Fence laws in Gardena, California
What the Gardena municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Gardena sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Gardena, California, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Gardena keeps a driveway gate well away from the street so a waiting car does not sit on the public road. The figure is 20 feet, for setback for a driveway gate from a front or corner side yard.
- How tall
- A Gardena residential fence may reach eight feet along the side or rear property lines, and eight feet in the front yard as well provided it stands beyond the required front setback, and the answer turns on the yard, whether the fence is inside the required front setback, and the type of development. The figure is 3.5 feet, for fence or hedge in the front setback of an interior lot.
- Permits
- Extra height in Gardena comes as a fixed percentage rather than an open discretion. The figure is 20 percent, for most extra height the director may allow.
- 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
- Gardena states its measuring rule narrowly and it is worth reading closely.
- Corner lots
- Gardena offers two ways to satisfy the same corner. The figure is 10 feet, for each side of the corner cutback area.
- Retaining walls
- Gardena 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
- A Gardena residential front yard fence may be made only of wood, wrought iron, tubular steel, stone, brick, stucco, or decorative block such as slump stone or split-faced block, and where it is wrought iron or tubular steel it has to be interspersed with stone, brick, stucco or decorative block at least every eight feet, so an unbroken run of metal is not allowed, and the answer turns on the use, the yard, and whether the fence can be seen from a street. The figure is 8 feet, for longest unbroken run of metal fencing.
- 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 Gardena?
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Gardena answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Gardena keeps a driveway gate well away from the street so a waiting car does not sit on the public road. A gate has to be set back at least twenty feet from a front or corner side yard, and a gate opening onto an alley has to stand at least twenty five feet from the opposite side of that alley, which gives the driver room to turn and wait. A nonresidential fence on a street frontage carries a three foot landscape setback of its own, and a commercial or industrial parking lot beside a street needs a three foot decorative masonry wall or a landscape hedge as a visual screen.
Driveway gates abutting alleys shall be located a minimum of twenty-five feet from the opposite side of the alley.
18.42.070.A.2.a, A.2.b, A.3.b and A.4.b
20 ftsetback for a driveway gate from a front or corner side yard
Also on fences on the property line in Gardena
- 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 Gardena?
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Gardena answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, whether the fence is inside the required front setback, and the type of development.
A Gardena residential fence may reach eight feet along the side or rear property lines, and eight feet in the front yard as well provided it stands beyond the required front setback. Inside that setback the limit is three and a half feet on an interior lot and three feet on a corner lot. A cluster development that provides perimeter fencing may take the full eight feet inside the front setback, on two conditions: the fence is wrought iron or tubular steel interspersed with masonry at least every eight feet, and at least five feet of landscaping sits between the front of the fence and the back of the nearest sidewalk. Nonresidential uses follow the same figures. A commercial or industrial parking lot abutting a residential zone has to build a decorative masonry wall of at least eight feet along the shared line, stepping uniformly down to three and a half feet across the neighbor’s required front setback.
Except as provided by subsection (A)(2)(d) of this section, fences and hedges in the front yard setback shall have a maximum height of three and one-half feet for interior lots and three feet for corner lots in the required front yard setback area. Fences in the front yard beyond the setback shall not exceed eight feet in height.
18.42.070.A.2.c, A.2.d and A.4.a
The answer turns on the yard, whether the fence is inside the required front setback, and the type of development.
- a required front yard setback on an interior lot
- Three and a half feet. 3.5 ft
- a required front yard setback on a corner lot
- Three feet. 3 ft
- the front yard beyond the setback, or a side or rear line
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- perimeter fencing on a cluster development
- Eight feet inside the front setback, in metal with masonry and five feet of planting. 5 ft
Also on fence height in Gardena
- 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 Gardena?
