Fence laws in Tempe, Arizona
What the Tempe municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Tempe sets no rule of its own, the Arizona rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Tempe, Arizona, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Tempe requires a wall rather than merely permitting one along the back of a reverse frontage lot, meaning a lot whose rear faces a street rather than another back yard. The figure is 8 feet, for required masonry wall on a reverse frontage lot.
- How tall
- A wall or fence in a required front yard building setback in Tempe stops at four feet, single family included, and the answer turns on the yard, the use, and whether a use permit has been granted. The figure is 4 feet, for wall in a required front yard setback.
- Permits
- Every fence and wall in Tempe is subject to city review and approval, either through development plan review or by the Development Services Manager or a designee, so there is no height below which a fence escapes the process, and the answer turns on the height of the wall and which yard it stands in. The figure is 6 feet, for height above which a building permit is needed.
- 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
- Tempe has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Tempe measures a freestanding wall or fence from the highest adjacent finished surface within twenty feet of it, and names three things that surface can be: the ground, the paving or the sidewalk. The figure is 20 feet, for distance the highest adjacent surface is looked for in.
- Corner lots
- Tempe holds everything in a clear vision triangle to two feet, measured from the street curb, and the rule reaches a wall, a building, landscaping or any other visual obstruction. The figure is 2 feet, for tallest obstruction allowed in a clear vision triangle.
- Retaining walls
- Tempe 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
- Tempe decides the material by the job the wall is doing, and the answer turns on what the wall separates and whether it has to screen anything.
- 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 Tempe?
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Tempe answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Tempe requires a wall rather than merely permitting one along the back of a reverse frontage lot, meaning a lot whose rear faces a street rather than another back yard. It has to be masonry and it has to be eight feet, and the rule names single family so nobody reads it as applying only to apartments or business. Because the general single family limit elsewhere on the lot is also eight feet, the required rear wall sits at the top of what is allowed rather than as an exception to it. The city describes the common violation under this subsection as a property simply not having the wall at all.
An eight (8) foot masonry wall shall be required along the rear of reverse frontage lots, including single-family.
8 ftrequired masonry wall on a reverse frontage lot
Also on fences on the property line in Tempe
- 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 Tempe?
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Tempe answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, the use, and whether a use permit has been granted.
A wall or fence in a required front yard building setback in Tempe stops at four feet, single family included. More is available but only through a use permit, which may take it to six feet, with a further two feet allowed for architectural features such as archways and pergolas. The permit carries a condition rather than being a formality: for any height above four feet it has to demonstrate that natural surveillance to the street will be maintained, by incorporating openings, using transparent materials, or varying the height and materials. Behind the front yard setback and inside the required rear and side yards the ceiling is ten feet for most uses and eight for single family, with taller allowed only where screening a service area needs it.
Walls or fences in a required front yard building setback, including walls for single-family dwellings, shall be four (4) feet maximum in height. An increase in the maximum four (4) foot height may be permitted subject to a use permit. With a use permit, the maximum height may be up to six (6) feet, except that an additional two (2) feet of height may be permitted for architectural features including but not limited to archways, pergolas, and other similar features.
The answer turns on the yard, the use, and whether a use permit has been granted.
- a required front yard building setback
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a front yard wall with a use permit
- Six feet, plus two for architectural features, with surveillance kept to the street. 6 ft
- a single family rear or side yard
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- any other use behind the front setback
- Ten feet. 10 ft
Also on fence height in Tempe
- 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 Tempe?
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Tempe answers this, but the answer changes depending on the height of the wall and which yard it stands in.
Every fence and wall in Tempe is subject to city review and approval, either through development plan review or by the Development Services Manager or a designee, so there is no height below which a fence escapes the process. On top of that, any wall over six feet needs a building permit as the Building Code requires. A front yard wall above four feet needs a use permit as well, which is a third and separate approval, and that one carries a substantive test about keeping natural surveillance to the street rather than being an administrative step. The city notes that the common violation under this section is an unapproved wall over six feet.
All fences and walls shall be subject to city review and approval through development plan review, or by approval of the Development Services Manager, or designee.
