Fence laws in Alhambra, California
What the Alhambra municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Alhambra sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Alhambra, California, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Alhambra puts the good side of a perimeter fence toward the neighbor, not toward the owner who paid for it.
- How tall
- Alhambra caps a fence at three feet in the front yard and within five feet of a street side property line, and at six feet everywhere else on the lot, and the answer turns on the yard, the distance from a street side property line, and for anything over six feet the use being enclosed. The figure is 3 feet, for fence height in a front yard or near a street side line.
- Permits
- Alhambra runs the fence permit backwards from most cities.
- Pool barriers
- A pool fence in California stands at least sixty inches high. The figure is 60 inches, for minimum height of a pool enclosure.
- Spite fences
- A fence over ten feet tall in California is a private nuisance when it was put up or kept there to annoy the neighbor and the extra height serves no purpose. The figure is 10 feet, for spite fence threshold, with malice required.
- Measured from what
- Alhambra leaves the measuring rule to the legislative body of each county and city, through its zoning ordinance.
- Corner lots
- The clear triangle on an Alhambra corner lot runs twenty five feet back along each property line. The figure is 25 feet, for leg of the corner visibility triangle.
- Retaining walls
- A fence on top of a retaining wall in an Alhambra front yard runs into two limits at the same time. The figure is 6 feet, for combined retaining wall and fence height above sidewalk elevation.
- Materials
- Plain smooth block, wire and chain link are all off the list for a front or street side fence in Alhambra.
- Livestock
- California calls a fence lawful when it is strong enough to keep livestock from getting in or out. The figure is 4 feet, for height of the top wire on a lawful wire fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Alhambra?
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Alhambra answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Alhambra puts the good side of a perimeter fence toward the neighbor, not toward the owner who paid for it. The rule sits in the maintenance subsection rather than in the height or materials rules, which is an easy place to miss it. It applies to all perimeter fencing, so it reaches every shared line on the lot rather than only the street frontage.
All walls and fences shall be maintained in a safe, neat and orderly condition at all times. The finished side of all perimeter fencing shall face adjacent properties.
Alhambra Municipal Code 23.12.050.C
Also on fences on the property line in Alhambra
- set in state lawTwo neighbors split the cost of a fence on the line in California. The law starts from the idea that both get the same benefit from it, so both owe the same share of building it, keeping it up and replacing it. A neighbor about to spend that money gives the other one thirty days written notice first. Either neighbor can show the even split is wrong, and a court can then order less than half or nothing at all. Civ. Code 841California · Statute
- set in state lawThe notice has to say six things: that the law starts from an even split, what is wrong with the fence now, what is planned instead, what it is expected to cost, how the cost gets shared, and when the work happens. Civ. Code 841(b)(1)California · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Alhambra?
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Alhambra answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, the distance from a street side property line, and for anything over six feet the use being enclosed.
Alhambra caps a fence at three feet in the front yard and within five feet of a street side property line, and at six feet everywhere else on the lot. The three foot zone is defined by distance from the street side line rather than by the whole setback, so a long side yard can switch limits partway along. A fence over six feet to enclose a commercial or industrial use or a tennis court is possible through a use permit, as long as it is not in a street setback.
Fences, walls, dense hedges, and similar structures may be a maximum of three feet high measured from finished grade when located within the front yard or within five feet of a street side property line.
Alhambra Municipal Code 23.12.050.A
The answer turns on the yard, the distance from a street side property line, and for anything over six feet the use being enclosed.
- in the front yard, or within five feet of a street side property line
- Three feet from finished grade, and the fence goes through Design Review. 3 ft
- anywhere else on the lot
- Six feet. 6 ft
- over six feet around a commercial or industrial use or a tennis court
- Allowed by permit, and only outside a street setback area.
Also on fence height in Alhambra
- no rule, documents checkedCalifornia sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. Cities and counties write that in their zoning codes and the answer changes a lot from one town to the next. The one height in state law is the ten feet in the spite fence rule, and that only matters when the fence was put up to annoy a neighbor. It is not a building limit. Civ. Code 841California · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Alhambra?
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Alhambra answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Alhambra runs the fence permit backwards from most cities. A building permit is usually not needed, but a planning application is, and which application depends on the fence being proposed. So the paperwork a small fence escapes elsewhere is the paperwork Alhambra requires, and the paperwork most cities require is the one it waives.
