Fence laws in Lincoln, California
What the Lincoln municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Lincoln sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Lincoln, California, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- The one placement rule Lincoln writes for a corner lot is a distance rather than a height. The figure is 5 feet, for clear strip along a side street property line.
- How tall
- A Lincoln fence, hedge or wall of up to six feet may occupy any side, side street or rear yard, provided it does not extend into a front yard, and the answer turns on the yard, what the fence encloses, and whether it sits on the rear half of the lot. The figure is 6 feet, for fence, hedge or wall outside the front yard.
- Permits
- Lincoln sets no general fence permit, and the answer turns on where the fence stands, its height, and whether the city engineer requires an encroachment permit.
- 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
- Lincoln leaves the measuring rule to the legislative body of each county and city, through its zoning ordinance.
- 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
- Lincoln 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
- 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 Lincoln?
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Lincoln answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The one placement rule Lincoln writes for a corner lot is a distance rather than a height. A six foot fence, wall or hedge may extend to within five feet of the side street yard property line along a side street, or into the portion of the rear yard that abuts the side street yard, so the five foot strip nearest the road stays clear. A separate rule requires a vehicle, trailer or boat kept in a side or rear yard to sit behind a six foot wall, fence or adequate landscaped screen, and never in a required front yard or side street yard.
That in the case of a corner lot, fences, walls and hedges may extend to within five feet of the side street yard property line along a side street or into the portion of the rear yard abutting the side street yard.
5 ftclear strip along a side street property line
Also on fences on the property line in Lincoln
- 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 Lincoln?
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Lincoln answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, what the fence encloses, and whether it sits on the rear half of the lot.
A Lincoln fence, hedge or wall of up to six feet may occupy any side, side street or rear yard, provided it does not extend into a front yard. Four feet is allowed in the front yard itself. On a corner lot the six foot fence may run to within five feet of the side street yard property line, or into the part of the rear yard that abuts the side street yard. Above six feet the code opens one route and one exemption: a fence enclosing a commercial or industrial use, or a tennis court or similar use, on the rear half of a lot may exceed six feet with a conditional use permit, and a fence around an electric substation or other public facility may exceed six feet without one.
Fences or structures exceeding six feet in height, for the purpose of enclosing commercial or industrial uses, or tennis courts and similar uses, when located on the rear half of a lot, may be erected subject to the obtaining of a conditional use permit as provided in Chapter 18.56. Fences around electric substations or other public facilities may exceed six feet in height without securing a conditional use permit.
The answer turns on the yard, what the fence encloses, and whether it sits on the rear half of the lot.
- a side, side street or rear yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a front yard
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a commercial use or tennis court on the rear half of a lot
- More than six feet, with a conditional use permit.
- an electric substation or other public facility
- More than six feet, with no permit required.
Also on fence height in Lincoln
- 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 Lincoln?
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Lincoln answers this, but the answer changes depending on where the fence stands, its height, and whether the city engineer requires an encroachment permit.
Lincoln sets no general fence permit. What it has instead is one conditional requirement and one discretionary route. A fence, hedge or wall of up to four feet may occupy the front yard provided it obtains a city encroachment permit, and the code makes that conditional on the city engineer requiring one, so whether a permit is needed at the front turns on the engineer rather than on a dimension. Anything over six feet around a commercial or industrial use, a tennis court or a similar use on the rear half of a lot needs a conditional use permit under Chapter 18.56, while a fence around an electric substation or other public facility is exempt from that.
Fences, hedges and walls not exceeding four feet in height may occupy the front yard provided they obtain a city encroachment permit if so required by the city engineer.
The answer turns on where the fence stands, its height, and whether the city engineer requires an encroachment permit.
- a front yard fence up to four feet
- A city encroachment permit, if the city engineer requires one.
- a fence over six feet around a commercial use or tennis court
- A conditional use permit under Chapter 18.56.
- a fence around an electric substation or other public facility
- No conditional use permit.
Also on permits in Lincoln
- 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 Lincoln
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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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln
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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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln
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Lincoln 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 Lincoln 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.
Also on how height is measured in Lincoln
- no rule, documents checkedLincoln gives four feet and six feet and never says what either is measured from. The fence section states the figures and nothing else, with no datum, no rule for a difference in grade between neighbors and no rule for a fence on a retaining wall. The chapter that carries the city’s height regulations deals only with chimneys, steeples, water tanks and similar appurtenances, and with public and commercial buildings up to seventy five feet, so it never reaches a fence either. 18.36.040Lincoln · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Lincoln
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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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln
- no rule, documents checkedLincoln has no sight triangle for a fence. The fence section deals with a corner lot once, and the rule it gives is a five foot clearance from the side street property line rather than a reduced height or a triangle at the intersection. The area and yard chapter that follows covers yards, dwelling groups, garage orientation and projections into yards, and sets no vision clearance. The streets and public places title regulates excavations, encroachment permits, warning devices and emergency access, and never reaches an obstruction of view at a corner. So on a Lincoln corner lot a six foot fence may run to within five feet of the street line with no separate visibility limit written into the code. 18.36.040Lincoln · Zoning code
Retaining wall rules in Lincoln
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Lincoln 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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln
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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 Lincoln 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
Also on materials in Lincoln
- no rule, documents checkedLincoln names no fence material at all, and prohibits none. There is no approved list, no requirement that the finished side face out, and no ban on barbed wire, razor wire, electrified fencing, chain link or corrugated metal anywhere in the fence section or the yard regulations that follow it. The only material reference in the neighborhood is the alternative offered to a six foot wall or fence screening a stored vehicle, which may instead be an adequate landscaped screen. 18.36.040Lincoln · Zoning code
Livestock and boundary fence law in Lincoln
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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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln
- 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
13 documents, of which 4 were published by Lincoln itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- California LegislatureCalifornia Civil Code Section 841, Good Neighbor Fence Act of 2013
- City of LincolnMunicipal Code, Title 18, Chapter 18.36, Section 18.36.040, Fences, hedges 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
- City of LincolnMunicipal Code, Title 18, Chapter 18.40, Height Regulations
- California LegislatureCalifornia Streets and Highways Code, Division 1, Chapter 3, Section 660
- City of LincolnMunicipal Code, Title 18, Chapter 18.38, Area and Yard Regulations
- City of LincolnMunicipal Code, Title 12, Streets, Sidewalks and Public Places
- 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 Lincoln 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