Fence laws in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
What the Cedar Rapids municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Cedar Rapids sets no rule of its own, the Iowa rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Cedar Rapids states no setback for an ordinary fence, allowing it along a side or rear lot line, and then writes one real distance rule for the lot shape that causes trouble, and the answer turns on the shape of the lot and how wide the street behind it is. The figure is 0 feet, for setback from a side or rear lot line.
- How tall
- Cedar Rapids uses seven feet as its base, which almost nobody else does, and the answer turns on the yard, what the lot abuts and whether the district is an urban form district. The figure is 7 feet, for fence in a side or rear setback abutting residential land.
- Permits
- Iowa has a state building code and it does not switch on by itself.
- Pool barriers
- Chapter 135I sets the Iowa rules for swimming pools, spas and spray pads.
- Spite fences
- Cedar Rapids has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Cedar Rapids answers the sloping boundary question in one sentence and answers it against the owner.
- Corner lots
- The Cedar Rapids corner triangle runs thirty feet along each street right-of-way line from the point where they meet, and the protected band runs from two and a half feet to ten feet above the centerline street grades, so the datum sits in the road rather than on the lot, and the answer turns on the district and whether vision is significantly impeded. The figure is 30 feet, for leg of the corner visual clearance area.
- Retaining walls
- Cedar Rapids leaves retaining walls to the 2024 International Residential Code. It reaches houses, duplexes and townhouses up to three stories, and the structures beside them only.
- Materials
- The Cedar Rapids fence rules name no permitted material and ban none outright, and the answer turns on what the fence encloses.
- Livestock
- Iowa names six builds that count as a lawful fence. The figure is 10 feet, for post spacing for a three rail lawful fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Cedar Rapids?
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Cedar Rapids answers this, but the answer changes depending on the shape of the lot and how wide the street behind it is.
Cedar Rapids states no setback for an ordinary fence, allowing it along a side or rear lot line, and then writes one real distance rule for the lot shape that causes trouble. On a double frontage lot, nothing may sit within twelve and a half feet of the rear lot line where the right-of-way behind is less than eighty feet wide and is across from the front yard of another residential property. Where either of those conditions fails, the fence may go on the line. The rule exists so a back fence does not become the front wall of the street for the houses opposite. A second placement rule covers the reverse corner lot: an opaque fence, wall or dense shrub may not sit in a required corner side yard beside the house on a corner lot in a residential district, and where it sits in the rear twenty five feet of a lot facing somebody else front yard, a corner clearance area has to be provided.
No fence, wall, dense shrubs, or combinations of such items shall be located within 12.5 feet of the rear lot line on a double frontage lot if the abutting right-of-way is less than 80 feet and is across from the front yard of another residential property; otherwise, the fence may be placed on the property line.
The answer turns on the shape of the lot and how wide the street behind it is.
- an ordinary side or rear line
- On the line. 0 ft
- a double frontage lot on a narrow street
- Twelve and a half feet back. 12.5 ft
- a reverse corner lot
- No opaque barrier in the corner side yard.
- a privacy fence in an urban district
- Along the common line behind the building line.
Also on fences on the property line in Cedar Rapids
- set in state lawIowa treats a fence on a boundary as a shared job. When one owner asks in writing, the law makes each owner of the touching land build and keep up the partition fence, or pay a share toward it. The duty runs the whole year, not part of it. Iowa Code 359A.1AIowa · Statute
- set in state lawIowa hands boundary fence fights to local officials called fence viewers. The township trustees for the place where the argument starts are the fence viewers, and they can hear and settle every question in the dispute. Iowa Code 359A.2AIowa · Statute
- set in state lawThe fence viewers give everyone in the dispute five days of written notice before a hearing. The notice gives the time and place and lists what will be decided. It also names the fence viewers and says whether any of them reported a conflict of interest. Iowa Code 359A.3Iowa · Statute
- set in state lawAfter the hearing the fence viewers write an order. It gives each owner the part of the fence to build, keep up, rebuild, trim or pay for. It also sets the value of that work and the deadline to finish it or pay. Iowa Code 359A.4Iowa · Statute
- set in state lawIowa lets a fence sit right on the boundary. A person building one may lay it on the line so part of it stands on each side, and keeps the same right to take it down as if the whole fence stood on one lot. Iowa Code 359A.16Iowa · Statute
- set in state lawIowa names six kinds of fence that count as a lawful fence. One is a wire, rail or board fence with its bottom line sixteen to twenty inches off the ground and its top line between forty eight and fifty four inches high. Fence viewers may also accept any other fence they judge equal to the six. Iowa Code 359A.18Iowa · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Cedar Rapids?
