Fence laws in Broomfield, Colorado
What the Broomfield municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Broomfield sets no rule of its own, the Colorado rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Broomfield, Colorado, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Broomfield writes no general setback for a residential fence, so on a house lot a fence may sit on the boundary outside the front yard, and the answer turns on the district and the height of the fence. The figure is 2 feet, for setback for each foot of fence height.
- How tall
- No fence in any Broomfield district may exceed six feet, and the exceptions are all upward, and the answer turns on the district and the yard. The figure is 30 inches, for ornamental fence in a residential front yard.
- Permits
- The Broomfield fence section names a permit process once, and it is for industrial screening, and the answer turns on what the fence is for. The figure is 10 feet, for top of the industrial screening range.
- Pool barriers
- A fence around a pool open to the public in Colorado stands at least sixty inches high, with gates that close and latch by themselves and a latch at least fifty four inches up. The figure is 60 inches, for minimum fence height around a public swimming pool.
- Spite fences
- Broomfield has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Broomfield leaves the measuring rule to the governing body of each municipality.
- Corner lots
- Broomfield states its corner rule in fourteen words and gives no geometry to go with it.
- Retaining walls
- Broomfield leaves retaining walls to each board of county commissioners, and separately each city and town, which adopt building codes on their own.
- Materials
- Electrified, razor wire and barbed wire fences are prohibited in every Broomfield zone district, with two exits, and the answer turns on the district and what the fence screens. The figure is 4 strands, for barbed wire on an industrial fence.
- Livestock
- A lawful fence in Colorado is a well built three barbed wire fence on strong posts set about twenty feet apart, good enough to turn back ordinary horses and cattle. The figure is 3 strands, for barbed wires in a lawful fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Broomfield?
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Broomfield answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district and the height of the fence.
Broomfield writes no general setback for a residential fence, so on a house lot a fence may sit on the boundary outside the front yard. In a business or industrial district it writes something almost no other city does: a fence or wall in a required front yard has to be set back from the front lot line two feet for every foot of its height. An eight foot fence therefore stands sixteen feet back, and the taller the fence the further it retreats, which turns height into distance rather than trading one for the other. Fences installed within a street right-of-way are handled by a different chapter of the code entirely. Nothing in the fence section says which side the finished face or the posts point toward, asks for the consent of an adjoining owner, or divides the cost of a shared fence. A mobile home community is the one place a perimeter treatment is required, with a decorative fence or wall, or landscaping or earth mounds of six feet, to screen the park.
All fences and walls located in a required front yard in any business or industrial district shall be set back from the front lot line two feet for each foot of fence height.
The answer turns on the district and the height of the fence.
- a house lot
- No stated setback from the line.
- a business or industrial front yard
- Two feet back per foot of height. 2 ft
- a street right-of-way
- Chapter 12-08 applies.
- orientation and cost
- Neither is addressed.
Also on fences on the property line in Broomfield
- set in state lawColorado splits the cost of a fence on the line between farm and ranch neighbors. Where farm or grazing land of two or more people touches, each owner builds half of the line fence, and it has to meet the state lawful fence standard. A person who already has a lawful fence on the line is owed half its cash value by the neighbor who moves in next to it. This rule covers farm and grazing land only, not a fence at a house. C.R.S. 35-46-112Colorado · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Broomfield?
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Broomfield answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district and the yard.
No fence in any Broomfield district may exceed six feet, and the exceptions are all upward. A fence next to a state highway may reach eight feet, as may a fence in the B-1, B-2, I-1, I-2 and I-3 districts. A sound wall along an arterial roadway may reach ten feet or whatever the city manager approves. And a screening fence around outdoor storage in the industrial districts has to fall between six and ten feet, with the exact figure set through permit review to maximize screening from adjacent properties and public streets. The front yard runs the other way and hard. In the E-1, E-2, R-1, R-3 and R-5 districts only an ornamental fence of not more than two and one-half feet is permitted in a front yard, which is thirty inches, the lowest front yard figure in this set and low enough that a picket fence of ordinary height would not pass. The rural residential district gets forty-two inches for an open fence instead.
Only ornamental fences not more than two and one-half feet in height shall be permitted in the front yard in any E-1, E-2, R-1, R-3, or R-5 district.
The answer turns on the district and the yard.
- a residential front yard
- Thirty inches, and ornamental. 30 in
- anywhere else
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a business or industrial lot, or a state highway
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a sound wall on an arterial
- Ten feet. 10 ft
Also on fence height in Broomfield
- no rule, documents checkedColorado sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The city sets it. The state fence law only describes a lawful fence for farm and grazing land and gives no top height for a fence at a house, and state law gives cities and towns the power over fences on the line. C.R.S. 35-46-101 to 35-46-115Colorado · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Broomfield?
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Broomfield answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the fence is for.
