Fence laws in Downey, California
What the Downey municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Downey sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Downey, 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
- The maximum height in a Downey front or street side setback is forty two inches, and there is one way past it on the street side. The figure is 35 feet, for distance back from the front property line before a seven foot street side fence may begin. It reaches street side yards on corner lots only.
- Permits
- A block wall or fence in Downey up to forty two inches needs no building permit, and the city adds immediately that it still needs approval from Planning and possibly from Engineering, and the answer turns on whether the wall or fence passes forty two inches. The figure is 42 inches, for height below which no 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
- Downey uses two datums on the same fence, and the answer turns on whether the fence is in the front or street side yard, and whether the two lots sit at different levels.
- Corner lots
- Downey puts its visibility rule on driveways and alleys rather than only on street corners. The figure is 5 feet, for each leg of the triangular setback at a driveway or alley. It reaches driveways and alleys within the required setback area only.
- Retaining walls
- A Downey retaining wall is exempt from a building permit up to four feet measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, unless it supports a surcharge or impounds Class I, II or IIIA liquids. The figure is 4 feet, for retaining wall height from the bottom of the footing before a permit is needed.
- Materials
- California sets a wire standard for a lawful fence in grazing counties. The figure is 3 strands, for barbed wires in a lawful wire fence. It reaches lawful fences in grazing counties only.
- 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 Downey?
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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 Downey 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 Downey
- 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 Downey?
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Downey answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The maximum height in a Downey front or street side setback is forty two inches, and there is one way past it on the street side. A wall or fence up to seven feet is allowed there if it stands at least three feet back from the side street property line and no closer than thirty five feet to the front property line. Both conditions bind at once, so the tall fence starts thirty five feet up the side street rather than at the corner of the house.
In addition, on a street side yard, walls or fences not exceeding seven feet in height may be constructed not less than three feet from the side street property line nor closer than thirty-five feet (35’) to the front property line
Building and Safety Frequently Asked Questions
35 ftdistance back from the front property line before a seven foot street side fence may begin
Also on fence height in Downey
- 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 Downey?
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Downey answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the wall or fence passes forty two inches.
A block wall or fence in Downey up to forty two inches needs no building permit, and the city adds immediately that it still needs approval from Planning and possibly from Engineering. Above forty two inches it needs all three. So the exemption is narrower than it looks: what it exempts is the building permit alone, and nothing on a Downey boundary gets built without the Planning Division seeing it first.
A block wall or fence with a max. height of forty-two inches (42”) does not require a building permit. However, it does require approval from Planning and possibility Engineering.
Building and Safety Frequently Asked Questions
The answer turns on whether the wall or fence passes forty two inches.
- forty two inches or less
- No building permit, but Planning approval and possibly Engineering approval. 42 in
- over forty two inches
- A Building Division permit as well as Planning and Engineering approval.
Also on permits in Downey
- 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 Downey
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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 Downey 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 Downey
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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 Downey 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 Downey
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Downey answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is in the front or street side yard, and whether the two lots sit at different levels.
Downey uses two datums on the same fence. In the front or street side yard, the height is measured from the top of the nearest street curb, so a lot raised above the road starts its forty two inches from lower down and gets less fence. Everywhere else it is measured from existing or finished grade. Along an interior side or rear line between lots at different levels, the measurement is taken from the lot with the higher finished grade abutting the fence.
Residential walls or fences shall be measured from the existing or finished grade, except within the front or street side yard, where the maximum height of a wall or fence shall be measured from the top of the nearest street curb elevation.
Building and Safety Frequently Asked Questions
The answer turns on whether the fence is in the front or street side yard, and whether the two lots sit at different levels.
- in the front or street side yard
- From the top of the nearest street curb.
- along an interior side or rear line between lots at different levels
- From the lot with the higher finished grade directly abutting the fence.
- anywhere else
- From existing or finished grade.
Also on how height is measured in Downey
- 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 Downey
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Downey answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Downey puts its visibility rule on driveways and alleys rather than only on street corners. Anything over forty two inches inside the required setback area has to cut a five foot triangle where it meets a driveway or an alley. Sixty one cities have been read for this site and most write the triangle for a street intersection alone. Naming the alley matters in a city built on rear alleys, because that is where the fence and the car actually meet.
Walls or fences exceeding forty-two inches (42”) in height shall have five-foot triangular setbacks abutting driveways and alleys within the required setback area
Building and Safety Frequently Asked Questions
5 fteach leg of the triangular setback at a driveway or alley
Also on corner visibility in Downey
- 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 Downey
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Downey answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Downey retaining wall is exempt from a building permit up to four feet measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, unless it supports a surcharge or impounds Class I, II or IIIA liquids. Counting from the footing puts the buried concrete into the total, so a wall showing three feet of face can already be over the line. The forty two inch rule that governs ordinary fences does not reach retaining walls, which have their own figure.
Retaining walls that are not over four feet (4′) (1,219 mm) in height measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, unless supporting a surcharge or impounding Class I, II or IIIA liquids.
Building and Safety Frequently Asked Questions
4 ftretaining wall height from the bottom of the footing before a permit is needed
Also on retaining walls in Downey
- 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 Downey
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California answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
California 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.
This one is California law, not Downey 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.
3 strandsbarbed wires in a lawful wire fence
Livestock and boundary fence law in Downey
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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 Downey 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 Downey
- 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 Downey 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 Downey, Community Development Department, Building and Safety DivisionBuilding and Safety Frequently Asked Questions
- 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 Downey 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