FENCE RULES – HATTIESBURG (CITY), MISSISSIPPI
OVERVIEW
Residential fences are permitted on private property within City of Hattiesburg, subject to local regulations. For properties located outside City of Hattiesburg municipal limits, unincorporated areas are regulated by the applicable county, including Forrest County and Lamar County where applicable.
Fence rules for the City of Hattiesburg appear primarily in the Land Development Code updated March 17, 2026, the Hattiesburg Form-Based Code for mapped properties, the City Code of Ordinances technical-code, historic-preservation, and floodplain provisions, and the Historic Hattiesburg Design Guidelines Manual. The City does not publish a single standalone residential fence chapter.
This page focuses on typical single-family residential fencing. If the jurisdiction’s adopted code or ordinance materials do not state a specific limit or requirement, this page notes that the code does not specify one. If no local code or ordinance is available in the approved source packet, this page notes that the jurisdiction does not publish the relevant standard in the referenced published materials.
Compiled From the City of Hattiesburg Land Development Code, updated March 17, 2026; the Hattiesburg Form-Based Code, revised February 7, 2023; the City of Hattiesburg Code of Ordinances, Supplement No. 3, May 2026; the Certificate of Appropriateness application; the Historic Hattiesburg Design Guidelines Manual; City drainage, stormwater, and floodplain materials; the supplied 2018 International Building Code Section 105.2; and Mississippi 811 materials as of July 2026.
GOVERNANCE
The City of Hattiesburg Department of Urban Development administers the Land Development Code through the Director of Urban Development. The Planning Division administers zoning and development review, while the Building Division administers locally adopted technical codes and construction permits.
The City locally adopts and administers the 2018 International Residential Code, the 2018 International Building Code, the 2018 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, and related technical codes under City Code Section 10-44. The referenced published materials do not separately state whether this current local administration reflects continued participation in, or a prior statutory opt-out from, Mississippi’s State Uniform Construction Code framework.
The Hattiesburg Form-Based Code applies to property shown on its adopted zoning maps and amends the Land Development Code for those mapped areas. It includes residential attached and residential detached districts, and conflicts are resolved in favor of the Form-Based Code’s intent. The Hattiesburg Form-Based Code Development Review Committee administers approvals assigned to that code.
The Hattiesburg Historic Conservation Commission reviews exterior changes affecting locally designated historic properties, including fence work. The Floodplain Administrator administers Chapter 22 floodplain development requirements, and the City Engineer administers the easement, right-of-way, drainage, and engineering provisions assigned to that office.
PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS
• Building-Code Permit Context: The City administers the 2018 International Residential Code and the 2018 International Building Code. The supplied 2018 International Building Code Section 105.2 includes a building-permit exemption for fences not over 7 feet high. City of Hattiesburg does not publish a separate local fence permit requirement for standard residential fences. The exemption does not establish the City’s maximum permitted fence height and must not be inverted into an affirmative permit requirement above 7 feet without separate City guidance.
• Zoning Compliance: The Land Development Code provides for a Certificate of Zoning Compliance to authorize uses, activities, or changes regulated by the code, but the referenced published materials do not explicitly state that a standard residential fence requires a separate certificate. Building-code permit exemptions and local construction-code administration remain separate from zoning, height, setback, sight-triangle, floodplain, drainage, historic, right-of-way, easement, utility, and plat requirements.
• Historic-District Approval: A Certificate of Appropriateness is required to add or change a fence on a property within a locally designated historic district or affecting a designated historic resource. The Certificate of Appropriateness application expressly lists fences among regulated site changes, and historic review remains required even when no other City permit is required.
• Floodplain Development Permit: Within identified Special Flood Hazard Areas and Community Flood Hazard Areas, Chapter 22 requires a development permit before fence work that constitutes development, including construction of a structure, grading, excavation, or drilling. The ordinance also defines a fence in or along a watercourse as a possible obstruction when it may alter flow or collect debris.
• Form-Based Code Context: Properties shown on the Form-Based Code zoning maps follow its separate fence and wall standards. The code does not publish a standalone fence permit, but it assigns approval of alternative fence materials and other specified design matters to the Hattiesburg Form-Based Code Development Review Committee.
• Pool-Barrier Context: The City adopts the 2018 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code. A fence used as a swimming-pool or spa barrier must satisfy that adopted pool code in addition to the City’s zoning, placement, historic, floodplain, easement, and right-of-way requirements.
FENCE PLACEMENT RULES
• Property Lines: The Land Development Code does not state a separate setback for standard residential fences from property lines. Within Form-Based Code districts, fences and walls may be placed up to the property line, and fence posts or supporting rails must face inward toward the property being fenced.
