Fence laws in Twin Falls, Idaho

Who owns the fence between two properties in Twin Falls?

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Twin Falls answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.

The handout answers the boundary question in one sentence: fences are allowed on the property line or within the yards of the property. No setback applies to a fence toward a neighbor and none applies toward the street either, since the street side rules operate as height limits inside the sight triangles rather than as distances. The one clearance the city does require belongs to the Fire Department, which asks that an area at least three feet wide around a fire hydrant on all sides be kept clear of obstructions such as fences, trees, shrubs and lawn decorations, so somebody can attach a hose. For setbacks from other utility structures the handout sends the reader to the local utility company rather than answering. A property in a flood zone is handled by the Engineering Department.

Fences are allowed on the property line or within the yards of the property.

Setback from the drivewayCity of Twin Falls Building Department · Read 23 September 2026

0 ftsetback a fence keeps from a property line

How tall can a fence be in Twin Falls?

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Twin Falls answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence stands in a sight triangle.

Twin Falls runs its fence height off the permit threshold rather than off a zoning maximum. Outside the sight triangles a fence may be built to seven feet without a building permit, and above seven feet a permit is required, so seven feet is the practical ceiling for anybody who does not want to file. Inside any of the sight triangles the limit drops to three feet, and there are three kinds of triangle: one at a street intersection, one at an alley, and a pair at every driveway. Because the driveway triangles reach a long way back along the curb, the three foot limit applies to a good deal of the frontage of a lot with a driveway, and the handout supplies diagrams for each case. A property in a flood zone needs a Flood Plain Development Permit from the Engineering Department even where no building permit is required.

Outside of these sight triangles the fence can be built to a height of 7 feet, without a building permit.

Setback at an intersectionCity of Twin Falls Building Department · Read 23 September 2026

The answer turns on whether the fence stands in a sight triangle.

clear of the triangles

Seven feet without a permit. 7 ft

inside a sight triangle

Three feet. 3 ft

taller than seven feet

A building permit.

a flood zone

A Flood Plain Development Permit as well.

Do I need a permit for a fence in Twin Falls?

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Twin Falls answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.

A fence seven feet or less needs no building permit in Twin Falls, and a fence over seven feet does. Seven feet is a higher threshold than most cities use, which means an ordinary residential fence never reaches the counter. Where a permit is needed, the application has to carry four things, and the list is unusually specific about construction rather than position: a site plan showing where the fence will go, structural plans showing the type of post, the fencing material and the method of construction, details showing the depth of the post in the ground or in concrete, and the height of the fence. Permits are issued by the Building Inspection Department at the fire station. A property in a flood zone needs a Flood Plain Development Permit through the Engineering Department whether or not a building permit is required.

If the fence is to be 7 foot or less in height no building permit is required. If the fence is to be over 7 foot in height a building permit is required.

Is a building permit required for a fence?City of Twin Falls Building Department · Read 23 September 2026

7 ftheight above which a building permit is required for a fence

Pool fence requirements in Twin Falls

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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 Twin Falls 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.

IDAPA 16.02.14.300Idaho Office of the Administrative Rules Coordinator · Read 13 September 2026

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 Twin Falls

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Twin Falls 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 Twin Falls 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 Twin Falls

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Twin Falls answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the measurement is horizontal or vertical.

Every horizontal measurement in Twin Falls runs from the face of the curb, or the edge of the pavement where no curb exists, rather than from a lot line. That is true at a street intersection, at an alley and at both driveway triangles. The handout then closes the obvious gap: where there is no curb in front of a property, the location of the future curb line is obtained by calling the City Engineering Department, so a fence on an unimproved street is measured against where the curb will be rather than where the gravel ends. What the handout does not say is what the three foot and seven foot heights are measured from. No grade is named, a berm is not addressed, and a fence on a retaining wall is not addressed. The one vertical figure with a reference belongs to the hydrant clearance, which is three feet on all sides.

The 40-foot sight triangle is determined by measuring from the intersection of the face of the curb lines, or the pavement edge if no curb exists, along the face of the curb or pavement line of each street a distance of 40-feet and then drawing a line which connects the two 40-foot points.

Setback at an intersectionCity of Twin Falls Building Department · Read 23 September 2026

The answer turns on whether the measurement is horizontal or vertical.

a sight triangle

From the face of the curb.

a street with no curb

From the future curb line.

a fence height

No datum given.

a fire hydrant

Three feet clear on all sides. 3 ft

Fence rules for corner lots in Twin Falls

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Twin Falls answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is near a street corner, an alley or a driveway.

Three shapes apply. At a street intersection the triangle is forty feet, measured from where the faces of the curb lines meet, or the pavement edges where there is no curb, forty feet along each street. At an alley meeting a street it is forty feet along the curb and fifteen feet along the alley. At a driveway there are two triangles and they are deliberately different sizes: one hundred feet along the face of the curb and ten feet along the left driveway edge, and one hundred and twenty five feet along the curb and ten feet along the right driveway edge, both as viewed facing the property from the street. The longer reach on the right side is where a driver pulling out looks for traffic approaching from the driver’s left. Where no curb exists in front of a property, the future curb line is obtained from the City Engineering Department.

The triangle that is defined by measuring 100 feet along the face of the curb and 10 feet along the left driveway edge and connecting the two points on the left side of the driveway, as viewed when facing the property from the street, and;

Setback from the drivewayCity of Twin Falls Building Department · Read 23 September 2026

The answer turns on whether the fence is near a street corner, an alley or a driveway.

a street intersection

Forty feet each way. 40 ft

an alley

Forty along the curb, fifteen along the alley. 15 ft

the right side of a driveway

A hundred and twenty five feet along the curb. 125 ft

no curb in front

The future curb line, from Engineering.

Retaining wall rules in Twin Falls

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Twin Falls 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 Twin Falls 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:

IDAPA 24.39.30.004.03Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses, Idaho Building Code Board · Read 13 September 2026

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 Twin Falls

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Idaho answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.

Idaho 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.

This one is Idaho law, not Twin Falls law. All Idaho findings

It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation, who, having barbed wire or barbed wire fences, to allow the same to be left down or strewn around on the ground in such a manner that livestock are liable to be injured thereby

Idaho Code 35-301Idaho Legislature · Read 13 September 2026

Livestock and boundary fence law in Twin Falls

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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 Twin Falls 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.

Idaho Code 25-2118Idaho State Legislature · Read 13 September 2026