Goddard Fence Installation

Goddard sits immediately west of Wichita along US-54 and has grown from a farm town into one of the metro's faster-expanding suburbs. It is its own permitting jurisdiction. The city adopted the International Building Code, 2012 Edition, specifically as amended by Resolution 106-2015 of the Sedgwick County Board of County Commissioners, and the International Residential Code, 2012 Edition. That is an unusual arrangement worth knowing: Goddard's building rules track the county's amendments, but the office you deal with is Goddard's, not MABCD's.

Zoning is handled the same way. Section 16-201 of the city code adopts by reference the Zoning Regulations of the City of Goddard, Kansas, dated August 25, 2016, and Section 16-202 governs the official zoning map. Because those regulations live in a separate adopted document rather than in the online code, the fence height and setback numbers are not something you can look up from a phone. The Planning Commission meets at 118 North Main, and that is the address to start from.

Ask the city three questions when you call: what permit a residential fence needs, what the maximum height is in your zoning district, and how far off the property line the city expects the fence to sit. Get those answers before material is ordered.

Goddard's R-1 single-family district sets a minimum lot area of 4,000 square feet and a minimum lot width of 40 feet. Those are floors written into the zoning districts article, not descriptions of a typical Goddard lot — most of the newer platted additions on the city's edges are considerably wider. The number matters mainly because it tells you the code contemplates narrow lots, which is where side-yard clearance and gate swing get tight.

Newer subdivisions in and around Goddard are generally platted with covenants and a homeowners association. Associations here commonly require written architectural approval before a fence is built. That approval is separate from the city's process, and neither one waives the other. Check your recorded covenants and your plat's utility and drainage easements at the same time, since a fence built across an easement can be removed by whoever holds it.

Goddard is open country on three sides, which means fence lines catch wind with very little upwind shelter. The National Weather Service office in Wichita puts the metro's average annual wind speed at 11.5 mph over the official 1991-2020 normals, with the prevailing direction out of the south-southwest. The highest gust in the office's record for Wichita Eisenhower National Airport is 102 mph, on June 17, 2025.

A solid six-foot privacy fence transfers all of that load into its posts and footings. The depth figure used across Wichita and Sedgwick County is MABCD's frost line of 24 inches below finish grade; because Goddard's building code follows Sedgwick County's amendments, confirm the applicable footing depth with the city when you apply rather than assuming.

Finally, Kansas 811 requires at least two full business days' notice before any excavation, and every post hole on a fence line counts.