Fencing Built for Fenton, Missouri
Fenton sits on the west bank of the Meramec River in south St. Louis County, about two miles south of Interstate 44, where Route 141 and Highway 30 meet. It's a small, settled city — roughly 3,989 residents as of the 2020 Census, with a median age of 47 and an 82.6% homeownership rate — which tells you most of what you need to know about fencing here. This isn't a market full of brand-new subdivisions. It's established, owner-occupied homes where the fence going up today is usually replacing one that's been there for twenty years.
St. Louis Fence Co. is a locally owned company that has been fencing the metro for decades, and we work throughout Fenton and the 63026 area — Old Towne Fenton, the streets near Fenton City Park, the neighborhoods off North Highway Drive and New Smizer Mill Road, and out along the Route 141 corridor. Whether you want low-maintenance vinyl, a cedar privacy fence, or ornamental aluminum around a pool, we build it to Fenton's code and to last.
Fenton's Fence Rules — What Actually Applies to Your Yard
Fenton regulates fencing under its own Zoning Code (Chapter 425, Article VI), and the rules are more specific than most St. Louis County municipalities. These are the ones that decide what we can build on your property:
- A permit is required for almost every fence. The code exempts only fencing under four feet used to protect garden areas, plus normal maintenance, repair, or replacement of posts. Everything else gets reviewed by the Community Development Director.
- Six feet is the maximum height. Fenton doesn't use the common "four feet in front, six in back" split — it caps residential fencing at six feet overall and then controls placement separately.
- The finished side faces out. The ordinance requires structural and supporting members to face toward the area being enclosed — so your rails and posts face your yard, and the smooth side faces the neighbors and the street.
- No fence forward of your front elevation line. Fencing goes on or inside the rear and side lot lines and can't extend toward the street past the front face of the house. One exception: fencing four feet or less may be allowed into a front yard when the Director finds it necessary for safety around water features, detention or retention areas, ponds, lakes, or retaining walls.
- Nothing within 30 feet of an intersection. This one catches people. It isn't a reduced-height sight triangle — the code prohibits fencing on any portion of a lot within thirty feet of an intersection, with no height exception. If you're on a corner lot, this shapes the whole layout.
- Corner lots are measured from your front door. For corner properties, the "front elevation line" is defined as wherever the main front entrance of the house is located — which is not always the side you'd assume.
- Allowed materials include wood, plastic and other synthetic materials, woven fabric, chain link, and masonry elements. Barbed wire isn't on that list.
Fence permits are applied for through the City of Fenton's Community Development Department at 625 New Smizer Mill Road, or through the city's online permit portal. Fenton adopts St. Louis County's building codes and contracts with the county for code-enforcement services, but the fence application itself goes through the city. We handle these details as part of the job — we'd rather spend ten minutes getting the placement right than move a finished fence.
📍 Damaged fence? You may be able to rebuild it as-is.
Fenton's ordinance specifically protects replacement: the replacement of existing damaged fencing — including its original height, material, and location — is not prohibited by the article's other provisions. If your current fence sits somewhere today's rules wouldn't allow, storm or flood damage doesn't necessarily mean losing that configuration. It's worth asking before you assume you have to move the line.
The Meramec River and Your Fence Line
Fenton's relationship with the Meramec is the single biggest difference between fencing here and fencing in, say, Kirkwood or Crestwood. The USGS gauge on the Meramec at nearby Valley Park has recorded its three highest crests at 44.11 feet on December 31, 2015, 43.31 feet on May 3, 2017, and 39.73 feet on December 6, 1982. Two of the three worst floods in the record happened within seventeen months of each other.
For a fence, high water is a structural problem, not just a cleanup problem. Moving water pushes against solid privacy panels like a sail, saturated ground loosens posts that were perfectly sound in dry conditions, and debris piles up against the run until something gives. We take that into account on low-lying Fenton properties — post depth and concrete, how gates are hung, and sometimes recommending a style that lets water through rather than fighting it.
If your property sits in the floodplain, there's a permitting angle too. Fenton administers floodplain management under Chapter 515 of its code and requires a separate floodplain development permit for development in designated flood areas, with the city's zoning definitions treating fences as structures. Whether a specific fence triggers that permit depends on your property — we confirm with Community Development before we dig rather than guessing.
