Fence laws in Yuma, Arizona
What the Yuma municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Yuma sets no rule of its own, the Arizona rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Yuma, Arizona, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A Yuma barrier wall has to sit outside the right of way and outside any existing work or facility, which the code says includes embankments and access roads, and a one foot non-access easement is required outside the irrigation district or water users association border or that existing work. The figure is 1 foot, for width of the non-access easement outside a barrier wall.
- How tall
- Yuma states its fence rule as a permission with one carve out, and the answer turns on the yard, and whether the fence is an ordinary one or a required barrier. The figure is 3 feet, for fence in a required front yard setback.
- 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
- Yuma has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Yuma measures its required subdivision wall from the high ground side, so on sloping land the number is taken from the higher of the two levels and the wall ends up taller than six feet as seen from the lower side. The figure is 6 feet, for subdivision wall height measured from the high side.
- 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
- Yuma 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
- Yuma decides the material of a required barrier wall by what is on the other side of it, and the answer turns on whether the water is a canal, a lateral or a drainage channel, and the topography. The figure is 6 feet, for masonry barrier wall along a canal.
- 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 Yuma?
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Yuma answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Yuma barrier wall has to sit outside the right of way and outside any existing work or facility, which the code says includes embankments and access roads, and a one foot non-access easement is required outside the irrigation district or water users association border or that existing work. So a strip of land is deliberately left between the wall and the canal infrastructure and nobody may cross it. The subdivision wall is placed the other way round, contiguous with the subdivision boundaries rather than set back, and it may carry no access gate at all, vehicular or pedestrian. It may be taken down temporarily to build a pool, to reach a utility or drainage easement, or during other residential construction, but only under an encroachment permit issued by the city, and the wall and the landscaping beside it have to go back afterwards.
A one-foot non-access easement shall be required outside the irrigation district or water users’ association border or the existing work or facility including embankments or access roads.
154-15.06(B)(2)(f), (g) and (C)
1 ftwidth of the non-access easement outside a barrier wall
Also on fences on the property line in Yuma
- 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 Yuma?
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Yuma answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, and whether the fence is an ordinary one or a required barrier.
Yuma states its fence rule as a permission with one carve out. A wall or fence is permitted along any lot line in the Agriculture, Suburban Ranch, Residential Estate, Low Density Residential, Medium Density Residential, High Density Residential and Transitional districts, and the only limit stated in that sentence is that nothing over three feet may stand inside a required front yard setback area. The section names no general maximum for a side or rear yard fence at all. Two other heights appear elsewhere in the section and both are minimums rather than maximums: a barrier wall next to a live canal or lateral has to be at least six feet of solid masonry, and exterior subdivision fencing has to be six feet.
A wall or fence shall be permitted along any lot line in any Agriculture, Suburban Ranch, Residential Estate, Low Density Residential, Medium Density Residential, High Density Residential or Transitional District, provided, however, that no wall or fence more than three feet in height shall be permitted within a required front yard setback area.
The answer turns on the yard, and whether the fence is an ordinary one or a required barrier.
- a required front yard setback area
- Three feet. 3 ft
- any other lot line in the listed districts
- Permitted, with no maximum stated in the section.
- a subdivision exterior boundary
- Six feet of masonry, required rather than allowed. 6 ft
Also on fence height in Yuma
- 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 Yuma?
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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 Yuma 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 Yuma
- 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 Yuma
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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 Yuma 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 Yuma
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Yuma 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 Yuma 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 Yuma
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Yuma answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Yuma measures its required subdivision wall from the high ground side, so on sloping land the number is taken from the higher of the two levels and the wall ends up taller than six feet as seen from the lower side. The same sentence settles three other things about that wall: it is masonry, it is sealed with an anti-graffiti coating, and it is placed contiguous with the subdivision boundaries rather than set back from them. The city does not state a datum for an ordinary fence anywhere else in the section, so the high ground rule belongs to the required perimeter wall rather than to fences generally.
All exterior subdivision fencing shall be six feet in height from the high ground side, constructed of masonry, sealed with an anti-graffiti coating, and shall be placed contiguous with the subdivision boundaries.
6 ftsubdivision wall height measured from the high side
Also on how height is measured in Yuma
- 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 Yuma
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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 Yuma 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 Yuma
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Yuma 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 Yuma 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 Yuma
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Yuma answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the water is a canal, a lateral or a drainage channel, and the topography.
Yuma decides the material of a required barrier wall by what is on the other side of it. Residential development abutting a live canal or lateral has to carry solid masonry at least six feet high. Development abutting a drainage channel may use a wrought iron fence of the same height instead, and wrought iron may also replace masonry where a canal or lateral abuts a roadway and a solid masonry wall already stands on the far side of that street protecting the development there. Topography can change both the type and the height, and the developer settles that with the city in consultation with the irrigation district or water users association, along with public access points to linear parks and pathways, emergency access, and access to the canal at street crossings. Exterior subdivision fencing is masonry sealed with an anti-graffiti coating.
When proposed residential development abuts a canal or lateral the barrier wall shall be a wall of solid masonry material at least six feet high, subject to the provisions of division (B)(2)(d) below;
The answer turns on whether the water is a canal, a lateral or a drainage channel, and the topography.
- development abutting a canal or lateral
- Solid masonry, at least six feet. 6 ft
- development abutting a drainage channel
- Wrought iron at the same height, instead of masonry.
- a canal across a road from an existing masonry wall
- Wrought iron may replace masonry.
- an exterior subdivision fence
- Masonry sealed with an anti-graffiti coating.
Also on materials in Yuma
- 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 Yuma
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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 Yuma 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 Yuma
- 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 Yuma 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 YumaCity Code, Chapter 154, Zoning, Section 154-15.06, Walls and Fences
- 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 Yuma 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