Fence laws in La Habra, California
What the La Habra municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where La Habra sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in La Habra, California, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- In La Habra the obligation to build a boundary wall falls on whoever is developing toward the heavier use. The figure is 6 feet, for required masonry wall between a heavier use and housing.
- How tall
- In every La Habra residential zone a fence, wall or hedge stops at six feet in a rear or side yard and three feet in a required front yard, and the answer turns on the yard, what the lot backs onto, and the difference in elevation with the key lot behind. The figure is 3 feet, for fence, wall or hedge in a required front yard.
- 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
- La Habra reads the eight foot highway wall from the highest grade at the wall location, so the taller side governs and the drop on the other side is not available as extra height.
- Corner lots
- California writes no clear view triangle into state law. It reaches the right of way of a state highway, whether or not the whole width is paved only.
- Retaining walls
- La Habra answers retaining walls in two places that do not agree, and both are quoted below rather than one being picked as the winner.
- Materials
- La Habra bars barbed wire from the edges of every residential lot rather than from the lot as a whole. The figure is 3 feet, for distance from a lot line where barbed wire is barred.
- 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 La Habra?
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La Habra answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
In La Habra the obligation to build a boundary wall falls on whoever is developing toward the heavier use. A multi-unit development has to put a six foot solid masonry wall between its off-street parking, which expressly includes private driveways and ingress and egress areas, and any adjoining single-unit property, dropping to three feet across the depth of that neighbor’s required front yard. Commercial and manufacturing property carries the same duty toward abutting residential land on the same terms. The requirement reaches only property developed or improved, or where building work started, after 2 September 1960.
In all C and M classified zones, a solid masonry wall six feet in height shall be provided between all such C and M classified property and all abutting property classified for R uses, except that such wall, from the front property line to a depth equal to the required front yard on the abutting R classified property, shall be three feet in height.
6 ftrequired masonry wall between a heavier use and housing
Also on fences on the property line in La Habra
- 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 La Habra?
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La Habra answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, what the lot backs onto, and the difference in elevation with the key lot behind.
In every La Habra residential zone a fence, wall or hedge stops at six feet in a rear or side yard and three feet in a required front yard. Where the rear or side yard directly abuts a highway of at least four lanes, an eight foot block wall may go along or within ten feet of that property line, unless a drive approach exits within those setback areas. The street side of a reversed corner lot, between the street and the established setback line on the key lot behind, is held to three feet, and that figure rises where the ground does: if the key lot to the rear sits higher, the fence on the lower reversed corner lot may be increased in equal proportion to the difference in elevation, to no more than six feet, while the front yard of that same lot stays at three.
Where the key lot to the rear is located at a higher elevation than the reversed corner lot, such fence, wall or hedge on the lower reversed corner lot may be increased in height in equal proportion to the increase in elevation of the key lot to the rear, but shall in no case exceed a height of six feet.
The answer turns on the yard, what the lot backs onto, and the difference in elevation with the key lot behind.
- a required front yard
- Three feet. 3 ft
- a rear or side yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a rear or side yard abutting a four lane highway
- An eight foot block wall, unless a drive approach exits there. 8 ft
- the street side of a reversed corner lot below a higher key lot
- Three feet, rising with the elevation difference to no more than six. 6 ft
Also on fence height in La Habra
- 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 La Habra?
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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 La Habra 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 La Habra
- 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 La Habra
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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 La Habra 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 La Habra
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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 La Habra 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 La Habra
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La Habra answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
La Habra reads the eight foot highway wall from the highest grade at the wall location, so the taller side governs and the drop on the other side is not available as extra height. The required wall section then handles the two grade cases separately, measuring from the finished grade of the lower property where the heavier use sits low, and from the finished grade of the higher property where the heavier use sits high, with an overall ceiling of ten feet read from the lower level. The maintenance duties are stated in the same breath: graffiti comes off within seventy two hours of discovery and a damaged wall or fence is repaired within seven days.
The maximum height of the wall shall be measured from the highest grade at the walls location.
Also on how height is measured in La Habra
- 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 La Habra
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California answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
California 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.
This one is California law, not La Habra law. All California findings
“Encroachment” includes any tower, pole, pole line, pipe, pipe line, fence, billboard, stand or building, or any structure, object of any kind or character not particularly mentioned in this section, or special event, which is in, under, or over any portion of the highway.
Also on corner visibility in La Habra
- no rule, documents checkedLa Habra does deal with corner lots, and not for the reason most cities do. The three foot limit on the street side of a reversed corner lot is written to protect the outlook of the key lot behind it, and it is relaxed when that key lot sits higher, which would make no sense as a traffic rule. Nothing in the fence section or the required wall section draws a sight triangle, gives a leg length, or sets a reduced height at a street intersection or a driveway. The one safety allowance in the neighborhood is the rule that the eight foot highway wall is unavailable where a drive approach exits within the setback area. 18.12.070La Habra · Zoning code
Retaining wall rules in La Habra
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La Habra says two different things about this. Both are quoted below, and neither one is treated as the right answer.
Where a required La Habra wall runs between two properties at different levels and the heavier use sits lower, the wall is measured from the finished grade of the lower property and then has to stand some distance above the finished grade of the higher one. The code gives that distance twice, in consecutive sentences, and the two do not agree. The first states not less than four, with no unit printed. The second, offering an alternative, calls it a three-foot wall extension. Nothing in the section reconciles them. The surrounding rules are clear: where the heavier use sits higher the wall is read from that higher finished grade and may not exceed ten feet overall measured from the lower level, and a greater difference requires at least two walls forming a terrace or approved slope between the top of the lower wall and the base of the higher.
Two provisions disagree. Both are printed, and this page does not pick a winner.
Not less than four above the higher finished grade, with the unit missing from the text.
Where the property classified for the heavier use is located on the lower grade level, the required wall height shall be measured from the finished grade of the lower property at the wall location, provided, that the wall shall extend not less than four above the finished grade of the higher property.
The same extension is called three feet in the very next sentence.
In lieu of such three-foot wall extension, an approved type fence or barrier may be constructed.
Also on retaining walls in La Habra
- 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 La Habra
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La Habra answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
La Habra bars barbed wire from the edges of every residential lot rather than from the lot as a whole. None may be used or maintained in or about a fence, wall or hedge along the front, side or rear lines, or within three feet of those lines, so the ban follows the boundary. A second clause rules out sharp wire or points projecting at the top of a fence or wall six feet or less in height. The code names no approved material for an ordinary residential fence, and the only material it specifies anywhere is the solid masonry required between a heavier use and residential land, and the block wall allowed beside a four lane highway.
In all residential zones no barbed wire shall be used or maintained in or about the construction of a fence, wall or hedge along the front, side or rear lines of any lot, or within three feet of the lines, and no sharp wire or points shall project at the top of the fence or wall six feet or less in height.
3 ftdistance from a lot line where barbed wire is barred
Also on materials in La Habra
- 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 La Habra
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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 La Habra 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 La Habra
- 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 La Habra itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- California LegislatureCalifornia Civil Code Section 841, Good Neighbor Fence Act of 2013
- City of La HabraMunicipal Code, Title 18, Chapter 18.12, Section 18.12.080, Required 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 La Habra 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