Fence Types We Install in Fenton
Vinyl
Vinyl fencing is one of our most-requested styles in Fenton, and for good reason: it never needs staining or sealing, it won't rot or gray out, and it cleans up with a hose. White vinyl privacy in particular suits the established Fenton housing stock, where homeowners are replacing a tired wood fence and don't want to be back out there with a brush in three years.
Wood Privacy
A cedar wood privacy fence — solid board or board-on-board — still gives you the warmest look and the most seclusion per dollar. Built at Fenton's six-foot maximum with the finished side out, it's the classic backyard fence, and we build it to be repaired rather than replaced when a section takes damage.
Ornamental Aluminum
Ornamental aluminum keeps sightlines open, which matters on Fenton properties with wooded backdrops or views toward green space. It's also our most common choice for pool enclosures, since it meets barrier requirements cleanly and never needs repainting.
Chain Link
For dog runs, back property lines, and practical enclosures where budget matters more than appearance, chain link is still the workhorse — and it's explicitly among the materials Fenton's code allows.
Pool Fencing in Fenton
If you're enclosing a pool, the barrier requirements come from the residential code Fenton adopts from St. Louis County, and the city issues its own residential swimming pool permit. In practice that means specific rules for barrier height, gap spacing, and self-closing, self-latching gates designed to keep small children out. Ornamental aluminum and vinyl are the two styles we install most often for pool enclosures. We'll confirm the current specifications with the city for your project rather than working from a number that may have changed.
Our Fence Services in Fenton
Vinyl Fencing
Low-maintenance privacy that holds a clean white finish for years.
Learn more →Wood Privacy
Cedar privacy and board-on-board for a secluded backyard.
Learn more →Ornamental Aluminum
Open sightlines and clean pool enclosures that never need paint.
Learn more →New Installation
Full fence installation, permitted and built to Fenton's code.
Learn more →Fence Repair
Leaning posts, storm and flood damage, broken sections — fixed fast.
Learn more →Retaining Walls
Functional, good-looking walls for sloped and low-lying yards.
Learn more →Why Fenton Homeowners Call Us
- We know the local code. Six-foot maximum, finished side in, nothing within thirty feet of an intersection — we lay the fence out right the first time.
- We're close by. Based in St. Louis County, we're out to Fenton quickly for estimates and for repairs when weather takes a section down.
- Repair or replace, honestly. If your fence can be saved, we'll tell you — and Fenton's own code protects your right to replace damaged fencing as it was.
- Straight pricing. An honest written quote, no pressure, no upsell.
Nearby Areas We Serve
Fenton sits in the middle of our south and west county service area:
Fenton Fencing FAQs
Almost always, yes. Fenton's fence ordinance requires a permit for the construction, installation or erection of fencing, reviewed by the Community Development Director. The exceptions are fencing under four feet used to protect garden areas, and normal maintenance, repair, or replacement of posts. We handle the permit details as part of the project.
Six feet is the maximum overall height for residential fencing. Unlike many municipalities, Fenton doesn't set a separate lower limit for front yards — instead, fencing generally can't extend toward the street past the front elevation line of the house at all. Fencing of four feet or less may be considered in a front yard when the Director finds it necessary for safety around water features, detention or retention areas, ponds, lakes or retaining walls.
The finished side. Fenton's code requires fencing to be built with the structural or supporting members facing toward the area being enclosed, so the posts and rails face into your yard and the smooth face is what neighbors and the street see.
Two things. First, no fencing may be built on any portion of a lot within thirty feet of an intersection — that's an outright prohibition, not a reduced-height allowance. Second, for a corner lot the front elevation line is defined as wherever the main front entrance to the house is located, which determines how far toward the street your fence can come. We measure both before finalizing a layout.
Not necessarily. Fenton's ordinance states that replacement of existing damaged fencing — including its original height, material and location — isn't prohibited by the other provisions of the fence article. If your property is in a designated flood area, the city also administers floodplain development permitting under Chapter 515, so we confirm requirements with Community Development before starting work.
Get Your Free Fenton Fence Estimate
Request a free estimate or call (314) 200-0529 — we'll come out to your Fenton property, measure, walk the code requirements with you, and give you an honest written quote.