Lakemont, Bellevue WA
Lakemont Community Association Fence Guide: HOA-Friendly Fencing in Bellevue
This guide explains how to plan a fence in Lakemont using the Lakemont Community Association's public design review instructions and the City of Bellevue's fence rules. SeattleFence is an independent contractor. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or an approved vendor of the association.
The short version: if your home is in the Lakemont Community Association, its website says a design review is required before you build a fence, and the application has to be approved by its Design Review Board. The City of Bellevue's rules apply on top of that. Rules and forms change, so use the association's current instructions and check with its architectural review process before you build.
What the Lakemont Community Association is
The City of Bellevue's neighborhood associations page lists the Lakemont Community Association as a registered neighborhood association for the Cougar Mountain/Lakemont area. The association's website lists the neighborhoods it covers: Branderwood, Brighton, Carlyle, Chandler Park, Creekside Circle, Findley Court, Forster, Greystone, Highbridge, Larkin, Longshadow Ridge, Stratford, Woodcroft, and Wyngate.
It works like a homeowners association. Its website describes a required design review, cites CC&Rs, and routes applications through its property manager, MacPherson's Community Management. Its February 2026 newsletter describes member homeowners who vote for the Board of Directors and a portal where they can see their balance, pay online, and read the governing documents. We did not find the recorded CC&Rs or bylaws on a public page, so we do not describe their contents here. Your title documents and the association's manager can tell you whether your lot is covered.
Lakemont is not one rulebook. The city also lists other associations for the same area, including Horizon Crest, Lakemont Highlands Division 2 HOA, and Whispering Heights and Collingwood Association, so confirm which one covers your street.
How the association's design review works for fences
According to the association's Design Review Applications section, a design review is required before any home modification, alteration, or change that might be seen outside the home, and the list it gives includes all fences. Applications are submitted through the manager's portal under the Architectural Reviews tab. The Design Review Board meets on the third Wednesday of each month at 9:30 a.m. at the US Bank Community Room, 4851 Lakemont Blvd SE, and applications and materials are due by the Friday before the meeting.
The website says each application must specify materials, product specifications, colors with a color chip, height (especially for fences and trees), dimensions, and a site or landscape plan. The newsletter's example is a 6' cedar fence with a named stain color. Approvals are good for one year, and if the work is not done in that time the application must be resubmitted.
Timing matters. The newsletter says the request is free if you make it before you start. Work started or completed without prior approval requires a retroactive application and a $350 fee, and the association says paying the fee does not guarantee approval and that you may be required to remove or alter the work at your expense. The newsletter also says that replacing an existing fence with the same material, design, and location does not require a request.
The association does not publish a list of approved fence styles, heights, or colors that we could find. That means we cannot tell you what the board will approve. What we can do is help you prepare the details it asks for: a clear style, height, material, stain color, and a site plan showing where the fence goes.
Fence styles that usually suit design review
These are styles SeattleFence builds that tend to translate well into a design review application. They are not an association-approved list, and the association does not publish one. The board decides what it approves.
Picture Frame Fence
A finished border on both faces gives the street and the neighbor the same clean look, which makes the application easy to describe: material, height, and stain color.
View this style →Solid Board Fence
Solid cedar privacy is a straightforward spec for a backyard run. Stepping the panels with the slope keeps the top line tidy on a hillside lot.
View this style →Horizontal Fence
Horizontal cedar with a natural or neutral stain gives a cleaner contemporary line for remodeled homes. Submit it with the same detail: height, board size, and color.
View this style →Use a finished side that faces out toward the street or the neighbor, keep the height within city limits, and describe the stain color the way the association asks. That is general planning advice from SeattleFence, not a requirement we are attributing to the association.
Approval process: the association, then the city
Plan on two checks. Neither one replaces the other, and SeattleFence does not issue either approval.
1. Association design review
Gather your style, height, materials, product details, stain color, and a site plan. Submit through the association's portal before work starts, no later than the Friday before the Design Review Board meets on the third Wednesday of the month.
Questions go to the association's manager at Lakemont@MacPhersonsPM.com. Wait for the board's decision before you build. A contractor's quote is not association approval.
2. City of Bellevue
Bellevue publishes residential fence rules on its Fences page, based on Land Use Code 20.20.400. The city says you do not need a permit unless the fence exceeds 8 feet, is within a critical area or critical area buffer such as a wetland, stream, or steep slope, or is built of concrete block or similar material.
Fences in a required front-yard setback generally may not exceed 4 feet 6 inches, with limited exceptions. Height is measured from finished grade on the outside of the fence, and on sloping ground the fence must follow or step with the slope so it does not exceed the allowed height at any point. A fence must also keep clear of the sight-obstruction areas at street intersections.
When the rules disagree
A city allowance is not association approval, and association approval is not a city permit. If the association's requirements are stricter than Bellevue's fence rules, plan to meet both. SeattleFence can help you put together a design, a sketch, and a build plan to take into the review. We do not decide it.
Lakemont fence-guide questions
Is the Lakemont Community Association an HOA?
