Want to make a change to your home or yard?

Fences are one of the most common requests. A few key things to know before you plan: fences can't go in your front yard, and they need to look good on both sides.

• Location: Fences can only go behind the back corners of your home. No front yard fences.
• Property line: You can build right on your property line, or set back at least 24 inches from it. If you build on the line, your neighbor can tie their fence into yours later.
• Neighbor gap: Your fence must stay at least 4 feet away from an existing fence on a neighbor's property (unless they're connecting).
• Maintenance access: If your fence would lock off a section of your own yard that you can only reach by going through a neighbor's property, you must add a gate.
• Utility boxes: Your fence can't box out utility junction boxes. Your fence must go around them, keeping them accessible.
• Wood treatment: All wood fences must be sealed with a clear coat (like Thompson's Water Seal), stained a natural wood color, or painted to match your home's main or trim color.
• Beauty side out: The "nice-looking" side of your fence faces outward. The structural posts and rails stay on your side (inside the fence).
• Gates: Gates on property lines must open inward, onto your property.
• Straight and maintained: Fences must be installed in straight lines at a consistent height and kept in good repair over time.

Adding a deck? Great news — most deck projects get approved. The main things the board looks at are how it's finished and whether the underside is covered if it's elevated.

• Setback from street: A deck can't get closer to the street than your home's building setback line.
• Elevated decks (1–7 feet off ground): The gap underneath must be hidden with skirting or dense landscaping (at least 80% solid-looking at planting time).
• Very high decks (over 7 feet): No skirting needed, but the area underneath must be finished — grass, landscaping, or an approved hard surface.
• Wood treatment: All exposed wood must be sealed, stained a natural color, or painted to match your home. Untreated wood that goes gray is not allowed.
• No storage underneath: The space under a deck is not a storage area.
• Maintenance: Keep it looking good over time — replace broken boards, repaint/restain as needed.

Whether you're adding pavers, extending your driveway, or building a basketball pad — here's what the board looks at.

• Driveway materials: Concrete, asphalt, or brick/stone pavers. Stamped or colored concrete needs to be listed in your application.
• Extending your driveway: Use the same material and color as your existing driveway.
• No parking on extensions: Driveway extensions are for cars that can legally drive on public roads. No boats, campers, trailers, or recreational vehicles.
• Drainage: New pavement can't redirect rainwater onto your neighbor's yard.
• Basketball courts: Courts must stay at least 10 feet from any property line. No permanent court lighting. Courts can't be used after sunset or before sunrise in a way that's loud enough to hear inside a neighbor's home.
• Patio maintenance: Repair cracked or damaged surfaces. Keep it looking like the neighborhood standard.
• Not allowed: Boats, RVs, trailers, or non-street-legal vehicles parked on driveway extensions.

Sheds must blend in with the neighborhood. The board pays attention to size, height, materials, and how visible it is from the street.

• Maximum size: No larger than 100 square feet (for example, 10×10) unless specifically approved for more in your letter.
• Maximum height: No taller than 12 feet from the ground to the highest point of the roof.
• Roof style: Must have a peaked (gabled) roof — not a single-slope shed-style roof.
• Materials: Siding and shingles should match your home. No T1-11 plywood siding. All exposed wood must be painted, stained, or sealed.
• Setback from property line: Set back at least as far as the shed wall is tall. (Example: if your shed wall is 6 feet tall, it must be 6 feet from the property line.)
• Visible from the street: If your shed can be seen from a street within 100 feet of your house, it must be at least 80% hidden by landscaping.
• Rear yard only: Sheds must be behind the back corners of your house.
• No storage around it: The area around the shed must stay clean — no piles of stuff outside.

Kids' playsets are welcome in Willowbrook backyards. These rules are mostly about materials and keeping the set looking good over time.

• Materials: Wood or composite/vinyl designed to look like wood. No plywood roofs or T1-11 siding.
• Wood treatment: Seal or stain natural wood to prevent it from turning gray. Or paint it to match your home's colors.
• Location: Back yard only — behind the back corners of your house. Must be at least 3 feet from the property line at the furthest point of any swing's reach.
• Height: No part of the playset can be taller than 12 feet.
• Tarps or coverings: If included, they must be maintained in clean, "like-new" condition. Torn or faded tarps must be repaired or replaced promptly.
• No storage: Playsets (including any "fort" or enclosed section) may not be used to store items.

