FENCE RULES – BROOKHAVEN (CITY), MISSISSIPPI
OVERVIEW
Residential fences are permitted on private property within City of Brookhaven, subject to local regulations. For properties located outside City of Brookhaven municipal limits, Lincoln County regulates fences in unincorporated areas.
Fence rules for the City of Brookhaven appear primarily in the Code of Ordinances, including Chapter 10 – Buildings and Building Regulations, Chapter 24 – Flood Damage Prevention, Chapter 42 – Streets, Sidewalks and Other Public Properties, the Subdivision Ordinance, and the Zoning Ordinance. 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 Code of Ordinances, City of Brookhaven, Mississippi, the Approved Zoning Ordinance readopted December 4, 2018, the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance, the Subdivision Ordinance, the City of Brookhaven Building Permits materials, the Application for Zoning-Building Permit, the 2015 International Residential Code permit-exemption text, and Mississippi 811 materials as of July 2026.
GOVERNANCE
The City of Brookhaven governs residential fence placement, front-yard height, intersection visibility, building-code administration, floodplain development, public-street encroachments, and subdivision easements through its Code of Ordinances and incorporated zoning and subdivision regulations.
The City of Brookhaven Building Inspector administers and enforces the Zoning Ordinance. The Planning Commission and Board of Adjustment perform the review functions assigned to them by the ordinance, including special-exception, variance, and administrative-review matters.
Code of Ordinances Section 10-1 adopts the 2015 International Residential Code, the 2015 International Building Code, and related technical codes. The City also adopts the 2015 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code. This establishes a locally adopted and administered code; the referenced published materials do not separately state whether the City’s current administration reflects participation in, or a prior statutory opt-out from, Mississippi’s State Uniform Construction Code framework.
For floodplain matters, the Director of Public Works or designee serves as the City’s Floodplain Administrator and administers development review in identified special flood hazard areas.
PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS
• Building-Code Permit Context: The City of Brookhaven administers the 2015 International Residential Code. Section R105.2 includes a building-permit exemption for fences not over 7 feet high. The Code of Ordinances does not publish a separate local fence permit requirement for standard residential fences.
• General Zoning-Permit Context: Zoning Ordinance Section 701 requires a zoning permit before a building or other structure is erected, moved, added to, or structurally altered. The ordinance definition of structure expressly excludes customary fences and boundary or retaining walls. The referenced published materials do not explicitly state that standard residential fences require a zoning permit.
• Zoning Compliance: Building-code permit exemptions and local construction-code administration are separate from zoning, setback, subdivision, floodplain, stormwater, drainage, historic, right-of-way, easement, utility, and plat requirements. Confirm any applicable zoning conditions, setbacks, plat requirements, and site-specific limitations with the City of Brookhaven Building Inspector before construction.
• Floodplain Development Permit: Chapter 24 requires a development permit before development activities begin in an identified special flood hazard area. Its definition of development includes buildings or other structures, filling, grading, excavation, and drilling operations, and its watercourse-obstruction definition expressly includes fences. Fence work within a regulated floodplain is reviewed by the Director of Public Works or designee when the work constitutes regulated development or affects a watercourse.
• Pool-Barrier Context: A fence used as part of a swimming-pool or spa barrier is subject to the City’s adopted 2015 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code. Pool-barrier compliance is separate from the rules for an ordinary residential yard fence.
FENCE PLACEMENT RULES
• Required Yards: Zoning Ordinance Section 614 allows fences, walls, and hedges in any required yard or along the edge of any yard, subject to the front-yard and visibility limits described below.
• 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.
• Front-Yard Edges: A fence, wall, or hedge along the sides or front edge of a required front yard may not exceed 2 1/2 feet in height.
• Reverse-Frontage Lots: Where the rear of a reverse-frontage lot adjoins a street, the fence may not exceed 2 1/2 feet within the corner area measured for one-half of the required front-yard distance along the street side and the same distance along the rear property line.
• Residential Corner Lots: Within the corner area bounded by the intersecting street lines and a line connecting points 50 feet from their intersection, nothing may be erected, placed, planted, or allowed to grow in a manner that impedes vision between 2 1/2 feet and 10 feet above the centerline grades of the intersecting streets.
