FENCE RULES – SCHERERVILLE (TOWN), INDIANA
OVERVIEW
This page applies to residential fence projects inside the incorporated Town of Schererville, Indiana. The Town of Schererville Planning & Building administers the local fence-permit and zoning process. A property’s zoning district is important because Schererville uses several Residential districts as well as an Open Land district that also permits single-family detached dwellings.
A residential fence in Schererville requires a local Building/Zoning permit. In the Residential zoning districts, fences are generally limited to 6 feet. The Open Land district uses a separate 8-foot maximum. Fences may be placed in required side and rear yards, or along their edges, up to the front of the structure. The Town does not publish a townwide numeric fence-to-private-property-line setback for a standard residential fence. Corner visibility, utility and drainage easements, stormwater corridors, floodplain or floodway property, regulated drains, swimming pools, planned-unit developments, and public rights-of-way can impose additional limits.
| Quick question | Schererville answer |
|---|---|
| Permit or approval | Yes. Schererville requires a Building/Zoning permit for a residential fence. The Town requires a completed application and a plat of survey showing the proposed fence location. The zoning ordinance lists a $50 residential fence application fee. Floodplain, pool, easement, regulated-drain, or right-of-way conditions can require additional review. |
| Typical fence height | 6 ft in the Residential zoning districts. The Open Land (O.L.) District, which also permits single-family detached dwellings, has an 8 ft fence maximum. |
| Placement & property lines | Fences may be placed in required side and rear yards, or along their edges, up to the front of the structure. Schererville does not publish a townwide numeric fence-to-private-property-line setback for a standard residential fence. Easements, rights-of-way, visibility areas, stormwater corridors, and regulated drains can limit a particular location. |
| Common fence materials | Wood: not specifically addressed in the general residential fence provisions. Vinyl/PVC: not specifically addressed. Chain-link: not specifically addressed. Separate construction requirements apply to certain walls and swimming-pool fences. |
| Important local conditions | Fence rules may be further affected by Open Land zoning, corner and intersection visibility, utility or drainage easements, stormwater overflow or detention easements, floodplain or floodway status, county regulated drains, swimming pools, planned-unit developments, and public rights-of-way. |
| Official local resource | Town of Schererville fence and building-permit FAQ |
The table above is for quick reference. The sections below explain the height, placement, visibility, easement, drainage, pool, and special-property rules in more detail. Before purchasing materials or beginning construction, review the sections that apply to the property, the linked official sources, and the property’s survey or plat. Site-specific questions can be confirmed with Town of Schererville Planning & Building or the public office responsible for the condition involved. Updated September 2026.
GOVERNANCE
Residential fence regulation within Schererville is primarily administered by the Town of Schererville Planning & Building under the Town’s current Zoning Ordinance. The Town Council adopts zoning regulations, while the Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals handle the development-plan, planned-unit-development, and variance functions assigned to them by the ordinance.
A fence project can also involve public rules outside the basic zoning permit. Schererville’s floodplain and stormwater regulations apply to certain mapped or easement-affected properties. Lake County administers county regulated drains. Indiana’s statewide residential building rules govern pool-barrier and other building-code matters within their scope.
• County regulated drains: When a Schererville property is affected by a Lake County regulated drain, the Lake County Surveyor and Drainage Board administer the regulated-drain right-of-way and permanent-structure consent requirements. This is separate from the Town’s standard fence permit.
• Indiana residential code: The currently effective residential code is the 2020 Indiana Residential Code, 675 IAC 14-4.4, which adopts the 2018 International Residential Code with Indiana amendments. Indiana replaced the model IRC R105 permit language, so the model seven-foot fence permit exemption does not apply as a statewide Indiana rule.
PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS
• Residential fence permit: Schererville requires a Building/Zoning permit for a residential fence. The Town's permit instructions require a completed Building and Zoning Application and a plat of survey showing the proposed fence location. The zoning ordinance lists a $50 residential Building/Zoning Permit Application fee for fences.
• Floodplain property: Erecting a wall or fence is classified as development under Schererville’s floodplain rules. A fence in a mapped Special Flood Hazard Area is therefore subject to the Town’s floodplain-development requirements in addition to the standard fence permit.
• Floodway property: When a fence project lies in an identified floodway and Indiana Department of Natural Resources construction-in-a-floodway authorization is required, the state authorization must be obtained before the local floodplain permit can be issued.
