Fence laws in San Jacinto, California
What the San Jacinto 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 Jacinto sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in San Jacinto, 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
- San Jacinto ties the fence to the setback of the underlying zone and then prints one table, and the answer turns on the zone, the setback, and whether a mitigation measure or a specific use standard applies. The figure is 4 feet, for fence or wall in a front yard setback.
- Permits
- San Jacinto puts every fence through two steps and names repair alongside new work.
- Pool barriers
- The San Jacinto development code states the pool barrier as an outcome and leaves the dimensions to the state.
- 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
- On level ground San Jacinto reads the vertical distance from the highest finished grade abutting the fence to the top edge of the material, and then shuts the door on manufacturing that grade: adjacent grades may not be artificially elevated to allow a taller fence. The figure is 10 feet, for combined fence and retaining wall read from the lower side.
- Corner lots
- Nothing in a San Jacinto traffic visibility area, whether a structure, a fence, a wall, a sign or a landscape element, may pass thirty inches unless the City Engineer approves it. The figure is 25 feet, for leg of the street intersection visibility triangle.
- Retaining walls
- San Jacinto opens its retaining wall section by saying slopes are discouraged, and then requires any embankment over forty eight inches to be stepped so that no single exposed wall passes forty eight inches, with each intervening step at least thirty six inches wide. The figure is 48 inches, for tallest exposed face of a stepped retaining wall.
- Materials
- San Jacinto defines what counts rather than leaving it to judgment, and the answer turns on the zone, what the fence separates, and whether it can be seen from a public right of way.
- 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 Jacinto?
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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 Jacinto 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 Jacinto
- 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 Jacinto?
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San Jacinto answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone, the setback, and whether a mitigation measure or a specific use standard applies.
San Jacinto ties the fence to the setback of the underlying zone and then prints one table. A front yard setback takes four feet of open or solid fencing in every zone, with the rural estate and rural residential zones allowed two more feet of open fencing on top for six feet overall. Interior side, street side and rear yards and everything else take six feet, or eight in the industrial zones. A hedge is capped at four feet in a front yard in the rural and ordinary residential zones, six in other zones, and eight in industrial. Two notes narrow it further: a fence in a required street side setback may not come closer than twenty feet to the front lot line, and a side yard return fence is set back at least five feet from the front of the house. Where a noise, sound or fugitive dust mitigation measure requires it, the approval authority may add up to two feet without a variance.
If a fence or wall is located in a required street side setback area, the fence or wall shall not extend any closer than 20 feet to the front lot line or as allowed by Section 17.305.150 (Traffic Visibility Area), whichever is most restrictive.
17.315.020, Table 3-4 and 17.315.030.G
The answer turns on the zone, the setback, and whether a mitigation measure or a specific use standard applies.
- a front yard setback area
- Four feet of open or solid fencing. 4 ft
- a front yard in the rural estate or rural residential zones
- Four feet, plus two more of open fencing on top. 6 ft
- an interior side, street side or rear yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- an industrial zone
- Eight feet. 8 ft
Also on fence height in San Jacinto
- 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 San Jacinto?
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San Jacinto answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
San Jacinto puts every fence through two steps and names repair alongside new work. Anyone installing a new wall or fence, or replacing or repairing an existing one, submits plans to the Director, including a plot plan drawn to scale with the lot lines, adjacent rights of way, driveways and existing buildings, and a dimensional detail giving the materials and the height from both existing and finished grade. The Director approves it only if it complies, and a replacement has to meet current standards rather than the ones the old fence was built to. A fence or wall may then be installed only after a building permit is issued.
Any person proposing to install a new wall or fence or replace or repair an existing wall or fence shall submit copies of the plans and details to the Director for review and approval.
Also on permits in San Jacinto
- 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 Jacinto
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San Jacinto answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The San Jacinto development code states the pool barrier as an outcome and leaves the dimensions to the state. A swimming pool, hot tub or spa, or the entire property it sits on, has to be walled or fenced to prevent uncontrolled access in compliance with the California Building Code, so the owner may choose between enclosing the water and enclosing the lot, and the barrier height, gate and latch specifications come from the state code rather than from the chapter.
A swimming pool, hot tub, spa, or the entire property on which any of these are located shall be walled or fenced to prevent uncontrolled access in compliance with the California Building Code.
