Fence Company in Summerville, SC

Your Summerville address may not be in the Town of Summerville

This is the single most useful thing we can tell a Summerville homeowner, and it costs people real money every year.

Cane Bay Plantation carries a Summerville mailing address but sits largely in unincorporated Berkeley County. The Town of Summerville's ordinances do not apply there — Berkeley County's do, and they are a different set of rules with a different permit office. Summerville also straddles Dorchester and Berkeley counties more generally, so "I'm in Summerville" is a postal statement, not a jurisdictional one.

Before anyone pulls a permit for your fence, the question that has to be answered is which authority governs this parcel. We establish that first. If a contractor doesn't ask you that question, be cautious.

If you are in the town

Summerville's building permit process requires a plot plan with your application, and an HOA or architectural review approval letter where a community association exists. Fence heights, materials and setbacks are governed by the town's Unified Development Ordinance.

Structures — fences included — cannot be placed within any easement on the property, whether drainage or utility. That's the constraint most likely to move your fence line.

Downtown: the Board of Architectural Review comes first

Work within Summerville's Downtown Historic District requires BAR approval before you submit the building permit, under the town's adopted Historic District Design Guidelines. The order matters. Applying for the permit first simply means waiting twice.

The HOA communities

Nexton, Legend Oaks, White Gables and Cane Bay all operate architectural review. Expect covenants that specify permitted materials, maximum heights, colour and sometimes which fence styles may face a street. As everywhere in the Lowcountry, an association's approval is separate from — and often stricter than — the municipality's.

Inland, but not immune

You're further from the salt than Mount Pleasant, which widens your material options: wood privacy and vinyl both perform well here and remain the most popular choices in the newer subdivisions. Shade, drainage and clay soils drive post-setting decisions more than corrosion does — the failure mode inland is a post that heaves or rots at grade, not hardware that rusts away.