Fence laws in Fresno, California
What the Fresno municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Fresno sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Fresno, 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
- Fresno allows six feet once the fence is past the front yard setback, and three feet in front of it, and the answer turns on the zoning of the lot, which sets how deep the front yard setback runs. The figure is 13 feet, for front yard setback in RS-4 and RS-5. It reaches single family lots only.
- Permits
- California does not write its own building code from scratch.
- 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
- Fresno leaves the measuring rule to the legislative body of each county and city, through its zoning ordinance.
- Corner lots
- A corner house in Fresno has to keep a visibility triangle clear to three feet, and the size of the triangle depends on which two kinds of street meet, and the answer turns on which classes of street meet at the corner. The figure is 100 feet, for the long leg where two local streets meet. It reaches a corner lot only.
- Retaining walls
- Where the ground drops between a lot and the sidewalk or the lot next door, Fresno allows a retaining wall and fence together to reach seven feet, one more than an ordinary fence gets, and it counts that seven from the lower side. The figure is 7 feet, for a retaining wall and fence together, measured from the lower side. It reaches a lot with a natural grade difference from the sidewalk or the parcel next door only.
- Materials
- Fresno publishes two columns, allowed and not allowed, and the not allowed one is unusually blunt.
- 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 Fresno?
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 Fresno 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 Fresno
- 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 Fresno?
Compare fence height across all 50 states
Fresno answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zoning of the lot, which sets how deep the front yard setback runs.
Fresno allows six feet once the fence is past the front yard setback, and three feet in front of it. What makes the Fresno rule usable is that the city publishes the setback itself rather than leaving it to be looked up: 13 feet in the RS-4 and RS-5 zones, 25 in RS-3, 30 in RS-2, and 35 in RE and RS-1. So the answer for a house on a small lot is that the six foot fence can start 13 feet back from the front line, and on a large lot it cannot start until 35.
Fences can be six feet high once it
Fresno Municipal Code 15-2006, as published by the city
The answer turns on the zoning of the lot, which sets how deep the front yard setback runs.
- the lot is zoned RS-4 or RS-5, the smaller lot zones
- The setback is 13 feet, so the six foot fence can begin 13 feet back. 13 ft
- the lot is zoned RE or RS-1, the largest lot zones
- The setback is 35 feet, so the front third of a deep lot is held to three feet. 35 ft
- the house is in an established neighborhood
- The prevailing setback on the street is used instead of the table, so the block decides rather than the zone.
Also on fence height in Fresno
- 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 Fresno?
Compare permits across all 50 states
California answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
California 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.
This one is California law, not Fresno 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:
Also on permits in Fresno
- 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 Fresno
Compare pool barriers across all 50 states
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 Fresno 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 Fresno
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
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 Fresno 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 Fresno
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Fresno 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 Fresno 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 Fresno
Compare corner visibility across all 50 states
Fresno answers this, but the answer changes depending on which classes of street meet at the corner.
A corner house in Fresno has to keep a visibility triangle clear to three feet, and the size of the triangle depends on which two kinds of street meet. Where two local streets cross it runs 11 feet one way and 100 the other. Local to collector is a square 25 by 25. Local to arterial is 20 by 100. Two major streets make it 30 by 30. The 100 foot leg is the one that surprises people, because it reaches most of the way down an ordinary block.
high visibility triangle
Fresno Municipal Code 15-2006, as published by the city
The answer turns on which classes of street meet at the corner.
- a local street meets another local street
- The triangle runs 11 feet along one leg and 100 feet along the other. 100 ft
- a local street meets a collector
- A square triangle, 25 feet on each leg. 25 ft
- a local street meets an arterial or super arterial
- 20 feet on the short leg and 100 feet along the arterial. 100 ft
- two major streets meet
- 30 feet on each leg. 30 ft
Also on corner visibility in Fresno
- 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 Fresno
Compare retaining walls across all 50 states
Fresno answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Where the ground drops between a lot and the sidewalk or the lot next door, Fresno allows a retaining wall and fence together to reach seven feet, one more than an ordinary fence gets, and it counts that seven from the lower side. Department approval is needed for it rather than it being automatic. Measuring from the low side is the strict way to do it: the same structure measured from the high side would read shorter and pass more easily.
a retaining wall/fence combination can go up to seven feet high, measured from the lower side
Fresno Municipal Code 15-2006, as published by the city
7 fta retaining wall and fence together, measured from the lower side
Also on retaining walls in Fresno
- 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 Fresno
Compare materials across all 50 states
Fresno answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Fresno publishes two columns, allowed and not allowed, and the not allowed one is unusually blunt. Plywood, OSB and pressboard are out, and so are chicken wire, corrugated products and piping. Then it names improvised materials one by one: wood scraps, doors, garage doors, refrigerator doors, mattresses, blankets and tarps. On the allowed side, wrought iron, tubular steel, wood, split rail, stucco, brick, stone and decorative concrete, and a hedge counts as fencing here rather than being banned.
Plywood, OSB, pressboard
Fresno Municipal Code 15-2006, as published by the city
Also on materials in Fresno
- 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 pageChain link gets its own rule in Fresno and it turns on the street. Along a major street, chain link is only allowed at three feet or less, so a six foot chain link fence facing a busy road is out. Away from a major street it is allowed, and privacy slats or shade cloth may be woven through it. That is the opposite of how many cities treat slats, which is to count them as making the fence solid. Fresno Municipal Code 15-2006, as published by the cityFresno · Zoning code
Livestock and boundary fence law in Fresno
Compare agricultural fencing across all 50 states
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 Fresno 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 Fresno
- 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 Fresno 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 Fresno, Planning and Development DepartmentHandout E11, Fences for Single Family Lots
- 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 Fresno 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