Fence laws in Santa Barbara, California
What the Santa Barbara 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 Barbara sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Santa Barbara, 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
- Eight feet is the ordinary limit in a Santa Barbara setback, front or interior, which is two feet above what most California cities on this site allow anywhere, and the answer turns on which setback the element stands in, and whether it is a fence and wall or a screen and hedge. The figure is 8 feet, for height within an interior or front setback.
- Permits
- Santa Barbara publishes a route above the limit and gives plants more room than lumber, and the answer turns on whether the element is a fence and wall or a screen and hedge. The figure is 4 feet, for extra height a fence or wall can be granted administratively.
- 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 Barbara measures from the lowest point of contact with the ground on either side of the fence, not from the side the owner is standing on.
- Corner lots
- Santa Barbara sets a number for driveways and refuses to set one for corners, and the answer turns on whether the driveway abuts a street with a sidewalk and parkway, and whether the intersection has an all way stop. The figure is 10 feet, for each leg of the driveway visibility triangle where there is a sidewalk. It reaches driveways and street intersections only.
- Retaining walls
- A fence on top of a retaining wall in Santa Barbara does not start its measurement at the top of the wall.
- Materials
- California sets a wire standard for a lawful fence in grazing counties. The figure is 3 strands, for barbed wires in a lawful wire fence. It reaches lawful fences in grazing counties 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 Barbara?
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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 Santa Barbara 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 Barbara
- 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 Barbara?
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Santa Barbara answers this, but the answer changes depending on which setback the element stands in, and whether it is a fence and wall or a screen and hedge.
Eight feet is the ordinary limit in a Santa Barbara setback, front or interior, which is two feet above what most California cities on this site allow anywhere. The exception is the first ten feet behind the front lot line, where a fence or wall drops to three and a half feet while a screen or hedge keeps its eight. Anything over three and a half feet in a front yard also goes to the Single Family Design Board, so in Santa Barbara the front fence is an architectural decision rather than a counter transaction.
Within interior setbacks (ranging from 5 to 15 feet in residential zones), fences, screens, walls and hedges are limited to eight feet (8’) in height.
Santa Barbara Municipal Code 28.87.170
The answer turns on which setback the element stands in, and whether it is a fence and wall or a screen and hedge.
- within an interior or front setback
- Eight feet, for fences, screens, walls and hedges alike. 8 ft
- a fence or wall within ten feet of a front lot line
- Three and a half feet, and design board review above that. 10 ft
- a screen or hedge within ten feet of a front lot line
- Eight feet, the same as anywhere else in the setback. 8 ft
Also on fence height in Santa Barbara
- 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 Santa Barbara?
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Santa Barbara answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the element is a fence and wall or a screen and hedge.
Santa Barbara publishes a route above the limit and gives plants more room than lumber. Inside an interior setback, a fence or wall can be approved administratively for four feet above the eight, reaching twelve. A screen or hedge can be approved for six feet above it, reaching fourteen. Past those ceilings the request becomes a Modification under a separate code section. The guidelines also list what usually justifies an exception, including an abrupt change in elevation, an existing retaining wall, and a pool barrier the building code demands.
Screens and hedges, may, upon granting Administrative approval, exceed the height limit within interior setbacks by no more than six feet (6’).
Santa Barbara Municipal Code 28.87.170.E
The answer turns on whether the element is a fence and wall or a screen and hedge.
- a fence or wall in an interior setback
- Up to four feet of extra height administratively, reaching twelve feet. 4 ft
- a screen or hedge in an interior setback
- Up to six feet of extra height administratively, reaching fourteen feet. 6 ft
- above those ceilings
- A Modification under Santa Barbara Municipal Code 28.92.110 rather than an administrative approval.
Also on permits in Santa Barbara
- 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 Barbara
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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 Barbara 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 Barbara
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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 Barbara 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 Barbara
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Santa Barbara answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Santa Barbara measures from the lowest point of contact with the ground on either side of the fence, not from the side the owner is standing on. On sloping ground that always means the downhill side. The measurement then runs up that same vertical line to the highest point of the fence, so a fence stepping down a slope is measured panel by panel rather than as one average.
the height of a fence, screen, wall or hedge shall be measured in a vertical line from the lowest point of contact with the ground directly adjacent to either side of the fence, screen, wall or hedge to the highest point of the fence, screen, wall or hedge along said vertical line.
Santa Barbara Municipal Code 28.87.170.B.3
Also on how height is measured in Santa Barbara
- 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
- depends, see the pageTwo fences or walls on the same lot are measured separately only if at least five feet of ground sits between them. Closer than five feet and their heights are added: the measurement runs from the lowest point of the lower one to the highest point of the upper one, as a single cumulative figure. The separation is measured from the back face of the lower element to the front face of the higher one. No other city read for this site addresses stacked fences at all. Santa Barbara Municipal Code 28.87.170.B.4Santa Barbara · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Santa Barbara
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Santa Barbara answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the driveway abuts a street with a sidewalk and parkway, and whether the intersection has an all way stop.
Santa Barbara sets a number for driveways and refuses to set one for corners. At a driveway the triangle is ten feet from the side of the driveway and ten feet back from the front lot line where there is a sidewalk and parkway, and twenty feet by ten where there is not. Nothing over three and a half feet stands inside it. At a street intersection there is no printed triangle at all: Public Works evaluates the sight distance case by case from the legal speed and the position of a driver’s eye. An intersection with an all way stop carries no extra height restriction under this subsection.
When a driveway directly abuts a portion of a street without a sidewalk or parkway, the triangle is measured on two sides by a distance of twenty feet (20') from the side of a driveway and ten feet (10') back from the front lot line.
Santa Barbara Municipal Code 28.87.170.C.3, C.4, D.3 and D.4
The answer turns on whether the driveway abuts a street with a sidewalk and parkway, and whether the intersection has an all way stop.
- at a driveway on a street with a sidewalk and parkway
- Ten feet from the side of the driveway and ten feet back from the front lot line. 10 ft
- at a driveway on a street with no sidewalk or parkway
- Twenty feet from the side of the driveway and ten feet back from the front lot line. 20 ft
- at a street intersection
- No fixed triangle. Public Works decides the required sight distance case by case.
Also on corner visibility in Santa Barbara
- 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 Barbara
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Santa Barbara answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A fence on top of a retaining wall in Santa Barbara does not start its measurement at the top of the wall. The part of the retaining wall standing above finished grade counts toward the fence height. A three foot exposed wall with a six foot fence on it is a nine foot fence for the purpose of the limit. On a stepped hillside lot that is the difference between a design that works and one that goes back to the drawing board.
Where fences, screens, walls or hedges are located on retaining walls, the portion of the retaining wall above finished grade shall be considered as part of the overall height of the fence, screen, wall or hedge.
Fence, Screen, Wall and Hedge Guidelines
Also on retaining walls in Santa Barbara
- 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 Barbara
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California answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
California 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.
This one is California law, not Santa Barbara 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.
3 strandsbarbed wires in a lawful wire fence
Livestock and boundary fence law in Santa Barbara
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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 Barbara 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 Barbara
- 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 Santa Barbara 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 Santa Barbara, Public Works Department, Permit CounterFence, Screen, Wall and Hedge Guidelines
- 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 Santa Barbara 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