Fence laws in Flagstaff, Arizona
What the Flagstaff municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Flagstaff sets no rule of its own, the Arizona rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Flagstaff, Arizona, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Where a street buffer is required in Flagstaff, the fence or wall does not go on the property line: it goes in the rear, meaning the interior side, of that buffer, so the planting sits between the street and the fence rather than the other way round.
- How tall
- Flagstaff prints a table that splits the front setback of a residential lot three ways by material: a solid fence or wall stops at three feet, vinyl coated chain link at four, and a decorative wrought iron horse corral at five, and the answer turns on the zone, the setback, and what the fence is made of. The figure is 3 feet, for solid fence in a residential front setback.
- Permits
- Flagstaff requires a minor improvement permit for the installation of every wall and fence the division describes, with no height threshold and no exemption for a short or decorative one.
- Pool barriers
- Arizona writes its pool fence rule straight into state law instead of leaving it to a code. The figure is 5 feet, for minimum height of the wall, fence or barrier enclosing a pool, measured on the outside face.
- Spite fences
- Flagstaff has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Flagstaff reads a fence as the vertical distance between the finished grade at its base and the top edge of the fence material, which fixes both ends of the measurement: the ground the fence actually stands on rather than an average or the neighbor side, and the fence material rather than a post or a cap above it.
- Corner lots
- Flagstaff leaves corner clearance to the Engineering Standards, Section 13-10-006-0002, Intersection Sight Triangles, Clear View Zones.
- Retaining walls
- Flagstaff leaves retaining walls to county boards of supervisors and city and town councils, each of which adopts a national model building code of its own choosing.
- Materials
- Chain link is allowed in every Flagstaff zone, with two conditions attached, and the answer turns on the zone and what the fence encloses. The figure is 6 feet, for required screen around hazardous utility equipment.
- Livestock
- Arizona says exactly how to build a lawful fence. The figure is 50 inches, for height of the top wire on a lawful fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Flagstaff?
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Flagstaff answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Where a street buffer is required in Flagstaff, the fence or wall does not go on the property line: it goes in the rear, meaning the interior side, of that buffer, so the planting sits between the street and the fence rather than the other way round. That rule is printed as an end note to the height table and applies to the six foot allowances in the commercial side and rear setbacks and along street buffers. A second placement rule keeps the barbed wire on a required utility screen from extending beyond the property boundaries. Between different land uses a fence or wall is provided according to the buffer and screening table, and a solid fence between residential, recreation, education, public assembly and retail uses may replace part of the required buffer with evergreen planting where the Director approves.
Fences and walls shall be placed in the rear (interior) of a required street buffer.
Table 10-50.50.030.A end note 3, and 10-50.50.030.C
Also on fences on the property line in Flagstaff
- no rule, documents checkedArizona has no law splitting the cost of a fence on a boundary between neighbors. Arizona is an open range state, so the fence law in Title 3 is about keeping livestock out and about what is owed when animals break through. Title 33, the property title, has no fence chapter at all. Two neighbors settle the cost themselves, or a city rule covers it. A.R.S. Title 3Arizona · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Flagstaff?
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Flagstaff answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone, the setback, and what the fence is made of.
Flagstaff prints a table that splits the front setback of a residential lot three ways by material: a solid fence or wall stops at three feet, vinyl coated chain link at four, and a decorative wrought iron horse corral at five. Behind the front setback a residential fence reaches six feet. In the commercial zones a fence in the front setback is not permitted at all except for screening along the perimeter of a parking area, which stops at three and a half feet, while a side or rear setback takes six. The industrial and public facility zones take six feet in the front setback and eight on a side or rear property line. Open wire fencing or a wall may exceed the front setback limit at a school or a public or quasi-public building where the Director approves.
Any fence or wall associated with the screening along the perimeter of parking areas shall not exceed three and one-half feet.
10-50.50.030.A and B, Table 10-50.50.030.A
The answer turns on the zone, the setback, and what the fence is made of.
