Fence laws in Meridian, Idaho
What the Meridian municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Meridian sets no rule of its own, the Idaho rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Meridian, Idaho, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Meridian states several distances and the most interesting one is about matching rather than measuring, and the answer turns on what the line faces and how wide the side setback is. The figure is 10 feet, for minimum setback from the street side property line.
- How tall
- In the residential and office districts the maximum fence height is six feet, and the answer turns on the district, the yard and whether the fence is open or closed vision. The figure is 3 feet, for closed vision fence in a required front yard.
- Permits
- The first general standard in the fence section is the permit rule and it is drawn around timing rather than height: where a fence is erected not in conjunction with a building permit for a principal use or building, a separate building permit is required, and the answer turns on whether the fence goes up with a building and where it stands.
- Pool barriers
- Idaho sets the pool barrier height by the size of the pool, which almost no other state does, and the answer turns on the surface area of the pool. The figure is 4 feet, for barrier around a public pool under 1,800 square feet. It reaches public pools, not a pool serving a single home only.
- Spite fences
- Meridian has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Meridian names a datum in the two places it matters most and leaves the general case unstated, and the answer turns on which rule the height comes from.
- Corner lots
- No fence higher than three feet from the lowest adjacent street grade is permitted in a clear vision triangle, and the same three feet applies to a berm or ground cover at maturity and to a sign, and the answer turns on what meets what at the intersection. The figure is 3 feet, for fence height allowed in the clear vision triangle.
- Retaining walls
- Meridian leaves retaining walls to the 2018 International Residential Code, adopted by the Idaho building code board. It reaches one and two family homes only.
- Materials
- Electric wire fencing is prohibited in Meridian, and the answer turns on the material and the district. The figure is 6 feet, for height above grade the bottom barbed wire has to sit at.
- Livestock
- Idaho is an open range state.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Meridian?
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Meridian answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the line faces and how wide the side setback is.
Meridian states several distances and the most interesting one is about matching rather than measuring. Where the rear yard of one property adjoins the front yard of another, the fence along the rear and side yards where they meet that front yard has to be flush or angled at forty five degrees to provide continuity with the adjoining fence and property line, so the two fences line up instead of one jutting past the other. A corner lot keeps its street side fence ten feet back from the street side property line. A side yard fence may follow the side property line only where the side setback is five feet or greater. A fence adjoining an alley sits at least five feet back from the alley, measured from the property line, and in the commercial districts such a fence also has to be open vision. Other fences in a rear or side yard near a pathway keep eight feet from the line.
Where the rear yard of one (1) property adjoins the front yard of another property, the fence along the rear and side yards where they adjoin the adjacent front yard shall be flush or angled at forty-five (45) degrees to provide continuity with the adjoining fence and property line.
The answer turns on what the line faces and how wide the side setback is.
- a street side yard on a corner
- Ten feet back. 10 ft
- a side property line
- Only where the setback is five feet or more. 5 ft
- an alley
- Five feet back.
- meeting a neighbor’s front yard
- Flush, or angled at forty five degrees. 45 degrees
Also on fences on the property line in Meridian
- set in state lawWhen two Idaho neighbors share one enclosure and one of them needs a partition fence, the other has to build half of it once told in writing. The fence goes on the property line or as near it as practical. If the notified party does not finish that half within six months of the notice, the party who gave notice may build the whole fence, collect half the cost by law, and hold a lien on the other tract. A lien is a claim against the land that stays until the money is paid. Idaho Code 35-103Idaho · Statute
- set in state lawIdaho splits a line fence by a plain rule. Standing on his own land and facing the neighbor, each owner takes the half on his left, builds it and keeps it in repair. The two may agree to a different split. An owner who leaves his land unfenced is not held to the duty. A party who makes the fence stronger on his own pays that extra cost alone, unless the neighbor later pastures hogs, sheep or goats against it. Idaho Code 35-104Idaho · Statute
- set in state lawNeighbors who cannot agree on the split go to court. Either party may ask a magistrate judge, on five days notice, to appoint three viewers. The viewers may question witnesses under oath and look at the property, then set the split in writing. That written decision is filed with the county recorder and binds both sides. Idaho Code 35-106Idaho · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Meridian?
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Meridian answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, the yard and whether the fence is open or closed vision.
In the residential and office districts the maximum fence height is six feet. In the required front yard, including along the front and side yard property lines, it drops to three feet for a closed vision fence and four for an open vision one, and in the TN-R district a front yard fence has to be open vision and no more than three feet whatever it is made of. The commercial and industrial districts get eight feet. On a corner lot the street side yard may have six feet, measured above the grade at the property line, provided the fence is set back at least ten feet from the street side line. Two things are allowed above the limits: an arbor, arch or similar architectural appurtenance over a gate, up to five feet wide and eight feet high, and a gatepost up to eight feet.
