Fence laws in Redondo Beach, California
What the Redondo 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 Redondo Beach sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Redondo Beach, 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 every Redondo Beach residential zone a required front setback takes forty two inches and a required rear or side setback six feet, and the answer turns on the zone, the setback, and whether a boundary wall between zones is required. The figure is 42 inches, for fence, hedge or wall in a required front setback.
- Permits
- California does not write its own building code from scratch.
- Pool barriers
- A Redondo Beach pool or hot tub has to be entirely enclosed by buildings, fences or walls of no less than six feet and no more than eight, with self-latching gates whose latches sit at least four feet above the ground. The figure is 6 feet, for minimum pool enclosure height.
- 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
- Most codes measure a fence from finished grade.
- Corner lots
- Redondo Beach draws two safety triangles, both with fifteen foot legs, and gives each its own datum. The figure is 36 inches, for anything inside the street corner safety triangle.
- Retaining walls
- Redondo Beach leaves retaining walls to Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, the California Building Standards Code, which tracks the International Building Code and the International Residential Code.
- Materials
- Barbed wire, razor wire, electric fences and similar fences are prohibited in every Redondo Beach residential zone, and chain link and other industrial type fencing is prohibited in the front yard setback or on any part of a lot visible from the public right of way, and the answer turns on the zone, whether the fence can be seen from the street, and whether a required wall applies. The figure is 30 percent, for masonry required in a mixed construction wall.
- 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 Redondo Beach?
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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 Redondo Beach 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 Redondo Beach
- 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 Redondo Beach?
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Redondo Beach answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone, the setback, and whether a boundary wall between zones is required.
In every Redondo Beach residential zone a required front setback takes forty two inches and a required rear or side setback six feet. The nonresidential zones follow the same pattern, with the forty two inch limit extended to the exterior side setback as well as the front. On a reverse corner lot the six foot allowance is cut back to forty two inches inside a triangle drawn fifteen feet along the rear and exterior side lot lines at the corner that abuts the key lot’s front setback. Some walls are required rather than allowed. Two or more dwelling units need a six foot decorative masonry wall along the side and rear boundaries, except on the street side of a corner lot, and any shared boundary between a residential and a commercial zone, or between either of those and an industrial zone, needs a wall of six to eight feet, dropping to forty two inches where it runs into a required front setback.
Where a residential and a commercial zone share a common boundary along a property line, a wall shall be constructed with a minimum height of six feet and a maximum height of eight feet, except where such wall abuts the required residential zone front setback, such wall shall not exceed 42 inches in height
The answer turns on the zone, the setback, and whether a boundary wall between zones is required.
- a required front setback, in any zone
- Forty two inches. 42 in
- a required rear or side setback
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a boundary between a residential and a commercial or industrial zone
- A required wall of six to eight feet. 8 ft
- the corner triangle of a reverse corner lot
- Forty two inches, inside fifteen feet of the corner. 15 ft
Also on fence height in Redondo 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
Do I need a permit for a fence in Redondo 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 Redondo 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 Redondo 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 Redondo Beach
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Redondo Beach answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Redondo Beach pool or hot tub has to be entirely enclosed by buildings, fences or walls of no less than six feet and no more than eight, with self-latching gates whose latches sit at least four feet above the ground. The city then adds a timing rule that most codes leave out: all fencing has to be in place and approved by the Building Division before water is run into the pool, so the barrier precedes the hazard rather than following it.
Swimming pools and hot tubs shall be entirely enclosed by buildings, fences, or walls not less than six feet nor more than eight feet in height.
6 ftminimum pool enclosure height
Also on pool barriers in Redondo Beach
- 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 Redondo 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 Redondo 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 Redondo Beach
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Redondo Beach answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Most codes measure a fence from finished grade. Redondo Beach measures from existing grade, meaning the ground as it was, so earth moved under a fence after the fact does not reduce the measured height. The one exception is written to run in a single direction. In a required front or exterior side setback, where the finished grade turns out lower than the existing grade, the height is taken from the finished grade instead, which keeps a fence on cut ground from being credited with earth that is no longer there. There is no matching allowance where the finished grade is higher.
For the purposes of this section, "height" shall mean the vertical distance from existing grade to the top of the fence, hedge, or wall, except in a required front or exterior side setback where the finished grade is lower than the existing grade, height shall be measured from the finished grade.
Also on how height is measured in Redondo 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 Redondo Beach
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Redondo Beach answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Redondo Beach draws two safety triangles, both with fifteen foot legs, and gives each its own datum. At a street intersection corner nothing, including a tree, fence, shrub or other physical obstruction, may pass thirty six inches above the established sidewalk grade. Where a lot abuts both a street and an alley the same triangle is drawn at that intersection and the thirty six inch limit runs from the established curb grade instead. On a rounded lot corner the legs are measured from where the lot lines would have met if extended. The stated purpose of the section names preventing visual obstructions at street and highway intersections as one of the reasons it exists.
Within such triangular area, no tree, fence, shrub, or other physical obstruction higher than 36 inches above the established sidewalk grade shall be permitted.
36 inanything inside the street corner safety triangle
Also on corner visibility in Redondo Beach
- 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 Redondo Beach
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Redondo Beach does not set this. It leaves it to Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, the California Building Standards Code, which tracks the International Building Code and the International Residential Code.
California 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.
This one is California law, not Redondo 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:
The code hands this to Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, the California Building Standards Code, which tracks the International Building Code and the International Residential Code, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Redondo Beach
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Redondo Beach answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone, whether the fence can be seen from the street, and whether a required wall applies.
Barbed wire, razor wire, electric fences and similar fences are prohibited in every Redondo Beach residential zone, and chain link and other industrial type fencing is prohibited in the front yard setback or on any part of a lot visible from the public right of way. The required multifamily wall is specified by proportion rather than by material alone: it is a six foot decorative masonry wall, or a six foot decorative wall of mixed construction where a masonry base and masonry pilasters make up at least thirty percent and the Planning Division approves other materials for no more than seventy. The requirement may be waived where two adjacent lots are being developed together and leaving the wall out improves the project, where a conforming wall already exists next door, or along the Artesia and Aviation Corridors Area Plan boundary, where the wall may instead include an access point.
Chain link and other industrial type fencing in the front yard setback or on portions of a lot visible from the public right-of-way.
The answer turns on the zone, whether the fence can be seen from the street, and whether a required wall applies.
- any residential zone
- No barbed wire, razor wire or electric fencing.
- a front yard setback or anywhere visible from the street
- No chain link or industrial type fencing.
- a required multifamily boundary wall of mixed construction
- Masonry base and pilasters for at least thirty percent of it. 30%
Also on materials in Redondo 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 Redondo 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 Redondo 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 Redondo 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 Redondo Beach 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 Redondo BeachMunicipal Code, Title 10, Chapter 2, Section 10-2.1524, Fences, hedges, walls, and obstructions in all zones
- 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 Redondo 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