Fence laws in Bentonville, Arkansas
What the Bentonville municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Bentonville sets no rule of its own, the Arkansas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Bentonville, Arkansas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- The distance Bentonville states is measured from the street rather than from a neighbor, and the answer turns on whether the line faces a street or a neighbor. The figure is 5 feet, for distance a fence keeps from a current or proposed right-of-way.
- How tall
- Bentonville sets its fence heights by transect zone rather than by yard, and the answer turns on the transect zone and whether the fence faces the street. The figure is 4 feet, for frontage fence between a building and a sidewalk in R-1, T3 or T4.
- Permits
- The fence section says plainly that fence permitting, variances and administrative relief procedures are addressed in Article 50-7, Administration, rather than in the design standards, so the rules about what to build sit in one article and the rules about how to ask sit in another, and the answer turns on what is being built and how tall it is.
- Pool barriers
- A fence around a public or commercial pool in Arkansas stands at least four feet high, with limits on the gaps at its sides and under it. The figure is 4 feet, for minimum height of the barrier around a public or commercial pool.
- Spite fences
- Bentonville has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- The one datum Bentonville names belongs to a retaining wall and it is the strictest in this project, and the answer turns on whether the structure is a fence or a retaining wall. The figure is 4 feet, for retaining wall height, footing included, allowed without a permit.
- Corner lots
- Bentonville leaves corner clearance to the Arkansas Department of Transportation Clear Zone requirements and the sight triangles defined elsewhere in the code.
- Retaining walls
- Bentonville leaves retaining walls to the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, Volume III, which is the International Residential Code with Arkansas changes.
- Materials
- Bentonville writes a short list of duties rather than a list of materials.
- Livestock
- A field kept for livestock in Arkansas has to be fenced.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Bentonville?
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Bentonville answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the line faces a street or a neighbor.
The distance Bentonville states is measured from the street rather than from a neighbor. A fence or wall may not be placed closer than five feet from a current or proposed right-of-way, and the words current or proposed matter, because a street shown for future widening pushes the fence back today. An administrative waiver down to three feet may be approved under the administrative adjustments section and its criteria table, so the five feet is negotiable by two feet without a hearing. Nothing in the section sets a distance from a line shared with a neighbor. Two other placement rules apply everywhere: a fence may not block drainage or alter the flow of stormwater, and it may not block access to utility equipment. In LFI a fence is set back at least ten feet from the sidewalk, and in T2 the four foot limit applies within forty feet of any lot line.
Be placed closer than five (5) feet from current or proposed right-of-way. An administrative waiver to three (3) feet may be approved
Section 50-510, fences and walls, general
The answer turns on whether the line faces a street or a neighbor.
- a street right-of-way
- Five feet back. 5 ft
- an administrative waiver
- Three feet. 3 ft
- a neighbor
- No distance stated.
- drainage or utility equipment
- Never blocked.
How tall can a fence be in Bentonville?
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Bentonville answers this, but the answer changes depending on the transect zone and whether the fence faces the street.
Bentonville sets its fence heights by transect zone rather than by yard. In R-1, T3 and T4, a frontage fence or wall between a building and a sidewalk is allowed up to four feet, and a privacy or security fence up to six. In T5, T6, GC and LI a privacy or security fence may reach eight feet, and frontage fencing is not allowed at all except for two cases: an outdoor dining or similar outdoor use may have a fence up to four feet provided building and tenant entrances stay accessible, and a forecourt may be enclosed to eight feet provided at least a quarter of the fence above four feet is transparent, an opening is left for people on foot, and any gate is at least half transparent. T2, the rural zone, allows four feet within forty feet of any lot line and twelve feet elsewhere, and is exempt from the rest of the section. LFI allows eight feet set back at least ten feet from the sidewalk.
Frontage fences and walls between a building and a sidewalk are allowed up to four (4) feet high. Privacy and security fences and walls are allowed up to six (6) feet high.
Section 50-510, fences and walls, specific standards by zoning district
The answer turns on the transect zone and whether the fence faces the street.
- a frontage fence in R-1, T3 or T4
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a privacy fence there
- Six feet. 6 ft
- the urban and commercial zones
- Eight feet of privacy fence. 8 ft
- T2, away from the lot lines
- Twelve feet. 12 ft
Also on fence height in Bentonville
- no rule, documents checkedArkansas sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The city sets it. The one code the state does adopt is the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, run by the State Fire Marshal, and it gives no fence height. Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board, Building CodesArkansas · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Bentonville?
Compare permits across all 50 states
Bentonville answers this, but the answer changes depending on what is being built and how tall it is.