It works like one. The association's own website describes a Design Review Board whose review is required before fences and other exterior changes, refers to CC&Rs, and says applications go through its property manager's portal. Its newsletter describes member homeowners who vote for a board of directors and pay account balances through that portal. The City of Bellevue lists the Lakemont Community Association as a registered neighborhood association for the Cougar Mountain/Lakemont area. We did not find the recorded CC&Rs or bylaws on a public page, so confirm with the association's manager whether your lot is covered. SeattleFence is not affiliated with the association.
Do I need approval before building a fence in the Lakemont Community Association?
If your home is in the association, its website says a design review is required before any change that might be seen outside the home, and it names all fences. Work started or finished without prior approval requires a retroactive application and a $350 fee, and the association says paying the fee does not guarantee approval. Its newsletter says replacing an existing fence with the same material, design, and location does not require a request. Check with the association's architectural review process before you build.
What does a Lakemont design review application for a fence need to include?
The association's website says each application must specify materials, product specifications, colors with a color chip, height (especially for fences), dimensions, and a site or landscape plan. Its newsletter gives the example of a 6' cedar fence with a named stain color. Applications are submitted through the manager's portal, are due the Friday before the Design Review Board meets, and the website says approvals are good for one year. Dates and forms can change, so use the association's current instructions.
Do I need a City of Bellevue permit for a fence in Lakemont?
Bellevue's fence page says you do not need a permit unless the fence exceeds 8 feet, is within a critical area or critical area buffer (such as a wetland, stream, or steep slope), or is built of concrete block or similar material. Fences in a required front-yard setback generally may not exceed 4 feet 6 inches, with limited exceptions. On sloping ground, the fence must follow or step with the slope so it does not exceed the allowed height at any point. Confirm your address with Bellevue Development Services.
What fence styles usually fit HOA review in Lakemont?
The association does not publish an approved-style list that we could find. In general, review boards tend to respond well to clean cedar styles with a finished side facing the street or neighbor, natural or neutral stains, and heights that stay within city limits. Picture frame, solid cedar privacy, and horizontal cedar are common choices we build. These are SeattleFence planning suggestions, not Lakemont Community Association rules, and the board decides what it approves.
Is my Lakemont home covered by the Lakemont Community Association?
Not necessarily. The association's website lists the neighborhoods it covers: Branderwood, Brighton, Carlyle, Chandler Park, Creekside Circle, Findley Court, Forster, Greystone, Highbridge, Larkin, Longshadow Ridge, Stratford, Woodcroft, and Wyngate. The City of Bellevue also lists other associations in the Cougar Mountain/Lakemont area, including Horizon Crest, Lakemont Highlands Division 2 HOA, and Whispering Heights and Collingwood Association. Check your title documents and recorded covenants, or ask the association's manager, before assuming which rules apply.
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Tell us the address, approximate length, the style you have in mind, and anything you know about the association or covenants that cover your lot. We will price the fence and help you prepare a clear plan for the association's review and, when needed, the city.
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Sources
Every association and city claim on this page comes from one of these public pages. Rules change. Read the current association instructions and your recorded covenants, and confirm city rules before you build.
- Lakemont Community Association — Home
The association's name and its neighborhood list (Branderwood, Brighton, Carlyle, Chandler Park, Creekside Circle, Findley Court, Forster, Greystone, Highbridge, Larkin, Longshadow Ridge, Stratford, Woodcroft, Wyngate); that a Design Review is required before any change visible outside the home, naming all fences; the $350 retroactive application fee and that paying it does not guarantee approval; that reviews are held on the third Wednesday of each month at 9:30 a.m. at the US Bank Community Room, 4851 Lakemont Blvd SE, with applications due the Friday before; that applications go through MacPherson's Community Management's portal under Architectural Reviews; that each application must specify materials, product specifications, colors with a color chip, height (especially fences), dimensions, and a site plan; that approvals are good for one year; and the manager contact Lakemont@MacPhersonsPM.com.
- Lakemont Community Association Newsletter — February 2026
That fences are on the list of changes needing a design review request; that replacing an existing fence with the same material, design, and location does not need a request; that the request is free if made before the project starts; the example of a 6' cedar fence with a named stain color; that the portal lets members see their balance, pay online, vote for the Board of Directors, and access governing documents; and the Design Review Board contact LakemontDRB@gmail.com.
- City of Bellevue — Neighborhood Associations
Lists the Lakemont Community Association as a registered neighborhood association under Cougar Mountain/Lakemont, alongside the Cougar Mountain Residents Association, Horizon Crest, Lakemont Highlands Division 2 HOA, and Whispering Heights and Collingwood Association.
- City of Bellevue — Fences
The 4-foot-6-inch limit in a required front-yard setback and its exceptions; that a residential fence needs no permit unless it exceeds 8 feet, is in a critical area or buffer, or is made of concrete block or similar material; how height is measured; and that on sloping ground a fence must follow or step with the slope.
- Bellevue Land Use Code 20.20.400 — Fences
Front-setback height limit, the 8-foot building-permit threshold, height measured from finished grade at the exterior side of the fence, and sight-obstruction restrictions at street intersections.