Fence laws in Terre Haute, Indiana
What the Terre Haute municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Terre Haute sets no rule of its own, the Indiana rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Terre Haute, Indiana, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Indiana splits a fence on the line by length, not in half.
- How tall
- Terre Haute has no fence section, and the answer turns on the yard and how much of the view through the fence survives. The figure is 42 inches, for fence in a front yard.
- Permits
- Indiana has one building and fire safety code for the whole state, written by the Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission.
- Pool barriers
- Indiana puts this on the store, not on the pool owner, which no other state in this record does. The figure is 48 inches, for wall height at which an above ground pool must be sold with a removable or locking ladder. It reaches the store selling an above ground pool for a home, not the owner of a pool already put up only.
- Spite fences
- Indiana has a spite fence law with a chapter to itself. The figure is 6 feet, for height above which a maliciously built fence is considered a nuisance.
- Measured from what
- Terre Haute leaves the measuring rule to the local legislative body that adopts the zoning ordinance.
- Corner lots
- Nothing may be erected, placed, planted or maintained so as to interfere with a clear vision area between three feet and eighteen feet above the crown of a street, driveway or alley, and landscape plantings are named so a hedge is caught as squarely as a fence, and the answer turns on whether the thing sits at a corner or at a driveway. The figure is 15 feet, for leg of the corner clear vision area.
- Retaining walls
- Terre Haute leaves retaining walls to the Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission, whose 2020 Indiana Residential Code at 675 IAC 14-4.4 adopts the 2018 International Residential Code by reference. It reaches one and two family homes only.
- Materials
- Where an industrial property stores materials or products within five hundred feet of a residential district boundary, the storage has to sit inside a building or behind a screening fence, and the ordinance names the materials the fence may be built from: chain link, lattice or a similar type, with ornamental, non-solid or chain link gates, and the answer turns on whether the storage is within five hundred feet of housing. The figure is 6 feet, for shortest industrial screening fence.
- Livestock
- Indiana puts no number on a lawful fence at all.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Terre Haute?
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Indiana answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Indiana splits a fence on the line by length, not in half. Each owner pays for the stretch of fence that runs along their own part of the line, and that holds whether the owner owns the land outright or holds it for life. Since 2003 the rule reaches only fences where at least one of the two properties is farm land. An owner who will not pay gets twenty days notice, and after that the township trustee can build it and charge for it.
This one is Indiana law, not Terre Haute law. All Indiana findings
A partition fence shall be built, rebuilt, and kept in repair at the cost of the property owners whose properties are enclosed or separated by the fences proportionately according to the number of rods or proportion of the fence the property owner owns along the line of the fence, whether the property owner’s title is a fee simple or a life estate.
Also on fences on the property line in Terre Haute
- no rule, documents checkedThe Unified Zoning Ordinance sets no distance between a fence and a lot line, asks for no consent from the adjoining owner, says nothing about which side the finished face or the posts point toward, and does not divide the cost. What it does instead is exempt fences from the required yard and setback provisions altogether, which removes the only rule that would otherwise have kept one back from the boundary. The remaining limits are the height figures, the clear vision area at a corner, and whatever an easement or a recorded covenant imposes, none of which is a boundary rule. A dispute between two neighbors about a fence on the line is therefore a matter for the Indiana partition fence statute and the courts rather than for the zoning office. 1.U, Yard ExemptionsTerre Haute · Zoning code
How tall can a fence be in Terre Haute?
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Terre Haute answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard and how much of the view through the fence survives.
Terre Haute has no fence section. The rule sits in a list of things exempt from the required yard and setback provisions, alongside awnings, chimneys, flag poles, arbors and trellises, and it applies in all zoning districts. A fence or wall may reach forty-two inches in a front yard or six feet in a side or rear yard. The side or rear figure then rises to ten feet on one condition, and the condition is about seeing through the fence rather than about what it is made of: the visibility through it at right angles may not be reduced by more than eighty percent. So a fence that is at least one fifth open, measured looking straight at it, gets four extra feet. Ten feet is well above the usual ceiling and the openness test is stated as a number rather than as a list of approved materials.
Fences and walls not exceeding forty-two (42) inches in height in a front yard or six (6) feet in height in a side or rear yard, provided, however, the height of a fence or wall in a side or rear yard may be increased to ten (10) feet if the visibility through the fence at right angles is not reduced by more than eighty (80) percent.
The answer turns on the yard and how much of the view through the fence survives.
