Fence laws in Palm Desert, California
What the Palm Desert municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Palm Desert sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Palm Desert, California, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Because Palm Desert measures its front yard fence setbacks from the curb face rather than from the property line, the table has to say plainly where the fence may not go, and it does: fences are not permitted within the public right of way.
- How tall
- Palm Desert prices height in distance from the road, and the answer turns on how far back from the curb face the fence stands, and whether it is in front of the building setback. The figure is 7 feet, for setback from the curb for a short fence.
- Permits
- Palm Desert runs fence applications through architectural review and may inspect the site, or accept photographs of the property and its neighbors, before approving one. The figure is 10 days, for notice to neighbors before an exception hearing.
- 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
- Palm Desert reads wall height from the higher finished grade adjoining the fence or wall, so on a slope the owner standing above sets the figure and the drop on the other side buys nothing.
- Corner lots
- Palm Desert protects the corner by process rather than geometry.
- Retaining walls
- Palm Desert gives the retaining wall three rows of its own table and reads each from a different grade, and the answer turns on whether the slope is a cut or a fill, and which adjoining grade the wall is read from. The figure is 6 feet, for retaining wall on a cut slope.
- Materials
- What a Palm Desert fence may be made of depends on who can see it, and the answer turns on whether the fence stands in a setback, and whether it can be seen from the right of way. The figure is 30 feet, for spacing of undulations or pilasters along a street.
- 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 Palm Desert?
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Palm Desert answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Because Palm Desert measures its front yard fence setbacks from the curb face rather than from the property line, the table has to say plainly where the fence may not go, and it does: fences are not permitted within the public right of way. The distances of seven, fifteen and twenty feet from the curb therefore start at the road and stop at whatever the property line turns out to be. Repair of a nonconforming fence is allowed so the newer material is indistinguishable from the old, but a change of design or material type counts as new work and has to meet the current location and material standards.
Fences are not permitted within the public right-of-way.
Table 25.40-2, note 1, and 25.40.080.D
Also on fences on the property line in Palm Desert
- 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 Palm Desert?
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Palm Desert answers this, but the answer changes depending on how far back from the curb face the fence stands, and whether it is in front of the building setback.
Palm Desert prices height in distance from the road. In a front or side setback a short fence of up to three feet six inches may stand seven feet back from the curb face, a moderate fence of three feet seven inches to four feet eleven has to sit fifteen feet back, and a tall fence of five to six feet twenty feet back. At or behind the building setback the limit is six feet whether or not the fence can be seen from the right of way. The city also sets a floor: all new residential construction has to include walls or fences of at least five feet enclosing the rear and interior side yards, so on a new house the fence is required rather than optional.
All new residential construction shall include walls or fences of a minimum of 5 feet in height enclosing rear and interior side yards.
The answer turns on how far back from the curb face the fence stands, and whether it is in front of the building setback.
- seven feet back from the curb face
- Three feet six inches. 7 ft
- fifteen feet back from the curb face
- Three feet seven inches to four feet eleven. 15 ft
- twenty feet back from the curb face
- Five to six feet. 20 ft
- at or behind the building setback
- Six feet. 6 ft
Also on fence height in Palm Desert
- 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 Palm Desert?
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Palm Desert answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Palm Desert runs fence applications through architectural review and may inspect the site, or accept photographs of the property and its neighbors, before approving one. An exception to the standards needs three findings: that unusual circumstances make literal enforcement impractical or contrary to the purpose of the ordinance, that it will not damage adjacent property, and that the neighbors were told at least ten days before the meeting. An exception for a nonconforming material such as wood or vinyl turns on architectural merit and compatibility with the style of the house. The city then makes an unusual concession: where the property sits in a gated community whose homeowners association runs a bona fide architectural review process and the applicant has its approval, the city’s own review may be waived.
If the property is within a gated community with a homeowners association with a bona fide architectural review process and the applicant obtains approval from that architectural review body, the City’s architectural review process may be waived.
10 daysnotice to neighbors before an exception hearing
Also on permits in Palm Desert
- 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 Palm Desert
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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 Palm Desert 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 Palm Desert
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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 Palm Desert 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 Palm Desert
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Palm Desert answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Palm Desert reads wall height from the higher finished grade adjoining the fence or wall, so on a slope the owner standing above sets the figure and the drop on the other side buys nothing. The retaining wall rows of the table then vary that deliberately, reading a cut slope wall from the highest adjoining grade and a fill slope wall from the lowest, which is why a fill situation is allowed more total height than a cut one.
