FENCE RULES – LONG (COUNTY), GEORGIA
OVERVIEW
Residential fences are permitted on private property within Long County, subject to local regulations. This page applies to properties in the unincorporated areas of Long County; the City of Ludowici may regulate fences under its own ordinances.
Long County does not publish a single standalone residential fence ordinance. Fence-related rules appear instead in the Long County Code of Ordinances, the Long County-City of Ludowici Land Development Code, the Long County Code Enforcement Building Permit Application, the county fee schedule, and related building, erosion-control, animal-control, road, and subdivision provisions.
This page focuses on typical single-family residential fencing. If the jurisdiction’s adopted materials do not state a specific limit or requirement, this page notes that the code does not specify one.
Compiled From the Long County Code of Ordinances, Long County-City of Ludowici Land Development Code, Long County Code Enforcement Building Permit Application, and 2022 Fee Schedule as of June 2026.
GOVERNANCE
Residential fence rules in Long County are administered through the Long County Board of Commissioners, the Long County-City of Ludowici Planning and Zoning Board, the Building Official, and Long County Code Enforcement, depending on the type of review involved.
The Long County Code of Ordinances includes building-regulation, land-development, zoning, subdivision, erosion-control, nuisance, animal-control, and road-access provisions. The Long County-City of Ludowici Land Development Code supplies the zoning and subdivision framework used for development review.
Long County Code Enforcement publishes the building-permit application used by the county. The application includes a project field for Fences, while the Code places building-permit administration with the Building Official.
The code does not create a consolidated residential fence chapter. Ordinary fence review therefore turns on the specific permit, zoning, land-disturbance, right-of-way, easement, pool, animal-control, or site condition involved.
PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS
• Building Permit Application: Long County Code Enforcement publishes a Building Permit Application that includes Fences as a project entry. The Code requires permit applications to be made to the Building Official before work requiring a building permit begins.
• No Published Fence Height Threshold: Long County does not publish a specific residential fence building-permit requirement or exemption by height or a local maximum residential fence height in the official source materials reviewed for this page. Georgia does not provide a general statewide residential fence permit exemption that can be substituted for a local rule.
• Zoning Compliance: Building permit requirements are separate from zoning, setback, subdivision, floodplain, stormwater, land-disturbance, historic, right-of-way, easement, and plat requirements. Confirm any applicable zoning conditions, setbacks, and plat requirements with Long County Planning and Zoning before construction.
• Land-Disturbance Review: The erosion-control chapter exempts minor land-disturbing activities such as fences when they result in minor soil erosion. Fence work that is part of a larger regulated disturbance or does not fit that minor-soil-erosion exemption may be subject to land-disturbance, erosion-control, state-water buffer, plan, fee, and inspection requirements.
• Swimming Pool Context: The county fee schedule lists a separate Swimming Pool Permit for inground swimming pools. A fence used as part of a swimming-pool project is reviewed separately from an ordinary yard fence; the local source materials reviewed for this page do not publish a separate pool-barrier detail sheet.
• Driveway and Road Access Context: If a fence project includes a new gate, access point, driveway crossing, or work affecting a county-owned right-of-way, the county driveway-culvert rules may apply. Along state-maintained routes, the code requires the property owner to receive the appropriate Georgia Department of Transportation right-of-way permit before the county installs driveway culvert pipe.
FENCE PLACEMENT RULES
• 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.
• Building Setbacks Not Restated as Fence Setbacks: The subdivision standards define structure so that utility poles, fences, and walls other than building walls are not considered structures. The residential building setbacks in the zoning district tables are not published as ordinary residential fence setbacks.
• Subdivision, Plat, and Easement Conditions: Recorded plats, utility easements, drainage easements, access easements, and rights-of-way may limit where a fence can be placed even when the code does not state a fence-specific setback.
• State Waters and Land Disturbance: When fence work is not exempt as minor-soil-erosion fence activity, the erosion-control chapter may require review of disturbance near state waters, stream buffers, drainage conditions, and sediment controls.
• Driveway and Culvert Areas: Fence placement near a driveway entrance, gate, roadside ditch, or access crossing must account for county driveway-culvert requirements and any county-owned or state-maintained right-of-way.
