad crossings.
• Private Athletic Fences: In residential districts, private athletic fields, tennis courts, and similar recreation areas may use Class 4 or Class 5 fences up to 12 feet high. The UDO requires these fences to be set back an additional 1 foot from the minimum building setbacks for each additional foot in height above the referenced fence-height standard.
• Pool Enclosure Height: For a private pool 18 inches or more in depth, the pool or property must be surrounded by a fence or wall using allowed classes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7, at least 4 feet high and not more than 6 feet high, unless the pool is excluded because it is more than 350 feet from the nearest lot line or satisfies the elevated/portable pool protection rule.
• No Other Residential Maximum: The code does not specify a separate maximum height for standard residential fences outside the Type A, Type B, clear-sight, athletic-fence, pool-barrier, retaining-wall, and overlay/development-plan contexts described above.
MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS
• Fence Classes: The UDO classifies fences and walls as follows: Class 1 hedges; Class 2 retaining walls; Class 3 other masonry walls; Class 4 ornamental iron, aluminum, and iron fences that are 80% open; Class 5 woven wire / chain link fences that are 80% open; Class 6 wood or other materials that are more than 50% open; Class 7 solid wood or other solid fences that are less than 50% open; Class 8 barbed wire or sharp-pointed fences; and Class 9 earthen or concrete walls intended to contain or redirect flood waters or otherwise serve as a physical barrier.
• Residential Front Materials: In the Type A residential front/street-facing area, the allowed fence and wall classes are Class 1 and Class 2.
• Residential Type B Materials: Behind the required front-yard setback, Type B residential fences may use Class 1, Class 2, Class 3, Class 4, Class 6, or Class 7 up to 6 feet, and Class 5 up to 4 feet.
• Chain Link: Chain link is treated as Class 5 woven wire / chain link. In ordinary residential Type B locations, it is limited to 4 feet in height. In design-review areas, the design guidelines state that chain link should not be used where visible from a public right-of-way.
• Solid Fences: Solid fences of wood or other materials less than 50% open are treated as Class 7 and may be used as Type B residential fences up to 6 feet.
• Masonry Walls: Masonry walls are treated as Class 3. Retaining walls are treated as Class 2. Flood-control or physical-barrier earthen or concrete walls are treated as Class 9 and must conform to requirements of the Corps of Engineers and/or City Engineer, whichever applies.
• Barbed Wire and Sharp-Pointed Fences: City Code prohibits barbed-wire fences, or fences constructed in whole or in part of barbed wire, along or adjacent to any sidewalk in the city. Where barbed wire or sharp-pointed fences are otherwise permitted, the UDO states that they must be at least 6 feet high. The code does not publish a standard residential permission for barbed wire as an ordinary single-family yard fence.
• Fence Height Measurement: Fence and wall heights are measured from the top edge to the bottom edge, except for the separate vision-clearance rule. The bottom edge of a fence or wall must be maintained no more than 3 inches from existing grade at any point.
• Distance Measurement: All fence and wall distance measurements are measured from lot lines.
• Structural Side / Finished Side: Fences must be constructed so that all structural members are located on the inside of the fence. The inside is the side facing the property owned by the person building the fence.
• Design Review Materials: In the Midway and Town Center business districts, the design guidelines call for preserving and maintaining historic fence or wall materials and design. New retaining walls should use materials compatible with the character of the districts, and chain link, split rail, stockade, and concrete block fences should not be used where visible from a public right-of-way.
• Electric Fences: The code does not specify a standard residential electric-fence rule in the official source materials reviewed for this page.
PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS
Private restrictions operate independently from City of Fort Thomas zoning and permit review. Homeowners’ association rules, subdivision covenants, deed restrictions, private easements, architectural-review covenants, shared-boundary agreements, and other private agreements may be more restrictive than the city’s published fence rules.
The UDO states that it does not repeal, abrogate, annul, impair, or interfere with existing deed restrictions, land restrictions, restrictive covenants, easements, or other agreements between parties unless specifically provided. The city’s fence permit or zoning approval does not determine whether a private covenant or HOA rule allows the same fence.
REVIEW AND ENFORCEMENT CONTEXT
Fence issues are typically reviewed during permit or approval review when required, and through complaint-based code enforcement. Examples include:
• Permit Review: The General Services Department and Zoning Administrator review fence permits, zoning permits, site-plan information, lot-line distances, and conformance with the UDO.
• Residential Fence Type and Height: Review may focus on whether the fence is Type A or Type B, whether the allowed class is being used, and whether the height matches the allowed 3-foot, 4-foot, 6-foot, or special-purpose height standard.
• Visibility: Fences, walls, hedges, trees, and other obstructions may be reviewed where they affect the 20-foot clear sight triangle, intersections, curb cuts, pedestrian crossings, or railroad crossings.
• Right-of-Way and Sidewalk Conditions: Fence work may be reviewed where it affects a public right-of-way, sidewalk, street, traffic-control device, or right-of-way cut, excavation, or boring activity.
• Pool Barriers: Pool-related fences are reviewed separately under the city’s pool enclosure rules, including the 4-foot minimum enclosure standard, self-closing/self-latching gate requirement, and pool-location rules.
• Design Review Areas: Fences, walls, visible exterior work, landscaping, or site modifications may require Design Review Board or Certificate of Appropriateness review when the property is in an applicable review district or historic overlay.
• Residential Cluster Development Overlay: In an RCD-O development, fence location, height, and type may be tied to the approved Development Plan.
• Construction Details: Review may include fence height measurement, the 3-inch bottom-edge rule, retaining-wall combinations, and placement of structural members on the inside of the fence.
• Barbed Wire: Barbed-wire fencing along or adjacent to a sidewalk is prohibited by the City Code.
• Floodplain, Drainage, and Grading Conditions: Site-specific floodplain, stream, drainage, grading, or land-disturbance conditions may be reviewed under the applicable UDO, city code, or floodplain materials, but the code does not publish a separate residential fence-only floodplain standard.
USING THIS INFORMATION
This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within City of Fort Thomas, based on publicly available source materials reviewed as of June 2026.
In addition to local fence rules, certain Kentucky laws apply statewide. See Statewide Fence Laws in Kentucky.
It is not legal advice and does not replace official ordinances, permits, surveys, or professional guidance. Rules and interpretations may change, and application may vary based on zoning district, site conditions, easements, rights-of-way, floodplain status, stormwater or drainage requirements, road or highway encroachment, historic district status, rural or agricultural context, livestock or farm-boundary context, pool-barrier use, and private restrictions such as HOA covenants, deed restrictions, private agreements, or agricultural conservation easements. Before purchasing materials or beginning construction, confirm current requirements and any site-specific limitations with General Services Department and any applicable private agreements. If this page conflicts with official ordinances, published guidance, or direction from City of Fort Thomas staff, the official sources control. For legal advice or legal interpretation, consult a licensed attorney.