- a solid fence in a residential front setback
- Three feet, rising to four for vinyl coated chain link. 3 ft
- a residential side or rear setback
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a commercial front setback
- Not permitted, except parking screening at three and a half feet.
- an industrial or public facility side or rear line
- Eight feet. 8 ft
Also on fence height in Flagstaff
- no rule, documents checkedArizona sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. City, town or county zoning sets it, and there is no statewide building code behind that. State law has two fence heights and neither is a cap: the five foot pool fence in Title 36, which is about pool safety, and the six foot line in A.R.S. 11-861(G)(2), which only marks when a fence counts as a side structure for a county fire code rule. A.R.S. Title 3Arizona · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Flagstaff?
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Flagstaff answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Flagstaff requires a minor improvement permit for the installation of every wall and fence the division describes, with no height threshold and no exemption for a short or decorative one. Because the division states that its requirements apply to all fences, walls and screening unless otherwise stated, the permit reaches screen walls, utility box enclosures and refuse enclosures as well as boundary fences. The permit is a defined process elsewhere in the code rather than a building permit, which keeps a fence out of the full building permit track while still putting every one of them on the record.
Issuance of a minor improvement permit (see Section 10-20.40.080, Minor Improvement Permits) is required for the installation of all walls and fences described in this division.
Also on permits in Flagstaff
- set in state lawArizona has no statewide building code and gives the job to the counties. In a county that has zoning, the board of supervisors may adopt and enforce a building code for the zoned areas outside any city, and may leave out areas zoned rural or unclassified. The code has to be adopted by reference after notice and hearings before the county planning and zoning commission and the board. The choice is limited too: a building, electrical, plumbing or mechanical code from a national code group, or the one the largest city in the county already uses. A.R.S. § 11-861(A)Arizona · Statute
- set in state lawCities and towns get the same power under a separate law. An Arizona city may adopt an existing code by reference without printing the code itself, as long as the ordinance doing it is published in full. At least three paper copies, or one paper and one electronic copy, stay on file with the city clerk for anyone to look at. So the fence permit rule in Arizona is whichever code the city or town picked. A.R.S. § 9-802Arizona · Statute
- set in state lawArizona law puts a number on an ordinary fence in exactly one place, and it is in the same county statute. A county fire code cannot make a small side building or structure put in fire sprinklers by way of a fire truck access road rule. The list of what counts as one of those side structures names a fence more than six feet high, next to barns, carports, sheds and walls that hold back earth. Six feet is not a cap on fence height. It is the line above which a fence counts as a structure for that one fire code rule. A.R.S. § 11-861(G)(2)Arizona · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Flagstaff
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Arizona answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Arizona writes its pool fence rule straight into state law instead of leaving it to a code. A pool or other held body of water at least eighteen inches deep and wider than eight feet gets a fence at least five feet high, measured on the outside face of the wall, fence or barrier. Gates close and latch by themselves, the latch sits at least fifty four inches above the ground, and the gate opens away from the pool.
This one is Arizona law, not Flagstaff law. All Arizona findings
Be entirely enclosed by at least a five foot wall, fence or other barrier as measured on the exterior side of the wall, fence or barrier.
5 ftminimum height of the wall, fence or barrier enclosing a pool, measured on the outside face
Spite fence laws in Flagstaff
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Flagstaff law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Arizona has no spite fence law. The fence sections in Title 3 are about livestock and no fence districts, and Title 33 has no fence rules in it. Neither one sets a height that turns a fence into a nuisance, and neither one says anything about a fence put up to annoy a neighbor.
