FENCE RULES – PUTNAM (COUNTY), WEST VIRGINIA
OVERVIEW
Residential fences are permitted on private property within the unincorporated portions of Putnam County, subject to applicable county and state requirements.
This page addresses the unincorporated portions of Putnam County. The Putnam County Zoning Ordinance applies only to the zoned unincorporated areas shown on the Official Zoning Maps. Zoning coverage is limited and parcel-dependent; incorporated municipalities and unzoned county areas are outside the zoning ordinance’s scope.
Within the zoned areas, local fence rules appear primarily in Article 1700 of the Putnam County Zoning Ordinance and the county’s Development/Zoning Permit Application. In non-zoned unincorporated areas, Putnam County publishes a general Development Permit process, but the non-zoned application does not expressly identify standard residential fences as requiring that permit.
This page focuses on typical single-family residential fencing. If the jurisdiction’s code, ordinance, or zoning materials do not state a specific limit or requirement, this page notes that the controlling regulatory text does not specify one. If no local code, ordinance, or zoning text 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 Putnam County Zoning Ordinance for the Zoned Unincorporated Areas; the Development/Zoning Permit Application for Zoned Areas; the Development Permit Application for Non-Zoned Areas; the Improvement Location Permit Ordinance; Putnam County Subdivision Regulations; the Putnam County Floodplain Management Ordinance; Office of Planning & Infrastructure pages and FAQs; the Putnam County 2025 Annual Report; West Virginia State Building Code materials; West Virginia 811 requirements; West Virginia fence statutes; and WVDOH encroachment materials as of July 2026.
GOVERNANCE
The Putnam County Commission is the governing authority for unincorporated Putnam County and adopts county land-use ordinances. The Putnam County Zoning Ordinance governs only the unincorporated territory included on the Official Zoning Maps.
The Putnam County Office of Planning & Infrastructure administers zoning and development review. The Zoning Ordinance identifies the Planning Officer as the zoning administrator and enforcement official, while the Putnam County Planning Commission administers subdivision and related land-development functions.
The county’s online Planning & Zoning Viewer is a reference tool rather than the official zoning map. The Office of Planning & Infrastructure provides the official determination of whether a parcel lies within a zoned area. The Planning Commission Director also administers the county floodplain program for unincorporated territory.
The referenced published materials do not establish that Putnam County has adopted and currently enforces the West Virginia State Building Code. No county adoption order, locally applicable code edition, code-enforcement department, inspection program, or intergovernmental building-code enforcement arrangement was identified in the approved source packet.
PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS
• Zoned-Area Development/Zoning Permit: A Putnam County Development/Zoning Permit is required for a standard residential fence on a parcel within the county’s zoned unincorporated areas. The current application expressly lists Fence as an accessory project, and the 2025 Annual Report categorizes approved accessory zoning permits as including fences.
• Non-Zoned Area Permit Context: Putnam County publishes a separate Development Permit Application for non-zoned unincorporated areas. That application lists several forms of construction, fill, grading, bridges, and culverts, but it does not expressly list a standard residential fence or state that every fence requires the permit.
• Improvement Location Permit Context: The county’s Improvement Location Permit Ordinance identifies the Improvement Location Permit as the county Building Permit for work within the Planning Commission’s jurisdiction and for conformity with county land-use ordinances. The ordinance does not expressly state that ordinary residential fences require an Improvement Location Permit; the direct fence-specific permit source is the zoned-area Development/Zoning Permit Application.
• State Building Code Context: The referenced published materials do not establish that Putnam County has adopted and enforces the West Virginia State Building Code and do not publish a separate local building-permit requirement for standard residential fences. The incorporated 7-foot building-permit exemption therefore is not presented as an operative Putnam County permit rule.
• Subdivision and Plat Conditions: The Putnam County Subdivision Regulations allow the Planning Commission to require fencing where an approved development presents a hazardous condition, with the required fence height and material shown on the final plat. This is a subdivision- or development-specific condition, not a universal residential fence requirement.
• Floodplain and Site Conditions: Fence work that also involves regulated development, excavation, grading, fill, an obstruction, or another site alteration within a mapped special flood-hazard area may require review through the Putnam County floodplain program. The Floodplain Management Ordinance does not publish an ordinary fence-specific floodplain setback or an all-fences permit rule.