The fence section says plainly that fence permitting, variances and administrative relief procedures are addressed in Article 50-7, Administration, rather than in the design standards, so the rules about what to build sit in one article and the rules about how to ask sit in another. Two approvals are named in the fence section itself. A retaining wall over four feet, measured from the bottom of its footing, requires a retaining wall permit under Section 50-721(j) and has to be designed by an Arkansas licensed professional engineer, and one over eight feet requires a waiver from the Planning Commission. A retaining wall inside a utility or drainage easement requires approval from the applicable department. And the five foot setback from a right-of-way may be cut to three by administrative waiver under the criteria in Table 7.2.
Fence permitting, variances, and administrative relief procedures are addressed in Article 50-7 Administration.
Section 50-510, fences and walls, general
The answer turns on what is being built and how tall it is.
- a fence permit
- Article 50-7 sets the procedure.
- a retaining wall over four feet
- An engineer and a wall permit.
- one over eight feet
- The Planning Commission.
- a wall in an easement
- The department that holds it approves.
Also on permits in Bentonville
- set in state lawArkansas has no separate statewide building code. The building rules are one part of the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, which the State Fire Marshal adopts. That code comes in three volumes, and Volume III is the one for houses. Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board, Building CodesArkansas · Building code
- set in state lawA city or county in Arkansas cannot require its own permit for a battery charged fence. Act 267 of 2023 says so: no permit beyond the alarm system permit or license the city already issues, no rules of its own on how the fence is put in or run, and no outright ban. The law covers only fences on land the city or county has not set aside for homes, and it leaves out a fence used for farming or fish farming. Ark. Code § 17-40-108(b)Arkansas · Statute
- set in state lawA battery charged fence in Arkansas tops out at ten feet, or two feet above the plain fence or wall around it, whichever of those two is taller. The same 2023 law requires that plain fence or wall to ring it completely and stand at least five feet high. Warning signs reading WARNING ELECTRIC FENCE go up no more than thirty feet apart. Ark. Code § 17-40-108(a)(2)(F)Arkansas · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Bentonville
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Arkansas answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A fence around a public or commercial pool in Arkansas stands at least four feet high, with limits on the gaps at its sides and under it. The Department of Health reviews the plans and sets that rule. The same page says the department does not cover a pool at a single family home, which is left to local rules.
This one is Arkansas law, not Bentonville law. All Arkansas findings
The barrier shall not be less than four feet in height.
Arkansas Department of Health, Swimming Pool FAQs
4 ftminimum height of the barrier around a public or commercial pool
Spite fence laws in Bentonville
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Bentonville law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Arkansas has no spite fence law. The 2023 act that rewrote the state fencing chapter covers what a fence is, what a livestock pen needs, and who judges whether a fence is good enough. It sets no height and says nothing about a fence put up out of spite. The only other recent Arkansas fence law is the 2023 act on battery charged fences, which is about local permit power. So a fence built to annoy a neighbor is a plain nuisance question here.
This one is Arkansas law, not Bentonville law. All Arkansas findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Ark. Code Title 2, Chapter 39, as amended by Act 594 of 2023Arkansas General Assembly
- Ark. Code § 17-40-108Arkansas General Assembly
How fence height is measured in Bentonville
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Bentonville answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the structure is a fence or a retaining wall.
The one datum Bentonville names belongs to a retaining wall and it is the strictest in this project. A retaining and landscape wall is allowed up to four feet anywhere within a lot, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, so the buried part counts toward the number and a wall that shows three feet above ground may already be over the limit. Above four feet the wall has to be designed by an Arkansas licensed professional engineer and takes a retaining wall permit, above eight feet it takes a waiver from the Planning Commission, and along a street frontage it may not exceed four feet unless it is terraced or built into the building. Terraced walls have to be separated horizontally by at least the height of the lower wall, and multiple walls are treated as one. The fence heights themselves carry no datum.
Retaining and landscape walls are allowed up to four (4) feet in height anywhere within a lot, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, and do not require a retaining wall permit.
Section 50-510, retaining walls and landscape walls
The answer turns on whether the structure is a fence or a retaining wall.
- a retaining wall
- From the bottom of the footing. 4 ft
- a taller one
- An engineer and a permit.
- over eight feet
- A Planning Commission waiver. 8 ft
- a fence height
- No datum named.
Also on how height is measured in Bentonville
- set in state lawArkansas measures one kind of fence from the ground and says so. Section 14-386-203 describes a lawful fence inside a small stock fencing district. The bottom barbed wire sits twenty inches above the ground, the next wires are spaced up from there, and a rail version puts the top rail four and one half feet above the ground. Nothing applies that starting point to a fence at a house. The Arkansas Fire Prevention Code is sold rather than posted, and the state does not put the Arkansas Code itself online for free, so another measuring rule somewhere in state law has not been ruled out. Ark. Code 14-386-203, as set out in Act 594 of 2023Arkansas · Statute
Fence rules for corner lots in Bentonville
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Bentonville does not set this. It leaves it to the Arkansas Department of Transportation Clear Zone requirements and the sight triangles defined elsewhere in the code.