• Easements and Rights-of-Way: Under the Land Development Code, fencing placed within an easement or right-of-way is installed at the property owner’s risk. If the City removes the fencing for access, maintenance, or another reason, the owner is not compensated and the City does not replace it. Within Form-Based Code districts, no fence or wall may be located in a required drainage or utility easement.
• Street-Intersection Sight Triangles: A 30-foot by 30-foot sight triangle must be maintained at street intersections. No fence, wall, planting, building, or other structure may obstruct visibility between 2.5 feet and 10 feet above the nearest curb or pavement within the required triangle.
• Driveway Sight Triangles: A 15-foot by 15-foot sight triangle must be maintained where a driveway intersects a street. Where the driveway crosses a sidewalk, the sidewalk edge farthest from the street is used in place of the street curb or pavement for that side of the triangle.
• Railroad Sight Triangles: A 10-foot by 40-foot sight triangle must be maintained where a street intersects a rail line, subject to the same protected visibility space between 2.5 feet and 10 feet.
• Floodways: In a designated regulatory floodway, encroachments, including structures and other development, are prohibited unless a registered professional engineer certifies with supporting technical data that the encroachment will cause no increase in flood levels during the base flood discharge.
• Streams Without Established Base-Flood Elevations or Floodways: In a covered special flood hazard area, no encroachment may be located within a distance from the stream bank equal to five times the stream width at the top of the bank or 20 feet from the top of the bank on each side, whichever is greater, unless a registered professional engineer certifies that the encroachment will not increase flood levels during the base flood discharge.
• Drainage and Watercourses: City drainage guidance directs that solid fences near drainage ditches must not prohibit water flow. A City permit is required before constructing a structure over a creek or tributary. Chapter 22 also treats a fence as an obstruction when its location in or along a watercourse may alter flow, retard water, or collect debris.
• Utility Safety: Mississippi law requires notice through Mississippi 811 before excavation where the Mississippi Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act applies. For fence projects that involve digging, including digging, drilling, augering, boring, grading, or other movement of earth, notice generally must be given at least three full working days before excavation begins. Mississippi 811 is a notification center and does not mark lines itself; member utilities or their locators mark covered facilities, and the excavator must check the positive-response status before beginning work where required. This statewide utility-notice framework is separate from local fence permitting, zoning, development approval, easement limits, right-of-way approvals, floodplain review, stormwater review, drainage review, historic or design review, HOA restrictions, and other applicable requirements.
FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES
• Front-Yard Height: Under the Land Development Code, the maximum height of a fence or wall in a front yard is 4 feet above grade.
• Side- and Rear-Yard Height: Outside the front yard, the Land Development Code allows a maximum fence or wall height of 8 feet.
• Form-Based Code Street Setbacks: On a mapped Form-Based Code property, a fence or wall in a primary or side street setback may not exceed 6 feet. Any portion above 4 feet must be more than 50% opaque.
• Form-Based Code Side and Rear Setbacks: On a mapped Form-Based Code property, a fence or wall in a side or rear setback may not exceed 8 feet.
• Building-Code Exemption Threshold: The 7-foot building-code permit-exemption threshold is not a zoning maximum. It does not replace the City’s 4-foot front-yard, 8-foot side- and rear-yard, or Form-Based Code height standards, and it is not an affirmative permit trigger above 7 feet without separate City guidance.
• Visibility: Within the required street, driveway, and railroad sight triangles, fences and walls may not obstruct the protected vertical space between 2.5 feet and 10 feet above the nearest curb or pavement.
• Historic-District Context: The historic design guidelines reinforce the front-yard height framework, identify low ornamental wood or iron and picket designs as characteristic front-yard treatments, and state that solid front-yard fences taller than 4 feet are not permitted. Historic compatibility is applied through Certificate of Appropriateness review rather than as a separate citywide height rule.
MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS
• Compatible Design and Materials: The Land Development Code requires fences and walls within a development to use compatible design and materials.
• Finished Side: Fences and walls must be constructed with the finished portion facing toward the exterior of the property. In Form-Based Code districts, posts and supporting rails must face inward.
• Sharp and Hazardous Materials: In the residential districts governed by the Land Development Code matrix, fences or walls topped with or containing metal spikes, broken glass, razor wire, or similar material are prohibited.
• Front-Setback Chain Link and Wire: Uncoated chain-link and other wire-material fences are not permitted in a front setback except for athletic or play surfaces.