• Subdivision Easements: The Subdivision Ordinance discourages fences within utility or drainage easements. When a fence is placed in an easement, removal required for City repair, replacement, or other use of the easement is at the property owner’s expense.
• Public Streets and Rights-of-Way: The Code of Ordinances prohibits constructing a fence on or over public street areas without City permission and prohibits obstructions that impede normal street use. A building setback line is not necessarily the same as the public right-of-way boundary.
• Floodplain and Watercourse Areas: Chapter 24 treats a fence in, along, across, or projecting into a watercourse as a potential obstruction when it may alter flow, collect debris, or be carried downstream. Fence placement in a regulated floodplain or watercourse area is subject to the City’s floodplain-development standards.
• 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: Along the sides or front edge of a required front yard, a fence, wall, or hedge may not exceed 2 1/2 feet.
• Reverse-Frontage Height: On a reverse-frontage lot, the rear street-adjacent corner area described in Section 614 is limited to 2 1/2 feet.
• Other Residential Yard Height: The Zoning Ordinance does not specify a citywide maximum height for a standard residential fence outside the regulated front-yard and reverse-frontage areas.
• Building-Code Exemption: The 7-foot threshold in the adopted 2015 International Residential Code is a building-permit exemption, not a local maximum fence height and not an affirmative statement that every fence over 7 feet requires a permit.
• Zoning Visibility Triangle: On residential corner lots, the protected visibility space extends from 2 1/2 feet to 10 feet above the street centerline grades within the triangle formed by points 50 feet along the intersecting street lines.
• Municipal Intersection Visibility: Code of Ordinances Section 42-3 separately prohibits substantially diminishing or obstructing motorists’ views at or within 30 feet of street intersections and junctions, whether by vegetation or in another manner.
MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS
The Code of Ordinances does not specify a citywide material, finished-side, opacity, or construction standard for a standard single-family residential fence. The ordinance’s specialized screening and concealing-fence provisions apply to the uses and districts for which those standards are expressly required and are not the general residential fence rule.
A fence used as a swimming-pool or spa barrier must satisfy the City’s adopted 2015 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code in addition to the applicable zoning, placement, visibility, floodplain, easement, and right-of-way requirements.
PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS
Private restrictions operate independently from City of Brookhaven fence rules. These may include HOA covenants, subdivision restrictions, deed restrictions, private easements, architectural-review covenants, boundary agreements, recorded agreements, conservation easements, agricultural agreements, and similar private controls.
A private restriction may impose a lower height, different material, additional setback, design-review requirement, or other limitation even when a fence complies with the City’s published requirements. Private restrictions are not treated as City permit approvals unless official City materials expressly make them part of an applicable 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:
• Front-Yard and Reverse-Frontage Height: Whether a fence, wall, or hedge exceeds the 2 1/2-foot limit in a required front-yard edge or regulated reverse-frontage corner area.
• Intersection Visibility: Whether a fence or other obstruction impedes the protected 2 1/2-foot to 10-foot sight space within the 50-foot residential corner triangle or otherwise obstructs motorists’ views within 30 feet of an intersection or junction.
• Building-Code Context: Whether the fence falls within the adopted 2015 International Residential Code exemption for fences not over 7 feet high, without treating that exemption as a zoning height allowance or an affirmative permit trigger above 7 feet.
• Easements and Public Property: Whether the fence occupies a utility or drainage easement, interferes with City access, or extends into a public street or right-of-way area without permission.
• Floodplain and Watercourse Review: Whether the project is within an identified special flood hazard area, involves regulated excavation or development, or places a fence where it may obstruct a watercourse.
• Pool-Barrier Use: Whether the fence functions as part of a swimming-pool or spa barrier under the adopted 2015 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code.
• Private Restrictions: Whether HOA covenants, deed restrictions, subdivision controls, easements, or other private agreements impose additional limits.
• 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 Brookhaven, 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 Brookhaven Building Inspector and any applicable private agreements. If this page conflicts with official ordinances, published guidance, or direction from City of Brookhaven staff, the official sources control. For legal advice or legal interpretation, consult a licensed attorney.