Fence laws in Scottsdale, Arizona
What the Scottsdale municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Scottsdale sets no rule of its own, the Arizona rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Scottsdale, Arizona, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A Scottsdale wall, fence or hedge may sit on the property line itself, so no setback applies at the side or rear and none applies in the front yard either as long as the three foot limit is kept.
- How tall
- Scottsdale offers a trade most codes do not: distance for height, and the answer turns on the yard, how far back the wall stands, and whether the lot is in the Foothills Overlay. The figure is 3 feet, for wall or fence in a front 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
- Scottsdale has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Scottsdale settles the sloping lot question in eleven words: the height of the wall or fence is measured from within the enclosure.
- Corner lots
- Scottsdale leaves corner clearance to the Design Standards and Policies Manual, which sets the sight distance requirements.
- Retaining walls
- Scottsdale 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 Scottsdale?
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Scottsdale answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Scottsdale wall, fence or hedge may sit on the property line itself, so no setback applies at the side or rear and none applies in the front yard either as long as the three foot limit is kept. The one adjustment is for a corner lot, and it turns on what is behind it: where a corner lot does not abut a key lot, or an alley next to a key lot, the wall in the yard along the longer street frontage only has to meet the side yard requirement rather than the front yard requirement. So the eight feet allowed at the side reaches down the long street frontage, and the three foot front yard rule stays with the short frontage where the address is.
Exception: Where a corner lot does not abut a key lot or an alley adjacent to a key lot, the height of walls, fences and hedges in the yard of the longer street frontage need only conform to the side yard requirements.
Also on fences on the property line in Scottsdale
- 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
- depends, see the pageIn the Foothills Overlay Scottsdale limits how much of a parcel may be enclosed at all, which almost no other city does. Walls, fences and hedges taller than three feet may enclose sixty percent of the net lot area on a parcel of thirty two thousand to sixty nine thousand square feet, fifty five percent between seventy thousand and a hundred and ninety thousand, and forty five percent above that, with any accessory building counted in the enclosed area. Land inside a corral fence is not counted. No wall, fence or hedge may go anywhere that separates a Natural Area Open Space from an abutting street right of way, road or access easement, or from another Natural Area Open Space, and a corral fence may not stand within ten feet of a street right of way or a dedicated public trail or pathway easement. Undulating walls that follow the land form are highly encouraged. 6.1004.BScottsdale · Zoning code
How tall can a fence be in Scottsdale?
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Scottsdale answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, how far back the wall stands, and whether the lot is in the Foothills Overlay.
Scottsdale offers a trade most codes do not: distance for height. A wall, fence or hedge may be eight feet on the property line or anywhere in a required side or rear yard, and twelve feet if it comes back twenty feet from that side or rear line. The front yard stops at three feet, on the property line or anywhere inside the required front yard. A corral may be six feet on the line or in any required yard, front included. In the Foothills Overlay the general figure drops to six feet, with eight available in a required rear or side yard along a collector or larger street provided the wall sits between fifty and a hundred feet back from the right of way, and between a hundred and twenty five and a hundred and seventy five feet back where the street is a designated scenic corridor.
Walls, fences and hedges up to eight (8) feet in height are allowed on the property line or within the required side and rear yard. Walls, fences and hedges up to twelve (12) feet in height are allowed subject to a twenty-foot setback from the side and rear property line.
The answer turns on the yard, how far back the wall stands, and whether the lot is in the Foothills Overlay.
- a front yard
- Three feet. 3 ft
- a side or rear yard, on or near the line
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a wall set back twenty feet from the side or rear line
- Twelve feet. 12 ft
- a corral fence
- Six feet, on the line or in any required yard. 6 ft
Also on fence height in Scottsdale
- 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 Scottsdale?
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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 Scottsdale 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 Scottsdale
- 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 Scottsdale
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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 Scottsdale 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 Scottsdale
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Scottsdale 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 Scottsdale 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 Scottsdale
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Scottsdale answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Scottsdale settles the sloping lot question in eleven words: the height of the wall or fence is measured from within the enclosure. So the ground inside the wall is the ground it is read from, which means a wall holding back a raised yard is measured from the top of that yard rather than from the street or from the neighbor lower ground, and the same wall can be much taller on the outside than the figure in the code. Combined with the twenty foot setback allowance that takes a wall to twelve feet, the rule lets a terraced hillside lot carry a great deal of wall as long as each height is read from the pad it encloses.
The height of the wall or fence is measured from within the enclosure.
Also on how height is measured in Scottsdale
- 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 Scottsdale
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Scottsdale does not set this. It leaves it to the Design Standards and Policies Manual, which sets the sight distance requirements.
Scottsdale gives the corner its own section of the zoning ordinance, titled height limitations on walls, fences, landscape materials and structures on corner lots, and then the whole section says one thing: those items have to conform to the sight distance requirements of the Design Standards and Policies Manual. No leg length, no height, no measuring point and no band above grade appears anywhere in the zoning ordinance, so the entire answer for a Scottsdale corner sits in an engineering manual published and revised separately. The list of what the rule reaches is wide, covering hedges, landscape materials and gateway features alongside walls and fences.
Walls, fences, hedges, landscape materials, gateway features and structures shall conform to the sight distance requirements of the Design Standards and Policies Manual.
The code hands this to the Design Standards and Policies Manual, which sets the sight distance requirements, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on corner visibility in Scottsdale
- 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 Scottsdale
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Scottsdale 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 Scottsdale 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 Scottsdale
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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 Scottsdale 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 Scottsdale
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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 Scottsdale 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 Scottsdale
- 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 Scottsdale 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 ScottsdaleCode of Ordinances, Appendix B, Basic Zoning Ordinance, Section 5.034, Property development standards
- City of ScottsdaleCode of Ordinances, Appendix B, Basic Zoning Ordinance, Section 6.1004, Property development standards, Foothills Overlay
- 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
- City of ScottsdaleCode of Ordinances, Appendix B, Basic Zoning Ordinance, Section 7.104, Height limitations on walls, fences, landscape materials and structures on corner lots
- 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 Scottsdale 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