• R-3 Chain Link: In the R-3 district, chain-link fencing must be green or black vinyl-coated. The Land Development Code matrix does not apply that coating standard to the R-1A, R-1B, R-1C, or R-2 districts.
• Form-Based Code Materials: Outside required buffer strips, Form-Based Code fences must use high-quality materials such as wood, composite fencing, wrought iron, or another material approved by the Hattiesburg Form-Based Code Development Review Committee. Barbed wire and concertina wire are not allowed, and chain-link fencing is not allowed in a primary or side street setback.
• Historic-District Design: The historic design guidelines call for fence styles and materials compatible with the house’s architectural style and era. They identify chain link, stockade, basket-weave, split-rail, and board-on-board fences as not compatible with historic houses, while recognizing ornamental wood or iron and picket fences in front yards and several privacy-fence forms in rear yards. These guidelines are applied through historic design review.
• Pool Barriers: A fence used as a private swimming-pool or spa barrier must satisfy the adopted 2018 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code in addition to the local fence standards stated above.
PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS
Private restrictions operate independently from City of Hattiesburg zoning, construction-code, historic-review, floodplain, drainage, and right-of-way requirements. HOA covenants, subdivision restrictions, deed restrictions, private easements, architectural-review covenants, boundary agreements, recorded agreements, conservation easements, and similar private rules may be more restrictive than City standards.
A private restriction may impose a lower height, different material, additional setback, architectural approval, or other limitation even when a fence complies with the Land Development Code or Form-Based Code. The City does not enforce private restrictions unless an official City source expressly makes a private condition part of public review.
REVIEW AND ENFORCEMENT CONTEXT
Fence issues are typically reviewed during permit or approval review when required, and through complaint-based code enforcement. Examples include:
• Height and Yard Location: Whether a fence exceeds the Land Development Code’s 4-foot front-yard limit, the 8-foot limit elsewhere, or the separate Form-Based Code standards for primary, side street, side, and rear setbacks.
• Building-Code Context: Local administration of the 2018 International Residential Code and 2018 International Building Code, together with the supplied code text exempting fences not over 7 feet from building permits, without treating that exemption as a zoning height allowance or an affirmative permit trigger above 7 feet.
• Visibility: Whether a fence obstructs the protected space between 2.5 feet and 10 feet within a required 30-foot by 30-foot street, 15-foot by 15-foot driveway, or 10-foot by 40-foot railroad sight triangle.
• Materials and Orientation: Whether the finished side faces outward, prohibited sharp materials are used, uncoated chain link or wire is placed in a front setback, or an R-3 chain-link fence lacks the required green or black vinyl coating.
• Form-Based Code Review: Whether a mapped property follows the Form-Based Code’s property-line placement, easement, height, opacity, material, chain-link, and barbed- or concertina-wire standards.
• Historic Review: Whether the property is within a locally designated historic district or affects a historic resource and therefore requires a Certificate of Appropriateness for the fence or wall.
• Floodplain, Watercourse, and Drainage Review: Whether the fence constitutes regulated development in a flood-hazard area, creates a watercourse obstruction, enters a floodway or protected stream area, or blocks drainage flow.
• Easement and Right-of-Way Conditions: Whether the fence occupies an easement or right-of-way at the owner’s risk, prevents utility or maintenance access, or conflicts with a required drainage or utility easement in a Form-Based Code district.
• Pool-Barrier Use: Whether the fence serves as a swimming-pool or spa barrier under the adopted 2018 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code.
• Utility Safety: Whether the project involves digging, drilling, augering, boring, grading, or other excavation requiring Mississippi 811 notice and positive-response review.
USING THIS INFORMATION
This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within City of Hattiesburg, based on the referenced published materials as of July 2026.
In addition to local fence rules, certain Mississippi laws apply statewide. See Statewide fence laws in Mississippi.
It is not legal advice and does not replace official ordinances, permits, zoning approvals, zoning certifications, development approvals, locally adopted building codes, 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 requirements, drainage conditions, historic district status, design-review status, rural or agricultural context, livestock or party-fence context, local building-code administration, adopted-code status, opt-out status, pool-barrier use, Mississippi 811 utility-safety requirements, coastal wetlands conditions, and private restrictions such as HOA covenants, deed restrictions, private agreements, or conservation easements. Before purchasing materials or beginning construction, confirm current requirements and any site-specific limitations with the City of Hattiesburg Department of Urban Development and any applicable private agreements. If this page conflicts with official ordinances, published guidance, or direction from City of Hattiesburg staff, the official sources control. For legal advice or legal interpretation, consult a licensed attorney.