Want to grow vegetables or a dedicated flower bed? You can, but gardens need a defined border and must stay in the back yard.

• Back yard only: All gardens must be behind the back corners of your home.
• Stay away from property lines: Gardens must be at least 5 feet from any property line.
• Maximum size: No larger than 16 feet × 8 feet (rectangular) or 8 feet × 8 feet (square).
• Must have a border: Gardens need a solid edge like landscape timbers or similar edging, no taller than 18 inches. You can add plastic or coated wire mesh (not chain-link or chicken wire) as a second layer, up to another 18 inches, to keep animals out.
• Support stakes and trellises: Max 5 feet tall. Must be white, green, or natural wood color.
• Keep it tidy: Keep weeds out during growing season. No tarps thrown over the garden (except brief frost protection).
• Not for commercial use: Personal gardens only — you can't grow and sell produce from your Willowbrook lot.

Fire pits (including those standalone bowl-style ones) are allowed in Willowbrook, but need to be a safe distance from structures and property lines.

• Back yard only: All fire pits must be behind the back corners of your home.
• Distance from property line: At least 15 feet from any property line.
• Distance from structures: At least 25 feet from any structure on your lot or neighboring lots. That includes your shed, your neighbor's house, etc.
• Maximum fire size: The burning area can't be larger than about 10 square feet (roughly 3.5 feet across). The pit must have a containment design that keeps fire from spreading.
• Raised/built-in pits: Brick or stone ring walls can't be taller than 18 inches. Keep the surrounding area mowed and weed-free.
• No burning trash: Fire pits are for firewood only — not garbage.
• Never leave unattended: A fire in a fire pit may never burn while no one is watching it.

A privacy screen is a partial enclosure — think a pergola, a lattice wall next to a patio, or an attached arbor. Not a full fence. These rules keep screens from becoming de-facto fences without approval.

• Must be next to a structure: Screens must be attached to or immediately adjacent to your home or another approved structure on your lot.
• Size limit: No more than 16 total feet of screening, with no more than 8 feet on any single side.
• Height: Max 6 feet tall (the screen itself). If it's raised on a platform, the total height from the ground can't exceed 8 feet.
• Privacy screening (over 4 feet tall, 80%+ solid): Back yard only.
• Trash can screening: Side yard only, max 48 inches tall, max 8 feet total length (see Trash Can Screens for more).
• Materials: Match your home's siding material and color, or get a different material specifically approved.
• Warning: If you keep adding to a screen until it fully encloses an area, it becomes a fence and requires fence approval.

Want to hide your trash and recycling bins? You can build a dedicated screen for them. Here's what it needs to look like.

• Location: Side yard or rear yard only, directly next to the house.
• Size: Maximum 4 feet tall, 5 feet wide, 10 feet long.
• Shape: Either an L-shape (two sides) or a U-shape (three sides with a gate). No cover or roof.
• Materials: Solid wood privacy-style boards (vertical or horizontal), white vinyl privacy fence, or wood painted to match your house trim. Must be permanently installed with posts set in concrete.
• Treatment: Seal, stain, or paint all exposed wood.
• Not allowed: Lattice, louvers, open slats, picket-style, split rail, prefab no-dig kits, or any cover/roof.
• Trash cans only: These screens can't be used for other storage.

Solar panels are approved in Willowbrook. The main rule is straightforward: panels can't be visible from the street in front of your home.

• Street side = no panels: Panels cannot be on any part of the roof (or the exterior of the home) that faces the street your home fronts on. If you have a corner lot, this applies to both streets.
• Total roof coverage: Panels can cover no more than 25% of your total roof area (regardless of which slopes they're on).
• Color match: Roof panels should be close in color to your shingles.
• Ground-mounted panels: Must stay within the fence-height limit and be fully screened from view of neighboring homes' windows and doors.
• Maintain them: Keep panels looking clean and like-new over time.

Whole-home standby generators are approved. They need to be screened and quiet enough not to disturb neighbors.

• Concrete pad: Generator must sit on a permanent poured concrete pad sized for that unit only.
• Distance from neighbor's windows: At least 23 feet from the nearest window on any adjacent home.
• Screened from view: Must be at least 80% hidden from street view up to 3 feet high, and 100% hidden from the line of sight from neighboring windows and doors.
• Noise limit: Must be rated at 63 dB or quieter at 23 feet (this is about as loud as a normal conversation — it's quieter than you think). Don't run it if it's malfunctioning loudly.
• For power outages only: Generators are backup power, not a regular power source. Don't run it as a daily energy source.

