Fence laws in Thousand Oaks, California
What the Thousand Oaks municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Thousand Oaks sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Thousand Oaks, 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
- Thousand Oaks allows six feet along a side or rear lot line but not within ten feet of the front lot line, and three feet in the front yard itself, and the answer turns on which lot line the fence runs along, how close it is to the front line, and whether a noise finding is made. The figure is 6 feet, for fence height along a side or rear lot line.
- Permits
- California does not write its own building code from scratch.
- 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
- Thousand Oaks measures from the grade facing the public right of way, so the street decides the number rather than the yard, and the answer turns on whether the fence faces the public right of way or runs along a sloped side or rear line.
- Corner lots
- On a Thousand Oaks corner lot a fence may not reach into the side yard required along the side street, nor into the part of the rear yard facing the intersecting street where accessory buildings are already barred, and the answer turns on whether both the Traffic Engineer and the Community Development Director make the findings.
- Retaining walls
- Thousand Oaks 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
- 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 Thousand Oaks?
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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 Thousand Oaks 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 Thousand Oaks
- 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 Thousand Oaks?
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Thousand Oaks answers this, but the answer changes depending on which lot line the fence runs along, how close it is to the front line, and whether a noise finding is made.
Thousand Oaks allows six feet along a side or rear lot line but not within ten feet of the front lot line, and three feet in the front yard itself. The ten foot standoff is the part worth noticing, because it means the six foot fence cannot simply run the length of the boundary to the street. A noise wall along an arterial can reach nine feet where the Community Development Director makes the findings.
A fence, wall or hedge not to exceed six (6’) feet in height may be located or maintained along the side or rear lot lines, but may not be located closer than ten (10’) feet from the front lot line. A fence, wall or hedge may be placed in the front yard as allowed by the applicable zone if it does not have a height of more than three (3’) feet, except as allowed along side lot lines as stated above or otherwise provided herein.
Thousand Oaks Municipal Code 9-4.2509(i)(1)
The answer turns on which lot line the fence runs along, how close it is to the front line, and whether a noise finding is made.
- along a side or rear lot line, ten feet or more from the front line
- Six feet. 6 ft
- within ten feet of the front lot line
- The six foot allowance does not reach. 10 ft
- in the front yard
- Three feet. 3 ft
- a noise wall along an arterial, with the Director’s findings
- Nine feet. 9 ft
Also on fence height in Thousand Oaks
- 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 Thousand Oaks?
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California answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
California 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.
This one is California law, not Thousand Oaks 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:
Also on permits in Thousand Oaks
- 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 Thousand Oaks
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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 Thousand Oaks 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 Thousand Oaks
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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 Thousand Oaks 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 Thousand Oaks
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Thousand Oaks answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence faces the public right of way or runs along a sloped side or rear line.
Thousand Oaks measures from the grade facing the public right of way, so the street decides the number rather than the yard. Along a side or rear lot line that is sloped it switches to the highest side of the adjacent grade instead. Both readings are the stricter of the pair available, and which one applies depends on whether the fence faces the road or the neighbor.
The height of a fence, wall or hedge shall be measured from the adjacent grade level facing the public right of way, except that the height of a fence, wall or hedge along a side or rear lot line that is sloped shall be measured from the highest side of the adjacent grade level.
Thousand Oaks Municipal Code 9-4.2509(i)(1)
The answer turns on whether the fence faces the public right of way or runs along a sloped side or rear line.
- a fence facing the public right of way
- From the adjacent grade on the street side.
- a sloped side or rear lot line
- From the highest side of the adjacent grade.
Also on how height is measured in Thousand Oaks
- 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 Thousand Oaks
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Thousand Oaks answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether both the Traffic Engineer and the Community Development Director make the findings.
On a Thousand Oaks corner lot a fence may not reach into the side yard required along the side street, nor into the part of the rear yard facing the intersecting street where accessory buildings are already barred. The way out needs two officials rather than one: the Traffic Engineer and the Community Development Director both have to find that sight visibility is adequate and that the look of the fence can be offset.
In cases of corner lots, such fence, wall or hedge also shall not extend into the side yard required adjacent to the side street nor into that portion of the rear yard abutting the intersection street, in which portion accessory buildings are prohibited, unless that fence, wall or hedge is found by the Traffic Engineer and the Community Development Director to provide adequate vehicular and pedestrian sight visibility which shall be maintained at all intersections of public streets and private driveways and that adequate means are available to offset the visual impact of the fence, wall or hedge.
Thousand Oaks Municipal Code 9-4.2509(i)(1)
The answer turns on whether both the Traffic Engineer and the Community Development Director make the findings.
- a corner lot, without the findings
- The fence may not extend into the street side yard or the rear yard facing the intersection.
- both the Traffic Engineer and the Director find sight visibility adequate
- It may.
Also on corner visibility in Thousand Oaks
- 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 Thousand Oaks
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Thousand Oaks 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 Thousand Oaks 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 Thousand Oaks
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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 Thousand Oaks 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 Thousand Oaks
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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 Thousand Oaks 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 Thousand Oaks
- 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 Thousand Oaks 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 Thousand OaksThousand Oaks Municipal Code, Title 9, Chapter 4, Section 9-4.2509, Projections into required yards
- 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 Thousand Oaks 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