This one is Arizona law, not Flagstaff law. All Arizona findings
Documents read before writing that:
- A.R.S. Title 3Arizona State Legislature
- A.R.S. Title 33Arizona State Legislature
How fence height is measured in Flagstaff
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Flagstaff answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Flagstaff reads a fence as the vertical distance between the finished grade at its base and the top edge of the fence material, which fixes both ends of the measurement: the ground the fence actually stands on rather than an average or the neighbor side, and the fence material rather than a post or a cap above it. The division then measures the other thing that decides which row of the height table applies. A solid fence, for the purposes of the division, is one assembled from fence boards with no more than a half inch gap between them, so a board fence with a wider gap is not solid and is not held to the three foot front setback figure.
Fence height shall be measured as the vertical distance between the finished grade at the base of the fence and the top edge of the fence material.
10-50.50.030.A.2 and 10-50.50.040.B
Also on how height is measured in Flagstaff
- set in state lawArizona names a starting point in the one place it gives fence sizes. Section 3-1426 describes a lawful fence on open range and puts the top barbed wire fifty inches above the ground, with the other wires spaced down from it. The ground is the starting point and the law says so. That rule is there to turn livestock, not to size a fence at a house. Section 9-462.01 lets a city set the height of structures, so a fence at a house is a city matter and the city picks the surface to measure from. A.R.S. 3-1426(A)Arizona · Statute
Fence rules for corner lots in Flagstaff
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Flagstaff does not set this. It leaves it to the Engineering Standards, Section 13-10-006-0002, Intersection Sight Triangles, Clear View Zones.
The height table carries an end note rather than a section on corners, and that note hands the question to another document: the heights in the table may not conflict with the Engineering Standards for sight visibility at street intersections, and it names the exact provision, Section 13-10-006-0002, Intersection Sight Triangles, Clear View Zones. So the zoning code gives no leg length, no height limit inside the triangle and no measuring point, and the whole answer for a Flagstaff corner sits in the Engineering Standards, which the city publishes and revises separately from the zoning code.
Heights shall not conflict with the Engineering Standards for sight visibility at street intersections (refer to the Engineering Standards, Section 13-10-006-0002, Intersection Sight Triangles, Clear View Zones).
Table 10-50.50.030.A end note 1
The code hands this to the Engineering Standards, Section 13-10-006-0002, Intersection Sight Triangles, Clear View Zones, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on corner visibility in Flagstaff
- set in state lawArizona sets no clear view rule at a corner on a private lot. What Title 28, Chapter 20 does is make it a petty offense to place or keep anything blocking a public highway. Section 28-7053 covers a structure or object of any kind placed in, under or over part of the road, which is wide enough to catch a fence. Section 28-7054 sets the notice and removal steps. The rule stops at the edge of the public road. Height and setback on the lot behind it come from city and county zoning under sections 9-462.01 and 11-812. A.R.S. 28-7053Arizona · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Flagstaff
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Flagstaff does not set this. It leaves it to county boards of supervisors and city and town councils, each of which adopts a national model building code of its own choosing.
Arizona has no statewide building code, so it has no state rule for a wall that holds back earth. Section 11-861 lets a county board of supervisors adopt a building code for the parts of a zoned county outside any city. The choice is limited to a code from a national code writing group, or the code the largest city in that county already uses. The height at which a wall of that kind needs a permit comes from whichever code the county or city picked.
This one is Arizona law, not Flagstaff law. All Arizona findings
In any county that has adopted zoning pursuant to this chapter, the board of supervisors may adopt and enforce, for the unincorporated areas of the county so zoned, a building code and other related codes to regulate the quality, type of material and workmanship of all aspects of construction of buildings or structures
The code hands this to county boards of supervisors and city and town councils, each of which adopts a national model building code of its own choosing, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Flagstaff
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Flagstaff answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone and what the fence encloses.
Chain link is allowed in every Flagstaff zone, with two conditions attached. In a residential zone it has to be vinyl coated, and in the community business zone it is not allowed at all except as temporary fencing during construction. Barbed wire runs the other way and is required rather than permitted in one place: a screen at least six feet high topped with barbed wire has to go around high voltage transformers and any other utility structure or equipment of potential hazard, the wire may not extend past the property boundaries, and evergreen plant material at least five feet tall has to be planted outside that wall at no more than ten feet on center. Utility boxes and cabinets are screened by solid fences or walls matching the building materials of the primary building, or by evergreen landscaping.
