Maintenance-Free Outdoor Solutions fits vinyl, aluminum, steel and composite fence to the rules Maryland Heights, Missouri rewrote in 2022. The city rewrote its fence rules in 2022. The zoning permit is free, and privacy slats are no longer allowed.
Maryland Heights spent years taking a light touch on fences, then changed its mind. The City Council adopted new zoning code rules on 19 May 2022, prompted by code enforcement issues and neighbor complaints, and they are far more specific than what came before.
The permit is the easy part. A zoning permit is required before installation and it costs nothing. You submit an application and a basic site plan showing where the fence sits relative to the property lines, and staff send the permit back.
The rules themselves are where the detail is, and two of them tend to change what people had planned. Privacy slats, fabric and hardware cloth are no longer allowed on a residential fence, and one fence may not be used to support another.
Why Customers Choose Maintenance-Free Outdoor Solutions
The ground here has been worked harder than anywhere else we install. Most of Maryland Heights maps as urban land and Harvester, the survey recording ground that was cut, filled and compacted during development. Menfro loess survives in the older residential pockets. Down in the bottoms it becomes Lowmo sand and Peers clay, and neither grips a post the way loess does. Depth is a per-property answer here rather than a citywide default.
- The Permit Is Free And We File It. Maryland Heights charges nothing for the zoning permit. We complete the application and draw the site plan showing the fence against your property lines.
- A Real Privacy Fence, Not Slats. Slats, fabric and hardware cloth are banned on residential fences here. If you want screening it has to come from the fence itself, which is exactly what a solid vinyl or composite panel does.
- 25 Years To Lifetime Warranties. All our vinyl fencing products carry at least 25-year manufacturing warranties, most of them lifetime.
- Installed By Our Own Crews. Your fence is built by our own people rather than handed to a subcontractor. The crew that quotes it is the crew that stands behind it.
- Proper Posts, Because The Code Says So. The ordinance requires vinyl fences to be installed with proper posts and supports, and forbids propping one fence off another. That is how we build anywhere.
- Financing Available. Financing through Synchrony for qualified buyers.
Which Fence Type Fits Your Maryland Heights Property?
The 2022 code names the materials it will accept, and vinyl, aluminum and steel are all on the list. Composite is not named, which means it goes to the Planning Commission for review rather than being refused outright. We tell you that before you fall for a sample.
What Fence Styles Are Popular for Maryland Heights Homes and Businesses?
Maryland Heights draws its line at the front facade of the house. A fence may not extend beyond it into the front yard, which keeps the street frontage open and puts every real fence decision behind the house.
Behind that line you have six feet, and how the city measures it is worth understanding. The limit is six feet of fence with an overall installed height of up to seventy-eight inches above finished grade, measured on your side. Those extra six inches exist for grade, and on a sloping yard they are the difference between a run that passes and one that does not.
Solid vinyl is where most back yard privacy work lands, and with slats banned it is now the practical route to a screen. Composite does the same job with a heavier look.
Aluminum handles the boundaries where you want the line without the wall, and it is the usual choice around a pool.
One rule covers all of them. The finished side faces outward and every visible support faces in toward your property, so the neighbor gets the good side by ordinance rather than by courtesy.
A Clear Fence Installation Process for Maryland Heights Properties
The zoning permit is free but it is not optional, and a pool fence needs a building permit instead. We work out which one applies.
Free
Estimate
We walk the property, find the front facade line, look at the ground and price it. No charge.
Onsite
Consultation
Grade matters more here than in most cities, because the height limit is measured above finished grade on your side of the fence.
Layout and Quote
Review
You sign off on layout, height, style and cost before any material is bought.
Zoning Permit and Site Plan
We complete the zoning application and draw the site plan showing the fence against your property lines, then wait for approval to come back before scheduling.
Scheduling and Installation
Our own crew sets the posts, with depth chosen for compacted fill, for loess or for river bottom sand.
Cleanup and Final Walkthrough
We clean up behind ourselves and go over the finished fence with you panel by panel.
What Should You Know About Maryland Heights Fence Rules?
Maryland Heights adopted these rules in May 2022, so any fence older than that was built under a different set entirely.
Maryland Heights amended its zoning code on 19 May 2022 to regulate fences far more specifically than it had before. The city was explicit about why: resident questions, code enforcement issues and neighbor complaints.
