Fence laws in Loveland, Colorado
What the Loveland municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Loveland sets no rule of its own, the Colorado rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Loveland, Colorado, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Loveland starts from the opposite place to most codes, and the answer turns on what the fence stands next to, and whether the neighbor consented. The figure is 3 feet, for setback from the back of a trail.
- How tall
- Loveland allows six feet three inches in a side or rear yard in every zone, which is an odd figure and a deliberate one: the extra three inches covers a standard six foot panel set on a rail or a bit of gravel without putting the fence over the limit, and the answer turns on the yard, the zone, and how solid the fence is. The figure is 75 inches, for fence in a side or rear yard.
- Permits
- The Loveland fence rules never name a fence permit, and the answer turns on which approval is being asked for. The figure is 8 feet, for approved screening fence between uses.
- 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
- Loveland has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Loveland answers the question most codes leave open, and the answer turns on the ground the fence stands on. The figure is 6 inches, for how far a post may rise above the fence.
- Corner lots
- Inside a Loveland sight triangle nothing hard may stand more than thirty inches above the flowline of the adjacent street, and the flowline rather than the sidewalk or the property grade is the reference point, which matters on a crowned street where the gutter sits well below the yard, and the answer turns on the design speed and grade of the street. The figure is 30 inches, for height limit inside a sight triangle.
- Retaining walls
- Loveland leaves retaining walls to each board of county commissioners, and separately each city and town, which adopt building codes on their own.
- Materials
- The permitted materials list in Loveland is the usual one: anything customarily sold commercially for fencing, with decorative masonry, stone, brick, ornamental metal, vinyl, wood and wood composite named, and the answer turns on the material, the zone and what the fence protects. The figure is 3 strands, for barbed wire on a security 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 Loveland?
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Loveland answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the fence stands next to, and whether the neighbor consented.
Loveland starts from the opposite place to most codes. All fences and walls have to be located on or within the boundary lines of the property owned by the person who builds and maintains them, unless the Director expressly approves otherwise in writing on proof of consent from the affected adjacent owner. So a fence on the line is the exception rather than the default, and the exception needs two things, the neighbor consent and the Director approval. Four clearances follow. A fence next to a trail stands back at least three feet from the back of the trail. A fence over four feet next to a sidewalk stands back at least two feet or sits on the property line, whichever is greater, and one under four feet at least eighteen inches on the same terms. The Director may allow less, including placement on the line, where the fence will not conflict with utilities, is consistent with the fencing pattern in the neighborhood, meets the bufferyard rules and will not create a hazard.
All fences and walls must be located on or within the boundary lines of the property owned by the person or persons who construct and maintain them, unless expressly approved otherwise in writing by the Director upon proof of consent from the affected adjacent property owner.
The answer turns on what the fence stands next to, and whether the neighbor consented.
- the default
- Inside the line, not on it.
- a trail
- Three feet back. 3 ft
- a sidewalk, fence over four feet
- Two feet back, or the line, whichever is greater. 2 ft
- a sidewalk, fence under four feet
- Eighteen inches. 18 in
Also on fences on the property line in Loveland
- 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 Loveland?
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Loveland answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, the zone, and how solid the fence is.
Loveland allows six feet three inches in a side or rear yard in every zone, which is an odd figure and a deliberate one: the extra three inches covers a standard six foot panel set on a rail or a bit of gravel without putting the fence over the limit. The employment and industrial zones get eight feet. The front is split by how solid the fence is rather than by what it is made of. Between the front property line and the front face of the house a solid fence may reach three feet and a limited solid one four feet, and behind that line the full six feet three inches applies. Where a garage sticks out in front of the living part of the house, the front setback for working out fence height is measured to both the garage and the house. A fence next to a park, common area, open space or environmentally sensitive area is held to four feet and has to be limited solid unless the Director finds otherwise.
In side or rear yards, the maximum height of fences and walls shall be six feet three inches in all zones except for the following:
The answer turns on the yard, the zone, and how solid the fence is.
- a side or rear yard
- Six feet three inches. 75 in
- a solid fence across the front
- Three feet. 3 ft
- a limited solid fence across the front
- Four feet. 4 ft
- next to a park or open space
- Four feet, and limited solid.
Also on fence height in Loveland
- 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 Loveland?
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Loveland answers this, but the answer changes depending on which approval is being asked for.
The Loveland fence rules never name a fence permit. What they name is four discretionary approvals, all of them the Director. A fence may sit closer to a sidewalk or trail than the table allows, including on the property line, where it will not conflict with utilities, matches the fencing pattern in the neighborhood, complies with the bufferyard rules and creates no hazard. A fence between a nonresidential use and a residential one may go to eight feet for extra screening, but only where the abutting property owners are in joint agreement about the height, so the neighbor holds a veto. A fence or wall up to eight feet may be approved along an arterial street to reduce noise, weighed against the material, the setback from the sidewalk, the character of the street edge and the grade differences. And barbed wire or an electric fence needs a demonstration to the Director before it goes up at all.
To provide additional screening, the Director may approve a fence or wall with a maximum height of 8 feet between adjacent nonresidential and residential uses provided the abutting property owners are in joint agreement regarding the fencing height.