Bentonville states the duty in one sentence and puts both halves of the answer somewhere else. Fences and walls must comply with the Arkansas Department of Transportation Clear Zone requirements and must not obstruct sight triangles at intersections or driveways. So the clearance beside a state highway comes from a state agency standard, and the triangle at an ordinary corner is referred to without being drawn anywhere in the fence section. No leg length, no band of protected height, and no exception for an open fence. The retaining wall rules in the same section repeat the duty in the same way, saying a retaining wall may not obstruct required sight triangles at intersections or driveways, which confirms that the triangles are defined elsewhere and treated as a known quantity.
Fences and walls must comply with the Arkansas Department of Transportation Clear Zone requirements and must not obstruct sight triangles at intersections or driveways.
Section 50-510, fences and walls, general
The code hands this to the Arkansas Department of Transportation Clear Zone requirements and the sight triangles defined elsewhere in the code, which is not published in the code itself.
Retaining wall rules in Bentonville
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Bentonville does not set this. It leaves it to the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, Volume III, which is the International Residential Code with Arkansas changes.
Arkansas writes no rule of its own for a wall that holds back earth. One code runs statewide, the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, adopted by the State Fire Marshal and applied even in the country and outside any city. It comes in three volumes and Volume III is the one for houses. Volume III is the International Residential Code with Arkansas changes, so the height at which a wall of that kind needs a permit comes from that outside code text, which Arkansas does not post.
This one is Arkansas law, not Bentonville law. All Arkansas findings
The Code is based on the International Fire, Building, and Residential Codes, with some Arkansas changes.
Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board, Building Codes
The code hands this to the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, Volume III, which is the International Residential Code with Arkansas changes, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Bentonville
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Bentonville answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Bentonville writes a short list of duties rather than a list of materials. Every fence and wall has to be built of durable material and kept in good repair, and none may be built of scrap material, debris or other hazardous material. A fence is installed with the finished side facing outward toward the abutting property or the right-of-way. A gate may not swing into a public right-of-way, an alley or a trail, which is a rule about the moving part rather than the fence. Barbed wire, razor wire and electrified fences are not allowed except where the district standards say otherwise, and the only place they do is T2, where they are permitted away from the lot lines and barred within forty feet of one. Chain link is allowed everywhere except across a frontage, so it may not be the fence a street sees.
Fences and walls must not be constructed of scrap materials, debris, or other hazardous material. Fences must be installed with the finished side facing outward toward abutting property or right-of-way.
Section 50-510, fences and walls, materials and features
Also on materials in Bentonville
- set in state lawArkansas puts the battery charged fence in the law about alarm systems, and the definition there is what sets the standard. It covers where the fence may sit, the battery behind it, the plain fence around it and the warning signs on it. Ark. Code Ann. 17-40-108Arkansas · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Bentonville
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Arkansas answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A field kept for livestock in Arkansas has to be fenced. That one line opens the state fencing chapter, which Act 594 of 2023 rewrote. The same act repealed the old law on fencing districts.
This one is Arkansas law, not Bentonville law. All Arkansas findings
All fields and grounds kept for livestock enclosures shall be enclosed
Ark. Code § 2-39-101, as amended by Act 594 of 2023
Also on agricultural fencing in Bentonville
- set in state lawArkansas law defines a fence as a structure acting as a boundary or barrier that limits people, livestock or vehicles moving into or out of an area. The 2023 act put that definition in place of the old description. The same act defined livestock for the whole chapter as cattle, bison, horses, sheep, goats, donkeys, mules and hogs. Ark. Code § 2-39-102, as amended by Act 594 of 2023Arkansas · Statute
- set in state lawArkansas puts no sizes on a fence that counts as good enough. People decide that by going out and looking at it. On a complaint to a justice of the peace, three neighbors who have no stake in the case and are not related to either side go look at the fence where the animals got through. They write down what they saw, and that account is evidence at trial on whether the fence was lawful. Ark. Code § 2-39-106, as amended by Act 594 of 2023Arkansas · Statute
Documents behind this page
6 documents, of which 1 was published by Bentonville itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- City of BentonvilleBentonville Municipal Code, Chapter 50, Community Code, Article 50-5, Design Standards
- Arkansas Department of Labor and LicensingBuilding Codes, Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board
- Arkansas Department of Public SafetyState Fire Marshal's Office
- Arkansas General AssemblyAct 267 of the Regular Session of 2023, House Bill 1406, An Act Concerning the Regulation of Certain Battery-Charged Fences by Municipalities and Counties
- Arkansas Department of HealthSwimming Pool FAQs
- Arkansas General AssemblyAct 594 of the Regular Session of 2023, House Bill 1677, An Act to Amend the Law Regarding Livestock, Livestock Running at Large and Fencing
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 Bentonville publishes, plus the Arkansas rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Arkansas 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