- a front yard
- Forty-two inches. 42 in
- a side or rear yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a side or rear fence that stays open
- Ten feet. 10 ft
- how open it has to be
- The view through it may lose no more than eighty percent. 80%
Also on fence height in Terre Haute
- no rule, documents checkedIndiana sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The six foot figure in state law is what turns a spite fence into a nuisance case, not a cap on height. The fences article covers fencing groups, fences on the line and spite fences, and the statewide building code does not reach fences at all. Height comes from local zoning. IC 32-26Indiana · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Terre Haute?
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Indiana answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Indiana has one building and fire safety code for the whole state, written by the Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission. The commission made the 2018 International Residential Code the Indiana Residential Code. Indiana cut out the part of that model code listing work that needs no permit and put a section on additions and repairs there instead, so the familiar fence exemption is not part of Indiana law. A fence permit is a city or county matter.
This one is Indiana law, not Terre Haute law. All Indiana findings
Except as provided in section 3.5 of this chapter, the commission shall adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 to adopt a statewide code of fire safety laws and building laws.
Pool fence requirements in Terre Haute
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Indiana answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Indiana puts this on the store, not on the pool owner, which no other state in this record does. A store selling an above ground pool with walls at least forty eight inches high has to sell it with a ladder or steps that either come off or lock. The pool wall is the barrier and the ladder is the gate. The rule covers the sale, so it says nothing about a pool already standing in a yard, and nothing else in Indiana law sets a fence height around one.
This one is Indiana law, not Terre Haute law. All Indiana findings
A pool retailer who sells an above ground swimming pool that has walls that are at least forty-eight (48) inches high shall ensure that the above ground swimming pool is sold with an access ladder or steps that may be: (1) removed; or (2) secured and locked; when the above ground swimming pool is not in use.
48 inwall height at which an above ground pool must be sold with a removable or locking ladder
Spite fence laws in Terre Haute
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Indiana answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Indiana has a spite fence law with a chapter to itself. A fence, or anything built like one, that goes over six feet for no reason and was put up or kept up to annoy a neighbor counts as a nuisance. The neighbor can sue for money, ask a court to have it taken down, and use the other remedies a court has for a nuisance.
This one is Indiana law, not Terre Haute law. All Indiana findings
A structure in the nature of a fence unnecessarily exceeding six (6) feet in height, maliciously: (1) erected; or (2) maintained; for the purpose of annoying the owners or occupants of adjoining property, is considered a nuisance.
6 ftheight above which a maliciously built fence is considered a nuisance
How fence height is measured in Terre Haute
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Terre Haute does not set this. It leaves it to the local legislative body that adopts the zoning ordinance.
Indiana never says where a fence height starts. The zoning law lets the local council set the place, height, area and size of a structure, and leaves the details to that council. State law does print fence heights: four feet for a picket fence on the line, four and a half feet for a straight rail fence, five feet for a worm rail fence, and anything over six feet for a spite fence. Not one of them says whether those feet are read from bare dirt or from a finished yard.
This one is Indiana law, not Terre Haute law. All Indiana findings
requirements for structures, such as location, height, area, bulk, and floor space;
The code hands this to the local legislative body that adopts the zoning ordinance, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence rules for corner lots in Terre Haute
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Terre Haute answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the thing sits at a corner or at a driveway.
Nothing may be erected, placed, planted or maintained so as to interfere with a clear vision area between three feet and eighteen feet above the crown of a street, driveway or alley, and landscape plantings are named so a hedge is caught as squarely as a fence. Two shapes are given. On a corner lot the area is formed by the street right-of-way lines and a line connecting points fifteen feet from where they meet, with the measurement taken from the extended lines where the corner is rounded or cut. At a driveway or an alley there are two areas rather than one, formed from both sides of the driveway surface and a line ten feet back. The eighteen foot ceiling is the tallest in this set, which means a tree canopy has to be lifted well clear rather than merely trimmed. The rule applies to private streets as well as public ones.
No building, structure or improvement, including landscape plantings, shall be erected, placed, planted or maintained so as to interfere with a clear vision area located between the heights of three (3) feet and eighteen (18) feet above the crown of a street, driveway or alley.
17.B, Clear Vision Area Requirements
The answer turns on whether the thing sits at a corner or at a driveway.