The Broomfield fence section names a permit process once, and it is for industrial screening. A fence required to screen outdoor storage of equipment, machinery and vehicles, or any permitted outdoor operation, in the I-1, I-2 and I-3 districts has to stand between six and ten feet depending on site conditions such as topography and views to the site, and the specific fence height is determined through the permit review process rather than fixed in the code. So the applicant does not know the number until the review is done. Two other approvals sit nearby. A sound wall along an arterial roadway may exceed the usual limits as approved by the city manager or a designee. And every outdoor swimming pool, hot tub and spa has to be enclosed by a barrier meeting Appendix G of the International Residential Code, which pulls the pool fence out of the zoning code and into the building code.
Said fences must be between six feet and ten feet in height depending on site conditions, such as topography and views to the site. The specific fence height shall be determined through the permit review process.
17-32-140(A)(4), with (A)(5) and (F)
The answer turns on what the fence is for.
- industrial screening
- Six to ten feet, set at permit review. 10 ft
- a sound wall
- As the city manager approves.
- a pool, hot tub or spa
- A barrier under Appendix G of the residential code.
Also on permits in Broomfield
- no rule, documents checkedWhether a fence needs a permit in Colorado is a county or city question. The state adopts no building code for houses at all, so there is no statewide permit rule and nothing statewide to be exempt from. State law says a board of county commissioners may adopt a building code, which leaves the choice to each county, and cities and towns get their own power over building rules and over fences on the line. C.R.S. 30-28-201Colorado · Building code
Pool fence requirements in Broomfield
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Colorado answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A fence around a pool open to the public in Colorado stands at least sixty inches high, with gates that close and latch by themselves and a latch at least fifty four inches up. Section 3.24 of the state swimming pool rule requires the fence so people reach the pool only through controlled ways in, and a building or other structure can do the job of the fence. A stricter local code or ordinance takes the place of this rule.
This one is Colorado law, not Broomfield law. All Colorado findings
Every swimming pool in a non-restricted public place shall be fenced to prevent unauthorized access to the pool except through controlled entrances.
60 inminimum fence height around a public swimming pool
Spite fence laws in Broomfield
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Broomfield law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Colorado has no state law about a fence built to annoy a neighbor. The fence law in Title 35 and the property laws in Title 38 have no spite fence rule and no height that turns a fence into one. A limit of that kind comes from a local ordinance.
This one is Colorado law, not Broomfield law. All Colorado findings
Documents read before writing that:
- C.R.S. 35-46-101 to 35-46-115Colorado General Assembly
- C.R.S. Title 38Colorado General Assembly
How fence height is measured in Broomfield
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Broomfield does not set this. It leaves it to the governing body of each municipality.
Colorado has no fence height of its own, so it never says where one would be measured from. Section 31-23-301 lets the city council set the height, number of stories and size of buildings and other structures, and it even covers the height of trees. The state fence law describes a lawful fence by its three barbed wires and its posts about twenty feet apart, and gives no height at all. So the city picks the number and the surface it starts from.
This one is Colorado law, not Broomfield law. All Colorado findings
the governing body of each municipality is empowered to regulate and restrict the height, number of stories, and size of buildings and other structures, the percentage of lot that may be occupied, the size of yards, courts, and other open spaces, the density of population, the height and location of trees and other vegetation
The code hands this to the governing body of each municipality, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on how height is measured in Broomfield
- no rule, documents checkedBroomfield states six different fence heights and never says where the measurement starts. No sentence identifies the grade a fence is read from, so on a sloping lot it is not settled whether six feet is taken from the high side or the low side. A fence on a berm or mound is not mentioned, nor is a fence on top of a retaining wall, and nothing prohibits raising the ground before setting posts the way some Colorado codes do. Post caps and finials have no stated allowance either, so a post standing proud of the top rail has nothing in the code excusing it. The one place a measurement is spelled out is for barbed wire, which has to sit between six and eight feet from the ground, and that phrase does the work the rest of the section leaves undone by naming the ground as the reference point. 17-32-140Broomfield · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Broomfield
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Broomfield answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Broomfield states its corner rule in fourteen words and gives no geometry to go with it. No fence, hedge, wall, shrubbery or sign shall interfere with the vision of motorists at any intersection. There is no triangle, no leg length, no height band above the roadway, and no reference to a street standards manual that would carry those figures, which is what most cities in this set do when the code itself stays short. Naming shrubbery and signs alongside the fence is the useful part, because it means a hedge planted to the same line as a permitted fence is judged by the same standard. What the sentence lacks is any way to tell in advance whether a particular fence passes. The thirty inch front yard limit in the residential districts does most of the practical work at a corner, since a two and a half foot ornamental fence is unlikely to block a driver view whatever the geometry.
No fence, hedge, wall, shrubbery, or sign shall interfere with the vision of motorists at any intersection.
