Fence laws in Petaluma, California
What the Petaluma municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Petaluma sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Petaluma, 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
- Petaluma ties the fence to the setback of the underlying zoning district and then prints one table for the whole city, and the answer turns on the setback, the zone, and whether the structure is fencing, screening or an entry feature. The figure is 42 inches, for fence in a required front or street side setback.
- Permits
- No fence or wall may be installed or constructed in Petaluma without a fence permit from the Community Development Department, with no height threshold and no exemption for a replacement.
- Pool barriers
- The Petaluma zoning ordinance states the pool barrier as an outcome rather than a specification.
- 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
- Petaluma measures the vertical distance between the grade of the ground abutting the fence and the top edge of the fence material, and then gives the sloping case two numbers instead of one. The figure is 10 feet, for combined wall and fence read from the lower side.
- Corner lots
- Petaluma applies forty two inches at the intersection of alleys, streets and driveways alike, so the rule is not limited to corner lots. The figure is 35 feet, for leg of the corner sight visibility triangle.
- Retaining walls
- Petaluma does not allow one tall retaining wall. The figure is 36 inches, for tallest exposed face of a stepped retaining wall.
- Materials
- Petaluma names very little material and puts a number on the one thing most cities ban, and the answer turns on the district, the use being served, and whether the fence is temporary. The figure is 1 foot, for barbed wire allowed above a fence.
- 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 Petaluma?
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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 Petaluma 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 Petaluma
- 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 Petaluma?
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Petaluma answers this, but the answer changes depending on the setback, the zone, and whether the structure is fencing, screening or an entry feature.
Petaluma ties the fence to the setback of the underlying zoning district and then prints one table for the whole city. A required front setback or the front property line takes forty two inches, and so does a required street side setback and anything inside the sight visibility triangle. A minor decorative entry treatment such as an arbor or trellis may reach eight feet in that same front setback. A required interior side or rear setback, and anywhere outside a required setback, takes six feet of solid or open fencing with two feet of additional screening on top that is at least fifty percent open. Where the zone requires no setback the table substitutes distances: forty two inches within fifteen feet of a front line or five feet of a street side line, and six feet beyond. Nothing at all is allowed in the floodway. A tennis court fence in a rear or side yard may reach twelve feet with a conditional use permit.
The location and height of fencing and walls is determined by the setback for the zoning district in which the property is located (Tables 4.6 through 4.13). The permitted height and location of fencing and walls shall be as indicated in Table 13.1 subject to the required setback of the applicable zoning district.
The answer turns on the setback, the zone, and whether the structure is fencing, screening or an entry feature.
- a required front or street side setback
- Forty two inches. 42 in
- a decorative entry treatment in the front setback
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- an interior side or rear setback, or outside every setback
- Six feet, plus two feet of screening at least half open. 6 ft
- a tennis court fence in a rear or side yard
- Twelve feet, with a conditional use permit. 12 ft
Also on fence height in Petaluma
- 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 Petaluma?
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Petaluma answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
No fence or wall may be installed or constructed in Petaluma without a fence permit from the Community Development Department, with no height threshold and no exemption for a replacement. The application carries a plot plan drawn to scale showing the property lines, adjacent public streets, rights of way, driveways and existing buildings and structures, and a dimensional detail of the fence giving the proposed materials and the proposed height from both existing and finished grade. The Director reviews it against the chapter and approves it if it complies, so the decision is ministerial rather than discretionary.
No fence or wall shall in installed or constructed without the approval of a fence permit issued by the Community Development Department.
Also on permits in Petaluma
- 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 Petaluma
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Petaluma answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The Petaluma zoning ordinance states the pool barrier as an outcome rather than a specification. A swimming pool, hot tub or spa, or the entire property it sits on, has to be walled or fenced to prevent uncontrolled access by children from the street or from adjacent properties. No barrier height, gate specification, latch height or mesh limit appears in the chapter, so the dimensions come from the building code rather than from the zoning ordinance, while the choice of enclosing the pool or the whole property is left open by the text.
Swimming pool, hot tub, spa, or the entire property on which it is located shall be walled or fenced to prevent the uncontrolled access by children from the street or from adjacent properties.
