Fence laws in Lake Havasu City, Arizona
What the Lake Havasu City municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Lake Havasu City sets no rule of its own, the Arizona rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Fences, walls and hedges may be placed right up to the property line in Lake Havasu City, and the only condition attached is orientation: any outstanding posts or supporting rails face inward toward the property being fenced. The figure is 50 feet, for longest unbroken run facing an ordinary street.
- How tall
- Lake Havasu City prints one table for the whole city and the numbers are close together: five feet in a front yard, five in a street side yard, six in an interior side yard and six in a rear yard, and the answer turns on the yard, and whether the fence sits on a retaining wall. The figure is 5 feet, for fence in a front or street side yard.
- Permits
- Arizona has no statewide building code and gives the job to the counties.
- 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
- Lake Havasu City has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Lake Havasu City reads a fence or wall vertically from the adjacent finished grade on the interior side of it, so the yard the fence encloses is the ground it is measured from rather than the street or the neighbor.
- Corner lots
- Arizona sets no clear view rule at a corner on a private lot. It reaches a public highway or airport, including a state highway, not a fence standing on private land only.
- Retaining walls
- Where a Lake Havasu City fence or wall sits on a berm, the height is measured vertically from the base of that berm rather than from the top of it, so the earthwork under the fence counts against the allowance.
- Materials
- Lake Havasu City states a purpose before a list, requiring walls and fences to be designed to reflect and enhance the surrounding built and natural environment, and then gives seven acceptable materials: integrally colored, split face or ground face concrete masonry, masonry painted or stuccoed or faced with another permitted material, natural or simulated stone, brick, wrought iron or other decorative metal, wood painted or stained, and compact hedging, and the answer turns on what the fence is made of and what it screens. The figure is 6 feet, for minimum combined height of outdoor use screening.
- 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 Lake Havasu City?
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Lake Havasu City answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Fences, walls and hedges may be placed right up to the property line in Lake Havasu City, and the only condition attached is orientation: any outstanding posts or supporting rails face inward toward the property being fenced. There is no setback from a side or rear line at all and none from a front line either, since the front is controlled by height instead. What the city does control is the length of an unbroken run. A wall facing a collector or arterial street, or next to an interstate, may not go more than a hundred continuous feet without articulation, and a wall facing any other public street may not go more than fifty. The articulation may be columns or pilasters, a change in material or texture, an offset of at least one horizontal foot, or a similar feature the Zoning Administrator finds gives the same visual variation to passing drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
Fences, walls, and hedges may be placed up to the property line, and any outstanding posts or supporting rails shall face inward toward the property being fenced.
50 ftlongest unbroken run facing an ordinary street
Also on fences on the property line in Lake Havasu City
- 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 Lake Havasu City?
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Lake Havasu City answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, and whether the fence sits on a retaining wall.
Lake Havasu City prints one table for the whole city and the numbers are close together: five feet in a front yard, five in a street side yard, six in an interior side yard and six in a rear yard. A fence sitting on top of a retaining wall gets the same treatment, five feet in a front yard and six in every other yard, so the retaining wall does not buy extra fence height. Fences, walls and hedges are permitted in any required setback yard or along the edge of any yard, with the corner lot rules at Section 14.04.03.D as the exception. Where an outdoor use in certain commercial districts abuts a single family or multi family district, a completely sight obscuring perimeter screen wall of six feet is required instead of allowed.
Fences, walls, and hedges are permitted in any required setback yard or along the edge of any yard in accordance with the following standards, except as provided under § 14.04.03D., relating to corner lots.
The answer turns on the yard, and whether the fence sits on a retaining wall.
- a front yard or a street side yard
- Five feet. 5 ft
- an interior side yard or a rear yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a fence on top of a retaining wall
- Five feet in a front yard, six in every other yard. 6 ft
Also on fence height in Lake Havasu City
- 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 Lake Havasu City?
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Arizona answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Arizona 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.
