Strongsville’s fence process separates site-plan preparation, a ten-day posting period and permit issuance. The City’s fence-placement ordinance is not the source of every procedural rule: posting and protests are addressed in a different chapter.
Prepare the drawing the City actually requests
The currently linked installation guide asks for an overhead view on a copy of the property’s official topographical survey. It says an existing copy can be used or obtained from the Building Department. Show the fence’s location relative to property lines, height from grade and total length, and identify a corner lot or nearby houses.
Ask the Department whether its available survey is suitable for the application. An online parcel outline or the guide’s example sketch is not a new survey of your property. The owner or contractor remains responsible for verifying the fence’s location within the approved boundaries.
Posting opens a review period; it is not the permit
The guide states a ten-day posting requirement before plan review. Section 1418.02 describes the Commissioner-supplied poster: it identifies the permit request and tells interested people that plans and specifications are available for inspection. Section 1418.03 describes what happens after the waiting period.
| Situation described in the code | Next official action | What the applicant should obtain |
|---|---|---|
| Posting is underway | Plans remain available for inspection during the ten-day period | The City’s posting instructions and recognized dates, not an assumed self-calculated approval date |
| The period ends without a protest | The Commissioner issues the permit and stamps the plans | The issued permit and approved plan set |
| A written protest giving reasons arrives within the period | The Commissioner refers the permit matter to the Board of Building Code Appeals; issuance follows approval | The referral, decision and any resulting approved plans or conditions |
This comparison describes the published route, not how a private objection will be decided. The code’s posting section describes new structures and enlargements; the City’s guide applies the ten-day instruction to its fence application process. Confirm the instruction for the actual proposal with Building Standards rather than deciding that an existing fence or a silent neighbor makes the work exempt.
Three placement checks that a posting card cannot settle
The guide and Ordinance 2025-140 address issues that remain relevant even when no protest is filed:
- A neighboring fence: the ordinance specifies a minimum 24-inch separation where two fences run parallel or near each other, for maintenance.
- Drainage: a fence in a storm-sewer, swale-system or easement area must not obstruct drainage and can be subject to owner removal at the City Engineer’s discretion under the stated conditions.
- Corner-lot placement: the documents distinguish street-facing conditions from ordinary side/rear placement. Identify those conditions on the plan and have the City apply the relevant requirements.
There is also an inconsistency worth catching before ordering a fence: the guide’s front-yard prose uses 42 inches, while its example drawing labels a 3-foot front fence. The ordinance’s interior-lot provision describes a two-rail exception up to 42 inches. Do not copy the diagram’s dimension into a private plan or silently treat every front-yard layout as the same; ask the City to confirm the applicable text and placement.
The guide says every fence needs a zoning permit. The ordinance separately refers to a building permit for fences and walls over four feet. Those are different statements, not proof that a shorter fence has no approval requirement.
Use the actual ordinance date and current inspection instructions
Despite its “2025-140” number, the signed ordinance records passage and approval on February 17, 2026. The earlier LSL source metadata incorrectly assigned January 1, 2025. The guide’s filename also does not establish an exact publication day.
The current Building Department page provides the application route and inspection instructions. It asks callers to use 440-580-3105, provide the address or permit number, give at least 24 hours’ notice and not leave inspection requests on voicemail. Scheduling does not guarantee a response within 24 hours. Use the inspection requirements for the issued permit; a completed posting period is not an inspection result.
LSL rechecked the City guide, signed ordinance, posting/issuance sections and department instructions on September 20, 2026. We compared their different roles and checked the diagrams against the text. No survey, posting, application, protest decision or fence was independently inspected; the City must resolve property-specific requirements and current code applicability.