For all other districts, the maximum fence height in the required front yard including the front and side yard property lines shall be three (3) feet for a closed vision fence and four (4) feet for an open vision fence.
The answer turns on the district, the yard and whether the fence is open or closed vision.
- a closed vision front fence
- Three feet. 3 ft
- an open vision one
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a residential district generally
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a commercial or industrial district
- Eight feet. 8 ft
Also on fence height in Meridian
- no rule, documents checkedIdaho sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The heights that do appear in state law are floors for a lawful fence in livestock country, not caps on a yard fence. Section 35-101 sets a floor of four and one half feet, and section 35-102 gives board, rail and wire heights for each kind of fence. A limit on a yard fence comes from city and county zoning. Idaho Code 35-101Idaho · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Meridian?
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Meridian answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence goes up with a building and where it stands.
The first general standard in the fence section is the permit rule and it is drawn around timing rather than height: where a fence is erected not in conjunction with a building permit for a principal use or building, a separate building permit is required. So a fence going up with the house rides along on that permit and a fence added later needs its own, whatever it is made of and however tall it is. A fence constructed in the public right-of-way requires a license agreement from the transportation authority rather than a city permit. An owner who wants to depart from the section applies for alternative compliance under the administration chapter. And a side yard fence over three feet running between two buildings, built of wrought iron or similar material, has to include a gate for emergency access.
When a fence is erected not in conjunction with a building permit for a principal use or building, a separate building permit is required.
The answer turns on whether the fence goes up with a building and where it stands.
- a fence built with the house
- It rides on that permit.
- a fence added later
- A separate building permit.
- a fence in the right-of-way
- A license agreement from the transportation authority.
- a departure from the rules
- Alternative compliance.
Also on permits in Meridian
- set in state lawIdaho runs a real statewide residential code. Section 39-4109 makes the version of the International Residential Code picked by the Idaho building code board, plus that board's own changes, the Idaho residential code. The board moves to a newer version through negotiated rulemaking, and the version already picked stays in force until it does. Idaho Code 39-4109Idaho · Building code
- set in state lawIdaho keeps farm buildings outside the building code. Barns, livestock shelters, poultry buildings, greenhouses, grain silos, stables and like storage buildings are exempt. Places people live in, plants where farm products get processed, and buildings open to public use are not. A county may still issue a farm building permit, but only to check road setbacks and utility easements, and only at what it actually costs. Idaho Code 39-4116Idaho · Building code
Pool fence requirements in Meridian
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Idaho answers this, but the answer changes depending on the surface area of the pool.
Idaho sets the pool barrier height by the size of the pool, which almost no other state does. A public pool under one thousand eight hundred square feet needs a four foot barrier around it. A public pool that size or bigger needs eight feet, the tallest figure in this record. Both rules reach public pools only, so a pool behind a house is outside them and falls to the local building code instead.
This one is Idaho law, not Meridian law. All Idaho findings
A fence or barrier a minimum of eight (8) feet high to exclude unauthorized persons from the pool area must enclose each public pool with one thousand eight hundred (1,800) square feet of surface area, or greater.
The answer turns on the surface area of the pool.
- a public pool with less than 1,800 square feet of surface area
- The barrier around it stands at least four feet high and keeps people out of the pool area. 4 ft
- a public pool with 1,800 square feet of surface area or more
- The barrier doubles to at least eight feet, the tallest pool barrier figure in this record. 8 ft
Spite fence laws in Meridian
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Meridian law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Idaho has no spite fence law. The fences chapter runs from section 35-101 through 35-112 and covers lawful fence specs, partition fences, cost splits, viewers, surveys and gates, with nothing about spite and no height that sets anything off. The general nuisance chapter defines public and private nuisance without naming fences at all.
This one is Idaho law, not Meridian law. All Idaho findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Idaho Code tit. 35, ch. 1Idaho State Legislature
- Idaho Code tit. 52, ch. 1Idaho State Legislature
- Idaho Code 52-101Idaho State Legislature
How fence height is measured in Meridian
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Meridian answers this, but the answer changes depending on which rule the height comes from.
