I believe that the code varies, depending on the location. The Historical Districts (Grant Park, Inman Park, etc.) may have requirements that differ from the general requirements, which are 4' in front yard and 6' in side and year yard. Some areas permit only certain types of fencing, such as wrought iron. Best to check with the Code Enforcement Dept. to determine specifics ior your area. They are usually listed under Police Services.
Hope you don't have a jerk next door like me. They had an existing 4' chain link fence that they were going to paint white. I objected, so in retaliation, they planted a row of leyland cypress, 4' apart and 24" from the property line, for the entire length of the fence. A maintenance nightmare for me. (Until they die from some unknown, rare disease!)
Good luck!
Rb

We do not have special conditions in my neighbourhood. Just the codes. I want to know things like if the fence needs to be on the property line or set back from the property line...and if it's a new fence, who is the person to choose the style and the opacity of it.
My neighbour has an existing 4' chainlink which I detest. She wants to put in a 6' wrought iron fence which I would detest even more. I do not want to see her yard.
She has made a new "front entrance" on the side of her yard right near my bedroom and has placed lighting which is absolutely abrasive. People sit out there and talk all night on her steps. It is basically 15' feet from my bedroom window.
I myself have about 10' of space between my house and the fence line. I'd like to create a patio there (which would cover a series of drainage lines we need to get the water from her property out of my basement every time we have a down pour). She has specified NO WOOD, and no opacity will be acceptable to her what so ever. We planted a line of leylands farther down the yard and she freaked out when she realized they'd be trees "We can't see in your yard that way!!!". I would like to run a fence, and then tall shrubs/evergreens down the back to hide the fact that she only mows part of her back yard, the rest is a kudzu and weed shrub/tree mess which of course drops seeds into our yard (or the kudzu tries to run into our yard. Today she also announced she was planning on paving the part of the back yard she "uses" so she does not have to mow anymore. The increase in water onto our property has trippled arleady since she put in an addition on her home with no gutters. Now I would have a much more massive issue (I already collect water from everyone else on the street, my backyard is now a river, worsening every year, when it rains from too much pavement and cut down trees not absorbing groundwater).
In all, I'd like to have ONE single thing to do with my yard "go my way". I get so frustrated at the though of all the money this woman's choices are going to cause me to get the freakin' water off my property and channeled properly...I'd like to at least be able to enjoy my future back yard garden with some degree of privacy...and I WANT MY SIDE PATIO :)

GGG

Glynnis, call Bob Cavanaugh at 404-330-6146 between 7:00 and 8:00 am for detailed code on fencing in Atlanta. He's a very helpfull and friendly inspector to know.

Could you plant a narrow evergreen hedge in front of her fence? Or, make a chicken wire trellis and cover with vines? That could be lovely. I don't see why you can't block her out totally. Even your trellis could be 8' high.
The light and water thing of course, is a bummer.

Quirky. Trust me on this one. Solid fencing is the way to go :)
Yes, the solid fencing will be covered by evergreenery, but a trellis isn't going to do the whole trick, and filter out the noise. Vroomp knows exactly what I'm talking about. He has witnessed the area in question in person, and has seen the potential of this tiny yet usable area.
Vroomp, the architects plans are in at the city for the "other project"!. Passed zoning and arborist, no problems. Now just waiting on planning.

GGG

I have a neighbors deck directly across from my bedroom window. Because his house is on a higher grade than mine, his first floor is level with my second floor. This neighbor likes to entertain every weekend and sometimes during the week. I normally go to bed about 9:30-10pm because I have to get up at 5am. Many times he is still out there and his kids are running around the yard screaming at 10pm (it's gotten better now that school is out.) He also likes to shoot off fireworks quite often.

Anyway, it's only bad if the windows are open, so I try to keep them closed. But we did plant many pine and oak trees in the hill between our yards and they are getting taller and should help.

The only thing you can do is build your own fence (we luckily put in a 6 ft privacy fence before these people moved it, otherwise I am sure they would be in our yard all the time). Then you get to choose the style. Or after they put their fence in, plant stuff next to it.

Our neighbor on the other side actually wanted us to plant tall trees in the bed outside their fence to give them privacy for their pool area. Cryptomerias are a bit nicer looking than lelyand and will bet 40 ft high and 25 feet wide. They grow fast too.

Don't we have a lawyer on the Georgia gardenweb!? I tried looking this up. It seems the Atlanta housing code is found within the Official Code of Ga. section 16-28.008. You could find the text of it by following the instructions on: http://www.aiaatlanta.org/Independent/index.cfm?Fuseaction=atlzoningord

I didn't find much written except relating to height, nothing about visibility except at intersections, basically. This appears to be rule for most of the residential districts. Since the on-line rule is dissected so much it's hard to get the overall view; I can look this up in the code book at work if you want.