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Cedar Rapids answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, what the lot abuts and whether the district is an urban form district.
Cedar Rapids uses seven feet as its base, which almost nobody else does. Nothing over seven feet above ground level may be erected in a required side or rear setback, or along a side or rear lot line, where that yard or line is within or abuts a residential district or a residential structure in any district. Where the abutting land is non-residential the figure rises to ten. A front yard is held to four feet in every district, unless the landscaping and screening section demands something taller, and a dense shrub there is held to three feet measured at its base. In the urban form districts the rules change name rather than substance: a privacy fence may run along a common lot line behind the required building line and along an alley, at a maximum of seven feet, and a street wall or garden wall above four feet has to meet the window and opening requirements of its district.
No fence, wall, or similar structure exceeding a height of seven feet above ground level shall be erected in a required side or rear setback area
Section 32.04.05(6)(k)(i) and (ii)
The answer turns on the yard, what the lot abuts and whether the district is an urban form district.
- a side or rear yard beside houses
- Seven feet. 7 ft
- abutting a business or industry
- Ten feet. 10 ft
- a required front yard
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a dense shrub in front
- Three feet at the base. 3 ft
Also on fence height in Cedar Rapids
- no rule, documents checkedIowa sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The fence chapter gives heights only as specs for a lawful farm fence, and the state building code as adopted deletes the permit sections and never mentions fences at all. Height for a yard fence comes from city ordinance. Iowa Code 359A.18Iowa · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Cedar Rapids?
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Iowa answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Iowa has a state building code and it does not switch on by itself. It applies in a city or county only after the local governing body passes an ordinance accepting it and files a certified copy with the state commissioner. A place that adopted the code may later vote to withdraw from it.
This one is Iowa law, not Cedar Rapids law. All Iowa findings
The state building code is applicable in each governmental subdivision of the state in which the governing body has enacted an ordinance accepting the applicability of the code and has filed a certified copy of the ordinance in the office of the commissioner.
Also on permits in Cedar Rapids
- set in state lawThe Iowa state building code adopts the 2024 International Residential Code for houses, duplexes and townhouses up to three stories, plus the structures beside them. The state version of the International Building Code covers everything else. Iowa Admin. Code 481-301.8Iowa · Building code
- set in state lawIowa strips the permit chapters out of the residential code it adopts. Sections R103 through R114 are deleted, and those are the sections that create the building department, the permit itself, and the list of work that needs no permit. The state building code text carries no fence permit rule and no fence height, so the local jurisdiction settles the permit question for a fence. The state version of the International Building Code deletes its sections 103, 104 and 105 the same way. Iowa Admin. Code 481-301.8(2)Iowa · Building code
- no rule, documents checkedThe fence and wall standards of the zoning ordinance set heights, setbacks, a measurement rule and a corner clearance area, and never mention a fence permit, an application, a fee or an inspection. The chapter runs to more than three hundred pages and covers permits for signs, towers and alternative energy systems in detail, so the absence is a choice rather than an oversight. Two approvals touch a fence and both are attached to a use rather than to the fence itself. A fence around an outdoor alcohol service area has to be approved by the Cedar Rapids Police Department. And anything beyond two narrow post supports inside a corner clearance area needs the Public Works Department. A Minor Design Adjustment may modify the corner rule. Whether a Cedar Rapids fence needs a building permit is a question for the building chapter, a separate document that was not read for this page. Section 32.04.05(6)(k)Cedar Rapids · Zoning code
Pool fence requirements in Cedar Rapids
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Iowa answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Chapter 135I sets the Iowa rules for swimming pools, spas and spray pads. It reaches pools run by state and local government, by businesses and by private groups, and it names hotels, motels, camps, apartments, condominiums and country clubs. A pool meant for one family at a home falls outside the chapter.