Wall height shall be measured from the higher finished grade adjoining the fence or wall.
Also on how height is measured in Palm Desert
- 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 Palm Desert
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Palm Desert answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Palm Desert protects the corner by process rather than geometry. The note attached to the moderate height fence row requires a site inspection or photographs to ensure that visibility next to driveways and street corners is not impaired, so the test is applied case by case at the time the application is reviewed. No sight triangle is drawn in the section, no leg length is given, and no reduced height is fixed for a corner lot. The purpose clause names view sight lines as one of the goals the standards are meant to reconcile, alongside aesthetics, privacy, security and drainage.
Site inspection or photos shall ensure that visibility adjacent to driveways and street corners shall not be impaired.
Table 25.40-2, note 2, and 25.40.080.A
Also on corner visibility in Palm Desert
- 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 Palm Desert
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Palm Desert answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the slope is a cut or a fill, and which adjoining grade the wall is read from.
Palm Desert gives the retaining wall three rows of its own table and reads each from a different grade. On a rear or interior side line associated with a cut slope, a retaining wall or a retaining wall topped with wrought iron may reach six feet measured from the highest adjoining grade. On a fill slope a solid retaining wall may reach six feet measured from the lowest adjoining grade. A combination of a solid retaining wall and a wrought iron fence on a fill slope may reach nine feet read from the lower adjacent grade, while still stopping at six feet measured from the higher one. Where a fill slope wall faces a vacant lot that does not yet meet the grading ordinance, the City engineer sets what counts as the lower adjacent grade. Every retaining wall needs the approval of the public works department.
Where a fill slope retaining wall is proposed adjacent to a vacant lot which does not currently meet the City’s grading ordinance, the City engineer shall determine the lower adjacent grade based upon an assessment of the minimum grade required on that vacant lot to meet the grade elevation drainage requirements.
25.40.080.B and Table 25.40-2, notes 3 and 4
The answer turns on whether the slope is a cut or a fill, and which adjoining grade the wall is read from.
- a retaining wall on a cut slope
- Six feet, read from the highest adjoining grade. 6 ft
- a solid retaining wall on a fill slope
- Six feet, read from the lowest adjoining grade. 6 ft
- a retaining wall topped with wrought iron on a fill slope
- Nine feet from the lower grade, and six from the higher. 9 ft
Also on retaining walls in Palm Desert
- 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 Palm Desert
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Palm Desert answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence stands in a setback, and whether it can be seen from the right of way.
What a Palm Desert fence may be made of depends on who can see it. In a front or side setback it has to be decorative material, meaning decorative block, stucco or wrought iron. Behind the front building setback but still visible from the right of way it may be decorative block, precision block stuccoed or painted to match the house, or wrought iron. Out of sight of the right of way the list opens up to block of all types, redwood, cedar or another approved decay-resistant wood, and wrought iron. Two rules then apply to any wall along a public street: it has to undulate by an offset of at least eighteen inches or carry a pilaster every thirty feet, with the undulation allowed to encroach eighteen inches into the required wall setback, and it has to be finished in a desert color. A formal landscape plan has to be approved before any wall beside a public street is approved.
All walls adjacent to a public street shall be designed to provide undulation (offset of at least 18 inches) or pilaster at least every 30 feet of linear extent of the wall.
Table 25.40-2 and 25.40.080.F.2, F.3 and F.4
The answer turns on whether the fence stands in a setback, and whether it can be seen from the right of way.
- a front or side setback
- Decorative block, stucco or wrought iron.
- behind the building setback but visible from the street
- Decorative block, or precision block stuccoed or painted to match the house.
- out of sight of the right of way
- Any block, redwood, cedar or another decay-resistant wood, or wrought iron.
- any wall along a public street
- Undulation or a pilaster every thirty feet, in a desert color. 30 ft
Also on materials in Palm Desert
- 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 Palm Desert
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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 Palm Desert 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 Palm Desert
- 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 Palm Desert itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- California LegislatureCalifornia Civil Code Section 841, Good Neighbor Fence Act of 2013
- City of Palm DesertZoning Ordinance, Title 25, Chapter 25.40, Section 25.40.080, 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 Palm Desert 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