A zoning permit is required before a fence goes in, and it is free of charge. The application goes to Planning and Zoning at 11911 Dorsett Road, by email to planning@marylandheights.com, or online. A basic site plan showing the fence location relative to the property lines goes with it.
One exception is worth knowing. A fence that encloses a swimming pool needs a building permit rather than the free zoning permit, as does any structure over two hundred square feet.
Materials are named. Wood, vinyl, aluminum and steel are permitted, as are masonry and stone. A fence built from anything else may still be allowed, but only with Planning Commission review and approval.
Privacy slats, fabric, hardware cloth and similar materials are not allowed on residential fences. Wire or plastic mesh such as chicken wire may be used inside the property for gardening or to deter animals without any permit, but it is prohibited along the perimeter.
The finished side of the fence must face outward, and all visible supports and structural components must face in toward your own property.
Height is capped at six feet, with an overall installed height of up to seventy-eight inches above the finished grade, measured on your side of the fence. A fence may not extend beyond the front facade of the home into the front yard.
The workmanship clause is unusual and worth reading. Fences must be built in a workmanlike manner using accepted construction practices, vinyl fences must be installed with proper posts and supports, and using one fence to support another, in either direction, is prohibited outright.
Questions go to Planning and Zoning on 314-738-2234.
What Do Maryland Heights Customers Say?
The city rewrote these rules because of neighbor complaints, which tells you how closely fences get looked at here. Worth checking who you hire.
We hold a 4.7 star average on Google. Read the reviews on Google.
★★★★★
Tony was very helpful in helping to design our fence, and Shane and Eric did a wonderful job installing our new fence. Overall, it was an excellent experience!
Kristen SwearnginGoogle review
★★★★★
Just had our fence installed and they got us in about 3 weeks earlier than originally scheduled. Tony the salesman came out twice to do different estimates and was very good at explaining and answering questions. The crew that installed, Cody, Dakota and Bailey, did a great job.
Lisa LaBoubeGoogle review
★★★★★
The fence they installed turned out beautiful. Shane, Ben and Dakota did a fabulous job. They were very professional and conscientious. Not only did they come in way under the other company quotes, the quality is far better. Highly recommend.
Debbie JanssenGoogle review
What Does a Fence Cost in Maryland Heights?
One line item you will not find on a Maryland Heights quote is a permit fee. The zoning permit is free, which is unusual in this metro and worth knowing before somebody charges you for it.
What does move the number is length, height, gate count and how much of the run has to be solid. With slats no longer permitted, screening has to come from the panel itself, and that is a different product from an open picket line. Ground filled during development can need deeper posts, and that risk sits with us under our hard hole policy.
For current per-foot ranges by style and height, see our 2026 vinyl fence pricing guide, or the guides for pool fencing and aluminum. From there we measure up and put a single fixed price on paper for nothing.
Fence Planning FAQs
Call us on 636-464-1144. Since the 2022 change the questions we field most are about slats and about what the height limit actually is.
Is there a charge for a fence permit in Maryland Heights?
No. The zoning permit required before you install a fence is free of charge. You submit an application and a basic site plan showing the fence against your property lines, and the city emails the permit back or tells you it is ready to collect. One thing changes that. A fence enclosing a swimming pool needs a building permit instead, which is a different application. We handle whichever one applies to your project.
Can I add privacy slats to an existing fence?
Not on a residential fence in Maryland Heights. The 2022 rules specifically prohibit privacy slats, fabric, hardware cloth and similar materials. The same section forbids using one fence to support another, so building a new panel off an existing frame is not a way around it either. If screening is what you want, it has to come from the fence itself, which in practice means a solid vinyl or composite privacy panel installed on its own posts.
Is six feet or 78 inches the real height limit?
Both, and they measure different things. The fence itself is limited to six feet. The overall installed height may reach seventy-eight inches above the finished grade, measured on your side of the fence. Those extra six inches exist because ground is rarely level, and they give a run some room where the grade falls away. On a flat yard the distinction never comes up. On a sloping one it decides how the panels get stepped, which is worth settling on site rather than on paper.
Ready to Plan Your Fence Project?
Tell us where the line runs. We will file the free zoning permit, draw the site plan and build it with our own crew.