18.04.07.06(D)(4)(c), with (C)(7) and (J)
The answer turns on which approval is being asked for.
- extra screening
- Eight feet, if both owners agree. 8 ft
- a noise barrier on an arterial
- Eight feet, at the Director discretion.
- a closer setback
- Four tests, including the neighborhood pattern.
- barbed wire or an electric fence
- A demonstration to the Director first.
Also on permits in Loveland
- 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 Loveland
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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 Loveland 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 Loveland
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Loveland 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 Loveland 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 Loveland
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Loveland answers this, but the answer changes depending on the ground the fence stands on.
Loveland answers the question most codes leave open. A fence is measured from the finished grade directly beneath it to its tallest element, with support posts and ornamental features ignored so long as they rise no more than six inches above that point. A fence on a berm or mound has to count the berm above natural grade, so raising the ground does not buy height. And where a fence runs across sloping ground with its top built more or less level rather than following the slope, the height is taken at the midpoint of each fence section. That third rule is the useful one. A stepped or level topped fence on a hill is taller than the limit at one end of every panel and shorter at the other, and taking the midpoint means each panel is judged on its own average rather than on its worst point. The code separately prohibits modifying the grade to gain height, and lets the Director work out what the ground would have measured.
When a fence or wall is located on sloping ground with the top constructed in more or less horizontal fashion and not parallel with the slope, the height shall be measured at the midpoint of each fence section
The answer turns on the ground the fence stands on.
- level ground
- Finished grade beneath to the tallest element.
- a post or ornament
- Ignored up to six inches above. 6 in
- a berm or mound
- The berm counts toward the height.
- a level top on a slope
- Measured at the midpoint of each section.
Also on how height is measured in Loveland
- left to the townColorado 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. C.R.S. 31-23-301(1)Colorado · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Loveland
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Loveland answers this, but the answer changes depending on the design speed and grade of the street.
Inside a Loveland sight triangle nothing hard may stand more than thirty inches above the flowline of the adjacent street, and the flowline rather than the sidewalk or the property grade is the reference point, which matters on a crowned street where the gutter sits well below the yard. Planting is handled separately and in two directions: trees have to be limbed to a height of not less than eight feet so a driver can see beneath the canopy, and shrubs and other plant material have to be kept at no more than thirty inches in perpetuity, which makes it a maintenance duty rather than a one time planting rule. The shape of the triangle itself is not in the code. Required sight distance is set by the design speed and grades of the street and the acceleration of an average vehicle, and every design has to meet the minimum safe stopping sight distance in Chapter 7 of the City of Loveland Street Standards and in AASHTO.
No hardscaping or structures that are greater than 30 inches in height above the flowline of the adjacent street shall be permitted within a sight triangle.
The answer turns on the design speed and grade of the street.
- a fence or wall
- Thirty inches above the flowline. 30 in
- a tree
- Limbed to at least eight feet. 8 ft
- a shrub
- Thirty inches, kept that way in perpetuity.
- the shape of the triangle
- From the street standards and AASHTO.
Also on corner visibility in Loveland
- 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 Loveland
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Loveland 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 Loveland 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 Loveland
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Loveland answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material, the zone and what the fence protects.
The permitted materials list in Loveland is the usual one: anything customarily sold commercially for fencing, with decorative masonry, stone, brick, ornamental metal, vinyl, wood and wood composite named. Chain link and other woven wire are prohibited in a front yard unless the Director finds extraordinary and unusual circumstances requiring one for public safety, and an existing chain link fence is treated under the nonconformities chapter rather than ordered out. Barbed wire and other sharp-pointed fences are banned on any property, with two exits: in the downtown, business, employment, industrial and DR zones on a demonstration to the Director that a substantial security need justifies it and the fence will be safe and lawful, capped at three strands, and to secure a utility facility in any zone. Electrically charged fences need a Director determination that the fence is necessary for livestock control and will be safe. Razor and concertina wire are not allowed at all.
Fences or walls shall be constructed of materials customarily commercially sold for fencing and walls, including decorative masonry, stone, brick, ornamental metal, vinyl, wood, wood composite, or other comparable materials.
The answer turns on the material, the zone and what the fence protects.
- chain link at the front
- Prohibited without a safety finding.
- barbed wire in a business or industrial zone
- Three strands, on a demonstrated security need. 3 strands
- an electric fence
- Livestock control only, with a Director determination.
- razor or concertina wire
- Never.
Also on materials in Loveland
- 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 Loveland
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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 Loveland 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 Loveland
- 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
9 documents, of which 3 were published by Loveland itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Colorado General AssemblyColorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 35, Article 46, Section 35-46-112
- City of LovelandLoveland Unified Development Code, Title 18, Section 18.04.07.06, Fences 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
- City of LovelandLoveland Unified Development Code, Title 18, Section 18.19.01.02, Measurement of Structure Height
- Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal ServicesColorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 43, Transportation
- City of LovelandLoveland Unified Development Code, Title 18, Section 18.05.02.02, Sight Triangles
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 Loveland 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