This one is Arizona law, not Lake Havasu City 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
Also on permits in Lake Havasu City
- 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 Lake Havasu City
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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 Lake Havasu City 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 Lake Havasu City
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Lake Havasu City 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 Lake Havasu City 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 Lake Havasu City
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Lake Havasu City answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Lake Havasu City reads a fence or wall vertically from the adjacent finished grade on the interior side of it, so the yard the fence encloses is the ground it is measured from rather than the street or the neighbor. The city then closes the two ways an owner could otherwise raise that ground. Placing fill solely to add height to a fence or wall is prohibited outright, in those words. And a planter box or similar landscape feature may run along a fence, but the fence is then measured from the base of the planter rather than from the top of it, so the planter adds nothing to the allowance. A pool enclosure fence is handled by the adopted building code rather than by this rule.
The height of a fence or wall shall be measured vertically from the adjacent finished grade on the interior side of the wall. If a fence or wall is placed on a berm, the height shall be measured vertically from the base of the berm. Pool enclosure fences shall comply with applicable requirements of the adopted building code.
Also on how height is measured in Lake Havasu City
- 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 Lake Havasu City
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Arizona answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Arizona 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.
This one is Arizona law, not Lake Havasu City law. All Arizona findings
Places or maintains an encroachment or obstruction on, makes any use of or otherwise occupies a public highway or airport of this state or any of its political subdivisions for any purpose other than for authorized public travel, communication, transportation or transmission, except as otherwise provided in this section.
Retaining wall rules in Lake Havasu City
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Lake Havasu City answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Where a Lake Havasu City fence or wall sits on a berm, the height is measured vertically from the base of that berm rather than from the top of it, so the earthwork under the fence counts against the allowance. The height table treats a fence on top of a retaining wall the same way it treats a fence on flat ground, five feet in a front yard and six in every other yard, which means a retaining wall does not create extra room above it. Read alongside the prohibition on placing fill solely to add height, the three rules close the whole family of ways a raised pad could otherwise be used to get a taller fence than the table allows.
Raising the finished grade by placing fill solely for the purpose of adding additional height to a fence or wall is prohibited. Planter boxes or similar landscape features may be allowed along a fence or wall; however the height for the fence or wall will be measured vertically from the base of the planter box or similar landscape feature.
14.06.02.C.2.a, with the table at 14.04.04.G.1.a
Also on retaining walls in Lake Havasu City
- left to the townArizona 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. A.R.S. § 11-861(A)Arizona · Statute
Fence materials allowed in Lake Havasu City
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Lake Havasu City answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the fence is made of and what it screens.
Lake Havasu City states a purpose before a list, requiring walls and fences to be designed to reflect and enhance the surrounding built and natural environment, and then gives seven acceptable materials: integrally colored, split face or ground face concrete masonry, masonry painted or stuccoed or faced with another permitted material, natural or simulated stone, brick, wrought iron or other decorative metal, wood painted or stained, and compact hedging. Putting a hedge in the same list as masonry is unusual and it fits the rest of the code, which regulates fences, walls and hedges together throughout. Chain link fencing is prohibited where outdoor use areas are screened, and the combined height of the screening methods used there may not fall below six feet.
Walls and fences shall be designed to reflect and enhance the surrounding built and natural environment and shall be constructed with any 1 or more of the following materials:
The answer turns on what the fence is made of and what it screens.
- an ordinary fence
- Masonry, stone, brick, wrought iron, wood or compact hedging.
- screening an outdoor use area
- Chain link is prohibited, and the combined screening is at least six feet. 6 ft
Also on materials in Lake Havasu City
- 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 Lake Havasu City
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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 Lake Havasu City 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 Lake Havasu City
- 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
10 documents, of which 2 were published by Lake Havasu City 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
- Lake Havasu CityDevelopment Code, Title 14, Zoning, Section 14.04.04.G, Screening, Fences, walls, and hedges
- 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
- Lake Havasu CityDevelopment Code, Title 14, Zoning, Section 14.06.02.C, Measurements and Exceptions, Heights
- 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 Lake Havasu City 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