Fence laws in Montebello, California
What the Montebello municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Montebello sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Montebello, 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
- Montebello splits the front yard by whether the fence blocks the view, and the answer turns on the setback, the shape of the lot, and whether the fence can be seen through. The figure is 3 feet, for view-obscuring fence, hedge or wall in the front setback.
- Permits
- Montebello sets no general fence permit and builds an unusually complete one around the electric fence. The figure is 16 feet, for tallest electric fence allowed, in an industrial zone.
- 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
- Montebello leaves the measuring rule to the legislative body of each county and city, through its zoning ordinance.
- Corner lots
- The Montebello fencing table gives the corner its own row and holds everything there to three feet, naming retaining walls expressly alongside fences, hedges and walls so the ground cannot be raised where the fence may not be. The figure is 3 feet, for anything inside the corner vision clearance triangle.
- Retaining walls
- Montebello splits the retaining wall by which way the earth moved, and the two outcomes are very different, and the answer turns on whether the wall holds a cut or a fill, and whether it stands in the front setback. The figure is 42 inches, for open fence allowed above a wall retaining a fill.
- Materials
- Anything in Montebello visible from a public right of way has to be decorative masonry such as slumpstone, stucco or split-face, closely spaced evergreen shrubs kept healthy, wooden fencing of adequate quality with no plywood sheeting, decorative wrought iron, an electric fence inside a protective barrier, or another material the planning commission finds architecturally in keeping with the building and the neighborhood, and the answer turns on the material and whether it is visible from a public right of way. The figure is 120 days, for period allowed to remove metal, fiberglass or plastic.
- 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 Montebello?
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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 Montebello 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 Montebello
- 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 Montebello?
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Montebello answers this, but the answer changes depending on the setback, the shape of the lot, and whether the fence can be seen through.
Montebello splits the front yard by whether the fence blocks the view. A view-obscuring fence, hedge or wall in the front setback stops at three feet, and a non-view-obscuring decorative fence, which the code illustrates with wrought iron, may reach six with the city planner’s approval given for sight distance. Behind the required front yard the limit is six feet for anything. A reversed corner lot takes the front yard treatment on both the front setback and the street side setback, so the three foot figure follows the lot round the corner. The section does not apply at all to a fence state law requires around a public utility installation.
Within the required front yard, a wrought iron or similar nonview obscuring decorative fence not more than six feet in height may be permitted. The fence shall be subject to the approval of the city planner in order to insure adequate site distance for traffic safety.
The answer turns on the setback, the shape of the lot, and whether the fence can be seen through.
- a view-obscuring fence in the front setback
- Three feet. 3 ft
- a non-view-obscuring decorative fence in the front setback
- Six feet, approved by the city planner. 6 ft
- behind the required front yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- the street side setback of a reversed corner lot
- The front yard rules, not the six foot rule.
Also on fence height in Montebello
- 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 Montebello?
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Montebello answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Montebello sets no general fence permit and builds an unusually complete one around the electric fence. None may be installed or used without first being approved by the Community Development Planning Director or a designee. It is confined to the CM, M-1 and M-2 zones, or to the CR, C-1 and C-2 zones with Site Plan Review, has to meet the International Electrotechnical Commission standard IEC 60335-2-76, and carries warning signs legible from both sides at every gate and at intervals of no more than thirty feet, marked with warnings about shock, pacemakers and wet conditions. It may reach ten feet outside industrial zones and sixteen inside them, always behind a fully enclosed protective barrier no more than two feet shorter, with the barrier set twelve inches from the live fence where its openings are three inches or less and three feet where they are between three and six inches. A Knox Box electrical shunt switch is required, and the owner signs an agreement indemnifying the city for any injury or damage the fence causes and waiving claims if fire or police disable it in an emergency. Installing or operating one in violation is a misdemeanor.
No Electric Fence shall be installed or used unless first approved by the Community Development Planning Director or his designee.