Also on pool barriers in San Jacinto
- 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 San Jacinto
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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 Jacinto 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 Jacinto
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San Jacinto answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
On level ground San Jacinto reads the vertical distance from the highest finished grade abutting the fence to the top edge of the material, and then shuts the door on manufacturing that grade: adjacent grades may not be artificially elevated to allow a taller fence. On a slope, or on a retaining wall, the code uses two figures instead of one. Six feet of solid fence may be measured from the up-slope property, provided the total including any retaining wall does not exceed ten feet read from the down-slope side, so the neighbor below is protected by a separate ceiling.
Fence height shall be measured as the vertical distance between the highest finished grade of the ground abutting the fence and the top edge of the fence material. Adjacent grades shall not be artificially elevated in order to allow for a fence or wall that is higher than the allowable maximum height.
10 ftcombined fence and retaining wall read from the lower side
Also on how height is measured in San Jacinto
- 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 San Jacinto
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San Jacinto answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Nothing in a San Jacinto traffic visibility area, whether a structure, a fence, a wall, a sign or a landscape element, may pass thirty inches unless the City Engineer approves it. The area is drawn three different ways. At a street intersection it runs twenty five feet along each street property line from where they meet, connected diagonally. At a driveway it runs fifteen feet along the driveway and fifteen feet along the street line away from the driveway. On a reverse corner lot on a local street the standard is adequate sight distance satisfactory to the City Engineer, maintained in both directions from the centerline of the driveway measured fifteen feet back from the right of way line. Public utility boxes, traffic signs and signals, trees trimmed to at least seven feet above grade, and corners where the land itself blocks the view are exempt.
No structure (e.g., fence, wall, etc.), sign, or landscape element shall exceed 30 inches in height within the traffic visibility area, unless approved by the City Engineer.
25 ftleg of the street intersection visibility triangle
Also on corner visibility in San Jacinto
- 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 Jacinto
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San Jacinto answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
San Jacinto opens its retaining wall section by saying slopes are discouraged, and then requires any embankment over forty eight inches to be stepped so that no single exposed wall passes forty eight inches, with each intervening step at least thirty six inches wide. In a required front setback a retaining wall may reach forty eight inches in total height provided it covers no more than five percent of that setback, and on a corner lot it may not stand inside the traffic visibility area at all. On a hillside parcel the location and height standards may be modified under the hillside development standards.
An embankment to be retained that is over 48 inches in height shall be stepped so that no individual exposed retaining wall exceeds 48 inches in height, and each intervening step is a minimum width of 36 inches.
48 intallest exposed face of a stepped retaining wall
Also on retaining walls in San Jacinto
- 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 San Jacinto
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San Jacinto answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone, what the fence separates, and whether it can be seen from a public right of way.
San Jacinto defines what counts rather than leaving it to judgment. Decorative masonry means split face block, brick or stucco finished CMU block, precision block is generally not decorative unless worked into a split face design at a stated ratio, and slump stone is generally not decorative either. A fence separating different land uses or zones has to be decorative masonry and nothing else, and one built where fences are normally prohibited has to be brick, concrete, decorative masonry, wrought iron or similar. Wood, where it is allowed, is specified down to the fastenings: pressure treated Douglas Fir or equivalent, vertical boards no smaller than one inch by six, two coats of exterior paint or oil base stain in a neutral color, tubular steel posts at eight feet on center in an eighteen by ten inch concrete footing and hidden from the street, rails on both sides, a bolted base and a cap along the top. Wood is prohibited outright on any street side face visible from a public right of way, and on an interior side yard return. Barbed and razor wire need the Director’s approval for an industrial or agricultural use and may not be visible from a facing street. Electrified fencing on a property line is prohibited unless some law or a condition of approval requires it, though it may go inside a parcel behind a separate barrier. Chain link with slats, tarps or other covering is prohibited except as temporary construction screening under a building permit.
Precision block is generally not decorative unless incorporated into a split face design (i.e. 25% precision block in a decorative layout/design with 75% split face).
The answer turns on the zone, what the fence separates, and whether it can be seen from a public right of way.
- a fence separating different land uses or zones
- Decorative masonry only.
- a residential street side face visible from a public right of way
- Solid decorative material, and no wood.
- barbed or razor wire
- Only for an industrial or agricultural use, approved and out of sight of a facing street.
Also on materials in San Jacinto
- 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 San Jacinto
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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 Jacinto 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 Jacinto
- 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 San Jacinto 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 JacintoDevelopment Code, Title 17, Chapter 17.315, Fences, Walls and Hedges
- 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 San Jacinto 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