Security cameras, outdoor lights, ring doorbells, EV chargers — anything attached to the outside of your home or lot that can be seen from outside is considered an "exterior fixture." Most are straightforward to get approved.

• Cameras: Must be mounted no higher than 8 feet off the ground. Must point at your own property only — you can capture the public street, but can't be aimed at a neighbor's windows, doors, or yard.
• Color match: Fixtures should match the color of the part of the house they're attached to (e.g., a white camera on a white wall).
• Outdoor lighting: Normal security lights must be white or soft white, pointed at your property — not shining into neighbor's windows.
• Decorative lights (color/animated): Allowed for holidays and life events (birthdays, graduations). Not illuminated between 1:00 AM and 5:00 PM. Must look inconspicuous during the day.
• EV chargers: Can't be placed in a way that requires your car to park in a side yard to use them.
• Not approved: Cameras aimed at neighbor's yards or windows. Bright stadium-style lighting. Colored lights left on permanently year-round.

Repainting your home or a structure? Colors must be earth tones. Willowbrook doesn't allow metallic finishes, neon, or bright colors.

• Earth tones required: Browns, tans, warm grays, muted greens, cream, white, and black are all good. Muted blues or reds may be approved on a case-by-case basis.
• Not allowed: Metallic/chrome finishes, fluorescent or neon colors, or any color that can't reasonably be described as natural/earthy.
• Trim colors: Trim must also be an earth tone. Front doors and shutters can have an eggshell or semi-gloss finish (but not full gloss).
• Multiple colors: If you list only one color on your application, only that color is approved. List all colors you plan to use.
• Exposed wood: Must be sealed clear, stained a natural wood color, or painted to match your home's main or trim color.
• Light bulbs: Exterior lights should cast white or soft white light (seasonal decorative lights are an exception).

Adding onto your home? A room addition is attached to the house and accessed from inside. It must match your existing home in materials, roofline, and color.

• What counts as a room addition: Attached to the house, accessed from inside. If it's detached or used for storage, it's an outbuilding (see Sheds rules instead).
• Setback from street: Can't get closer to the street than your existing home's setback line.
• Elevated floors: If the addition floor is 1+ foot above ground, the underside must be skirted or landscaped to 80% opacity.
• Roof: Must be a gabled (peaked) roof — no single-slope shed roofs — using the same shingles as the existing home.
• Siding and windows: Must match the existing home's siding type, style, and color.
• Lighting: Any new exterior lights on the addition must be max 100 watts and pointed at your own property.
• Wood treatment: All exposed wood sealed, stained, or painted to match the home.

In-ground pools are permitted in Willowbrook. Above-ground pools must stay within 12 inches of ground level unless specific grade changes are approved.

• Height limit: No part of the pool can be 12 or more inches above the existing grade of your lot, unless you specifically apply for grade changes.
• Drainage: You're responsible for making sure installation doesn't cause rainwater to pool or flow onto neighbors' lots.
• Safety fencing: If the city or county requires a safety fence around the pool, you must comply with those government requirements. HOA fence rules still apply except where government rules require something different.
• Equipment: Pool pumps, filters, and pads must be screened from neighbor's views with landscaping or a structure.
• Access during installation: If equipment needs to cross a neighbor's property, you must get their written permission first and commit to repairing any damage to their lawn.

A Little Free Library is a small book-sharing cabinet on a post in your yard. Willowbrook welcomes these — they build community. Here's what's required.

• One per lot maximum.
• Cabinet size: No larger than 24" wide × 24" deep × 24" tall.
• Post height: The post or stand may not be taller than 5 feet above the ground.
• Location: Must be within your property line with at least a 1-foot setback from any property line or sidewalk edge. Front yards, side yards, and back yards are all permitted. Cannot be placed in the street right-of-way.
• Materials: Wood, weather-resistant composite, or durable vinyl/plastic with a residential appearance. No raw, untreated wood.
• Finish: Paint, stain, or seal all exposed wood. Colors should complement your home's exterior — natural wood tones or painted colors that fit the neighborhood character. No fluorescent or neon finishes.
• Purpose: Books and reading materials only. Not for other storage, advertising, or commercial use.
• Maintenance: Keep it in good structural and cosmetic condition. Damaged or dilapidated units must be repaired or removed within 30 days of notice.