16 fttallest electric fence allowed, in an industrial zone
Also on permits in Montebello
- 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 Montebello
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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 Montebello 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 Montebello
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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 Montebello 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 Montebello
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Montebello 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 Montebello 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 Montebello
- no rule, documents checkedMontebello gives three feet, forty two inches, six feet, ten feet and sixteen feet and never states what any of them is measured from. Neither the text of the fence section nor the fencing standards table names a datum, and there is no rule for a difference in grade between neighbors. Grade does appear twice, but in each case to describe a situation rather than a starting point: a wall retaining a cut below natural grade, and a front setback where the ground stands above the grade of the abutting sidewalk. Both leave the height itself unanchored. 17.10.130Montebello · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Montebello
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Montebello answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The Montebello fencing table gives the corner its own row and holds everything there to three feet, naming retaining walls expressly alongside fences, hedges and walls so the ground cannot be raised where the fence may not be. The geometry of the corner line of sight area and the corner vision clearance triangle is set at section 17.50.040 rather than in the fence standards. The same concern appears again in the text of the section, where the six foot decorative front yard fence has to be approved by the city planner to ensure adequate sight distance for traffic safety.
No fence, hedge or wall including retaining walls more than 3 feet.
3 ftanything inside the corner vision clearance triangle
Also on corner visibility in Montebello
- 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 Montebello
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Montebello answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the wall holds a cut or a fill, and whether it stands in the front setback.
Montebello splits the retaining wall by which way the earth moved, and the two outcomes are very different. Where a wall on the line between two lots retains a cut below natural grade, a fence, wall or hedge of the full height otherwise permitted may sit on top of it, so the cut costs nothing. Where the wall retains a fill, the wall itself may not exceed the height otherwise permitted and only an additional non-view-obscuring fence of up to forty two inches may go on top. In a front setback where the ground stands above the sidewalk, no retaining wall may exceed three feet, with a non-view-obscuring fence of up to forty two inches allowed above it. Inside the corner vision clearance triangle a retaining wall is named alongside fences and held to three feet.
No retaining wall more than 3 feet with a non- view-obscuring fence up to 42 inches on top of retaining wall.
The answer turns on whether the wall holds a cut or a fill, and whether it stands in the front setback.
- a wall on the lot line retaining a cut below natural grade
- The full height otherwise permitted may sit on top.
- a wall on the lot line retaining a fill
- Only forty two inches of open fencing above it. 42 in
- a front setback above the sidewalk grade
- Three feet of wall, plus forty two inches of open fence. 3 ft
Also on retaining walls in Montebello
- 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 Montebello
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Montebello answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material and whether it is visible from a public right of way.
Anything in Montebello visible from a public right of way has to be decorative masonry such as slumpstone, stucco or split-face, closely spaced evergreen shrubs kept healthy, wooden fencing of adequate quality with no plywood sheeting, decorative wrought iron, an electric fence inside a protective barrier, or another material the planning commission finds architecturally in keeping with the building and the neighborhood. The code then removes the obvious argument by saying outright that chain link and similar material is not decorative, which keeps it out of the six foot front yard allowance. Corrugated and sheet metal, fiberglass and plastic are given a deadline rather than a ban, with the section setting a hundred and twenty days from its own effective date for them to come off a residential lot.
Chain link fence and fences of similar materials are not considered decorative in nature.
The answer turns on the material and whether it is visible from a public right of way.
- anything visible from a public right of way
- Decorative masonry, evergreen shrubs, quality wood, wrought iron, or an approved alternative.
- chain link
- Not decorative, so not eligible for the six foot front yard allowance.
- corrugated or sheet metal, fiberglass or plastic on a residential lot
- Given a hundred and twenty days from the section’s effective date to come off. 120 days
Also on materials in Montebello
- 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 Montebello
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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 Montebello 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 Montebello
- 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 Montebello 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 MontebelloMunicipal Code, Title 17, Chapter 17.10, Section 17.10.130, Development standards, Walls, fences and hedges
- 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 Montebello 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