• State Highway Right-of-Way: A fence, gate, post, excavation, or related work that enters or affects a state highway right-of-way, roadside ditch, culvert, drainage area, shoulder, or access point may require separate review or an encroachment permit from the West Virginia Division of Highways.
• Paid Installation: West Virginia contractor-licensing law includes paid residential work costing $5,000 or more in the statutory contractor definition and excludes a person who personally performs construction work on real property the person owns or leases. Contractor licensing is separate from county permits, site review, and private restrictions.
FENCE PLACEMENT RULES
• Required Setbacks in Zoned Areas: Article 1700 allows a fence to project into required setback areas within the county’s zoned territory, subject to the corner-lot vision-field rule and other applicable property, right-of-way, easement, plat, and site conditions.
• Property Lines: The Zoning Ordinance does not state a separate setback requirement for standard residential fences from property lines in the zoned territory, and the referenced published materials do not specify one for non-zoned county areas. Fences must be located entirely on the owner’s property and must not encroach into rights-of-way or easements.
• Zoning-Coverage Confirmation: The county zoning map controls whether the zoning permit, 8-foot maximum, and vision-field provisions apply. The online Planning & Zoning Viewer is for reference, and the Putnam County Office of Planning & Infrastructure provides the official parcel designation.
• Subdivision Plats and Hazard Conditions: An approved subdivision plat may establish fence height, material, or placement conditions where the Planning Commission required fencing for a hazardous condition. Recorded plat conditions remain separate from the general zoning rule.
• Floodplain, Waterway, and Drainage Conditions: Fence work involving excavation, grading, fill, an obstruction, alteration of drainage, or another regulated development activity in a mapped floodplain, floodway, stream, watercourse, or drainage area may require separate site review. The county does not publish a general residential fence setback from these features in the referenced published materials.
• Roads and Rights-of-Way: A fence must not be placed within a public or state highway right-of-way or interfere with a roadside ditch, culvert, drainage facility, shoulder, or access point. An existing fence line or roadway edge is not proof of the legal property or right-of-way boundary.
• Utility Safety: West Virginia law requires notice through West Virginia 811 before excavation or demolition where the Underground Facilities Damage Prevention Act applies. For covered fence work involving digging, drilling, augering, boring, trenching, grading, or other excavation, notice must be given not less than 48 hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and federal or state legal holidays, and not more than 10 workdays before work begins. A change in the proposed starting date or time requires at least 24 hours‘ advance notice, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. West Virginia 811 notice is separate from local fence permitting, zoning approval, building-code review, easement limits, right-of-way or WVDOH approval, floodplain review, stormwater review, drainage review, historic or design review, HOA restrictions, and other applicable requirements.
FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES
• Zoned-Area Maximum Height: A standard fence within the county’s zoned unincorporated areas may not exceed 8 feet in height under Article 1700 of the Putnam County Zoning Ordinance.
• Non-Zoned County Areas: Putnam County does not publish a defined maximum height for standard residential fences in non-zoned unincorporated areas in the referenced published materials. The zoned-area 8-foot maximum must not be extended to an unzoned parcel.
• Corner-Lot Vision Field: At intersecting streets within the zoned territory, the vision field is formed by measuring 20 feet along each intersecting street line. Within that area, fences and other objects may not obstruct vision beginning 2½ feet above street level, subject to the ordinance’s listed exceptions for qualifying open chain-link fencing, retaining walls, posts, and tree trunks.
• Building-Code Distinction: The county zoning ordinance’s 8-foot maximum is a zoning height limit for covered parcels. It is not the incorporated 2018 building-code permit exemption. Because local State Building Code adoption and enforcement were not confirmed, the 7-foot figure is not presented as a Putnam County building-permit threshold.
MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS
• Standard Residential Materials: The Putnam County Zoning Ordinance does not specify a general list of permitted or prohibited materials for standard residential fences in the zoned territory. The referenced published materials also do not establish countywide opacity, finished-side, orientation, gate, post-spacing, masonry-wall, barbed-wire, razor-wire, electric-fence, or security-fence standards for ordinary residential lots.
• Vision-Field Construction: Within the zoned corner-lot vision field, the ordinance recognizes a qualifying open chain-link fence as an exception to the obstruction rule. This limited visibility treatment is not a general countywide authorization for every fence material or configuration.
