Fence permit rules in Maumee

Maumee requires a permit for any fence taller than two and a half feet. The city’s code treats fences, walls and landscape berms of two and a half feet or less as decorative and exempts them, which means a privacy fence always needs the permit.

The zoning contact is (419) 897-7171.

The fee

Maumee’s fence permit was reported to us as required but not charged. That would make it unusual and welcome.

We could not verify it. The city page that carried the statement now returns an error, and we do not publish a fee, or the absence of one, that we have not been able to read. Ask when you apply.

Height limits

Here is where we have to be straight with you. Maumee’s fence height limits by yard are not confirmed. The city’s code sits in an online library that blocks automated reading, and the height table did not appear in anything we could open.

What we did confirm from the code itself is how height is measured, which matters more than people expect:

• Height is measured from the established grade line to the highest point of the fence, including posts and finials
• Posts and other supporting parts may not exceed the maximum permitted fence height by more than four inches

So a post cap counts. If the limit turns out to be 6 feet, a 6 foot fence with an 8 inch decorative cap on every post is over it. Ask about the numbers and the caps in the same phone call.

For context, the usual Ohio pattern is 6 feet in the back and side yards and 4 feet in a front yard, and neighboring Toledo allows 6 feet at the sides and rear with 3.5 feet in front. That is context, not Maumee’s rule.

What to ask when you call

1. Is there a fee, and if so how much
2. What is the maximum height in the front, side and rear yards
3. How close to the property line can the fence go
4. What do you want to see on the application, and do you need a site plan
5. Is there an inspection afterwards

Your installer should know these answers cold if he works in Maumee. Comparing his answers to the city’s is a cheap way to check who you are hiring.

Call 811 before anyone digs

Ohio law requires notice to the Ohio Utility Protection Service at least two working days before digging. Call 811 or 1-800-362-2764, or file online. Fence post holes are named in the state’s own material as work that hits buried lines. A paid contractor has to make that call on every job, without exception. There is more on our 811 page.

What a fence costs in Maumee

Maumee is in Lucas County, where the combined sales tax is 7.75 percent. Under Ohio rules the fence contractor pays that tax on his materials and quotes you a lump sum, so there is no tax line on your invoice.

Contractors serving Maumee publish $25 to $35 a foot installed for wood privacy fence and $45 to $75 a foot for vinyl. Removing an old fence runs $5 to $10 a foot.

See your price range

Put your fence runs into the estimator and see the installed range for your own yard. If it looks right, request a quote. Ask the installer what Maumee is charging for the permit this year, since the city does not publish it.