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Gardena answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Extra height in Gardena comes as a fixed percentage rather than an open discretion. The community development director may allow an increase of no more than twenty percent in the permitted height of a side or rear fence, wall or hedge, on an application with plans drawn to scale and a fee set by council resolution. The director has thirty days from filing to render a written decision approving or denying it with reasons, one copy to the applicant and one on file. Razor-ribbon on a commercial or industrial fence separately needs a conditional use permit under Chapter 18.46.
The community development director may permit an increase of not more than twenty percent in the permitted height of a side or rear fence, wall or hedge.
20%most extra height the director may allow
Also on permits in Gardena
- 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 Gardena
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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 Gardena 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 Gardena
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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 Gardena 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 Gardena
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Gardena answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Gardena states its measuring rule narrowly and it is worth reading closely. The higher side governs only where a fence, wall or landscaping treatment of a specified height was required as a condition of approval on a development request, and only where there is a substantial difference in the finished grade on either side. For an ordinary fence built without a development approval attached to it, the section states no datum at all, so the eight foot and three and a half foot figures elsewhere in the section are left unanchored on sloping ground.
When a fence, wall or landscaping treatment of a specified height is required as a condition of approval to a development request, and there is substantial difference in the finished grade on either side of such fence, the height shall be measured from a grade on the higher side.
Also on how height is measured in Gardena
- 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 Gardena
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Gardena answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Gardena offers two ways to satisfy the same corner. On a reversed corner lot, where the rear yards of two corner lots abut each other, or wherever visibility is impaired, either the fence, hedge or wall comes down to three feet or a corner cutback area of ten feet by ten feet is provided. The cutback line is drawn in a horizontal plane at forty five degrees to the side, front or rear property line, whichever applies. The trigger is written broadly enough to reach any impaired visibility rather than only a named lot shape.
On a reversed corner lot, or where the rear yards of two corner lots abut each other, or whenever visibility is impaired, a reduction in fence, hedge or wall height to a maximum of three feet or a corner cutback area of ten feet by ten feet shall be required for safety purposes.
10 fteach side of the corner cutback area
Also on corner visibility in Gardena
- 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 Gardena
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Gardena 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 Gardena 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 Gardena
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Gardena answers this, but the answer changes depending on the use, the yard, and whether the fence can be seen from a street.
A Gardena residential front yard fence may be made only of wood, wrought iron, tubular steel, stone, brick, stucco, or decorative block such as slump stone or split-faced block, and where it is wrought iron or tubular steel it has to be interspersed with stone, brick, stucco or decorative block at least every eight feet, so an unbroken run of metal is not allowed. A nonresidential fence takes the same list without wood, and one on a street frontage needs a three foot landscape setback. Electrically charged fencing, barbed wire and razor-ribbon are prohibited in every zone in the city, except that a commercial or industrial property may carry three strands of barbed wire on a fence of at least six feet where it is not visible from a street or highway, and razor-ribbon on a fence of at least eight feet with a conditional use permit and the same invisibility condition. A fence any federal or state law requires is outside the section entirely.
If the fence consists of wrought iron or tubular steel, it shall be interspersed with stone, brick, stucco, or decorative block at a minimum of every eight feet.
18.42.070.A.2, A.3.a, D and E.2
The answer turns on the use, the yard, and whether the fence can be seen from a street.
- a residential front yard fence
- Wood, metal, stone, brick, stucco or decorative block, with metal broken every eight feet. 8 ft
- any zone
- No electrically charged fence, barbed wire or razor-ribbon.
- a commercial or industrial fence out of sight of a street
- Three strands of barbed wire above six feet, or razor-ribbon above eight with a use permit. 3 strands
Also on materials in Gardena
- 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
Livestock and boundary fence law in Gardena
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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 Gardena 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 Gardena
- 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 Gardena itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- California LegislatureCalifornia Civil Code Section 841, Good Neighbor Fence Act of 2013
- City of GardenaMunicipal Code, Title 18, Chapter 18.42, Section 18.42.070, Fences and walls
- 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
- 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 Gardena 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