This one is Iowa law, not Cedar Rapids law. All Iowa findings
This chapter does not apply to facilities intended for single family use
Also on pool barriers in Cedar Rapids
- set in state lawA pool covered by chapter 135I has to be ringed by a fence, wall, building or a mix of those, at least four feet high and built of lasting material. The rule leaves out a wading pool that is drained when not in use, and it leaves out a spray pad. Iowa Admin. Code 481-485.4(4)Iowa · Agency guidance
- set in state lawThe same Iowa rule limits the gaps in a pool barrier. No opening may let a four inch ball pass, and the barrier cannot be easy for a toddler to climb. The lowest horizontal support that can be reached from outside sits at least forty five inches above the ground. Iowa Admin. Code 481-485.4(4)Iowa · Agency guidance
Spite fence laws in Cedar Rapids
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Cedar Rapids law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Iowa has no spite fence law. The fence chapter and the nuisance chapter never mention a fence built to annoy a neighbor, and neither one sets a height that turns a fence into a legal wrong. Section 657.1 gives only a general test covering anything that blocks the free use of property, and section 657.2 lists twelve named nuisances, none of them a boundary fence.
This one is Iowa law, not Cedar Rapids law. All Iowa findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Iowa Code ch. 359AIowa Legislature
- Iowa Code 657.1Iowa Legislature
- Iowa Code 657.2Iowa Legislature
How fence height is measured in Cedar Rapids
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Cedar Rapids answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Cedar Rapids answers the sloping boundary question in one sentence and answers it against the owner. Height is measured from the side of the fence, wall or street wall with the lower finished grade, up to the topmost point, and the ordinance takes the trouble to say inside or outside so there is no argument about which side is meant. Wherever the ground falls away toward the neighbor, the neighbor position governs and the owner loses the difference. Taking the topmost point rather than the top rail also means a pointed picket or a decorative cap counts, which is the opposite of the Oshkosh rule three hundred miles north. Finished rather than natural grade means the measurement is made after any earth has been moved, and the section does not separately bar filling, so the only thing stopping an owner raising the low side is that the low side is the side the city measures from.
Height shall be measured from the side (inside or outside) of the fence, wall, or street wall with the lower finished grade to the topmost point of the fence, wall, or street wall.
Also on how height is measured in Cedar Rapids
- set in state lawIowa names the ground, for the one kind of fence it regulates. Section 359A.18 lists what counts as a lawful fence, and the rail, wire or board version puts the lowest piece sixteen to twenty inches from the ground and the top piece between forty eight and fifty four inches high. The ground is the starting point and the statute prints it. This is a livestock fence rule and it never reaches a yard. A city fence height comes from the city, since section 414.1 lets a city set the height of buildings and other structures without naming a surface. Iowa Code 359A.18Iowa · Statute
Fence rules for corner lots in Cedar Rapids
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Cedar Rapids answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district and whether vision is significantly impeded.
The Cedar Rapids corner triangle runs thirty feet along each street right-of-way line from the point where they meet, and the protected band runs from two and a half feet to ten feet above the centerline street grades, so the datum sits in the road rather than on the lot. The test is whether something significantly impedes vision rather than whether it exceeds a height, and the words erected, placed, planted or allowed to grow catch a hedge that was fine when it went in. Two pole or post supports of no more than ten inches are permitted inside the area, and anything beyond that needs the Public Works Department to approve it. The traditional and urban districts are exempt from the whole rule, on the logic that buildings there already sit at the corner. A Minor Design Adjustment may modify it, and the traffic engineer may sign off against SUDAS or other factors.
nothing shall be erected, placed, planted, or allowed to grow on a corner lot in such a manner as to significantly impede vision between a height of two and one-half (2.5) feet and 10 feet above the center line street grades of the area described as follows: that triangular shaped area bounded by the street or road right-of-way lines of a corner lot or tract and a straight line joining points on said right-of-way lines that are 30 feet from the point of intersection of said right-of-way lines.
The answer turns on the district and whether vision is significantly impeded.
- the triangle
- Thirty feet each way. 30 ft
- the protected band
- Two and a half to ten feet. 10 ft
- posts inside it
- Two, no more than ten inches. 10 in
- a traditional or urban district
- Exempt.
Also on corner visibility in Cedar Rapids
- set in state lawIowa gives obstructions in a road their own chapter, and it names fences. Chapter 318 bars putting an obstruction inside a highway right of way and lists the placing of fences as one of the examples, alongside crops, ditches, billboards and debris. Section 318.6 then calls anything placed there a public nuisance. The chapter is about the public strip and carries no triangle, no angle and no height. City zoning power comes from chapter 414 and county zoning from chapter 335, and that is where a corner clearance rule on a private lot is written in Iowa. Iowa Code 318.3Iowa · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Cedar Rapids
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Cedar Rapids does not set this. It leaves it to the 2024 International Residential Code.
