Fence laws in Newport Beach, California
What the Newport Beach municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Newport Beach sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Newport Beach, California, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A Newport Beach home whose side yard touches a commercial district or a commercial alley can go to eight feet on that line, two feet above the normal six. The figure is 8 feet, for side yard fence height where a home abuts commercial land or a commercial alley.
- How tall
- Seven named parts of Newport Beach get five feet in the front setback instead of forty two inches, on one condition. The figure is 40 percent, for minimum openness above two feet in the named areas.
- 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
- Newport Beach measures a fence from the lowest existing grade where it stands, which is the strict reading and gives the smaller fence, and the answer turns on whether the fence stands on the ground or on top of a retaining wall.
- 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
- A Newport Beach retaining wall is capped at eight feet from finish grade at its base, with guardrails not counted in that figure. The figure is 8 feet, for maximum retaining wall height from finish grade at the base.
- Materials
- Barbed wire, razor wire and electric fencing are out of residential districts in Newport Beach, in one sentence with no exception clause after it.
- 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 Newport Beach?
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Newport Beach answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Newport Beach home whose side yard touches a commercial district or a commercial alley can go to eight feet on that line, two feet above the normal six. The code gives the reason in the sentence itself: buffering and sound. The extra height belongs to the boundary rather than to the lot, so the other side yard of the same house stays at six feet.
For residential lots adjacent to nonresidential zoning districts or commercial alleys fences, walls, or hedges may be up to 8 feet in height in required residential side yards for buffering and/or sound attenuation.
Newport Beach Zoning Code 20.30.040.C.4
8 ftside yard fence height where a home abuts commercial land or a commercial alley
Also on fences on the property line in Newport Beach
- 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 Newport Beach?
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Newport Beach answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Seven named parts of Newport Beach get five feet in the front setback instead of forty two inches, on one condition. Everything above two feet has to be at least forty percent open, built from grillwork, wrought iron, lattice, pickets or Plexiglas. So the extra height is bought with transparency, and the bottom two feet can still be solid. The list is geographic rather than by zone, which means two lots in the same district can have different limits.
fences and walls shall be allowed to extend to a height of 5 feet, provided that any portion of the fence or wall above 2 feet shall be constructed of open grillwork, wrought iron, latticework, pickets, Plexiglas, or similar materials so that at least 40 percent of the portion of the fence or wall above 2 feet is open.
Newport Beach Zoning Code 20.30.040.B
40%minimum openness above two feet in the named areas
Also on fence height in Newport Beach
- 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
- depends, see the pageNewport Beach sets forty two inches in a front setback and six feet at the rear and interior side. Industrial land next to homes gets eight feet, which is the city buffering its own residents rather than the property owner gaining room. The exception that catches people is the waterfront: a rear setback facing Newport Bay, the ocean shoreline, the Oxbow Loop or a West Newport channel drops back to forty two inches, so those lots never get a tall fence at all. Newport Beach Zoning Code 20.30.040.A.1, Table 3-1Newport Beach · Zoning code
- set in state lawNewport Beach lets a finial, a pilaster cap, a pot or a light fixture sit twelve inches above the height limit, and then rations them. One item or fixture is allowed for every six linear feet of fence or wall. That second half is the unusual part: most cities that allow a decorative cap say nothing about how many, so a row of posts every three feet would be legal elsewhere and is not here. Newport Beach Zoning Code 20.30.040.C.2Newport Beach · Zoning code
Do I need a permit for a fence in Newport Beach?
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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 Newport Beach 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 Newport Beach
- 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 Newport Beach
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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 Newport Beach 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 Newport Beach
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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 Newport Beach 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 Newport Beach
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Newport Beach answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence stands on the ground or on top of a retaining wall.
Newport Beach measures a fence from the lowest existing grade where it stands, which is the strict reading and gives the smaller fence. Put that same fence on top of a retaining wall and the rule flips to the highest side of the wall, which is the generous reading. The two sentences sit next to each other and produce opposite results, and which one applies turns on whether there is a retaining wall underneath.
The height of a fence, hedge, or wall shall be measured from the lowest existing grade at the location where the fence, hedge, or wall is located.
Newport Beach Zoning Code 20.30.040.D
The answer turns on whether the fence stands on the ground or on top of a retaining wall.
- a fence standing on the ground
- Measured from the lowest existing grade at that spot.
- a fence built on top of a retaining wall
- Measured from the higher side of the retaining wall, so the wall itself does not count against the fence.
Also on how height is measured in Newport Beach
- 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 Newport Beach
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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 Newport Beach 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.
Retaining wall rules in Newport Beach
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Newport Beach answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Newport Beach retaining wall is capped at eight feet from finish grade at its base, with guardrails not counted in that figure. A second rule then spaces the walls apart: the gap between two walls has to equal the height of the taller one, up to a ceiling of six feet. So two eight foot walls need six feet between them, and a pair of three foot walls needs three. Walls built into the house itself are outside both rules.
The maximum height of a retaining wall shall be 8 feet measured from finish grade at the base of the wall, not including any required guardrails. A minimum horizontal separation equal to the height of the tallest retaining wall shall be provided between retaining walls, except that the required separation shall not be more than 6 feet.
Newport Beach Zoning Code 20.30.040.A.2
8 ftmaximum retaining wall height from finish grade at the base
Also on retaining walls in Newport Beach
- 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
- set in state lawWhere a Newport Beach lot sits more than two feet above the sidewalk, the front yard is terraced rather than walled. The first retaining wall at the property line is capped at twenty four inches. Each wall after that can reach thirty six inches, and each one has to step back two feet from the face of the one below it. A forty two inch guard rail is allowed on the top wall, and it has to be at least forty percent open. Newport Beach Zoning Code 20.30.040.C.1Newport Beach · Zoning code
Fence materials allowed in Newport Beach
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Newport Beach answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Barbed wire, razor wire and electric fencing are out of residential districts in Newport Beach, in one sentence with no exception clause after it. Several cities read for this site carve out agricultural zones or allow electric fencing for animal control. This section does not, and it does not name a permit that would bring any of them back.
Barbed wire, electrical fences, razor wire, and other similar materials shall not be allowed in residential zoning districts.
Newport Beach Zoning Code 20.30.040.E
Also on materials in Newport Beach
- 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 Newport Beach
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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 Newport Beach 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 Newport Beach
- 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 Newport Beach itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- California LegislatureCalifornia Civil Code Section 841, Good Neighbor Fence Act of 2013
- City of Newport BeachNewport Beach Zoning Code, Title 20, Chapter 20.30, Property Development Standards
- 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 Newport Beach 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