Fence laws in Prescott Valley, Arizona
What the Prescott Valley municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Prescott Valley sets no rule of its own, the Arizona rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Prescott Valley, Arizona, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A yard or court in Prescott Valley has to be unobstructed from the ground up by structures, and the code names the things that do not count as an obstruction: fences, free standing walls, permitted accessory structures, signs, and permitted deviations and projections.
- How tall
- Prescott Valley sets no maximum fence height. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Permits
- Prescott Valley sets the lowest fence permit threshold of any Arizona city on this site. The figure is 3 feet, for height at which a fence needs a zoning permit.
- 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
- Prescott Valley has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Arizona names a starting point in the one place it gives fence sizes. The figure is 50 inches, for top wire of a lawful fence, measured above the ground. It reaches a lawful fence on open range land only.
- Corner lots
- Prescott Valley measures its corner triangle from the right of way lines rather than from the curb, running thirty three feet back from where they intersect, and a driveway gets a smaller triangle of ten feet formed by the driveway edge and the street right of way, and the answer turns on whether the triangle is at a street intersection, a driveway or a key lot boundary. The figure is 33 feet, for triangle leg at a street intersection.
- Retaining walls
- Prescott Valley 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
- Arizona describes a lawful fence by its wire. The figure is 4 strands, for barbed wires in a lawful fence. It reaches lawful fences for livestock only.
- 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 Prescott Valley?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Prescott Valley answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A yard or court in Prescott Valley has to be unobstructed from the ground up by structures, and the code names the things that do not count as an obstruction: fences, free standing walls, permitted accessory structures, signs, and permitted deviations and projections. So a fence may stand in a required yard where a building may not, which is the mechanism that lets a boundary fence exist at all. The same treatment carries into the setback rules, where structures other than signs, fences and free standing walls are the ones measured from a future right of way line. On a through lot fronting two streets, both frontages count as front yards for setback purposes, so a fence facing either street is in a front yard.
A yard or court shall be unobstructed from the ground up by structures (other than fences, free standing walls, permitted accessory structures, signs, and permitted deviations and projections).
13-07-040.A, C and 13-07-130.D
Also on fences on the property line in Prescott Valley
- 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 Prescott Valley?
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Prescott Valley law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Arizona 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.
This one is Arizona law, not Prescott Valley law. All Arizona findings
Documents read before writing that:
- A.R.S. Title 3Arizona State Legislature
- A.R.S. Title 33Arizona State Legislature
Do I need a permit for a fence in Prescott Valley?
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Prescott Valley answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Prescott Valley sets the lowest fence permit threshold of any Arizona city on this site. A zoning permit is required for every fence three feet high or more, alongside any building or structure of 200 square feet or less and any sign exempt from the building permit rules. The application goes to the Development Services Department on their forms with a plot plan, and it has to be obtained before construction starts. The applicant supplies the address and legal description, the nature of the proposed use, the dimensions, area and height of each improvement, and where everything sits on the lot. Two value based exemptions sit alongside the fence rule, for improvements worth no more than five hundred dollars and new construction worth no more than a hundred. A permit lapses unless construction begins within six months and is then diligently pursued.
A zoning permit shall be required for any building or structure which is 200 square feet or less in size; all fences that are three feet in height or greater; and all signs that are exempt from building permit requirements under Town Code section 7-01-040(D).
3 ftheight at which a fence needs a zoning permit
Also on permits in Prescott Valley
- 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 Prescott Valley
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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 Prescott Valley 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 Prescott Valley
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Prescott Valley 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 Prescott Valley 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 Prescott Valley
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Arizona answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Arizona 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.
This one is Arizona law, not Prescott Valley 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 intop wire of a lawful fence, measured above the ground
Fence rules for corner lots in Prescott Valley
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Prescott Valley answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the triangle is at a street intersection, a driveway or a key lot boundary.
Prescott Valley measures its corner triangle from the right of way lines rather than from the curb, running thirty three feet back from where they intersect, and a driveway gets a smaller triangle of ten feet formed by the driveway edge and the street right of way. Inside either one no structure, fence, wall or hedge may exceed three feet. The code then allows one narrow exception rather than a blanket ban: a post, a column or a tree no more than a foot in diameter may stand between three and ten feet above the ground, so a single slim upright is permitted where a panel is not. Where the two right of way lines do not actually meet at a point, the Town Engineer decides where the projected lines would intersect. A separate rule covers a corner lot backing onto a key lot, where nothing over four feet may sit next to the side street inside a triangle drawn from the intersection to the key lot front setback line.
At street intersections, the sight visibility triangle is the triangular area formed by the right-of-way lines of the intersecting streets at 33 feet from the point of their intersection.
13-07-120, with the key lot rule at 13-07-040.B.2.b
The answer turns on whether the triangle is at a street intersection, a driveway or a key lot boundary.
- a street intersection
- Thirty three feet from the right of way intersection, nothing over three feet. 33 ft
- a driveway
- Ten feet from where the driveway edge meets the right of way. 10 ft
- a post, column or tree in the triangle
- Allowed up to a foot in diameter between three and ten feet up. 12 in
- a corner lot backing onto a key lot
- Nothing over four feet beside the side street in the key lot triangle. 4 ft
Also on corner visibility in Prescott Valley
- 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 Prescott Valley
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Prescott Valley 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 Prescott Valley 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 Prescott Valley
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Arizona answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Arizona 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.
This one is Arizona law, not Prescott Valley 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
4 strandsbarbed wires in a lawful fence
Livestock and boundary fence law in Prescott Valley
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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 Prescott Valley 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 Prescott Valley
- 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
11 documents, of which 3 were published by Prescott Valley 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
- Town of Prescott ValleyTown Code, Chapter 13, Zoning, Section 13-07-040, Additional yard and open space regulations
- 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
- Town of Prescott ValleyTown Code, Chapter 13, Zoning, Section 13-13-050, Zoning permits
- 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
- Town of Prescott ValleyTown Code, Chapter 13, Zoning, Section 13-07-120, Sight visibility triangles
- 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 Prescott Valley 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