Fence laws in San Marcos, California
What the San Marcos 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 Marcos sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in San Marcos, 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 Marcos prints a table of maximum heights by zone and by whether the fence sits inside or outside the minimum setback, and the answer turns on the zone, whether the fence is inside the minimum setback, and whether a sound wall is approved. The figure is 42 inches, for wall or fence in the front setback area.
- Permits
- San Marcos does not set up a separate fence permit.
- Pool barriers
- San Marcos sets no barrier height, gate specification or mesh limit of its own for a pool.
- 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 Marcos states the datum in one sentence at the head of its height rules, so the table that follows has a fixed starting point.
- Corner lots
- The general rule in San Marcos is written as a performance test rather than a dimension: no wall, fence or landscaping element may interfere with intersection visibility, line of sight or other safety issue, and the geometry sits in Figure 20.300-4 rather than in the fence text.
- Retaining walls
- San Marcos 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
- Wood, vinyl, stone, masonry, brick, block, stucco, wrought iron and concrete are approved in San Marcos, and where an opaque wall is required it has to be brick, split-face block, stone or frame-stucco, and the answer turns on the material, the zone, and whether the fence can be seen from a public right of way. The figure is 72 inches, for agricultural livestock 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 San Marcos?
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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 Marcos 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 Marcos
- 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 Marcos?
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San Marcos answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone, whether the fence is inside the minimum setback, and whether a sound wall is approved.
San Marcos prints a table of maximum heights by zone and by whether the fence sits inside or outside the minimum setback. On a single family lot the front setback area takes forty two inches, the side street setback takes forty two inches where it falls inside the front setback and six feet elsewhere, and the side, interior and rear property lines take six feet. A house facing a major thoroughfare may be allowed a sound wall of six to eight feet instead, on the approval of both the Director and the City Engineer and with a building permit. Extra height for security or specific site operating needs is available through a development permit. A hedge is capped at whatever a wall may reach in the same zone.
Residential parcels adjacent to major thoroughfares may be permitted a sound wall to an increased height of six (6) to eight (8) feet based on lot configuration and sound wall needs subject to Director and City Engineer approval and building permit requirements.
20.335.030.F, Table 20.335-1, and 20.335.050.A
The answer turns on the zone, whether the fence is inside the minimum setback, and whether a sound wall is approved.
- the front setback area of a single family lot
- Forty two inches. 42 in
- a side, interior or rear property line
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a residential lot on a major thoroughfare
- A sound wall of six to eight feet, approved by the Director and the City Engineer. 8 ft
- an industrial interior property line
- Ten feet. 10 ft
Also on fence height in San Marcos
- 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 Marcos?
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San Marcos answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
San Marcos does not set up a separate fence permit. The chapter folds the fence into whatever application is already being made, requiring the review of fences and walls to be an integral part of any site plan, permit or Site Development Plan Review, with full compliance unless a development permit modifies it. A residential sound wall is the one structure the chapter names a building permit for, and extra height for security or site operating needs runs through a development permit rather than over the counter.
The review of fences and walls shall be an integral part of any site plan, permit, or Site Development Plan Review application.
Also on permits in San Marcos
- 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 Marcos
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San Marcos answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
San Marcos sets no barrier height, gate specification or mesh limit of its own for a pool. The applicability section states in a single line that swimming pools, spas and similar features are fenced in accordance with the California Building Code, so the standard on the ground is the state one rather than a local variation.
Swimming pools, spas, and similar features shall be fenced in accordance with the California Building Code.
Also on pool barriers in San Marcos
- 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 Marcos
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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 Marcos 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 Marcos
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San Marcos answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
San Marcos states the datum in one sentence at the head of its height rules, so the table that follows has a fixed starting point. Height runs from the finished grade of the property to the highest point of the element, and the rule is written to cover architectural screening elements as well as walls and fences, which keeps a decorative cap or a screen panel inside the measurement.
The height of all walls, fences, and architectural screening elements shall be measured from the finished grade of the property to the highest point of the element.
Also on how height is measured in San Marcos
- 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 Marcos
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San Marcos answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The general rule in San Marcos is written as a performance test rather than a dimension: no wall, fence or landscaping element may interfere with intersection visibility, line of sight or other safety issue, and the geometry sits in Figure 20.300-4 rather than in the fence text. Where the chapter does put a number on it, in the agricultural standards that otherwise allow a taller open fence, the line-of-sight triangle has to stay unobstructed and nothing inside it may pass forty two inches.
No wall, fence, or landscaping element shall interfere with intersection visibility or line of sight or other safety issue.
20.335.030.B and 20.335.060.A.1.a
Also on corner visibility in San Marcos
- 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 Marcos
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San Marcos 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 San Marcos 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 San Marcos
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San Marcos answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material, the zone, and whether the fence can be seen from a public right of way.
Wood, vinyl, stone, masonry, brick, block, stucco, wrought iron and concrete are approved in San Marcos, and where an opaque wall is required it has to be brick, split-face block, stone or frame-stucco. Barbed, razor, concertina, corrugated metal and plastic, tarps and electrified wire are prohibited in every zone, with one opening: woven wire, barbed wire or electrified fencing may be allowed in the front and side yards of an agricultural zone where livestock or horses need securing, to no more than seventy two inches. Chain link gets its own treatment. It is prohibited along any public right of way regardless of setback, and wherever it is used it may not be visible from the right of way, in every zone but agricultural. Blank walls are prohibited as well, so a screening or security wall within ten feet of a right of way carries landscaping to at least forty two inches between the wall and the road.
Chain-link fencing and similar material are prohibited along any public ROW regardless of setback. Where chain-link fencing is used, it shall not be visible from the public ROW.
The answer turns on the material, the zone, and whether the fence can be seen from a public right of way.
- any zone
- No barbed, razor, concertina, corrugated metal or plastic, tarps or electrified wire.
- a front or side yard in an agricultural zone securing livestock
- Woven wire, barbed wire or electrified fencing up to seventy two inches. 72 in
- anywhere a public right of way can see it
- No chain link.
Also on materials in San Marcos
- 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 Marcos
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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 Marcos 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 Marcos
- 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 Marcos 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 MarcosMunicipal Code, Title 20, Chapter 20.335, Walls and Fences
- 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 Marcos 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