The answer turns on the height of the wall and which yard it stands in.
- any fence or wall
- City review and approval, with no height threshold.
- a wall over six feet
- A building permit as well. 6 ft
- a front yard wall above four feet
- A use permit that demonstrates natural surveillance to the street. 4 ft
Also on permits in Tempe
- 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 Tempe
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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 Tempe 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 Tempe
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Tempe 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 Tempe 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 Tempe
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Tempe answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Tempe measures a freestanding wall or fence from the highest adjacent finished surface within twenty feet of it, and names three things that surface can be: the ground, the paving or the sidewalk. So the reading is not taken at the base of the wall and not taken on the owner side. A wall standing beside a raised sidewalk or a paved drive is measured from that higher surface even though it sits on lower ground, and a wall in the middle of a flat lot is measured from whatever is highest in the forty foot band around it. The clear vision rule uses a different reference again, measuring its two foot limit from the street curb.
The maximum height of any freestanding wall or fence shall be measured from the highest adjacent finished surface of the ground, paving, or sidewalk within twenty (20) feet, unless otherwise noted;
20 ftdistance the highest adjacent surface is looked for in
Also on how height is measured in Tempe
- 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 Tempe
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Tempe answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Tempe holds everything in a clear vision triangle to two feet, measured from the street curb, and the rule reaches a wall, a building, landscaping or any other visual obstruction. It applies at driveway entrances as well as street intersections, and names single family intersections so nobody reads it as a commercial rule. The Public Works Manager may approve otherwise in writing. The size of the triangle is not in the zoning code: the section points at the Corner Site Distance at Intersections standard held by the Public Works Transportation Division. A reasonable number of trees pruned high enough to permit unobstructed vision are excepted, and a separate rule keeps groundcovers and shrubs to two feet within six feet of a pathway and three feet between six and twelve feet of it.
Except as otherwise approved in writing by the Public Works Manager, a wall, building, landscape, or other visual obstruction exceeding two (2) feet in height (measured from street curb, see Appendix B for a list of recommended shrubs) shall not be placed within a "clear vision triangle", including street intersections in single-family.
2 fttallest obstruction allowed in a clear vision triangle
Also on corner visibility in Tempe
- 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 Tempe
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Tempe 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 Tempe 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 Tempe
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Tempe answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the wall separates and whether it has to screen anything.
Tempe decides the material by the job the wall is doing. A wall between a residential district and a commercial use, an industrial use or a surface parking lot has to be masonry or concrete, or something of equal or better quality approved through development plan review, with an ornamental iron fence, a combination of iron and masonry pillars, or a similar design available as an alternative. Every masonry wall has to carry an architectural texture, color and material compatible with the primary building on the site, or on the respective sides where two buildings face each other across it, and may carry ornamental iron panels or vertical pickets as an integral part of the design. A living wall or a see through ornamental iron fence may be substituted for masonry, but only where the wall is not required to screen mechanical equipment, outdoor storage or parking.
Walls placed between a residential district and any commercial use, industrial uses, or surface parking lot shall be constructed of masonry or concrete, or equal or better quality material, as approved through development plan review.
The answer turns on what the wall separates and whether it has to screen anything.
- a wall between housing and business, industry or parking
- Masonry or concrete, or ornamental iron by approval.
- any masonry wall
- Texture, color and material compatible with the primary building.
- a wall not needed for screening
- A living wall or see through iron fence may be substituted.
Also on materials in Tempe
- 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 Tempe
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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 Tempe 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 Tempe
- 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
12 documents, of which 4 were published by Tempe 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 TempeZoning and Development Code, Section 4-706.B, Reverse Frontage Walls, as published by Code Compliance
- City of TempeZoning and Development Code, Section 4-706.A, General Fence and Wall Height Standards, as published by Code Compliance
- 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 TempeZoning and Development Code, Section 4-702.G, Clear Vision Requirements, as published by Code Compliance
- City of TempeZoning and Development Code, Section 4-706.C, Wall Design, as published by Code Compliance
- 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 Tempe 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