• Subdivision-Specific Fencing: Where the Planning Commission requires fencing for a hazardous condition in an approved subdivision, the applicable height and material must be shown on the final plat. Those requirements apply to the affected development rather than every residential parcel in Putnam County.
• Agricultural and Livestock Fences: West Virginia Code Article 19-17 establishes lawful-fence and agricultural partition-fence standards for specified agricultural, grazing, and livestock contexts. Those statewide standards are not ordinary county material, height, or placement rules for a standard residential yard.
• Pool-Barrier Context: A fence used as part of a private swimming-pool, spa, or hot-tub barrier may be subject to separate safety requirements where an applicable code, permit, or approved development condition governs the installation. The referenced published materials do not establish a countywide Putnam County residential pool-barrier standard.
PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS
Private restrictions operate independently from Putnam County zoning, development-permit, subdivision, floodplain, road, right-of-way, utility, and statewide fence-law requirements.
HOA covenants, subdivision restrictions, deed restrictions, private easements, architectural-review covenants, agricultural agreements, private boundary agreements, acknowledged partition-fence agreements, conservation easements, recorded plat conditions, and other private restrictions may be more restrictive than the county’s published requirements. The referenced published materials do not state that Putnam County enforces private restrictions.
REVIEW AND ENFORCEMENT CONTEXT
Fence issues are typically reviewed during permit or approval review when required, and through complaint-based code enforcement. Examples include:
• Zoning Coverage: Whether the property lies within the zoned unincorporated areas shown on the Official Zoning Maps and therefore is subject to the county zoning permit, 8-foot maximum, and corner-lot vision-field rules.
• Zoned-Area Permit Review: Installing a standard residential fence on a zoned parcel without the required Putnam County Development/Zoning Permit.
• Height and Visibility: A fence in the zoned territory exceeding 8 feet or obstructing the 20-foot corner vision field beginning 2½ feet above street level.
• Non-Zoned Area Questions: Whether proposed work falls within the county’s separately published non-zoned Development Permit or Improvement Location Permit processes, neither of which expressly identifies every standard residential fence as requiring a permit.
• Subdivision and Plat Conditions: A fence that conflicts with a recorded final-plat requirement or a Planning Commission fencing condition addressing a hazardous feature.
• Floodplain, Drainage, and Road Conditions: Excavation, grading, fill, obstruction, drainage alteration, or work affecting a mapped flood-hazard area, public right-of-way, state highway, roadside ditch, culvert, shoulder, or access point.
• Property and Private Limits: A fence that extends beyond the owner’s property or conflicts with an easement, recorded plat condition, HOA covenant, deed restriction, conservation easement, or private agreement.
• Agricultural or Livestock Context: Whether West Virginia lawful-fence, agricultural partition-fence, livestock, or rural-property provisions apply to the actual property use.
• Paid Installation: Whether paid residential work costs $5,000 or more or involves another applicable contractor credential.
• Utility Excavation: Whether fence-post digging or other covered excavation follows West Virginia 811 notice requirements.
USING THIS INFORMATION
This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within the unincorporated portions of Putnam County, based on the referenced published materials as of July 2026.
In addition to local fence rules, certain West Virginia laws apply statewide. See Statewide Fence Laws in West Virginia.
It is not legal advice and does not replace official ordinances, permits, certificates, development approvals, applicable building-code requirements, surveys, or professional guidance. Rules and interpretations may change, and application may vary based on zoning district, county zoning coverage, site conditions, easements, rights-of-way, floodplain or floodway status, stream conditions, stormwater requirements, drainage conditions, road or highway conditions, WVDOH jurisdiction, historic district status, design-review status, rural or agricultural context, livestock, lawful-fence or agricultural partition-fence context, State Building Code adoption and enforcement status, contractor-licensing context, pool-barrier use, West Virginia 811 utility-safety requirements, and private restrictions such as HOA covenants, deed restrictions, private agreements, acknowledged partition-fence agreements, or conservation easements. Before purchasing materials or beginning construction, confirm current requirements and any site-specific limitations with the Putnam County Office of Planning & Infrastructure and any applicable private agreements. If this page conflicts with official ordinances, published guidance, or direction from Putnam County Office of Planning & Infrastructure staff, the official sources control. For legal advice or legal interpretation, consult a licensed attorney.