Fence laws in Santa Ana, California
What the Santa Ana municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Santa Ana sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Santa Ana, 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
- Santa Ana sets no maximum fence height. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Permits
- Santa Ana runs a dedicated front yard fence permit that is separate from the building permit and has no height below which it stops applying. 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
- Santa Ana measures a front yard fence from the top of the curb, out in the street, rather than from the ground the fence stands on. It reaches a front yard fence, planter, hedge or arbor only.
- Corner lots
- Santa Ana decides a front yard fence partly on where the lot sits. It reaches a corner lot, or a lot on an arterial street only.
- Retaining walls
- A retaining wall in Santa Ana is exempt up to four feet counted from the bottom of the footing, so the buried part of the wall goes into the total. The figure is 4 feet, for retaining wall height from the bottom of the footing, before a permit is needed.
- Materials
- The Santa Ana application gives the accepted front yard materials as tick boxes, which is as close to a list as the city publishes: split face or slump stone block, block finished with stucco, wrought iron, stone, brick, wood, and lights built into the fence. It reaches a fence in the front yard 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 Santa Ana?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
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 Santa Ana 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 Santa Ana
- 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 Santa Ana?
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Santa Ana law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
California 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.
This one is California law, not Santa Ana law. All California findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Civ. Code 841California Legislature
- Civ. Code 841.4California Legislature
Do I need a permit for a fence in Santa Ana?
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Santa Ana answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Santa Ana runs a dedicated front yard fence permit that is separate from the building permit and has no height below which it stops applying. A fence up to seven feet anywhere needs no building permit. A fence in the front yard, at any height, needs a permit from the Planning Division. So the low decorative wall that would be exempt in most cities still goes through an application here, and it is reviewed twice: once by a planner and once by a code enforcement inspector.
Fences not over seven (7) feet high (A front-yard fence permit is required from the Planning Division for fences located in the front yard)
7 ftheight at which a fence starts needing a building permit
Also on permits in Santa Ana
- 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 Santa Ana
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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 Santa Ana 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 Santa Ana
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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 Santa Ana 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 Santa Ana
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Santa Ana answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Santa Ana measures a front yard fence from the top of the curb, out in the street, rather than from the ground the fence stands on. That is unlike every other city on this site and it only shows up on the permit form, where the height box says so directly. It matters on a lot that sits above the road: a fence three feet tall in its own yard can measure four and a half from the curb, and the figure the city checks is the one from the curb.
as measured from top of curb
Application for Residential Front Yard Fence Permit, form dated 12-2019
Also on how height is measured in Santa Ana
- 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 Santa Ana
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Santa Ana answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Santa Ana decides a front yard fence partly on where the lot sits. The staff review box on the permit form records three things before anything else: whether the street is an arterial, whether it is not, and whether the lot is a corner. So a corner lot and a lot on a busy road are looked at differently from a lot mid block on a quiet street, and that judgement is made case by case rather than from a published triangle.
Arterial Street: Non Arterial Street: Corner Lot:
Application for Residential Front Yard Fence Permit, form dated 12-2019
Also on corner visibility in Santa Ana
- 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 Santa Ana
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Santa Ana answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A retaining wall in Santa Ana is exempt up to four feet counted from the bottom of the footing, so the buried part of the wall goes into the total. Two things cancel the exemption whatever the height: a wall carrying a surcharge, meaning load from above, and a wall holding back Class I, II or IIIA liquids. Riverside and Irvine both use the same wording, which is the California Building Code exemption showing through.
Retaining walls that are not over 4-feet in height measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall
4 ftretaining wall height from the bottom of the footing, before a permit is needed
Also on retaining walls in Santa Ana
- 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 Santa Ana
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Santa Ana answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The Santa Ana application gives the accepted front yard materials as tick boxes, which is as close to a list as the city publishes: split face or slump stone block, block finished with stucco, wrought iron, stone, brick, wood, and lights built into the fence. Anything outside those has to be written in and argued for. The form also asks for the width of the pilasters, the width of the pickets and the gap between them, so the proportions of the fence are reviewed and not only its height.
split-face/slump stone block
Application for Residential Front Yard Fence Permit, form dated 12-2019
Also on materials in Santa Ana
- 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 lawThe Santa Ana front yard permit covers four things in one form: a fence, a planter, a hedge and an arbor. Bringing a hedge inside the permit puts Santa Ana with Los Angeles, Oakland, Fresno and Bakersfield, where planting is regulated the same way building is. An arbor is handled separately again, with its own height, depth and width asked for on the form rather than being folded into the fence height. Application for Residential Front Yard Fence Permit, form dated 12-2019Santa Ana · Agency guidance
Livestock and boundary fence law in Santa Ana
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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 Santa Ana 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 Santa Ana
- 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 Santa Ana 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
- 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
- City of Santa Ana, Planning and Building AgencyWhen is a Permit NOT Required
- 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 Santa Ana, Planning and Building Agency, Planning DivisionApplication for Residential Front Yard Fence Permit, form dated 12-2019
- 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 Santa Ana 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