Fence laws in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
What the Baton Rouge municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Baton Rouge sets no rule of its own, the Louisiana rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- The setback here is measured from the street rather than from a lot line, and it is large, and the answer turns on whether the boundary is a street, a sidewalk, an alley or a neighbor. The figure is 15 feet, for minimum setback of a fence or wall from the edge of any street.
- How tall
- Fences and walls may be a maximum of eight feet, which is the general rule for the whole parish with no district variation, and the answer turns on the yard, the district and what the fence is made of. The figure is 8 feet, for maximum height of a fence or wall.
- Permits
- The city-parish runs a fence and wall permit through the Permit and Inspection Division, applied for online, and its information sheet sets out what the site plan has to show: the material and the cost of the project, the proposed location of the fence, the property lines, any encroachment into the front yard setback and any servitude encroachment, and the answer turns on how tall the fence is.
- Pool barriers
- Louisiana sets no statewide pool fence height.
- Spite fences
- Baton Rouge has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Baton Rouge leaves the measuring rule to the governing authority of each municipality.
- Corner lots
- Baton Rouge draws no sight triangle for a fence, and the answer turns on how solid the fence is and what already stands nearby. The figure is 70 percent, for transparency that lets a fence over four feet stand in a front or corner side yard.
- Retaining walls
- Baton Rouge leaves retaining walls to the International Residential Code, not including Part I-Administration. It reaches one and two family homes and townhouses only.
- Materials
- Baton Rouge sorts materials by character area rather than by zoning district, which is unusual and makes the rules easy to state, and the answer turns on the character area and what the fence is for. The figure is 50 percent, for most exposed standard concrete masonry block a wall may show.
- Livestock
- Louisiana has no single answer for the whole state, and the answer turns on whether the ward has voted in a local option election to put the stock law in force.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Baton Rouge?
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Baton Rouge answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the boundary is a street, a sidewalk, an alley or a neighbor.
The setback here is measured from the street rather than from a lot line, and it is large. A fence or wall has to stand at least fifteen feet from the edge of any street, dropping to five feet along an alley or a back lane, or at least five feet behind the back of any sidewalk. Two exceptions can cut it or remove it: an abutting sidewalk or multi-use path at least eight feet wide, or an existing platted subdivision or planned district where similar fences already stand, subject to the Building Official. No distance at all is stated between a fence and a side or rear property line, so a fence may sit on the boundary between two neighbors. The one absolute rule about position is about rights rather than distance: no fence may stand in a required drainage, utility or similar servitude without the consent of whoever holds it.
A minimum of 15 feet from the edge of any street, except for alleys or back lanes where the minimum setback shall be five feet
The answer turns on whether the boundary is a street, a sidewalk, an alley or a neighbor.
- the edge of a street
- Fifteen feet. 15 ft
- an alley or back lane
- Five feet. 5 ft
- a side or rear line
- No distance stated.
- a servitude
- Only with the holder consenting.
Also on fences on the property line in Baton Rouge
- set in state lawLouisiana treats a fence on the property line as shared by both neighbors unless somebody proves otherwise. When the land on both sides is fenced in, one owner can make the neighbor pay a share of building and repairing that shared fence. When the land next door is not fenced in, that right to split the cost exists only where a parish or city rule creates it. La. Civ. Code Art. 685Louisiana · Statute
- set in state lawThe Louisiana Civil Code gives a landowner the plain right to fence in their own land. The article states that right in one line. It sets no height, no material and no setback, so those details come from parish and city law. La. Civ. Code Art. 684Louisiana · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Baton Rouge?
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Baton Rouge answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, the district and what the fence is made of.
Fences and walls may be a maximum of eight feet, which is the general rule for the whole parish with no district variation. Two uses get ten. A chain link fence may go to ten feet in an M zoning district, and an open wire fence may go to ten around a recreational facility such as a tennis or badminton court. The reduction that matters to most people is in the front: anything over four feet may not stand in a front or corner side yard unless it is less than thirty percent solid, or unless fences of similar height and design already exist in the same platted subdivision or planned district and the Building Official says so. A small drafting slip is worth noting for anyone reading the section: the height paragraphs are lettered d, e, f and g, carrying on from the material list above them instead of restarting at a.