Also on corner visibility in Broomfield
- set in state lawNo Colorado law draws a clear view triangle on a corner lot. Counties and towns write that under Titles 30 and 31. The state once had a general rule against blocking the view along a highway, and the legislature repealed it in 1981. What is left is narrower. Section 43-1-411 refuses a permit for an outdoor advertising sign within five hundred feet of the center of an intersection when it would badly cut the view of traffic on the crossing road or of an oncoming train. That is a sign rule on state highways. C.R.S. 43-1-411Colorado · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Broomfield
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Broomfield does not set this. It leaves it to each board of county commissioners, and separately each city and town, which adopt building codes on their own.
Colorado has no state rule for a wall that holds back earth, because it adopts no building code for houses at all. State law says a board of county commissioners may adopt a building code for the parts of the county outside any city or town, and cities and towns get their own separate power over building rules. So there is no state height at which a wall of that kind needs a permit and no state standard for building one. Each county, city and town sets it.
This one is Colorado law, not Broomfield law. All Colorado findings
A board of county commissioners is authorized to adopt ordinances and a building code consistent with the uniform building code, 1988 edition, as promulgated by the international conference of building officials and as revised from time to time, in all or part of the county, and not embraced within the limits of any incorporated city or town.
The code hands this to each board of county commissioners, and separately each city and town, which adopt building codes on their own, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Broomfield
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Broomfield answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district and what the fence screens.
Electrified, razor wire and barbed wire fences are prohibited in every Broomfield zone district, with two exits. In the I-1 and I-2 districts a fence may include up to four strands of barbed wire, and the code sets both ends of the range: the wire has to be a minimum of six feet and a maximum of eight feet from the ground, and the segment may be placed at a forty-five degree angle. Putting a ceiling on barbed wire as well as a floor is unusual and it is what stops an eight foot fence from carrying another two feet of wire above it. In the rural residential districts a barbed wire fence of not more than seventy-two inches is permitted in side and rear yards, and an electric fence is permitted as an internal fence but not as an external one. Where a screening fence is required around industrial outdoor storage the materials are listed: chain link with inserted slats, mesh privacy or wind screen at eighty percent opacity or more, wood or vinyl privacy, or a solid material, with solid required along arterials and highways.
May include up to four strands of barbed wire. This barbed wire must be a minimum of six feet and a maximum of eight feet from the ground. The barbed wire segment may be placed at a forty-five-degree angle.
17-32-140(G), with (H) and (I)
The answer turns on the district and what the fence screens.
- any zone district
- No electric, razor or barbed wire.
- an I-1 or I-2 fence
- Four strands, between six and eight feet up. 4 strands
- a rural residential side or rear yard
- Barbed wire up to seventy-two inches. 72 in
- industrial screening
- Eighty percent opaque at least, solid on an arterial.
Also on materials in Broomfield
- set in state lawColorado defines a lawful fence as a well built three barbed wire fence on solid posts about twenty feet apart, good enough to turn ordinary horses and cattle, with gates as good as the fence. Any other fence that works as well counts the same. C.R.S. 35-46-101Colorado · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Broomfield
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Colorado answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A lawful fence in Colorado is a well built three barbed wire fence on strong posts set about twenty feet apart, good enough to turn back ordinary horses and cattle. Every gate has to be as good as the fence. Any other fence that works just as well counts the same.
This one is Colorado law, not Broomfield law. All Colorado findings
"Lawful fence" is a well-constructed three barbed wire fence with substantial posts set at a distance of approximately twenty feet apart, and sufficient to turn ordinary horses and cattle, with all gates equally as good as the fence, or any other fence of like efficiency.
3 strandsbarbed wires in a lawful fence
Also on agricultural fencing in Broomfield
- set in state lawColorado is a fence out state. The landowner who wants livestock kept off builds the fence, not the animal owner. Money for a livestock trespass goes only to a person whose crops were behind a lawful fence at the time, kept in good repair, and whose fence the animals broke through. Without that fence, nothing is owed. C.R.S. 35-46-102Colorado · Statute
Documents behind this page
7 documents, of which 1 was published by Broomfield itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Colorado General AssemblyColorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 35, Article 46, Section 35-46-112
- City and County of BroomfieldBroomfield Municipal Code, Title 17, Zoning, Section 17-32-140, Fences, hedges, and walls
- Colorado General AssemblyColorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 31, Article 15, Part 6, Building and Fire Regulations
- Colorado General AssemblyColorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 30, Article 28, Part 2, Building Codes
- Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Water Quality Control DivisionCode of Colorado Regulations, Swimming Pools and Mineral Baths, Section 3.24, effective December 15, 2020
- Colorado General AssemblyColorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 38, Property, Real and Personal
- Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal ServicesColorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 43, Transportation
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 Broomfield publishes, plus the Colorado rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Colorado 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