Fence laws in Baldwin Park, California
What the Baldwin Park municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Baldwin Park sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Baldwin Park, California, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Two neighbors split the cost of a fence on the line in California.
- How tall
- A solid fence, wall or hedge in a Baldwin Park front yard stops at three feet, and the answer turns on whether the fence is solid or open, and which yard it stands in. The figure is 3 feet, for height of a solid fence in the front yard.
- Permits
- Baldwin Park splits its approvals by where the fence goes rather than by how tall it is. The figure is 3 feet, for retaining wall height from the bottom of the footing before a building permit is needed.
- 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
- For a free standing masonry fence, Baldwin Park measures from the top of the footing to the top of the wall. It reaches free standing masonry fences only.
- Corner lots
- The Baldwin Park cross-visibility rule is written to catch solid construction specifically. The figure is 3 feet, for height of solid construction inside the cross-visibility area. It reaches corner lots, inside the required cross-visibility area only.
- Retaining walls
- Baldwin Park leaves retaining walls to Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, the California Building Standards Code, which tracks the International Building Code and the International Residential Code.
- Materials
- Baldwin Park permits three things and bans five.
- 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 Baldwin Park?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
California answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Two 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.
This one is California law, not Baldwin Park law. All California findings
Adjoining landowners are presumed to share an equal benefit from any fence dividing their properties and, unless otherwise agreed to by the parties in a written agreement, shall be presumed to be equally responsible for the reasonable costs of construction, maintenance, or necessary replacement of the fence.
Also on fences on the property line in Baldwin Park
- 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 Baldwin Park?
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Baldwin Park answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is solid or open, and which yard it stands in.
A solid fence, wall or hedge in a Baldwin Park front yard stops at three feet. An open one reaches five, and the handout names what counts as open: wrought iron, a wood picket fence, or a combination of wrought iron over a concrete block base. Decorative finishes and ornaments count toward the five feet, so a finial or a cap on top of a five foot fence puts it over. Side and rear yards run to six feet.
However, any open fence (such as a wrought iron, wood picket, or combination wrought iron and concrete block wall fence) can be constructed to a maximum height of 5 feet. This includes any decorative finishes or ornaments on a fence or wall.
Baldwin Park Municipal Code 153.130.060
The answer turns on whether the fence is solid or open, and which yard it stands in.
- a solid fence, wall or hedge in the required front yard
- Three feet. 3 ft
- an open fence in the front yard
- Five feet, including any decorative finish or ornament on top. 5 ft
- in a side or rear yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
Also on fence height in Baldwin Park
- 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 Baldwin Park?
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Baldwin Park answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Baldwin Park splits its approvals by where the fence goes rather than by how tall it is. A front yard fence needs Planning Division approval and a site plan before construction. A side or rear yard fence needs no city approval at all, though the standards still bind it. The building permit is a separate and narrow thing: it is required only for a retaining wall over three feet measured from the bottom of the footing.
Approval from the Planning Division is required for fences and walls in the front yard.
Baldwin Park Municipal Code 153.130.060
3 ftretaining wall height from the bottom of the footing before a building permit is needed
Also on permits in Baldwin Park
- 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 Baldwin Park
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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 Baldwin Park 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 Baldwin Park
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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 Baldwin Park 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 Baldwin Park
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Baldwin Park answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
For a free standing masonry fence, Baldwin Park measures from the top of the footing to the top of the wall. That is the opposite end of the footing from the one nearly every other city on this site uses, and it works in the owner’s favor rather than against it, because the buried concrete is left out of the total. A masonry fence under six feet that supports no surcharge needs no building permit from the city.
Fence height is measured from the top of the footing to the top of the wall.
Also on how height is measured in Baldwin Park
- left to the townCalifornia 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. Cal. Gov. Code 65850(c)(1)California · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Baldwin Park
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Baldwin Park answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The Baldwin Park cross-visibility rule is written to catch solid construction specifically. Anything inside the required cross-visibility area may not exceed three feet if it is built with solid materials such as a block wall. The qualifier does real work: the sentence limits the solid version and says nothing about an open one, which is the same logic the city uses in its front yard rule where an open fence buys two extra feet.
All portions of a fence, wall or hedge that are within the required cross-visibility area may not exceed 3 feet in height if built with solid materials (such as a block wall).
Baldwin Park Municipal Code 153.130.060
3 ftheight of solid construction inside the cross-visibility area
Also on corner visibility in Baldwin Park
- 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 Baldwin Park
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Baldwin Park does not set this. It leaves it to Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, the California Building Standards Code, which tracks the International Building Code and the International Residential Code.
California 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.
This one is California law, not Baldwin Park law. All California findings
The building standards and rules and regulations shall impose substantially the same requirements as are contained in the most recent editions of the following international or uniform industry codes as adopted by the organizations specified:
The code hands this to Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, the California Building Standards Code, which tracks the International Building Code and the International Residential Code, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Baldwin Park
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Baldwin Park answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Baldwin Park permits three things and bans five. Allowed: wood that is water treated or water sealed, decorative wrought iron, and block walls of decorative material such as slump stone, split face block, brick, or block finished with decorative stucco. Prohibited in all zones: chain link, plastic or vinyl, corrugated metal or similar untreated material, electrified fencing, and barbed, razor or concertina wire. Vinyl being on that list is the surprise, because it is an ordinary residential fence material almost everywhere else on this site.
The following materials are prohibited in all zones (with exceptions as noted): Barbed wire, razor or concertina wire (prohibited only in Residential and Commercial properties) Electrified fences Chain link fencing Plastic or vinyl materials
Baldwin Park Municipal Code 153.130.060
Also on materials in Baldwin Park
- 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
- depends, see the pageA wall in a street facing front yard on commercial or industrial land in Baldwin Park has to pick at least two of four design features. A two foot change in horizontal plane over at least ten lineal feet. An eighteen inch change in height over at least ten lineal feet. An eighteen inch raised planter along at least half the length. Or pilasters at intervals no greater than twenty five feet and at every change of plane. The rule exists to stop a long blank wall along a street, and no other city read for this site prices it as a menu. Baldwin Park Municipal Code 153.130.060Baldwin Park · Zoning code
Livestock and boundary fence law in Baldwin Park
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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 Baldwin Park 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 Baldwin Park
- 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
10 documents, of which 1 was published by Baldwin Park itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- California LegislatureCalifornia Civil Code Section 841, Good Neighbor Fence Act of 2013
- California LegislatureCalifornia Civil Code Section 841.4, spite fences
- City of Baldwin Park, Planning DivisionFence and Wall Information
- 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
- 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 Baldwin Park 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