Short answer
On a corner lot, most townships here treat both street sides as front yards. Cheltenham and Upper Moreland limit both to open fences no taller than 4 ft. Upper Dublin measures its 4 ft front-yard limit from every frontage and wants a 36 in gate on each, but allows a solid 6 ft fence along an arterial street when that side really serves as your back yard. In Lansdale, the corner itself has to keep a clear 75 ft sight triangle.
Why a corner lot is different
Zoning codes define a front yard by the street, not by the front door. Put a house on a corner and it faces two streets, so in most of our townships it has two front yards. Horsham spells out the consequence: a corner lot has two front yards, one rear yard and, if there’s room, one side yard. The stretch of lawn along the side street, which feels like your side or back yard, is often legally a front yard with front-yard height limits.
That’s why corner-lot owners in Glenside, Willow Grove and Dresher so often end up with less backyard privacy than the neighbors, and why a fence plan copied from the house next door can fail review.
What happens along the second street, township by township
| Municipality | Along the side street | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Cheltenham (Glenside, Elkins Park, Wyncote) | Front yard: up to 4 ft, open fences only | Open means the fence cuts through-visibility by no more than 50% |
| Upper Moreland (Willow Grove) | Front yard: up to 4 ft, no solid fence | Chain link must be vinyl-coated; wire fences are prohibited |
| Upper Dublin (Dresher, Fort Washington) | Front setback measured from every frontage: up to 4 ft from sidewalk grade, with a 36 in gate | Solid 6 ft allowed along an arterial or primary street if conditions are met (below) |
| Lansdale Borough | No separate corner-lot height rule found | 75 ft sight triangle, the front-wall line and the curb and sidewalk distances control |
| Towamencin | Every yard on a street is a front yard: 3 ft, or 4 ft if 2.5 parts open to 1 part solid | No chain link in front yards |
| Lower Gwynedd | Every yard on a street is a front yard | No separate front-yard height found; confirm |
| Horsham | Two front yards: up to 4 ft in the required front yard | 60 ft sight triangle along right-of-way lines |
| Hatfield | Up to 4 ft in the front yard without the front door, if 5 ft back from the ultimate right-of-way | One of the few codes that uses the front door |
| Montgomery Township | Side-yard boundary fences up to 4 ft; 6 ft and opaque if 15 ft back from the ultimate right-of-way or next to another house lot | Nothing over 4 ft in a front yard |
| North Wales Borough | Fences on three sides of a corner lot up to 6 ft 6 in | Only if the 60 ft sight triangle stays clear |
| Ambler Borough | Between the curb and the building line on either street, nothing over 3 ft | No plantings between 3 and 9 ft above curb level there |
Checked October 2026 from the zoning codes listed under Sources.
Upper Dublin’s corner-lot exception
Upper Dublin is the one township in this group that recognizes a corner-lot owner’s real problem. On a residential corner lot, a solid fence up to 6 ft may go in the front setback along an arterial or primary street, but only if all of these are true:
- The screened area actually functions as the home’s back yard.
- The fence looks like wood, brick or stone.
- It’s set back at least 1 ft from the right-of-way.
- Landscaping in front of it softens the view from the street.
- The street isn’t a designated scenic road corridor.
On a quieter residential street, the normal front-yard rules apply to both frontages: no more than 4 ft, measured from the sidewalk grade, and an operable gate at least 36 in wide on each street frontage, plus one for every 500 ft of fencing along a street. The owner maintains the strip between the fence and the street, which is the reason for the gate. Fence permits in Upper Dublin are filed online, and the plot plan should show both frontages.
Sight triangles: the corner you can’t fence
At the intersection itself, almost every code reserves a clear sight triangle so drivers can see cross traffic. The size, and where it’s measured from, varies more than people expect:
| Municipality | Sight triangle | Measured |
|---|---|---|
| Upper Gwynedd | 100 ft (30 ft at driveways) | From the street center lines |
| Lansdale Borough | 75 ft | From the point of intersection (borough permit packet) |
| Montgomery Township | 75 ft; fences inside may be no higher than 3 ft above the curb | Along the centerline |
| North Wales Borough | 60 ft; nothing between 3 and 7 ft above road grade | Along the street centerlines |
| Horsham | 60 ft; no fence or wall inside | Along the street right-of-way lines |
| Whitemarsh | 50 ft, unless a full, unobstructed view is shown | Along the street lines |
| Cheltenham, Upper Dublin, Upper Moreland | No numeric distance found in the sections we read | Confirm with the township |
Checked October 2026.
Where the triangle is measured matters as much as its size. A triangle measured from the street centerlines starts in the middle of the road, so part of it is pavement and less of it lands in your yard. One measured along the right-of-way lines starts at your property’s edge and takes a bigger bite out of the corner. A 60 ft triangle in Horsham can cost you more lawn than a 75 ft one in Montgomery Township.
Designing a corner-lot fence that passes
- Find both setback lines first. Ask for, or measure, the required front setback on each street. Upper Moreland, for example, allows 6 ft fences behind the required front setback for buildings, so the privacy line can often start there.
- Go open along the side street. A 4 ft aluminum or spaced picket fence meets the open-fence rules in Cheltenham and Upper Moreland and still keeps a dog in.
- Step up to privacy toward the rear. Change to a 6 ft privacy fence where the code allows it, often at the rear corner of the house.
- Cut the corner. Angle the fence across the sight triangle instead of squaring it off at the intersection.
- Plan the gates. In Upper Dublin, put a 36 in gate on each frontage where they’ll actually be useful.
- Show it all on the plot plan. Both frontages, the triangle and the heights, so the zoning officer doesn’t have to guess.
Corner lots are where a site visit pays off most. At the free estimate we’ll mark where each street’s front-yard rule starts and where the sight triangle falls, then design the fence around those lines.
Common questions
Which side is my front yard if my front door faces the side street?
In most of these codes it doesn’t matter: every side facing a street is a front yard. Hatfield is an exception, allowing a 4 ft fence in the front yard that doesn’t hold the front door, set 5 ft back from the right-of-way.
Can I plant a hedge at the corner instead of a fence?
Not freely. Sight-triangle rules often cover plantings too. Upper Gwynedd’s triangle must be clear of fences, walls and plantings, Ambler bars plantings between 3 and 9 ft in its corner area, and Lower Gwynedd limits plantings at intersections to 3 ft.
Can I keep my old 6 ft fence along the side street?
Maybe, if it was legally built, but a replacement may have to meet today’s rules. Ask the zoning officer before you tear it out.