Meridian names a datum in the two places it matters most and leaves the general case unstated. On a corner lot the street side fence is six feet above the grade as measured at the property line, so the boundary sets the reference rather than the yard behind it. In a clear vision triangle nothing may stand more than three feet from the lowest adjacent street grade, and the word lowest means the most restrictive point on the road governs. Barbed wire is measured six feet above grade to the bottom wire. The general six foot and eight foot limits carry no datum, and a berm is addressed only as vegetation in the vision triangle rather than as ground a fence might stand on. Double fencing is prohibited along pathways and common open space, which prevents the two-fence trick without giving a separation distance the way Boise does.
On corner properties, the maximum fence height in the required street side yard shall be six (6) feet above the grade (as measured at the property line), and the minimum setback shall be ten (10) feet from the street side property line.
The answer turns on which rule the height comes from.
- a corner street side fence
- Above the grade at the property line.
- the vision triangle
- From the lowest adjacent street grade.
- barbed wire
- Six feet above grade to the bottom wire.
- the general limits
- No datum named.
Also on how height is measured in Meridian
- set in state lawIdaho names the ground in its lawful fence section. A lawful fence has to be at least four and one half feet high, and the bottom board, rail, pole or wire has to sit no more than twenty inches above the ground. The bottom of the fence is tied to the ground in plain words. The four and one half feet is still a bare number, so a fence running down a slope is left open. That section is about keeping stock in. A yard fence is sized under the Local Land Use Planning Act, where section 67-6511 lets the local governing board set height rules district by district. Idaho Code 35-101Idaho · Statute
Fence rules for corner lots in Meridian
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Meridian answers this, but the answer changes depending on what meets what at the intersection.
No fence higher than three feet from the lowest adjacent street grade is permitted in a clear vision triangle, and the same three feet applies to a berm or ground cover at maturity and to a sign. The triangle is drawn from the edge of the travel lane, excluding parking and sidewalk, which puts the reference at the moving traffic rather than at the curb or the lot line. Where two public streets meet, or a street meets a railroad, it runs forty feet along each road, which is longer than most cities use. Where a street meets a driveway or an alley it is twenty feet along the road and ten along the driveway. A class I or II tree in the triangle has to be pruned to at least eight feet above the ground and fourteen above the street, and no evergreen or class III tree may be planted there at all. The transportation authority standards apply on top of the city ones.
No fences higher than three (3) feet from the lowest adjacent street grade are permitted in the clear vision triangle.
The answer turns on what meets what at the intersection.
- a fence in the triangle
- Three feet above the lowest street grade. 3 ft
- two public streets
- Forty feet along each road. 40 ft
- a driveway or alley
- Twenty along the road, ten along the drive. 20 ft
- an evergreen tree
- Not planted in the triangle at all.
Also on corner visibility in Meridian
- set in state lawIdaho names fences by name, but only where they cross onto the road. Title 40, chapter 23 lets a county or highway district order the removal of anything pushing onto a highway or public right of way, and it lists gates, fences and buildings as examples. If the thing actually blocks the road or makes it unsafe, the district may take it out with no notice at all. Nothing in the chapter measures a wedge at an intersection or caps a fence height near a corner, so the triangle itself comes from city and county ordinances under Title 67, chapter 65. Idaho Code 40-2319Idaho · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Meridian
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Meridian does not set this. It leaves it to the 2018 International Residential Code, adopted by the Idaho building code board.
Idaho prints no retaining wall rule in its own text. The state building code rules adopt Parts I, II, III and IX of the 2018 International Residential Code for one and two family homes, then list every change Idaho makes to it. Those changes reach the pool depth line and add flag poles to the list of work that needs no permit. They leave the model code's retaining wall line alone, so the answer for a wall that holds back earth is whatever the model code says.
This one is Idaho law, not Meridian law. All Idaho findings
International Residential Code, 2018 Edition. Parts I, II, III, and IX of the 2018 Edition for one (1)- and two (2)- family dwellings, with the following amendments:
The code hands this to the 2018 International Residential Code, adopted by the Idaho building code board, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Meridian
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Meridian answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material and the district.
Electric wire fencing is prohibited in Meridian. Barbed wire is prohibited too, except in the C-C, C-G, M-E, I-L and I-H districts, and there only as the top section of a security fence and only where the bottom wire sits at least six feet above grade. Using boxes, sheet metal, old or decayed wood, broken masonry blocks or other like unsightly material for fencing is prohibited outright. Chain link, with or without slats, does not qualify as a screening material anywhere the code requires screening, so it may be a fence and may not be a screen. Two upkeep duties come with the material rules: a fence has to be kept free from advertising and graffiti and maintained in good repair, and no fence may obstruct access to a public utility box, meter or other infrastructure.
