Fence laws in Conway, Arkansas
What the Conway municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Conway sets no rule of its own, the Arkansas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Conway, Arkansas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Conway has no statute splitting the cost of a fence on the boundary. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- How tall
- Conway states no general maximum fence height for a residential lot, and the answer turns on whether the site is subject to Development Review and where the fence stands. The figure is 48 inches, for height to which fencing in front of the primary structure may be solid.
- Permits
- Arkansas has no separate statewide building code.
- 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
- Conway 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 in the Conway code that governs a fence is at the corner, and it is unusually precise: three feet above the elevation of the lowest point of the crown of the adjacent roadway, and the answer turns on whether the height is a corner figure or a fence figure. The figure is 3 feet, for height above the lowest point of the crown allowed in the corner triangle.
- Corner lots
- Unlike the fence rules, the corner rule applies across the city. The figure is 30 feet, for leg of the corner triangle along the front and exterior side lot lines.
- Retaining walls
- Conway leaves retaining walls to the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, Volume III, which is the International Residential Code with Arkansas changes.
- Materials
- Conway does not ban chain link and does not leave it alone either, and the answer turns on the material and whether it can be seen from the street.
- Livestock
- A field kept for livestock in Arkansas has to be fenced.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Conway?
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Conway law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
The Conway zoning code states no distance between a fence and a property line. The fence section in the development standards places fencing relative to the building and the right-of-way rather than relative to a boundary, and the corner rule measures from lot lines only to draw a triangle. Where the code does reach a boundary it is asking for a screen rather than keeping one back: a permanent opaque screening fence or wall is constructed along any side or rear property line abutting property zoned residential in certain districts, at not less than five and not more than six feet, so the fence is required on the line rather than held off it. Several district provisions require a use to be enclosed by a solid fence or wall of at least six feet where it lies within a stated distance of a residential district.
Documents read before writing that:
- Section 1007.8City of Conway
- Section 519City of Conway
How tall can a fence be in Conway?
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Conway answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the site is subject to Development Review and where the fence stands.
Conway states no general maximum fence height for a residential lot. The figure it does give sits in the development standards, which apply to all developments subject to Development Review, so it reaches a new subdivision or a commercial site and not a house already standing. Under that section, any fencing or wall between the primary structures and a public right-of-way, including anything used as a retaining measure, may only be solid up to forty eight inches, and anything above forty eight inches may not obstruct the view of the primary structure from the right-of-way. So the test in front is the same one Fayetteville uses, whether the building can still be seen. The other heights in the code are all screening figures: not less than five nor more than six feet where a use abuts residential property, six feet of opaque screening in several districts, eight feet around a few uses.
Any fencing or walls located between the primary structures and any public right-of-way, including those used as a retaining measure, may only be solid up to forty-eight (48) inches in height. Any fencing which exceeds forty-eight (48) inches in height shall not obstruct the view of the primary structure from the right of way.
The answer turns on whether the site is subject to Development Review and where the fence stands.
- solid fencing in front of a reviewed development
- Forty eight inches. 48 in
- taller fencing there
- It may not hide the building.
- an ordinary house lot
- No general height stated.
- screening next to residential property
- Five to six feet. 6 ft
Also on fence height in Conway
- 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 Conway?
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Arkansas answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Arkansas 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.
This one is Arkansas law, not Conway law. All Arkansas findings
The Arkansas Building Code is adopted by the State Fire Marshal's office. It is a part of the Fire Prevention Code.
Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board, Building Codes
Also on permits in Conway
- 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
- no rule, documents checkedThe zoning code names no fence permit, no fee and no application for a fence. What it has instead is a threshold of a different kind, because the fence rules live in Section 1007 and that section opens by saying its standards apply to all developments subject to Development Review. So whether the fence rules reach a project at all depends on whether the project goes through review, and a fence on a lot that is not in review is left to the citywide provisions, which are the corner visibility rule and the district screening requirements. Any obligation to obtain a building permit for a fence would come from Title 11 of the municipal code rather than from the zoning code. Section 1007Conway · Zoning code
Pool fence requirements in Conway
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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 Conway 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 Conway
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Conway 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 Conway 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 Conway
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Conway answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the height is a corner figure or a fence figure.
The one datum in the Conway code that governs a fence is at the corner, and it is unusually precise: three feet above the elevation of the lowest point of the crown of the adjacent roadway. Naming the lowest point matters on a street that rises and falls, because it means the strictest reading of the road sets the limit rather than an average. The development standards state forty eight inches for solid fencing in front of a building and never say what that is read from. The screening heights elsewhere in the code, five feet, six feet and eight feet, carry no datum either. A berm is not addressed as ground for a fence. A retaining wall is addressed, but only to say that a wall used as a retaining measure in front of a building is still subject to the forty eight inch solidity limit.
having a height in excess of three (3) feet above the elevation of the lowest point of the crown of the adjacent roadway
The answer turns on whether the height is a corner figure or a fence figure.
- a corner
- The lowest point of the crown. 3 ft
- a fence height
- No datum named.
- a retaining wall in front
- Counted with the fence.
- a berm
- Not addressed.
Also on how height is measured in Conway
- 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 Conway
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Conway answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Unlike the fence rules, the corner rule applies across the city. On any corner lot on which a front or side yard is required, no wall, fence, sign, structure or plant growth over three feet above the elevation of the lowest point of the crown of the adjacent roadway may be maintained in the triangle drawn thirty feet along the front and exterior side lot lines from where they meet. Two details are worth noting. Thirty feet is longer than the twenty five most cities use, so the protected area reaches further into the lot. And the datum is the lowest point of the crown, so where the road rises and falls along the frontage the most restrictive point on it governs, which is the same careful wording Stillwater and Moore use. A separate provision bars parking and any obstruction near intersecting streets in one district.
On any corner lot on which a front or side yard is required, no wall, fence, sign, structure or any plant growth having a height in excess of three (3) feet above the elevation of the lowest point of the crown of the adjacent roadway shall be maintained in a triangle formed by measuring from the point of intersection of the front and exterior side lot lines a distance of thirty (30) feet along such front and side lot lines
30 ftleg of the corner triangle along the front and exterior side lot lines
Retaining wall rules in Conway
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Conway 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 Conway 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 Conway
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Conway answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material and whether it can be seen from the street.
Conway does not ban chain link and does not leave it alone either. Chain link fencing may not be closer to any adjacent street than any structure on the site, and all of it has to be painted or coated in a non-obtrusive color such as black or dark green to diminish its visual impact, which is a rule about how a fence looks rather than what it is made of. Razor and barbed wire fences are prohibited where they are visible from a public right-of-way or a residential area, except barbed wire used for agricultural purposes, and the code adds a parenthetical telling the reader that even then it should never be used unless it is needed to solve a demonstrated security problem. Elsewhere the code asks that fences and walls avoid a stockade appearance, use materials and finishes that complement the project, and be enhanced aesthetically and functionally.
Chain link fencing shall not be closer to any adjacent street than any structure on the site. All chain link fencing shall be painted or coated in a non-obtrusive color, such as black or dark green, in order to diminish its visual impact.
The answer turns on the material and whether it can be seen from the street.
- chain link
- Behind the building, and painted dark.
- razor or barbed wire in view
- Prohibited.
- barbed wire on a farm
- Allowed, and discouraged.
- a stockade look
- To be avoided.
Also on materials in Conway
- 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 Conway
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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 Conway 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 Conway
- 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 Conway itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- City of ConwayCity of Conway Zoning Code, Ordinance O-22-111
- 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 Conway 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