This seems to be the pertinent text:

"(5) Walls or fences in required yards; height limits: Fences, walls or hedges may occupy required yards as follows; provided, however, that no such walls or fences create substantial impediments to visibility as prohibiting at section 16-28.008(9).
(a) In the following dwellings districts, R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4 and R-5, fences not exceeding four (4) feet in height may be erected in the front yard. Fences or walls not exceeding six (6) feet in height may be erected or maintained in side or rear yards.
(b) In the following residential general (R-G) district, fences not exceeding four (4) feet in height may be erected in the front yard. Fences or walls not exceeding eight (8) feet in height may be erected or maintained in the side or rear yards.
(c) The provisions of (a) and (b) above notwithstanding, in any dwelling district no fence or wall exceeding two and one-half (2 1/2) feet in height, as measured from the grade at the intersecting street right-of-way lines, shall be erected or maintained within 20 feet of any street intersection.
(d) In all other districts, fences may be erected or maintained within any required yard provided they shall not exceed nine (9) feet in height."

Glynis,

Isn't your back yard fairly shady? If so, leylands won't work. But camelleas will. Didn't I remember your saying that you can root them pretty easily? You know that some types get very tall. I know I said that I would give you cuttings of my pink one (I forgot the name). I'll bet there are lots of other people who would give you cuttings, too. A 6' privacy fence with those would be great. If you can't do the privacy fence, one solution we have found for redirecting water is a very thick line of liriope. It forms such a mass that water can't get through it. We have a neighbor hwo has a back yard with a hill that comes straight down to her basement. They always got flooded until they planted the lirope. Their solution was to plant it like a chevron that redirected the water to each side of their house. They've never had a problem since. I'm sure if you decided to got that route you could get all the free liriope you needed.

I do have one line of leylands already in place that get most day sun and are fine, but that is definately just a small part of my fenceline. The rest, yes, PINS2006, you are right! Camellias (of which I hav several planted here and there growing now to get larger and transplant), and evergreen viburnums will be a lot of the screening...however, I can't manage to fit those in along the narrow area and also put a patio in. I can espallier a camellia, which is my plan, but that isn't enough screening without something solid behind it. If there are no codes against double fencing, my neighbour can very well errect her own iron fence, and I can errect my own wooden fence on my own property to my liking. I am rated as an R-4 home and expected a 6' fence was acceptable. An arbor over top with vines would prevent my neighbour from looking down into our patio area too. My concern is that there may be more nuances in the coding. For example, when I went to get permits for my front fence they said the code was 4' tall AND 50% visibililty through the entire fenceline, which isn't present in the codes above. So I have no idea if that is a whim of whomever was handing out my permit that day, or not. This was several years ago when the permiting system was not quite as organized as they are trying to make it right now.
Carmen, by the time I get this fence up and running, I'll probably want to go out and buy fully mature camellias just to get my privacy in place :)They are so slow from cuttings. My 3 year old cuttings are now a whalloping 10" tall!! But thank you!!

Thanks for your help!

GGG

Home Depot landscape in Duluth has espalliered camillas and other vines, although they are expensive.

If you want the fence towards the back part of the home, I think 6 feet will be OK, but check to be sure

I can sympathise, with the way the homes are built now, everyone can look down (from decks) to everyones back yard. And in my case their property is higher, so it is even worse. Luckily there were some native trees left after the homes were built and they are providing screening. But the pines I have grown can't grow fast enough!!!!!

GroupGirl, when a neighbor builds an addition or modifies their yard, they are required to deal with drainage issues. If your lovely neighbor plans to pave (shudder) her backyard, it can't shunt the water into your property. Talk to a lawyer and chat with the contractor who comes to do the paving. It's part of the code. I believe such work should require a permit. I know erecting a fence does. The law is your friend. Remember that if she increases your water problem, she could decrease your property value or cause damage to your home. All she's thinking about is that she's too lazy to mow.

The code for street-exposed fencing is different than for other fencing. I certainly understand how unattractive it would be to have a solid wall of fencing along the street. I have a six foot, solid wood fence across my tiny front courtyard that was here when we moved in. We desperately need it for a noise barrier (we're right on the busiest street in Grant Park), so I intend to keep fixing it instead of replacing the ugly thing.

Funny I was told the opposite a couple of weeks ago by an experienced landscaper when I told him I wanted to build up my back yard so the water from all the other homes higher up on the hill doesn't drain into my yard. Especially since there are drains all throughout in practically every yard. He said I can't legally prevent the neighbors from draining water into my yard. Both viewpoints make sense. I wonder who's right.

Try contacting an Atlanta fence contractor, they should be able to guide you in the right direction.

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Lets just say I would NEVER ever hire anyone to do anything for me that was simply trolling the internet to find a place to advertise. I would consider that they simply don't get enough business elsewhere, and have to beg for suckers.
No thanks.
I want a good quality fence by a reputable company that is bonded and insured. I really love companies that are so good, they don't really need to advertise, word of mouth and a great reputation get their business.

Hey GGG, just wondering how this problem worked out since it's from 5 years ago, LOL. It's funny I was reading my posts and now the pine and other trees between my neighbor and me are so tall, we can't see them. But, unfortunately, we can still hear them.

My neighbor doesn't have money to erect a fence, so she's allowing me to do it :) We have the fence contractor and I'm getting permits tomorrow (hopefully!!!)

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