Fences or walls may be a maximum height of eight feet.
The answer turns on the yard, the district and what the fence is made of.
- anywhere in the parish
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a front or corner side yard
- Four feet, unless it is mostly open. 4 ft
- chain link in an M district
- Ten feet. 10 ft
- open wire around a tennis court
- Ten feet.
Also on fence height in Baton Rouge
- no rule, documents checkedLouisiana sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The Civil Code article on shared fences, the law that adopts the state construction code, and the law on pool fence rules were all read, and none of them caps a fence height. Height is set by parish and city rule. La. Civ. Code Art. 685Louisiana · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Baton Rouge?
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Baton Rouge answers this, but the answer changes depending on how tall the fence is.
The city-parish runs a fence and wall permit through the Permit and Inspection Division, applied for online, and its information sheet sets out what the site plan has to show: the material and the cost of the project, the proposed location of the fence, the property lines, any encroachment into the front yard setback and any servitude encroachment. Where servitude information is not available to the applicant it gets settled during plan review rather than beforehand. Above eight feet the requirement changes kind: a fence or wall over eight feet needs professional engineering and design for the wind speed applicable where it is built, which the sheet attributes to city-parish policy rather than to the Unified Development Code. That is a wind load rule on a fence, which is rare in this project and unsurprising on the Gulf coast.
Fences and/or walls over 8 feet in height require professional engineering and design for applicable wind speed where fence and/or wall are constructed.
Fence and Wall Permit Information, note
The answer turns on how tall the fence is.
- any fence or wall
- A permit and a site plan.
- over eight feet
- Engineered for wind speed.
- a servitude
- Settled at plan review.
- a setback waiver
- The Building Official decides.
Also on permits in Baton Rouge
- set in state lawLouisiana adopts national model codes as the state construction code. For houses it adopts the International Residential Code, but leaves out Part I, on how the code is run, and Part VIII, on electrical work. Part I is where the permit rules live, so a permit question in Louisiana is answered by the parish or city that enforces the code, not by this law. La. R.S. 40:1730.28(A)(3)(a)Louisiana · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Baton Rouge
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Louisiana answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Louisiana sets no statewide pool fence height. State law instead lets a parish or a city pass its own pool fence rule, and says that rule has to set a smallest height for the fence or wall and require gates that lock or hold people out. The law does not reach a parish or city that already had a pool fencing rule, or one with a home rule charter.
This one is Louisiana law, not Baton Rouge law. All Louisiana findings
The ordinance shall provide for minimum heights for fences or walls enclosing the pool and locking or limited access gates.
Also on pool barriers in Baton Rouge
- set in state lawThe Louisiana health code sets a barrier rule for public pools in Class A and Class B. The barrier has to be at least 4 feet tall, with nothing on the outside to grab or step on. The gate has to close and latch by itself, with the latch at least 45 inches above the ground and hardware for a lock. This covers public pools rather than a pool behind a house. LAC 51:XXIV.705Louisiana · Agency guidance
Spite fence laws in Baton Rouge
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Baton Rouge law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Louisiana has no spite fence law. The Civil Code articles on fencing in land and on shared fences were read, along with the article on the limits of owning property, and none of them mention spite, malice, or blocking a neighbor's light or view. A neighbor hurt by work on nearby land falls back on the general rule in Article 667, which turns on the damage done and on reasonable care, not on why a fence went up.
This one is Louisiana law, not Baton Rouge law. All Louisiana findings
Documents read before writing that:
- La. Civ. Code Art. 667Louisiana State Legislature
- La. Civ. Code Art. 685Louisiana State Legislature
How fence height is measured in Baton Rouge
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Baton Rouge does not set this. It leaves it to the governing authority of each municipality.
Louisiana never says where a fence height is measured from. State law lets every city set the height, number of stories and size of a structure. The Civil Code says only that a landowner may fence in land, and that a fence on a boundary is treated as shared. Neither one gives a height, and neither says what surface a height is read from. A parish or city rule is the only place an answer could appear.
