Fence permit rules in Perrysburg

A fence permit in Perrysburg costs $25.00, and you need one any time a fence changes in height, style or location.

One note on that fee. The city’s own document library still titles the form with an older $15.00 figure, while the form itself says $25.00 and is the newer document. We are quoting the form. Confirm the amount when you apply.

Apply through the Planning and Zoning Division, 201 West Indiana Avenue, Perrysburg OH 43551-1582, on (419) 872-8060. Perrysburg issues zoning permits itself and contracts with Wood County Building Inspection for building permits.

The part that catches people out

Perrysburg does not treat 6 feet as automatic. In the ordinary single family districts, R-1 through R-5:

• 4 feet is permitted in the front, side and rear yards
• 6 feet is permitted in the rear yard
• 6 feet in a side yard requires Board of Zoning Appeals approval
• 6 feet in a front yard requires Board of Zoning Appeals approval
• 8 feet is not permitted at all

That side yard line matters. Most privacy fences wrap around a side yard to reach the house, so a plan that is fine across the back can need a variance hearing for the part along the side. A hearing takes time and it can go against you.

Raise it at the quote stage. Ask your installer to draw the fence with the side yard sections marked, and ask the zoning office what the current hearing schedule looks like before you sign anything with a start date on it.

What the application asks for

• A sketch showing exactly where the fence goes on the lot
• The type of fence and its height, stated separately for front, side and rear
• An estimated completion date
• The fence company’s name, address and telephone number

So your installer ends up named on the permit. That is normal here, and it is another reason to choose someone who works in Perrysburg regularly.

Property lines and setback

The fence must be a minimum of 4 inches from the lot line. That is stricter than Toledo and Oregon, where a fence may sit on the line, so a plan drawn for a Toledo yard does not transfer.

The form is blunt about whose job the boundary is. The property owner is solely responsible for locating their property lines and installing the fence inside them. If your lot corners are not obvious, get them found before the posts go in.

Multiple front yards

The form warns that some properties may have multiple front yards depending on how the lot sits against the roads. On a corner lot or a through lot, the stricter front yard rules can apply to more of your property than you would guess.

Inspection

The city inspects the finished fence, and the applicant authorizes the city to enter the property to do it. Build it the way the permit describes.

Pools and water meters

All fencing for pools must have self-latching, self-closing, lockable gates. Tell your installer before the gate is built, because that hardware is different from a standard latch.

If the new fence blocks the meter reader’s access to your remote water meter, call the Water Billing Office on 419-872-8055 and the Water Division will move the remote meter.

Call before you dig

The permit form carries the 811 warning in red. It tells you to contact the Ohio Utility Protection Service on 8-1-1 or 1-800-362-2764 at least 48 hours, and not more than 10 working days, before any digging.

The statute itself is worded a little differently. It says at least two working days, not counting the day you call, and not more than sixteen calendar days ahead. Either way, the call comes first and the digging waits. There is more on our 811 page.

What a fence costs here

Perrysburg is in Wood County, where the combined sales tax is 6.75 percent against 7.75 percent in Lucas County. That is the contractor’s cost on materials rather than a line on your invoice, and it is already inside the per foot price.

Toledo contractors who serve Perrysburg publish $25 to $35 a foot installed for wood privacy fence, and $5 to $10 a foot to take an old fence out.

See your price range

Put your fence runs into the estimator, see the installed range for your yard, and request a quote. Mention the side yard question when the installer calls, because in Perrysburg it decides your timeline.