Barbed wire fencing shall be prohibited, except in the C-C, C-G, M-E, I-L, and I-H districts when. a) used as the top section for security fencing; and b) located a minimum of six (6) feet above grade to the bottom wire.
The answer turns on the material and the district.
- electric wire
- Prohibited.
- barbed wire
- Five districts, six feet up. 6 ft
- boxes, sheet metal or decayed wood
- Prohibited.
- chain link
- Not a screening material.
Also on materials in Meridian
- set in state lawIdaho gives barbed wire its own chapter inside the fence title, and what it controls is loose wire rather than whether a fence may use it. Leaving barbed wire down or strewn on the ground where livestock can be hurt on it is against the law. Idaho Code 35-301Idaho · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Meridian
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Idaho answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Idaho is an open range state. A person who owns or controls a farm animal grazing on open range has no duty to keep it off a highway crossing that range, and does not pay when a vehicle hits it. Open range means unfenced land outside cities, villages and herd districts where livestock graze by custom, license, lease or permit. So keeping livestock out falls to the neighboring land rather than to the stock owner.
This one is Idaho law, not Meridian law. All Idaho findings
No person owning, or controlling the possession of, any domestic animal running on open range, shall have the duty to keep such animal off any highway on such range, and shall not be liable for damage to any vehicle or for injury to any person riding therein, caused by a collision between the vehicle and the animal.
Also on agricultural fencing in Meridian
- set in state lawIdaho defines the lawful fence that the open range and herd district rules lean on. It has to stand at least four and one half feet high. The bottom board, rail, pole or wire sits no more than twenty inches off the ground, and the space between top and bottom has to be well divided. Idaho Code 35-101Idaho · Statute
- set in state lawIdaho spells out the wire version of a lawful fence. Posts stand no more than twenty four feet apart, with three solid stays spaced evenly between them. The fence takes at least three barbed wires, or four coiled spring wires of number nine gauge or heavier, fastened to every post and stay. Idaho Code 35-102Idaho · Statute
- set in state lawA majority of the property owners in an area can petition the county commissioners for a herd district, which bars the named livestock from running loose inside it. Everything outside those districts, and outside cities and villages, stays open range. Taxable property owners inside a herd district pay to build and keep up the legal fences and cattle guards along the border with open range. Idaho Code 25-2402(3)Idaho · Statute
Documents behind this page
17 documents, of which 1 was published by Meridian itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Idaho State LegislatureIdaho Statutes, Title 35, Chapter 1, Section 35-103, Erection of partition fences
- Idaho State LegislatureIdaho Statutes, Title 35, Chapter 1, Section 35-104, Care of fences by adjoining owners
- Idaho State LegislatureIdaho Statutes, Title 35, Chapter 1, Section 35-106, Disagreement between owners, viewers
- City of MeridianMeridian Unified Development Code, Title 11, Chapter 3, Regulations Applying to All Districts
- Idaho State LegislatureIdaho Statutes, Title 35, Chapter 1, Section 35-101, Lawful fences in general
- Idaho State LegislatureIdaho Statutes, Title 35, Chapter 1, Section 35-102, Lawful fences described
- Idaho State LegislatureIdaho Statutes, Title 39, Chapter 41, Section 39-4109, Application of codes
- Idaho State LegislatureIdaho Statutes, Title 39, Chapter 41, Section 39-4116
- Idaho Office of the Administrative Rules CoordinatorIDAPA 16.02.14, Construction and Operation of Public Swimming Pools, Section 300, Fence and Barriers
- Idaho State LegislatureIdaho Statutes, Title 35, Chapter 1, Fences, full section list
- Idaho State LegislatureIdaho Statutes, Title 52, Chapter 1, Nuisances in General, full section list
- Idaho State LegislatureIdaho Statutes, Title 52, Chapter 1, Section 52-101, Nuisance defined
- Idaho State LegislatureIdaho Statutes, Title 40, Chapter 23, Section 40-2319, Encroachments, removal, notice, penalty for failure to remove, removal by county or highway district, abatement
- Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses, Idaho Building Code BoardIdaho Administrative Code, IDAPA 24.39.30, Rules of Building Safety (Building Code Rules)
- Idaho LegislatureIdaho Statutes, Title 35, Chapter 3, Barbed Wire
- Idaho State LegislatureIdaho Statutes, Title 25, Chapter 21, Section 25-2118, Animals on open range, no duty to keep from highway
- Idaho State LegislatureIdaho Statutes, Title 25, Chapter 24, Section 25-2402, Petition and requirements for district
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 Meridian publishes, plus the Idaho rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Idaho 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