St. George Fence Permits — What Baton Rouge Homeowners Need to Know

If you live in the Highland Road, Airline Highway, or Perkins Road corridors south of Baton Rouge, the office that handles your fence permit may not be the one you'd expect. St. George is now its own city with its own building department, and a lot of homeowners — and more than a few contractors — are still submitting to the wrong place.

I'm Jay Davis, owner of Legend Fence in Prairieville. We work across Ascension and East Baton Rouge Parish, and this jurisdiction question comes up constantly. Here's what you need to know before you plan a fence in that area.

St. George Handles Its Own Permits Now

Beginning October 16, 2024, the City of St. George began providing building permits and inspections, planning and zoning permitting, floodplain elevation certificate review, Board of Adjustment zoning variances, and occupational licensing and renewals.

That's the shift. Before that date, everything in that area went through East Baton Rouge City-Parish. Now it doesn't.

The rule is simple: if your address is inside the City of St. George limits, St. George handles your building and planning permits. If your address is in the City of Baton Rouge or unincorporated East Baton Rouge Parish, the City-Parish Department of Development handles them.

The complication is that "inside St. George limits" isn't obvious from a street address. Neighborhoods that have always been described as Baton Rouge are now inside a different municipality. If you're not certain which side of the line you're on, that's the first thing to confirm — not the fence material, not the height.

Is a Fence Permit Required?

St. George's guidance is that permits are required for most construction, alterations, and repairs, and to contact the Building Department if you are unsure.

That's broad language on purpose. Rather than guessing, call before you build.

The Permits Office can be reached at permits@stgeorgela.gov or (225) 228-3200. A five-minute call is cheaper than a failed inspection or a fence you have to move.

One thing worth knowing if your project involves grade changes: St. George requires a permit for retaining walls and rockery walls over three feet in height, measured from top of footing to top of wall, unless the wall is shown in detail on an approved subdivision or site plan. That catches homeowners who are building a fence on top of a retaining structure.

How to Apply

St. George runs an online permitting system where residents, contractors, and developers can apply for permits, request inspections, check permit status, and submit required documents. Inspections are requested through the portal at stg.govmotus.org.

The Building Department is located at 14100 Airline Highway, St. George, LA 70817.

For any permit application involving a fence, expect to need a plot plan or plat showing your property lines, servitudes, and the proposed fence location. If you don't have your plat from closing, track it down before you start the application — it's the document everything else depends on.

The Codes Themselves Didn't Change

Here's the part that reassures most homeowners: Louisiana adopted the 2021 International Codes and the 2020 National Electrical Code, which local offices enforce — meaning your technical building requirements are the same whether you apply in St. George or with the City-Parish.

So the construction standards aren't different. What's different is which office reviews your application, which portal you use, what the fees are, and who shows up to inspect.

Zoning and Land Use Are Separate

St. George maintains its own Unified Development Code governing the use of all premises in the city — and that document has been revised multiple times through 2026 as the new city builds out its framework.

That's worth saying plainly: this is a young municipality and its requirements are still settling. We've had projects where inspection comments surfaced requirements that weren't obvious at the start. Not a criticism of St. George — it's what happens when a city stands up a building department from scratch. But it means confirming current requirements beats relying on what was true six months ago.

And as always, your HOA is a separate matter entirely. City approval doesn't substitute for HOA approval, and HOA approval doesn't substitute for the permit.

What This Means Practically

Confirm your jurisdiction first. Before anything else, know whether your address falls inside St. George, the City of Baton Rouge, or unincorporated East Baton Rouge Parish. The answer determines which office you deal with.

Call before you build. Permit requirements for fencing aren't always spelled out the way homeowners expect. A call to (225) 228-3200 settles it.

Have your plat ready. Nearly every fence permit application requires a scaled plot plan showing property lines and servitudes.

Don't assume last year's process applies. St. George's requirements have been evolving since the department launched in October 2024.

Work with a contractor who's dealing with this regularly. We're submitting in these jurisdictions routinely and we'll tell you upfront what your project needs.

Get a Free Estimate

Planning a fence in St. George, Baton Rouge, or anywhere in East Baton Rouge Parish? Call Jay Davis at (225) 433-3620 or reach out through legend-fence.com. I'll come out, walk the property, and tell you straight what the permit path looks like for your address.

Legend Fence serves Prairieville, Baton Rouge, Gonzales, Denham Springs, Walker, Central, Zachary, Hammond, Covington, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

This post is general information, not legal or regulatory advice. St. George is a new municipality and its requirements continue to evolve. Always confirm current requirements directly with the City of St. George Building Department at (225) 228-3200 or permits@stgeorgela.gov before beginning work.