Fence laws in Pittsburg, California
What the Pittsburg municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Pittsburg sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Pittsburg, 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
- In a Pittsburg residential district a required side or rear yard takes six feet and a required front yard four and a half, as does the corner side of a reverse corner lot and the front yard of a key lot, and the answer turns on the district, the yard, the shape of the lot, and what the fence encloses. The figure is 6 feet, for fence in a residential side or rear yard.
- Permits
- Pittsburg runs three separate permits at a fence, and the answer turns on the height of the fence, where it stands, and whether relief is being sought. The figure is 6 feet, for height above which a building permit is required.
- 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
- Pittsburg reads height from the point where the fence posts or wall pilasters intersect the ground, which fixes the datum at the structure rather than at an averaged grade. The figure is 18 inches, for separation at which a retaining wall stops counting.
- Corner lots
- Pittsburg does not simply lower a corner fence, it requires the part above three feet to be see-through. The figure is 30 feet, for leg of the corner sight visibility triangle.
- Retaining walls
- A Pittsburg retaining wall over three feet needs a building permit, and so does one of any height that supports a surcharge or impounds Class I, II or III-A liquids. The figure is 3 feet, for retaining wall height that triggers a building permit.
- Materials
- Barbed and razor wire are not permitted in the CN, CO and residential districts of Pittsburg unless a use permit specifically allows them, and anywhere else they have to start at least six feet above grade, except in the open space district, and the answer turns on the district, and whether the fence carries wire or a charge. The figure is 6 feet, for lowest point of barbed or razor wire.
- 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 Pittsburg?
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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 Pittsburg 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 Pittsburg
- 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 Pittsburg?
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Pittsburg answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, the yard, the shape of the lot, and what the fence encloses.
In a Pittsburg residential district a required side or rear yard takes six feet and a required front yard four and a half, as does the corner side of a reverse corner lot and the front yard of a key lot. A corner side yard takes six feet except within three feet of the edge of the sidewalk, or three feet of the curb where there is no sidewalk, where it drops to four and a half. Commercial land gets eight feet, industrial eight where it adjoins a residential or commercial district and twelve elsewhere, and both are held to three feet in a required front or corner side yard. A fence enclosing a schoolground, public playground, tennis, basketball or volleyball court, public or commercial pool, public facility or utility may reach fourteen feet. A new nonresidential use next to a residential district has to build an eight foot solid masonry or concrete wall, or one designed to bring noise down to the general plan level, unless the first ten feet behind the front line is a planting area.
The maximum height of a fence that encloses a schoolground, public playground, tennis, basketball or volleyball court, public, community, or commercial swimming pool, public facility or utility is 14 feet.
The answer turns on the district, the yard, the shape of the lot, and what the fence encloses.
- a required side or rear yard in a residential district
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a required front yard, or the corner side of a reverse corner lot
- Four and a half feet. 4.5 ft
- an industrial parcel away from housing and commerce
- Twelve feet. 12 ft
- a fence around a court, playground, pool or public facility
- Fourteen feet. 14 ft
Also on fence height in Pittsburg
- 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 Pittsburg?
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Pittsburg answers this, but the answer changes depending on the height of the fence, where it stands, and whether relief is being sought.
Pittsburg runs three separate permits at a fence. A building permit is required for any fence over six feet. An encroachment permit is required for a fence or wall built inside a utility easement or a public right of way, whatever its height. Extra height, or relief from the fence criteria, comes from a zoning administrator approval under Chapter 18.32 or from a use permit, and the code says plainly that no finding of hardship or unusual circumstance is needed, only that the area will assume or retain the character the zoning intends. Three findings still have to be made about light, air circulation, visual openness, neighborhood character and health and safety. A fence height may also be set through mitigation measures the planning commission accepts in an environmental impact report.
A building permit is required for any fence over six feet in height.
18.84.210, 18.84.215 and 18.84.205.F
The answer turns on the height of the fence, where it stands, and whether relief is being sought.
- a fence over six feet
- A building permit. 6 ft
- a fence inside a utility easement or public right of way
- An encroachment permit.
- more height than the table allows
- A zoning administrator approval or a use permit, with no hardship finding required.
