Fence laws in Turlock, California
What the Turlock municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Turlock sets no rule of its own, the California rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Turlock, California, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Turlock requires a fence or retaining wall to sit completely on private property, and says the footing counts.
- How tall
- Turlock holds a front yard, and the side yard of a corner lot, to three feet, and allows seven in a back yard, and the answer turns on whether the fence is in a front yard, the side yard of a corner lot, or a back yard. The figure is 3 feet, for fence height in a front yard or corner side yard.
- Permits
- Turlock exempts a wood fence from a building permit up to seven feet and a masonry fence only up to five, both measured from grade on either side, and the answer turns on the material, the height, and whether the wall supports a surcharge. The figure is 7 feet, for wood fence height exempt from 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
- Turlock leaves spite fences to California Civil Code 841, the Good Neighbor Fence Act of 2013, and the civil courts.
- Measured from what
- Turlock states two things about the boundary in one sentence: the property line is not necessarily where the sidewalk ends and the grass begins, and the fence does not define the boundary.
- Corner lots
- California writes no clear view triangle into state law. It reaches the right of way of a state highway, whether or not the whole width is paved only.
- Retaining walls
- Turlock 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 Turlock?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Turlock answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Turlock requires a fence or retaining wall to sit completely on private property, and says the footing counts. A masonry wall footing is wider than the wall above it, so a wall built hard against the line has concrete crossing onto the land next door where nobody can see it. The city adds that finding where the public right of way ends may itself take an engineer or a land surveyor, and that the rule applies even where no building permit is required.
Even though a building permit may not be required, all fences or retaining walls must be located completely on private property, including the footing, and must be constructed in accordance with the Building Code.
Work That Does Not Require a Building Permit
Also on fences on the property line in Turlock
- set in state lawTwo 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. Civ. Code 841California · Statute
- 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 Turlock?
Compare fence height across all 50 states
Turlock answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is in a front yard, the side yard of a corner lot, or a back yard.
Turlock holds a front yard, and the side yard of a corner lot, to three feet, and allows seven in a back yard. Seven is a foot above the common California figure. The city marks its own answer as a summary and points at the Municipal Code for the version that governs. The corner side yard sharing the front yard figure is the part people miss on a corner lot.
Generally speaking, fences or walls located in the front yard or side yard of a corner lot cannot be taller than 3-feet and fences in your backyard cannot be taller than 7-feet.
The answer turns on whether the fence is in a front yard, the side yard of a corner lot, or a back yard.
- in a front yard, or the side yard of a corner lot
- Three feet. 3 ft
- in a back yard
- Seven feet. 7 ft
Also on fence height in Turlock
- 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 Turlock?
Compare permits across all 50 states
Turlock answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material, the height, and whether the wall supports a surcharge.
Turlock exempts a wood fence from a building permit up to seven feet and a masonry fence only up to five, both measured from grade on either side. Masonry or concrete walls and any retaining wall over four feet from the bottom of the footing need a permit whatever else is true. And a wall supporting a surcharge is not exempt at all unless it is four feet or less. So the same six foot boundary needs a permit in block and not in wood.
Timber fences not over seven feet high from grade on either side of the fence are exempt
Work That Does Not Require a Building Permit
The answer turns on the material, the height, and whether the wall supports a surcharge.
- a wood fence
- Exempt to seven feet. 7 ft
- a masonry fence
- Exempt to five feet. 5 ft
- a retaining wall, or a wall supporting a surcharge
- Exempt only at four feet or less, measured from the bottom of the footing. 4 ft
Also on permits in Turlock
- 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 Turlock
Compare pool barriers across all 50 states
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 Turlock 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 Turlock
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
Turlock does not set this. It leaves it to California Civil Code 841, the Good Neighbor Fence Act of 2013, and the civil courts.
Turlock points at the Good Neighbor Fence Act of 2013 for cost sharing on a boundary fence and then draws its own line clearly. The Act does not regulate how a fence looks or what it is built from, disputes between neighbors are a civil matter, and the city does not get involved. That is the answer to the question people most often bring to a planning counter, and it is an answer about jurisdiction rather than about fences.
The Good Neighbor Fence Act does not regulate how the fence will look or what materials will be used. Likewise, disputes between neighbors are a civil matter and the City does not get involved.
The code hands this to California Civil Code 841, the Good Neighbor Fence Act of 2013, and the civil courts, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on spite fences in Turlock
- set in state lawA 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. Civ. Code 841.4California · Statute
How fence height is measured in Turlock
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Turlock answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Turlock states two things about the boundary in one sentence: the property line is not necessarily where the sidewalk ends and the grass begins, and the fence does not define the boundary. The city holds county maps showing lot dimensions and says plainly that those cannot give a precise location without a survey. It also notes that staff cannot recommend a particular surveyor or engineer, which is the city marking where its help stops.
Your property line is not necessarily where the sidewalk ends and the grass begins nor does the fence define the property boundary.
Also on how height is measured in Turlock
- 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 Turlock
Compare corner visibility across all 50 states
California answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
California 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.
This one is California law, not Turlock law. All California findings
“Encroachment” includes any tower, pole, pole line, pipe, pipe line, fence, billboard, stand or building, or any structure, object of any kind or character not particularly mentioned in this section, or special event, which is in, under, or over any portion of the highway.
Retaining wall rules in Turlock
Compare retaining walls across all 50 states
Turlock 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 Turlock 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 Turlock
Compare materials across all 50 states
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 Turlock 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 Turlock
Compare agricultural fencing across all 50 states
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 Turlock 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 Turlock
- 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 Turlock itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- California LegislatureCalifornia Civil Code Section 841, Good Neighbor Fence Act of 2013
- City of Turlock, Development Services Department, Building and Safety DivisionWork That Does Not Require a Building Permit
- California LegislatureCalifornia Civil Code Section 841.4, spite fences
- City of Turlock, Development Services Department, Planning DivisionPlanning and Land Use Permitting, Frequently Asked Questions
- 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 Turlock 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