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.
• Neighbor gap: Your fence must stay at least 4 feet away from an existing fence on a neighbor's property (unless they're connecting).
• Utility boxes: Your fence can't box out utility junction boxes. Your fence must go around them.
• Wood treatment: All wood fences must be sealed with a clear coat, 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. Posts and rails stay on your side.
• Gates: Gates on property lines must open inward, onto your property.

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.
• No storage underneath: The space under a deck is not a storage area.

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.
• 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.
• 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).
• 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.
• Rear yard only: Sheds must be behind the back corners of your house.

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.
• Location: Back yard only. 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.
• No storage: Playsets 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, no taller than 18 inches.
• Support stakes and trellises: Max 5 feet tall. Must be white, green, or natural wood color.
• Not for commercial use: Personal gardens only — you can't grow and sell produce from your Willowbrook lot.

Fire pits are allowed, but need to be a safe distance from structures and property lines.

• Back yard only.
• Distance from property line: At least 15 feet.
• Distance from structures: At least 25 feet from any structure on your lot or neighboring lots.
• Maximum fire size: The burning area can't be larger than about 10 square feet. The pit must have a containment design.
• Raised/built-in pits: Brick or stone ring walls can't be taller than 18 inches.
• No burning trash: Fire pits are for firewood only.
• Never leave unattended.

A privacy screen is a partial enclosure — think a pergola, lattice wall, or attached arbor. Not a full fence.

• Must be next to a structure: Screens must be attached to or immediately adjacent to your home or another approved structure.
• 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).
• Privacy screening (over 4 feet tall, 80%+ solid): Back yard only.
• Materials: Match your home's siding material and color.
• 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.

• 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, white vinyl privacy fence, or wood painted to match your house trim. Must be permanently installed with posts set in concrete.
• Not allowed: Lattice, louvers, open slats, picket-style, or any cover/roof.
• Trash cans only.

Solar panels are approved in Willowbrook. The main rule: 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 facing the street your home fronts on.
• Total roof coverage: Panels can cover no more than 25% of your total roof area.
• 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.

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.
• Distance from neighbor's windows: At least 23 feet.
• Screened from view: Must be at least 80% hidden from street view up to 3 feet high.
• Noise limit: Must be rated at 63 dB or quieter at 23 feet.
• For power outages only.

Security cameras, outdoor lights, ring doorbells, EV chargers — anything attached to the outside of your home that can be seen from outside.

• Cameras: Must be mounted no higher than 8 feet off the ground. Must point at your own property only.
• Color match: Fixtures should match the color of the part of the house they're attached to.
• Outdoor lighting: 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. Not illuminated between 1:00 AM and 5:00 PM.
• Not approved: Cameras aimed at neighbor's yards or windows. Bright stadium-style lighting.

Repainting your home or a structure? Colors must be earth tones. No metallic finishes, neon, or bright colors.

• Earth tones required: Browns, tans, warm grays, muted greens, cream, white, and black are all good.
• Not allowed: Metallic/chrome finishes, fluorescent or neon colors.
• 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.

Adding onto your home? A room addition must match your existing home in materials, roofline, and color.

• Setback from street: Can't get closer to the street than your existing home's setback line.
• 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.
• Elevated floors: If the addition floor is 1+ foot above ground, the underside must be skirted or landscaped to 80% opacity.

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

• Height limit: No part of the pool can be 12 or more inches above the existing grade of your lot.
• Drainage: Installation can'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.
• Equipment: Pool pumps and filters must be screened from neighbor's views.

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

• One per lot maximum.
• Cabinet size: No larger than 24" wide × 24" deep × 24" tall.
• Post height: No taller than 5 feet above the ground.
• Location: Must be within your property line with at least a 1-foot setback. Front, side, and back yards are all permitted. Cannot be placed in the street right-of-way.
• Purpose: Books and reading materials only.
• Maintenance: Keep it in good structural and cosmetic condition.