Chain link fences are allowed on all zones, except that in residential zones only vinyl-coated chain link fencing is permitted.
The answer turns on the zone and what the fence encloses.
- chain link in a residential zone
- Vinyl coated only.
- chain link in the community business zone
- Only as temporary construction fencing.
- a high voltage transformer or hazardous utility equipment
- A six foot screen topped with barbed wire, and evergreens outside it. 6 ft
- a refuse or recycling enclosure
- Solid fence or wall at least six feet, matching the primary building. 6 ft
Also on materials in Flagstaff
- set in state lawArizona describes a lawful fence by its wire. It takes solid posts no more than thirty feet apart with at least four tight barbed wires on them. A fence built some other way still counts when it is as strong and turns livestock as well. A.R.S. 3-1426Arizona · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Flagstaff
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Arizona answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Arizona says exactly how to build a lawful fence. Posts go in the ground no more than thirty feet apart. At least four barbed wires are stretched tight and tied to those posts. The top wire sits fifty inches above the ground, and the other three sit twelve, twenty two and thirty two inches below it. Posts set more than one rod apart need stays no more than seven and a half feet from each other. Any other fence just as strong and just as good at turning livestock counts too.
This one is Arizona law, not Flagstaff law. All Arizona findings
A fence shall be deemed a lawful fence when it is constructed and maintained with good and substantial posts firmly placed in the ground at intervals of not more than thirty feet, upon which posts are strung and fastened at least four barbed wires of the usual type tightly stretched and secured to the posts and spaced so that the top wire is fifty inches above the ground
50 inheight of the top wire on a lawful fence
Also on agricultural fencing in Flagstaff
- set in state lawArizona is a fence out state. The landowner who wants animals kept off builds the fence, not the animal owner, and nothing is owed for a trespassing animal unless the land was already ringed by a lawful fence. A no fence district is the exception. Inside one, Section 3-1424 makes the person in charge of the livestock pay the damage and guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor for letting them run loose. A.R.S. 3-1427Arizona · Statute
Documents behind this page
9 documents, of which 1 was published by Flagstaff itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Arizona State LegislatureArizona Revised Statutes, Title 3, Agriculture, full title listing
- Arizona State LegislatureArizona Revised Statutes, Title 33, Property, full title listing
- City of FlagstaffZoning Code, Division 10-50.50, Fences and Screening
- Arizona State LegislatureArizona Revised Statutes, Title 11, Chapter 6, Section 11-861, Adoption of codes by reference
- Arizona State LegislatureArizona Revised Statutes, Title 9, Chapter 6, Section 9-802, Procedure for adoption by reference
- Arizona State LegislatureArizona Revised Statutes, Title 36, Chapter 15, Article 5, Section 36-1681, Pools; enclosures; safety features
- Arizona State LegislatureArizona Revised Statutes, Title 3, Section 3-1426, Lawful fence defined
- Arizona State LegislatureArizona Revised Statutes, Title 28, Chapter 20, Section 28-7053, Misuse of public highway or airport; violation; classification; injunction; definition
- Arizona State LegislatureArizona Revised Statutes, Title 3, Chapter 11, Article 4
What this page does not cover
A city ordinance is not the only rule that reaches a fence. The zoning district a parcel sits in can change the height allowed on it, and so can an overlay district, a recorded easement, a fire hazard severity zone or a coastal zone. A homeowner association can be stricter than the city and nothing in the municipal code will say so. None of those appear here.
The rules above are the ones Flagstaff publishes, plus the Arizona rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Arizona has the state layer in full.
This is general information drawn from published government documents. It is not legal advice, ordinances are amended, and the date beside each finding is the date the document was read. How findings are made · What the terms mean