• Swimming pools: The Town’s pool-permit materials require the submitted survey to show the pool, equipment, fencing, and walk areas. Pool enclosures also have specific fence-post, gate, and access-control requirements described under MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS.
• Planned-unit developments: Property in a planned-unit development may be subject to approved development-plan standards in addition to the Town’s general zoning rules. The recorded or approved PUD standards for the property should be checked before the fence location, height, or design is finalized.
• Regulated drains: A fence or other permanent structure within an Indiana regulated-drain right-of-way requires written Drainage Board consent. The statutory right-of-entry can extend as much as 75 feet from the center line of a tiled drain or the top edge of an open drain, subject to statutory reductions for qualifying drains. The regulated-drain corridor is separate from Schererville’s standard fence placement rules.
FENCE PLACEMENT RULES
• Side and rear yards: Schererville permits fences and walls in required side and rear yards, or along the edges of those yards, up to the front of the structure. The Town does not publish a townwide numeric fence-to-private-property-line setback for a standard residential fence.
• Front-yard walls: Fences and walls permitted in required side and rear yards may extend only up to the front of the structure. In the front yard, walls are limited to specific uses, including raised landscaped-bed walls and a narrow decorative wall-and-pier exception for a lot corner or pedestrian entry path.
• Utility, drainage, public easements, and rights-of-way: A fence placed within a utility easement, drainage easement, other public easement, or right-of-way is at the property owner’s risk. It may have to be removed at the owner’s expense if it interferes with the easement or right-of-way or if the Town requires access.
• Platted utility and drainage easements: Schererville’s subdivision plat language allows fencing within a utility or drainage easement only when the fence does not interfere with utility or drainage use. The recorded plat should be checked for the location and terms of any easement affecting the lot.
• Stormwater overflow paths: Designated 100-year overflow paths carry a minimum 30-foot drainage easement, measured 15 feet on each side of the centerline. Schererville's stormwater rules state that fences and landscaping are not to be constructed within those easement areas. Separate detention and retention overflow easements also contain no-fence restrictions.
• Drainage swales: Where the Town’s stormwater standards establish the standard swale easement, the published width is generally 20 feet, extending 10 feet on each side of the swale centerline. This is a drainage-easement dimension, not a townwide fence setback.
• County regulated drains: A county regulated drain can create a separate statutory right-of-entry corridor. The ordinary statutory maximum is 75 feet from the center line of a tiled drain or the top edge of an open drain, with reductions allowed for qualifying newer or urban drains. Written Drainage Board consent is required for a permanent structure within the regulated-drain right-of-way.
• Property boundaries: Use the property’s survey and recorded plat to identify the legal boundary, public rights-of-way, and recorded easements. Curbs, ditches, mowing lines, hedges, existing fences, drainage features, and the apparent edge of pavement do not necessarily mark the legal property line.
• Indiana 811: Before covered fence-post excavation, the homeowner or excavator must submit an Indiana 811 locate request. Current Indiana guidance provides for underground facilities to be marked within two full working days, and a locate ticket is valid for 20 calendar days. Indiana 811 is separate from the Town permit and from floodplain, drainage, easement, and private-covenant requirements.
FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES
• Residential zoning districts: Fences are limited to 6 feet in Schererville’s Residential zoning districts.
• Open Land (O.L.) District: The Open Land district permits single-family detached dwellings and uses a separate 8-foot fence maximum. A home in the O.L. District therefore follows the district’s 8-foot fence limit rather than the six-foot Residential-district limit.
• Other zoning districts: The general supplementary rule allows fences up to 8 feet in districts other than the Residential districts unless another district rule or approved development standard establishes a different limit.
• Sight visibility triangle: At the intersection of a street with another street or an entrance drive, the required sight triangle must remain clear of structures, vegetation, signs other than street signs, and other opaque or partly opaque objects between 2 1/2 feet and 12 feet above the nearest top of curb, or above the edge of pavement where there is no curb.
• Visibility distances: The minimum sight-triangle distance is 35 feet for an arterial or highway, 30 feet for a collector, 25 feet for a local street, and 10 feet for a private entrance. These distances are measured using the Town’s sight-visibility method.
• Recreational-equipment screening: When major recreational equipment is kept in an open residential parking area, the ordinance requires effective fencing and/or screening around the parking area. A fence used for this purpose may not exceed 6 feet.
• Structural and retaining walls: Concrete or masonry walls used for structural or retaining purposes are limited to 6 feet per wall portion. A taller system must be terraced with at least 5 feet between wall portions.
MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS
• Wood, vinyl/PVC, and chain-link: Schererville’s general residential fence provisions do not set separate material standards for wood, vinyl/PVC, or chain-link fencing. Specific construction or design requirements apply to certain walls, pool barriers, planned developments, and properties subject to private subdivision restrictions.
• Front-yard decorative wall and piers: A qualifying decorative wall or pier at a lot corner or along a pedestrian entry path must be constructed of brick or masonry compatible with the architecture of the principal structure. Each pier may be no wider than 1 foot 8 inches and no longer than 4 feet 6 inches, and no more than two wall piers may be used in the yard.
• Structural and retaining walls: Each concrete or masonry wall portion is limited to 6 feet. When greater overall height is needed, the wall must be terraced with a minimum 5-foot setback between portions and landscaping at the base of each wall portion. Concrete masonry units (CMUs) are prohibited for this construction, and a railing is required on walls more than 2 feet high.
• Swimming-pool enclosure: An outdoor swimming pool must be completely enclosed by a fence. The fence may surround the pool itself or form a continuous barrier around the portion of the yard containing the pool. The structural sides of an above-ground pool may satisfy part of the required barrier height.
• Pool-fence posts and gates: Pool-fence posts must be decay- or corrosion-resistant and set in concrete bases or installed according to manufacturer specifications. Openings must be protected by gates, and qualifying retractable self-latching stairs may be used where applicable. Gates must be self-closing and self-latching, with the closing and latching devices placed at the top of the gate.
• Indiana pool-barrier rules: Indiana’s residential code also requires restricted access to residential pools. One accepted barrier method is a wall or fence at least 4 feet high completely surrounding the pool and deck area, with self-closing and latching gates and doors capable of being locked. Schererville’s local requirement that the outdoor pool be enclosed by a fence remains part of the project.
PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS
Town approval does not replace private property restrictions. HOA covenants, subdivision restrictions, deed restrictions, architectural-review covenants, recorded private easements, boundary agreements, agricultural agreements, recorded partition-fence agreements, and conservation easements can impose additional or more restrictive fence requirements.
Public easements and private covenants are separate. A utility, drainage, stormwater, or regulated-drain easement may affect where a fence can stand or whether it must be removed for access. A private HOA or deed restriction may separately regulate the fence’s material, height, style, or approval process.
REVIEW AND ENFORCEMENT CONTEXT
Fence issues are typically reviewed during permit or approval review when required, and through complaint-based code enforcement. Examples include:
• Building/Zoning permit review: review of the fence location shown on the plat of survey and application of the zoning-district height and placement rules.
• Visibility: keeping the required street or entrance-drive sight triangle clear within the published 2 1/2-foot-to-12-foot obstruction band and the applicable 35-, 30-, 25-, or 10-foot sight distance.
• Easements and rights-of-way: fences within utility, drainage, public easements, public rights-of-way, stormwater overflow corridors, and detention or retention easements.
• Floodplain and floodway property: application of Schererville’s floodplain-development rules and any required Indiana DNR floodway authorization.
• Regulated drains: Lake County Surveyor and Drainage Board review where a county regulated-drain right-of-way affects the property.
• Swimming pools: application of Schererville’s enclosure, post, and gate requirements together with Indiana residential-pool access-control rules.
• Planned-unit developments: application of approved development-plan standards that apply specifically to the property.
• Utility excavation: Indiana 811 notice before covered fence-post excavation and maintenance of a current locate ticket while digging continues.
USING THIS INFORMATION
This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within the Town of Schererville, Indiana. Updated September 2026.
In addition to local fence rules, certain Indiana laws apply statewide. See Statewide Fence Laws in Indiana.
It is not legal advice and does not replace official ordinances, permits, certificates, improvement-location approvals, development approvals, applicable building-code requirements, surveys, or professional guidance. Rules and interpretations may change, and application may vary based on zoning district, site conditions, subdivision or planned-development status, easements, rights-of-way, floodplain or floodway status, stormwater or drainage requirements, regulated-drain conditions, road or highway conditions, pool-barrier use, Indiana 811 utility-excavation requirements, and private restrictions such as HOA covenants or deed restrictions. Before purchasing materials or beginning construction, confirm current requirements and site-specific limitations with Town of Schererville Planning & Building and any other public authority responsible for the property condition involved, and review applicable private agreements. If this page conflicts with official ordinances, published guidance, adopted development standards, or direction from the responsible public authority, the official sources control. For legal advice or legal interpretation, consult a licensed attorney.