Also on permits in Pittsburg
- 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 Pittsburg
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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 Pittsburg 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 Pittsburg
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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 Pittsburg 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 Pittsburg
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Pittsburg answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Pittsburg reads height from the point where the fence posts or wall pilasters intersect the ground, which fixes the datum at the structure rather than at an averaged grade. The retaining wall case is then split by distance. A fence built on top of a retaining wall is measured from the lowest adjacent grade within eighteen inches, so the wall counts. A fence standing at least eighteen inches away from the inside face of the retaining wall is measured from the finished grade at its own base, so the wall does not.
The height of a fence or wall used as a fence is measured from the point at which the fence posts or wall pilasters intersect the ground. Where a fence is built on top of a retaining wall, the fence height is measured from the lowest adjacent grade within 18 inches.
18 inseparation at which a retaining wall stops counting
Also on how height is measured in Pittsburg
- 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 Pittsburg
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Pittsburg answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Pittsburg does not simply lower a corner fence, it requires the part above three feet to be see-through. Inside the triangle formed by the intersecting street lines and a line joining points thirty feet from where they meet, the limit is four and a half feet, and anything above three feet has to carry generally uniformly spaced interstices giving sixty six and two thirds percent open area between the fence material. The same openness test applies to a corner side yard fence within three feet of the sidewalk edge. Separately, every fence, wall and hedge in the city is subject to the driveway visibility requirements at section 18.78.050(C).
Corner side sight visibility triangle: four and one-half feet; provided, that the portion above three feet in height must have generally uniformly spaced interstices to allow 66 and two-thirds percent open area between the fence material within a triangle formed by the intersecting street lines and a line joining points on these street lines at a distance of 30 feet from the intersection of these lines.
30 ftleg of the corner sight visibility triangle
Also on corner visibility in Pittsburg
- 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 Pittsburg
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Pittsburg answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Pittsburg retaining wall over three feet needs a building permit, and so does one of any height that supports a surcharge or impounds Class I, II or III-A liquids. The application is not a counter transaction either: it has to include plans and calculations stamped and signed by a registered structural or civil engineer. The height rules then treat the wall as part of the fence above it unless the fence is set at least eighteen inches back from its inside face.
A retaining wall over three feet in height or supporting a surcharge or impounding Class I, II, or III-A liquids requires a building permit, including plans and calculations stamped and signed by a registered structural or civil engineer.
3 ftretaining wall height that triggers a building permit
Also on retaining walls in Pittsburg
- 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 Pittsburg
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Pittsburg answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, and whether the fence carries wire or a charge.
Barbed and razor wire are not permitted in the CN, CO and residential districts of Pittsburg unless a use permit specifically allows them, and anywhere else they have to start at least six feet above grade, except in the open space district. Electric fencing carries a far longer set of conditions. It needs a public hearing and approval from the planning commission, is confined to the CS, CSD and industrial districts, and may not go on a property line shared with commercial, manufacturing, quarry, residential or planned development land. It is barred within twenty five feet of any outdoor hazardous materials area, inside a building, and in a front or corner side yard. It has to be fully surrounded by a solid non-electrified fence or wall of at least eight feet, no more than eight inches away and never touching, with the strip between them and everything within two feet paved in gravel or concrete and kept clear of landscaping, weeds, shrubbery, trash and material of any kind. Warning signs in English and Spanish, no smaller than twelve by eighteen inches, go on the perimeter fence at intervals of no more than thirty feet, and a Knox Box electrical shunt switch has to be fitted for police and fire access. Construction generally has to be sound and workmanlike in new or good used material, kept erect and in good repair.
No electric fence shall be installed or used unless it is completely surrounded by a nonelectrified fence or wall that is not less than eight feet high. The perimeter fence shall be solid, without spaces or gaps, and separated from the electrified fence by a maximum of eight inches.
18.84.220, 18.84.225 and 18.84.235
The answer turns on the district, and whether the fence carries wire or a charge.
- the CN, CO and residential districts
- No barbed or razor wire without a use permit.
- barbed or razor wire in any other district but open space
- It has to begin at least six feet above grade. 6 ft
- an electric fence in the CS, CSD or industrial districts
- A public hearing, a solid eight foot outer fence, bilingual signs and a Knox Box switch. 8 in
Also on materials in Pittsburg
- 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 Pittsburg
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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 Pittsburg 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 Pittsburg
- 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 Pittsburg 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 PittsburgMunicipal Code, Title 18, Chapter 18.84, Article IV, Fences and Walls
- 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 Pittsburg 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