This one is Louisiana law, not Baton Rouge law. All Louisiana findings
the governing authority of all municipalities may regulate and restrict the height, number of stories, and size of structures, the percentage of lot that may be occupied, the size of yards, courts, and other open spaces
The code hands this to the governing authority of each municipality, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on how height is measured in Baton Rouge
- no rule, documents checkedThe height rules state eight feet, four feet and ten feet and none of them says what those heights are read from. No grade is named, no curb, no finished ground level. A berm is not addressed. A fence standing on a retaining wall is not addressed. A fence running down a slope is not addressed, and nothing says whose side of a boundary the height is read from, which matters because nothing keeps the fence off a side or rear line. The one thing the section measures with care is horizontal and it names an unusual reference: fifteen feet from the edge of any street, which is the pavement rather than the right-of-way line, and five feet from the backside of any sidewalk. The transparency test is stated as a percentage without saying how the solid area is to be calculated. Section 9.5.2(D)(2)Baton Rouge · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Baton Rouge
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Baton Rouge answers this, but the answer changes depending on how solid the fence is and what already stands nearby.
Baton Rouge draws no sight triangle for a fence. There is no leg length, no protected band of height and no clipped wedge at the intersection. What it does instead reaches further: anything over four feet is kept out of a front or corner side yard altogether unless it is less than thirty percent solid, giving at least seventy percent transparency. So on a corner lot both street frontages are held to four feet of solid fence for their whole length rather than only at the corner, and an owner who wants eight feet there has to make it see-through. The fifteen foot setback from the edge of any street works alongside that, pushing the fence back from both roads. The second way out is precedent: the Building Official may allow a taller solid fence where similar fences already exist in the same platted subdivision.
Fences or walls greater than four feet in height, but not exceeding eight feet, may not be located within any front or corner side yard unless:
The answer turns on how solid the fence is and what already stands nearby.
- a solid fence on a corner frontage
- Four feet.
- a fence at least seventy percent open
- Up to eight feet. 70%
- a subdivision where taller fences already exist
- The Building Official may allow it.
- the street itself
- Fifteen feet of setback either way.
Also on corner visibility in Baton Rouge
- set in state lawLouisiana treats this as keeping the road itself clear. State law lets the Department of Transportation and Development go to court to stop anything being put up inside the limits of a highway. It can also pull out something already there, at the owner's cost, after a short notice. A fence built onto the road strip is caught by that. Nothing in the chapter draws a triangle at a corner or sets a height near an intersection, so a clear view triangle in Louisiana comes from the parish or the city. La. R.S. 48:347Louisiana · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Baton Rouge
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Baton Rouge does not set this. It leaves it to the International Residential Code, not including Part I-Administration.
Louisiana adopts the International Residential Code as part of the state construction code and leaves out two parts of it, Part I on how the code is run and Part VIII on electrical work. The law prints no rule of its own about a wall that holds back dirt, and the long list of Louisiana changes never mentions one. Because the dropped part is the part with the permit rules in it, the height at which such a wall needs a permit comes from the parish or city, while the building rules for the wall itself come from the model code.
This one is Louisiana law, not Baton Rouge law. All Louisiana findings
International Residential Code, not including Part I-Administration and VIII-Electrical. The applicable standards referenced in that code are included for regulation of construction within this state.
The code hands this to the International Residential Code, not including Part I-Administration, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Baton Rouge
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Baton Rouge answers this, but the answer changes depending on the character area and what the fence is for.
Baton Rouge sorts materials by character area rather than by zoning district, which is unusual and makes the rules easy to state. Chain link is permitted everywhere in the parish except the Downtown character area. Electric and barbed wire are permitted only in the Rural character area, and only for controlling livestock, so a security fence cannot borrow that allowance. Concertina wire is prohibited across the whole parish with no exception at all, not for industry and not for a jail. And a fourth rule goes after appearance rather than safety: a wall more than fifty percent exposed standard concrete masonry block is not allowed, painted or not, which rules out the plain gray block wall whichever way it is finished. Nothing else is named, so wood, brick, stone, iron and vinyl are all simply allowed.
Chain link fences may be permitted in all areas of the parish other than the Downtown character area.
The answer turns on the character area and what the fence is for.
- chain link
- Everywhere except Downtown.
- barbed or electric wire
- Rural character area, livestock only.
- concertina wire
- Prohibited parish wide.
