Fence laws in San Diego, California
What the San Diego municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where San Diego sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in San Diego, 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
- An open fence gets three more feet than a solid one in the same place, and chain link is singled out. The figure is 3 feet, for metal chain link on the front or street side property line. It reaches an open fence in a required front yard or required street side yard only.
- Permits
- A fence under seven feet needs no permit from the fence rules. The figure is 7 feet, for height at which a fence starts needing a building permit.
- 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
- San Diego says where the tape starts, which most municipal codes never do.
- Corner lots
- Inside a visibility area nothing built as a fence may stand over three feet. The figure is 3 feet, for anything standing in a visibility area. It reaches the visibility area at a corner or driveway, as defined by SDMC 113.0273 only.
- Retaining walls
- San Diego does not let one tall wall hold a front slope. The figure is 3 feet, for each of two stacked retaining walls in a required front or street side yard. It reaches a required front yard or required street side yard only.
- Materials
- The extra height an open fence gets is paid for with transparency, and San Diego puts a number on it. The figure is 35 percent, for least share of each six foot section open to light, outside the coastal zone. It reaches any fence claiming the open fence height limits only.
- 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 San Diego?
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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 San Diego 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 San Diego
- 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 San Diego?
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San Diego answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
An open fence gets three more feet than a solid one in the same place, and chain link is singled out. Standard all metal chain link on the front or street side property line stops at three feet. Any other open fence is allowed six feet there. Open means the fence lets light through: at least 35 percent of every six foot section, or 75 percent inside the Coastal Overlay Zone.
Standard, all metal chain link fences located on the front or street side property line shall not exceed 3 feet in height.
3 ftmetal chain link on the front or street side property line
Also on fence height in San Diego
- 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 pageSan Diego does not give a front yard fence one height. A solid fence right on the front or street side property line stops at three feet. The limit then rises along a straight line as the fence moves back from the street, reaching six feet at the setback line. So the same fence is legal at six feet in one spot and illegal at four in another, and the distance from the property line is what decides it. SDMC 142.0310(c)(1)San Diego · Zoning code
Do I need a permit for a fence in San Diego?
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San Diego answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A fence under seven feet needs no permit from the fence rules. At seven feet and above it needs a building permit through Process One. The number people usually quote is six, which is the state building code exemption, so San Diego is one foot more generous than the figure most fence pages give. A retaining wall is on its own scale and a far lower one: three feet.
Any fence with a height of 7 feet or greater
7 ftheight at which a fence starts needing a building permit
Also on permits in San Diego
- 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 San Diego
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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 San Diego 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 San Diego
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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 San Diego 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 San Diego
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San Diego answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
San Diego says where the tape starts, which most municipal codes never do. Fence height runs from the lowest ground touching the fence to the top of it. On a slope that means the downhill side sets the number, so a fence that measures six feet from the high side can be over the limit. The one exception is a fence on top of a retaining wall: that one is measured from the ground on the higher side of the wall, so the wall does not eat the fence allowance.
The height of any portion of a fence or wall is measured from the lowest grade abutting the fence or wall to the top of the fence or wall, except that the height of a fence or wall on top of a retaining wall is measured from grade on the higher side of the retaining wall
Also on how height is measured in San Diego
- 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
- set in state lawOn uneven ground the code allows the height to be averaged between two points so the top of the fence can run level instead of stepping up and down, as long as the average stays inside the limit. That is what makes a straight topped fence possible on a sloping lot without breaking the rule at the low end. SDMC 113.0270(b)(1)(B)San Diego · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in San Diego
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San Diego answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Inside a visibility area nothing built as a fence may stand over three feet. The rule is flat, with no slope and no offset trade, and it beats every other height allowance on this page where the two overlap. Retaining walls are held to the same three feet there, with one narrow exception for a wall holding an existing cut bank next to the road.
Fences in visibility areas shall not exceed 3 feet in height.
3 ftanything standing in a visibility area
Also on corner visibility in San Diego
- 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 San Diego
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San Diego answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
San Diego does not let one tall wall hold a front slope. It allows two walls of three feet each in the front and street side yard, and they have to be set apart horizontally by at least the height of the upper wall, which leaves a planted bench between them. In side and rear yards the same pattern runs at six feet each. Wall height is measured from the ground on the low side, so a cut is measured from the bottom of the cut.
Two retaining walls with a maximum height of 3 feet each are permitted in the required front and street side yard if the two retaining walls are separated by a minimum horizontal distance equal to the height of the upper wall.
3 fteach of two stacked retaining walls in a required front or street side yard
Also on retaining walls in San Diego
- 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 lawA retaining wall needs a building permit at three feet, four feet below where a fence needs one. Wall height is counted from the ground on the lower side up to the top of the wall, so the buried part of a cut does not count against it but everything holding back earth does. SDMC 113.0270(b)(2)San Diego · Building code
Fence materials allowed in San Diego
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San Diego answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The extra height an open fence gets is paid for with transparency, and San Diego puts a number on it. Every six foot section has to be at least 35 percent open to light. Inside the Coastal Overlay Zone that rises to 75 percent, which rules out most slatted designs near the water.
An open fence shall have at least 35 percent of the vertical surface area of each 6-foot section open to light except within the Coastal Overlay Zone, where an open fence shall have at least 75 percent of its vertical surface area open to light.
35%least share of each six foot section open to light, outside the coastal zone
Also on materials in San Diego
- 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
- set in state lawSan Diego lists what a solid fence may be built from and names one thing it may not: plywood. Vinyl is allowed only where the material was manufactured as fencing rather than cut from sheet stock. Metal fences in a front or street side yard have to carry a colored finish, so bare galvanized is out in every zone except the industrial and agricultural ones. Hedges are not fence material and the fence rules do not reach them. SDMC 142.0370(a)San Diego · Zoning code
- set in state lawAn electrically charged fence is allowed for farming in an agricultural zone if it stands at least 600 feet from a residential zone, and temporarily for goats brought in to clear brush. It carries a warning sign every 100 feet. A sharp pointed metal fence is agricultural zones only, which puts razor wire and spiked palisade off the table on an ordinary house lot. SDMC 142.0360(b)San Diego · Zoning code
Livestock and boundary fence law in San Diego
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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 San Diego 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 San Diego
- 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
11 documents, of which 2 were published by San Diego 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 San DiegoSan Diego Municipal Code, Chapter 14, Article 2, Division 3, Fence Regulations
- 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
- City of San DiegoSan Diego Municipal Code, Chapter 11, Article 3, Division 2, Rules for Calculation
- 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 San Diego 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