A building permit is not usually required, but a Planning application is required. The type of Planning application required will be dependent on the type of fence or wall being proposed.
Also on permits in Alhambra
- set in state lawCalifornia does not write its own building code from scratch. Section 17922 adopts Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations and requires it to ask for much the same things as the International Building Code and the International Residential Code, with state additions and cuts. So the permit rule for a fence starts out as outside code text that California then edits. Health & Saf. Code 17922California · Statute
- set in state lawA California city or county can make the statewide building code stricter, but not quietly. Section 17958.7 makes the city council say in writing why each change is needed because of local weather, ground or land shape. That finding goes to the California Building Standards Commission, and the change does nothing until it is filed. The finding is a public record, which is why a local permit line can sit well below the statewide one. Health & Saf. Code 17958.7California · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Alhambra
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California answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A pool fence in California stands at least sixty inches high. No more than two inches may be left between the ground and the bottom of it, and no gap in it may pass a four inch ball. The outside face has no handholds or footholds a child under five could climb. Gates open away from the pool and close and latch by themselves, with the latch set no lower than sixty inches above the ground.
This one is California law, not Alhambra law. All California findings
An enclosure shall have all of the following characteristics: (a) Any access gates through the enclosure open away from the swimming pool, and are self-closing with a self-latching device placed no lower than 60 inches above the ground. (b) A minimum height of 60 inches. (c) A maximum vertical clearance from the ground to the bottom of the enclosure of two inches. (d) Gaps or voids, if any, do not allow passage of a sphere equal to or greater than four inches in diameter. (e) An outside surface free of protrusions, cavities, or other physical characteristics that would serve as handholds or footholds that could enable a child below the age of five years to climb over.
60 inminimum height of a pool enclosure
Spite fence laws in Alhambra
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California answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A fence over ten feet tall in California is a private nuisance when it was put up or kept there to annoy the neighbor and the extra height serves no purpose. Height on its own is not enough. The case turns on proving why the fence is there. The rule covers anything built like a fence, not only a fence.
This one is California law, not Alhambra law. All California findings
Any fence or other structure in the nature of a fence unnecessarily exceeding 10 feet in height maliciously erected or maintained for the purpose of annoying the owner or occupant of adjoining property is a private nuisance.
10 ftspite fence threshold, with malice required
How fence height is measured in Alhambra
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Alhambra does not set this. It leaves it to the legislative body of each county and city, through its zoning ordinance.
California gives a fence height and never says what it is measured from. Civil Code section 841.4 makes a fence over ten feet a private nuisance when it is kept up to annoy a neighbor. It does not say whether the ten feet starts at bare dirt, at the finished yard, or at the high side of a slope. Government Code section 65850 is why the state stops there: it lets any county or city set the place, height and size of structures. So the number and the surface it starts from are both written into local zoning.
This one is California law, not Alhambra law. All California findings
Regulate all of the following: (1) The location, height, bulk, number of stories, and size of buildings and structures.
The code hands this to the legislative body of each county and city, through its zoning ordinance, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence rules for corner lots in Alhambra
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Alhambra answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The clear triangle on an Alhambra corner lot runs twenty five feet back along each property line. Inside it, nothing may stand between two feet six inches and seven feet in height, which leaves a low fence legal and a normal one not. The code also explains what happens on a rounded corner: the triangle is drawn off the tangents to the curve instead of off a square corner that is not there.
This triangular area is defined as the area formed between property lines and a diagonal line joining points on the property lines 25 feet from the point of their intersection
Alhambra Municipal Code 23.12.190.B
25 ftleg of the corner visibility triangle
Also on corner visibility in Alhambra
- set in state lawCalifornia writes no clear view triangle into state law. The Streets and Highways Code counts a fence as an encroachment once it stands in, under or over any part of a state highway right of way. Section 670 then makes putting one there without a written permit from the department a misdemeanor. That covers the public strip, not the corner of a private yard. Government Code section 65850 gives every city and county the power to set the height and place of structures, and that is where a corner triangle gets written in California. Cal. Sts. & Hy. Code 660California · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Alhambra
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Alhambra answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A fence on top of a retaining wall in an Alhambra front yard runs into two limits at the same time. The fence alone may not pass three feet above the dirt the wall holds back, and the wall and fence stacked together may not pass six feet above the sidewalk. On a shallow cut the three foot rule binds first. On a deep one the six foot ceiling does, and the fence has to shrink to fit under it.
