Short answer
Cheltenham Township allows fences up to 4 ft between the street and the house, and only open fences, no solid ones, in the required front yard. Corner lots have two front yards with the same limit. Side and rear fences can be 6 ft. A fence must sit no more than 5 ft from the property line, finished side out, and never in the street right-of-way. In the La Mott and Wyncote historical districts, a fence change needs BHAR review before the permit.
| Rule | What the code says |
|---|---|
| Front yard | Up to 4 ft in the yard between the street and the house. No solid fences in the required front yard. |
| Side and rear yards | Up to 6 ft. |
| Corner lots | Two front yards; the 4 ft, open-only rule applies to both. |
| Open fence | One that reduces through-visibility by no more than 50%. |
| Placement | No more than 5 ft from the property line, if the line is clearly established and the strip stays accessible and maintained by the owner. Finished side faces adjacent properties and rights-of-way. Nothing in the street right-of-way, which typically includes the curb and sidewalk. |
| Sight triangle | No fence in, or interfering with, the sight triangle for vehicular traffic. |
| Water | No fences in floodplains, swales or watercourses, and none that block stormwater flow from the site or a neighbor’s. |
| Historic districts | In La Mott and Wyncote, a change to a fence, wall or trellis is an alteration needing Board of Historical Architectural Review (BHAR) review. |
| Pools | Completely enclosed by a fence at least 4 ft high with a locking gate; material approved by the Building Inspector. |
| Permit | Required. No permit issues until the Zoning Officer certifies compliance. |
From Cheltenham Zoning § 295-405A(6) (Use A-6 Fences and Walls), § 295-301, § 295-1801 and § 295-2702.
What counts as an open fence in Cheltenham
The front-yard rule turns on one definition. An open fence reduces visibility through it by no more than 50%, so at least half of what you’d see without the fence still shows through. Aluminum and iron-look pickets, widely spaced wood pickets and split rail are the usual candidates, and the zoning office has the final say. Board-on-board, shadowbox and solid vinyl panels don’t, and those belong in side and rear yards, where 6 ft is allowed.
On a corner lot, both street sides are front yards. That can leave only the rear part of the lot for a 6 ft privacy fence. Our corner-lot guide walks through layouts.
The 5 ft rule and property lines
Cheltenham wants fences close to the line: no more than 5 ft from it, as long as the line is clearly established and you keep the strip on the outside accessible and maintained. If there’s a line dispute, an inspector may require a field survey. The finished side, without exposed posts and rails, faces the neighbor and the street. On the twins and rowhouses common in parts of the township, that often means talking to the neighbor about access to the outside strip.
Historic districts: La Mott and Wyncote
Cheltenham has 13 National Register listings, the most in Montgomery County. Locally, La Mott and Wyncote are certified historical districts, and the zoning code counts any change to a man-made landscape structure, such as a wall, fence or trellis, as an alteration that the Board of Historical Architectural Review reviews before a permit. The National Register’s Wyncote Historic District covers more than 100 acres with 178 contributing buildings, many of them Queen Anne and stone Colonial Revival houses. Style choices there go through BHAR; our historic neighborhoods guide covers what tends to fit.
Tookany Creek, swales and stormwater
Tookany Creek runs through the township into Philadelphia and has a long flooding history; a 2015 Army Corps report blamed urbanization for higher runoff and reduced creek capacity. Cheltenham’s code keeps fences out of floodplains, swales and watercourses and bars any fence that blocks stormwater flow from your lot or a neighbor’s. We look for swales and drainage paths before setting a solid fence line.
Pools
A pool must be completely enclosed by a fence at least 4 ft high with a locking gate, and the Building Inspector approves the fence material. A pool with an elevated platform or walkway at least 4 ft above ground needs no separate fence if the ladders or steps can be locked or removed.
Who this covers
Cheltenham takes in Elkins Park, Wyncote, Glenside, Melrose Park, La Mott, Cheltenham Village and Laverock. Elkins Park and Glenside are split with Abington, whose rules differ, so check your tax bill. See our Elkins Park and Wyncote and Glenside pages.
What we haven’t confirmed
- The permit fee and the current online filing process; the township page couldn’t be opened when we checked.
- A numeric residential sight-triangle distance.
- Any barbed-wire or electric-fence rule.
Rules checked in October 2026 from Cheltenham’s zoning chapter. Codes change, so we confirm with the zoning office before every install, and with BHAR first in the historic districts. Other municipalities are on our PA fence permits page. Bring photos of your house’s trim and porch to the estimate if you’re in La Mott or Wyncote.
Common questions
Can I put a privacy fence in my front yard in Cheltenham?
No. Only open fences, which cut through-visibility by no more than 50%, are allowed in the required front yard, up to 4 ft. On a corner lot that applies on both streets.
Do I need historic approval for a fence in Wyncote?
In the Wyncote and La Mott historical districts, changing a fence is an alteration that needs Board of Historical Architectural Review review before a permit is issued.