- a corner lot
- Fifteen feet along each right-of-way line. 15 ft
- a driveway or alley
- Ten feet back, on both sides. 10 ft
- the protected band
- Three feet to eighteen feet above the crown of the street. 18 ft
Also on corner visibility in Terre Haute
- set in state lawIndiana really does set a corner visibility rule in state law, and it sits in the property title rather than a zoning one. A hedge or live fence along a highway has to be cut to five feet once a year. Where one meets a highway crossing, a bend where the view may be blocked, or railroad land, it has to be held at five feet all year. That reaches one hundred feet from the crossing, or fifty feet for other growth. The chapter skips crossings inside a city or town, skips a solid building on a corner, and for hedges reaches only where a state highway crosses another state, county or township road. IC 32-26-4-1Indiana · Statute
Retaining wall rules in Terre Haute
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Terre Haute does not set this. It leaves it to the Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission, whose 2020 Indiana Residential Code at 675 IAC 14-4.4 adopts the 2018 International Residential Code by reference.
Indiana law prints no rule about a wall that holds back dirt. It tells the Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission to write one building and fire safety code for the whole state instead, and the commission did. The 2020 Indiana Residential Code adopts the 2018 International Residential Code, so the rules for such a wall come from that model code.
This one is Indiana law, not Terre Haute law. All Indiana findings
Except as provided in section 3.5 of this chapter, the commission shall adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 to adopt a statewide code of fire safety laws and building laws.
The code hands this to the Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission, whose 2020 Indiana Residential Code at 675 IAC 14-4.4 adopts the 2018 International Residential Code by reference, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Terre Haute
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Terre Haute answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the storage is within five hundred feet of housing.
Where an industrial property stores materials or products within five hundred feet of a residential district boundary, the storage has to sit inside a building or behind a screening fence, and the ordinance names the materials the fence may be built from: chain link, lattice or a similar type, with ornamental, non-solid or chain link gates. The height has a floor as well as a ceiling, at least six feet and not more than eight, which is unusual because most codes state only a maximum. Whatever is stored inside may not stand taller than the fence, so a screen cannot be defeated by stacking. Nothing in the residential paragraphs names a material or bans one, so barbed wire, razor wire and electric fencing go unmentioned across the whole ordinance.
effectively screened within a chain link, lattice or similar type fenced area, with ornamental, non-solid or chain link gates. The height of said fence shall be at least six (6) feet and shall not exceed eight (8) feet.
10.01 and 10.02, Industrial Districts
The answer turns on whether the storage is within five hundred feet of housing.
- the shortest a screening fence may be
- Six feet. 6 ft
- the tallest it may be
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- what is stored behind it
- No taller than the fence.
- a residential fence
- No material is named either way.
Also on materials in Terre Haute
- set in state lawIndiana describes a lawful fence on the line by type instead of banning any material. It has to be tight and strong enough to hold cattle, hogs, horses, mules and sheep. The list that follows is board and wire, plain wire, board, picket, rail and worm rail fences, each at its own height. IC 32-26-9-3Indiana · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Terre Haute
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Indiana answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Indiana puts no number on a lawful fence at all. No height, no wire count, no post spacing. The statute says a lawful fence is whatever farmers normally use to close in land, and it names a cattle guard, a hedge and a ditch as examples. It also counts anything else that people who know fences will testify is enough. With no number written down, a court decides it case by case.
This one is Indiana law, not Terre Haute law. All Indiana findings
As used in this chapter, "lawful fence" means any structure typically used by husbandmen for the enclosure of property.
Also on agricultural fencing in Terre Haute
- depends, see the pageIndiana lets each county flip the rule township by township. Where the county commissioners have passed an order letting animals roam loose in unfenced public areas, the landowner has to have had a lawful fence to collect for damage. Where there is no such order, the landowner collects without proving any fence. Section 32-26-2-14 cuts the other way: if a court finds the broken fence was not a lawful fence, the animal goes back to its owner and the landowner pays that owner costs and damages. IC 32-26-2-2Indiana · Statute
Documents behind this page
6 documents, of which 1 was published by Terre Haute itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Indiana General AssemblyIndiana Code, Title 32, Article 26, Chapter 9, Partition Fences, Section 3
- City of Terre Haute and Vigo CountyUnified Zoning Ordinance for Vigo County, Indiana
- Indiana General AssemblyIndiana Code, Title 22, Article 13, Chapter 2, Section 2
- Indiana General AssemblyIndiana Code, Title 22, Article 12, Chapter 10, Above Ground Swimming Pools at Class 2 Structures
- Indiana General AssemblyIndiana Code, Title 36, Article 7, Chapter 4, Section 601, Zoning ordinance; powers and duties of legislative body
- Indiana General AssemblyIndiana Code 2025, Title 32, Article 26, Chapter 9, Partition Fences
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 Terre Haute publishes, plus the Indiana rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Indiana 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