Iowa adopts the 2024 International Residential Code for houses, duplexes and townhouses up to three stories and the structures beside them, then lists the changes it makes. None of those changes touch a wall that holds back earth, so the model code carries that rule unchanged. Iowa does delete sections R103 through R114, which is where the model code keeps the permit chapter and the list of work that needs no permit. So the foundation and retaining wall chapter stays in force while the permit call belongs to the city or county.
This one is Iowa law, not Cedar Rapids law. All Iowa findings
The provisions of the International Residential Code, 2024 edition, published by the International Code Council, located at www.iccsafe.org, are hereby adopted by reference as the requirements for construction
The code hands this to the 2024 International Residential Code, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Cedar Rapids
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Cedar Rapids answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the fence encloses.
The Cedar Rapids fence rules name no permitted material and ban none outright. Barbed wire, razor wire and electric fencing are not mentioned anywhere in the zoning chapter, so the code neither allows nor forbids them and the question sits outside this document. Chain link is named twice and prohibited both times, and each time it is tied to a use rather than to a district. A fence enclosing an outdoor alcohol service area has to be approved by the Cedar Rapids Police Department and meet the design guidelines for the zone district, and chain link is not permitted there. Chain link is also barred from the enclosure required for keeping urban chickens. The building material rules in the urban form districts are strict about siding, prohibiting lap siding other than natural wood or fiber cement and prohibiting exposed fastener metal panels, but those apply to the building rather than to a fence.
Alcohol service area shall clearly be delineated by fence, wall or similar feature that is approved by the Cedar Rapids Police Department and meets the design guidelines for the zone district. Chain link fence shall not be permitted.
Section 32.03, Outdoor Alcohol Service Area
The answer turns on what the fence encloses.
- an ordinary fence
- No material named.
- an outdoor alcohol service area
- No chain link, and the police approve it.
- an enclosure for urban chickens
- No chain link.
- barbed or electric wire
- Not addressed in the zoning chapter.
Also on materials in Cedar Rapids
- set in state lawIowa writes the barbs themselves into the law. One kind of lawful fence is three barbed wires carrying at least thirty six iron barbs of two points each, or twenty six barbs of four points each, on every rod of wire. Another is four wires, two barbed that way and two smooth. A rod is sixteen and a half feet. Iowa Code 359A.18Iowa · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Cedar Rapids
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Iowa answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Iowa names six builds that count as a lawful fence. Three rails on posts no more than ten feet apart. Three boards at least six inches wide and three quarters of an inch thick on posts no more than eight feet apart. Three barbed wires, or four wires with two of them barbed, with the top wire forty eight to fifty four inches up. A wire fence with the bottom line sixteen to twenty inches off the ground and the top line forty eight to fifty four inches up. Four coated high tensile smooth wires on posts no more than two rods apart with the top wire at least forty inches up, a rod being sixteen and a half feet. Or anything the fence viewers judge equal to those.
This one is Iowa law, not Cedar Rapids law. All Iowa findings
A lawful fence shall consist of: 1. Three rails of good substantial material fastened in or to good substantial posts not more than ten feet apart. 2. Three boards not less than six inches wide and three-quarters of an inch thick, fastened in or to good substantial posts not more than eight feet apart.
10 ftpost spacing for a three rail lawful fence
Also on agricultural fencing in Cedar Rapids
- set in state lawIowa makes the livestock owner pay for damage from trespassing animals, including the cost of feeding and holding them, and that stays true whether or not the landowner takes the animals in. One thing cancels it. If the animals came through a fence the landowner was supposed to keep up under the fence chapter and did not, the livestock owner owes nothing. The fence chapter hands out those duties, so fence viewers settle the fence half of the question rather than which side owns animals. Iowa Code 169C.4(1)(a)Iowa · Statute
Documents behind this page
16 documents, of which 1 was published by Cedar Rapids itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Section 359A.1A
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Section 359A.2A
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Section 359A.3
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Section 359A.4
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Section 359A.16
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Section 359A.18
- City of Cedar RapidsCedar Rapids Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 32 of the Municipal Code, effective April 1, 2019 as amended
- Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and LicensingIowa Administrative Code, Chapter 481-301 (State Building Code)
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Section 103A.12
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Section 135I.2
- Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and LicensingIowa Administrative Code, Chapter 481-485 (Swimming Pools, Spas, and Spray Pads)
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Chapter 359A (Fences)
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Section 657.1
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Section 657.2
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code 2026, Section 318.3, Obstructions in highway right-of-way
- Iowa LegislatureIowa Code, Chapter 169C, Trespassing or Stray Livestock
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 Cedar Rapids publishes, plus the Iowa rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Iowa 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