What we build in Murfreesboro
With 152,769 residents at the 2020 Census, Murfreesboro is the biggest city we cover and the seat of Rutherford County. The work there is the whole backyard: a paver patio off the back door, a fire pit or a grill island at the far end, a pergola for shade, and a privacy fence around all of it. If you’d rather step out onto boards than pavers, we build decks too, with stairs that land on the patio.
Do you need a permit for a fence in Murfreesboro?
Yes. The city’s Building and Codes Department on West Vine Street issues a permit for every new fence, whoever builds it. Replacing a few sections or repainting doesn’t need one. A fence may sit right on the property line, but not in a drainage or utility easement or the street right-of-way, and it has to stay 3 feet from an air-conditioning unit or other equipment. Barbed wire isn’t allowed anywhere in the city. Your subdivision’s covenants can add their own limits on height and material, so read them before picking a style.
Decks, pergolas and other backyard structures
Decks need a building permit. A pergola, pavilion or roofed outdoor kitchen is an accessory structure under Section 25 of the zoning ordinance: on an inside lot it stands at least 5 feet from the side and rear lines and 10 feet behind the front of the house. Anything within 5 feet of the house counts as attached to it. All the accessory structures on a lot together can cover no more than half the required rear yard, which matters when a pavilion and a shed share a small yard.
Widening a driveway
Cutting or disturbing the curb takes a right-of-way excavation permit from the City Engineer (city code 28-101). Where the street has a roll-over curb and nothing is cut, the city doesn’t require one, which makes widening a driveway on those streets the simpler job.
The historic district
Homes in the H-1 historic district, which includes the East Main Street historic zone, need a certificate of appropriateness from the Historic Zoning Commission before a new fence, wall or other visible exterior work. The commission’s guidelines cover fences, so the height and material are settled with them before anything is ordered.
Sources
- City of Murfreesboro, accessory structure and fence permits — fence and deck permits, easements, equipment clearance
- Murfreesboro Zoning Ordinance, Appendix A — Section 25 accessory structures, Section 24 historic district
- Murfreesboro City Code — 28-24 barbed wire, 28-101 right-of-way excavation
- Murfreesboro Historic Zoning Commission