Fence or deck costs in New Haven

New Haven has three local historic districts: Wooster Square, approved in 1970 with 178 properties, Quinnipiac River in 1977, and City Point in 2001. Under the state's rules, two-thirds of the voting property owners have to back a district before it's designated. If your house is in one, a Connecticut statute shapes your fence plans.

The state's historic district law defines a structure to include fences and walls. It says no building or structure in a district may be put up or altered until the historic district commission approves a certificate of appropriateness for its exterior features. That certificate is required whether or not a building permit is. So a low picket fence that needs no building permit can still need the commission's approval before it goes in.

The review has limits, and they're worth knowing before you design. Exterior features, in the law's words, are the parts of a structure open to view from a public street, way or place. A deck tucked behind the house, out of sight of the street, may fall outside review. The commission also can't rule on paint color, so repainting a fence or porch rail a new color isn't its decision. What it does weigh is the fence's style, scale, design, texture and material, and how it fits with the buildings around it.