Also on pool barriers in Petaluma
- set in state lawA 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. Health & Saf. Code 115923California · Statute
Spite fence laws in Petaluma
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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 Petaluma 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 Petaluma
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Petaluma answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Petaluma measures the vertical distance between the grade of the ground abutting the fence and the top edge of the fence material, and then gives the sloping case two numbers instead of one. On sloping ground, or on a retaining wall, six feet of solid fence may be measured from the up-slope property, provided the total height including the retaining wall does not exceed ten feet read from the down-slope side. So the owner above sees a six foot fence, the owner below sees at most ten feet of combined wall and fence, and neither figure alone decides it.
For fences on sloping ground or on retaining walls, solid fence height of six (6) feet may be permitted as measured from the up-slope property so long as a total height, inclusive of any retaining wall, does not exceed ten (10) feet as measured from the down-slope property.
10 ftcombined wall and fence read from the lower side
Also on how height is measured in Petaluma
- 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 Petaluma
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Petaluma answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Petaluma applies forty two inches at the intersection of alleys, streets and driveways alike, so the rule is not limited to corner lots. On a corner lot the sight visibility triangle is drawn from the curb lines and their projection, with a line connecting points thirty five feet from where those projected curb lines meet, which is a longer leg than most California cities use. For a driveway the measurement is taken from the back of the sidewalk, or where there is no sidewalk from wherever the Director determines. A retaining wall in a front setback is separately barred within thirty five feet of the intersected street lines on a corner lot.
On a corner lot, the site visibility triangle is determined by the triangular area formed by the curb lines and their projection and a line connecting them at points 35 feet from the intersection of the projected curb lines (See Figure 13.1).
35 ftleg of the corner sight visibility triangle
Also on corner visibility in Petaluma
- 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 Petaluma
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Petaluma answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Petaluma does not allow one tall retaining wall. Any embankment over forty eight inches has to be stepped so that no individual exposed wall exceeds thirty six inches, with each intervening step at least thirty six inches wide, which turns a high cut into a terrace rather than a face. In a required front setback a retaining wall may reach three feet six inches provided it covers no more than five percent of the area of that setback, and on a corner lot none may stand within thirty five feet of the intersected street lines.
Any embankment to be retained that is over 48 inches in height shall be stepped so that no individual exposed retaining wall exceeds 36 inches in height, and each intervening step is a minimum width of 36 inches.
36 intallest exposed face of a stepped retaining wall
Also on retaining walls in Petaluma
- 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 Petaluma
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Petaluma answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, the use being served, and whether the fence is temporary.
Petaluma names very little material and puts a number on the one thing most cities ban. A single foot of vertical barbed wire may go on top of a fence or wall in the agricultural and industrial districts, with a fence permit from the Zoning Administrator, and only where the use served involves outdoor storage of goods or vehicles or the keeping of livestock. The other material rule is about openness rather than substance: the two feet of additional screening allowed above a six foot fence has to be at least fifty percent open. Temporary security fencing around a construction site is exempt from the location table while a building permit is live, and has to come down immediately when the work finishes.
A maximum of one (1) foot of vertical barbed wire may be installed on top of fences and walls located in AG and I Districts with the approval of a fence permit by the Zoning Administrator (Community Development Director) provided that the use served includes the outdoor storage of goods or vehicles or keeping of livestock.
The answer turns on the district, the use being served, and whether the fence is temporary.
- a fence in the agricultural or industrial districts serving storage or livestock
- One foot of vertical barbed wire, with a fence permit. 1 ft
- screening above a six foot fence
- At least half open. 50%
- temporary security fencing at a construction site
- Exempt from the location table, and removed when the work ends.
Also on materials in Petaluma
- 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 Petaluma
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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 Petaluma 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 Petaluma
- 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
14 documents, of which 5 were published by Petaluma 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 PetalumaImplementing Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 13, Section 13.020, Location and Height of Fencing
- 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
- City of PetalumaImplementing Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 13, Section 13.060, Fence Permit Required
- California LegislatureCalifornia Health and Safety Code Section 115923, enclosure requirements
- City of PetalumaImplementing Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 13, Section 13.040, Specific Fence and Wall Requirements
- California LegislatureCalifornia Government Code, Title 7, Division 1, Chapter 4, Article 2, Section 65850
- City of PetalumaImplementing Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 13, Section 13.030, Measurement of Fence and Wall Height
- California LegislatureCalifornia Streets and Highways Code, Division 1, Chapter 3, Section 660
- City of PetalumaImplementing Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 13, Section 13.050, Retaining Walls
- 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 Petaluma 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