In the event that there is a retaining wall, the maximum height of the fence or wall shall not exceed three feet, measured from the grade of the dirt for which the wall is retaining, but in no event shall the height of the retaining wall, together with the fence or wall, exceed six feet above sidewalk elevation.
Alhambra Municipal Code 23.12.050.A.1.a.i
6 ftcombined retaining wall and fence height above sidewalk elevation
Also on retaining walls in Alhambra
- left to the townCalifornia has no rule of its own in statute for a wall that holds back earth. The rule is in Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, which section 17922 adopts by reference and requires to match the newest editions of a named list of outside codes, the International Building Code and the International Residential Code among them. The same section leaves setbacks, side yards, rear yards and property line rules entirely to cities and counties. Health & Saf. Code 17922(a)California · Statute
Fence materials allowed in Alhambra
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Alhambra answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Plain smooth block, wire and chain link are all off the list for a front or street side fence in Alhambra. Block is allowed once it is given a finish such as sand stucco or a veneer, so the ban is on the bare surface rather than on the material. The same subsection also bars points, spikes and ornamentation along the top, and requires the fence to match the design of the house it belongs to.
The fence or wall shall not be constructed from grey smooth block unless architecturally treated (i.e. sand finish stucco, veneer, etc.), wire or chain link.
Alhambra Municipal Code 23.12.050.A.1.b
Also on materials in Alhambra
- set in state lawCalifornia sets a wire standard for a lawful fence in grazing counties. A wire fence takes three tight barbed wires on solid posts set no more than a rod apart, with one wire at least four feet up. Any fence as strong and as tall as that one counts too. Cal. Food & Agric. Code 17121California · Statute
- set in state lawBarbed wire, razor wire and electrified fencing are barred in Alhambra, with one opening most cities do not write in: electrified fencing that meets California Civil Code section 835 is allowed. That state section is the one covering an electric fence with a warning sign and a limited shock, so the city has handed the standard for that single material to the state rather than setting its own. Industrial sites can also apply for an exception through the modifications chapter. Alhambra Municipal Code 23.12.050.BAlhambra · Zoning code
Livestock and boundary fence law in Alhambra
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California answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
California calls a fence lawful when it is strong enough to keep livestock from getting in or out. A wire fence gets real numbers: three tight barbed wires on posts set no more than one rod apart, with one of those wires at least four feet off the ground. Any other fence as tall, as strong and as good at holding animals counts too, and so does a cattle guard wide and deep enough to turn them.
This one is California law, not Alhambra law. All California findings
No wire fence is a good and substantial fence within the meaning of this article unless it has three tightly stretched barbed wires securely fastened to posts of reasonable strength, firmly set in the ground not more than one rod apart, one of which wires shall be at least four feet above the surface of the ground.
4 ftheight of the top wire on a lawful wire fence
Also on agricultural fencing in Alhambra
- depends, see the pageCalifornia answers this one county by county. Section 17123 names Siskiyou, Lassen and Modoc, plus parts of Trinity and Shasta, as land used mainly for grazing. Section 17124 lets the board of supervisors of any county put the same label on the county or part of it. Where the label applies, the land has to be fully fenced before the person on it may take in a stray animal or hold it for payment. Cal. Food & Agric. Code 17122California · Statute
Documents behind this page
11 documents, of which 2 were published by Alhambra itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- California LegislatureCalifornia Civil Code Section 841, Good Neighbor Fence Act of 2013
- City of Alhambra, City CouncilOrdinance No. O2M25-4844, Zoning Text Amendment AMD-24-02
- California LegislatureCalifornia Civil Code Section 841.4, spite fences
- California LegislatureCalifornia Health and Safety Code Section 17922, adoption of building standards
- California LegislatureCalifornia Health and Safety Code Section 17958.7, local modification of building standards
- City of AlhambraWho Do I Call, Frequently Asked Questions
- California LegislatureCalifornia Health and Safety Code Section 115923, enclosure requirements
- California LegislatureCalifornia Government Code, Title 7, Division 1, Chapter 4, Article 2, Section 65850
- California LegislatureCalifornia Streets and Highways Code, Division 1, Chapter 3, Section 660
- California LegislatureCalifornia Food and Agricultural Code, Division 9, Part 2, Chapter 3, Article 5
- California LegislatureCalifornia Food and Agricultural Code, Division 9, Part 2, Chapter 3, Article 5
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 Alhambra publishes, plus the California rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in California 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