- a concrete block wall
- Not more than half exposed block. 50%
Also on materials in Baton Rouge
- set in state lawLouisiana sets one statewide standard for a battery charged fence, which is an electric fence wired into a burglar alarm. A parish or city may write rules for one, but those rules have to hold it to the state list. It sits behind a fence or wall at least five feet tall that carries no charge. It stops at ten feet, or two feet above that outer fence. Warning signs go up at least every forty feet. A parish or city may not ban one outright, and farm and animal fences that carry a charge are left out of the section. La. R.S. 33:1376Louisiana · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Baton Rouge
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Louisiana answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the ward has voted in a local option election to put the stock law in force.
Louisiana has no single answer for the whole state. Each ward of each parish votes on its own stock law, and the rule only applies in a ward once a majority of its voters have said so. A ward can hold that vote at any time, but no more than once a year. Where the stock law is on, it is illegal to let livestock go loose on the public roads of that ward. A separate list of named highways is covered everywhere in the state and is left out of the ward vote.
This one is Louisiana law, not Baton Rouge law. All Louisiana findings
The provisions of this Part shall not apply to those highways provided for in R.S. 3:2803 or be enforced in any ward of any parish of this state unless and until so ordered and authorized by a majority in number of the voters of said ward voting in an election held in said ward as hereinafter provided for in R.S. 3:3011.
The answer turns on whether the ward has voted in a local option election to put the stock law in force.
- the ward has voted to put the stock law in force
- The owner of livestock may not knowingly or carelessly let the animals go loose on the public roads of that ward.
- the ward has not voted to put the stock law in force
- The rule is not enforced in that ward, and only the highways on the separate statewide list stay covered.
Also on agricultural fencing in Baton Rouge
- no rule, documents checkedLouisiana never says what a fence has to be to count as a lawful fence. The Civil Code articles give a landowner the right to fence and a way to split the cost of a shared fence, and neither one names a height, a wire count, a board count or a post spacing. The stock law defines livestock, owner and public highway, and defines no fence at all. Its ban turns on animals being loose rather than on any fence standard. La. Civ. Code Art. 684Louisiana · Statute
Documents behind this page
15 documents, of which 2 were published by Baton Rouge itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Louisiana State LegislatureLouisiana Civil Code, Article 685, Common fences
- Louisiana State LegislatureLouisiana Civil Code, Article 684, Enclosures
- City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton RougeUnified Development Code, Chapter 9, Use Regulations, Section 9.5.2(D), Fences and walls
- Louisiana State LegislatureLouisiana Revised Statutes, Title 40, Section 1730.28, Mandatory adoption of certain nationally recognized codes and standards as the state uniform construction code; adoption by reference
- Louisiana State LegislatureLouisiana Revised Statutes, Title 33, Section 4875.1, Exercise of police power; enclosure of residential and commercial swimming pools
- East Baton Rouge City-Parish Permit and Inspection DivisionFence and Wall Permit Information sheet, Department of Development
- Louisiana Department of Health, Office of Public HealthLouisiana Administrative Code, Title 51, Public Health - Sanitary Code, Part XXIV, Chapter 7, Section 705, Barriers
- Louisiana State LegislatureLouisiana Civil Code, Article 667, Limitations on use of property
- Louisiana State LegislatureLouisiana Revised Statutes, Title 33, Section 4721, Grant of power to municipalities
- Louisiana State LegislatureLouisiana Revised Statutes, Title 48, Section 347, Removal of obstacles or hazards from highway or vicinity; campaign signs
- Louisiana State LegislatureLouisiana Revised Statutes, Title 33, Section 1376, Ordinances; battery-charged fences; parishes and municipalities
- Louisiana State LegislatureLouisiana Revised Statutes, Title 3, Part VII, Local Regulation of Livestock on Public Highways
- Louisiana State LegislatureLouisiana Civil Code, Article 685, Common fences
- Louisiana State LegislatureLouisiana Revised Statutes, Title 3, Part VII, Definitions
- Louisiana State LegislatureLouisiana Revised Statutes, Title 3, Part VII, Livestock at large on highways unlawful
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 Baton Rouge publishes, plus the Louisiana rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Louisiana 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