• Utility Safety: Georgia law requires notice to the Utilities Protection Center, commonly known as Georgia 811, before excavation where Georgia’s underground utility damage-prevention law applies. For fence projects that involve mechanized digging, including mechanized post-hole excavation, the locate request effective date must be not less than two (2) business days and not more than eight (8) business days after the request is received, and work under that locate request may not begin more than 30 calendar days after the effective date.
FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES
The code does not specify a maximum height for standard residential fences.
• Height Restrictions by Yard Type: The code does not publish separate front-yard, side-yard, rear-yard, or corner-lot height limits for standard residential fences.
• Sight Triangles: The code does not publish a fence-specific clear-vision triangle, driveway-visibility height limit, or intersection sight-triangle measurement for ordinary residential fences. Separate subdivision visibility standards apply to subdivision street design, and nuisance provisions regulate vegetation that obstructs safe passage or line of sight, but those provisions do not state a numerical fence-height limit for single-family residential fences.
• Dangerous Animals: For fences used to confine a classified dangerous or vicious dog, the animal-control chapter requires a proper enclosure suitable to prevent escape. If a fence is used for that purpose, it must be of sufficient height and have the bottom constructed or secured to prevent the dog from escaping over or under the fence. The code does not provide a numerical fence height for that enclosure.
MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS
The code does not specify required or prohibited materials for standard residential fences.
• Approved Materials: The code does not publish a standard residential rule for finished side, post spacing, opacity, chain link, vinyl, wood, masonry, metal, barbed wire, razor wire, or electric fencing.
• Dangerous Animals: For dangerous or vicious dog confinement, a fence used as part of a proper enclosure must be suitable to securely confine the dog on the owner’s property and prevent escape. That animal-control rule is separate from ordinary yard-fence material regulation.
• Screening Requirements: The code includes screening and fencing standards for commercial-residential buffers, salvage yards, manufactured home parks, and telecommunications tower compounds, but those standards are not published as ordinary single-family residential fence material rules.
PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS
Private restrictions operate independently from Long County regulations. Homeowners associations, subdivision covenants, deed restrictions, recorded plats, private easements, architectural-review covenants, conservation easements, agricultural agreements, and private boundary agreements may impose fence requirements that are more restrictive than the county code.
The county source materials reviewed for this page do not state that Long County enforces private HOA or covenant restrictions as county fence rules.
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 Permit Application: Fence work may be routed through the Long County Code Enforcement Building Permit Application when county permit review is required.
• No Published Height Limit: The code does not publish a maximum height or yard-based height table for standard residential fences.
• Property-Line and Easement Conflicts: Fence placement may be reviewed where a fence conflicts with a right-of-way, easement, recorded plat condition, driveway access, drainage feature, or roadside area.
• Land Disturbance: Fence work that results only in minor soil erosion is listed as exempt in the erosion-control chapter. Fence work outside that minor-soil-erosion context may be reviewed under land-disturbance, erosion-control, stormwater, state-water buffer, or inspection provisions.
• Pool Projects: A fence associated with an inground swimming pool project may be reviewed separately from an ordinary yard fence because the county fee schedule lists a Swimming Pool Permit.
• Animal Enclosures: Fences used to confine dangerous or vicious dogs may be reviewed under the animal-control chapter’s proper-enclosure requirements.
• Utility Safety: Fence projects involving mechanized digging must account for Georgia 811 utility-locate requirements before excavation.
USING THIS INFORMATION
This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within Long County, based on publicly available source materials reviewed as of June 2026.
In addition to local fence rules, certain Georgia laws apply statewide. See Statewide Fence Laws in Georgia.
It is not legal advice and does not replace official ordinances, permits, 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 or drainage requirements, land-disturbance requirements, road or highway encroachment, historic district status, design-review status, rural or agricultural context, livestock context, pool-barrier use, overhead high-voltage line work, utility safety requirements, 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 Long County Planning and Zoning and Long County Code Enforcement and any applicable private agreements. If this page conflicts with official ordinances, published guidance, or direction from Long County staff, the official sources control. For legal advice or legal interpretation, consult a licensed attorney.