Fence laws in Lafayette, Louisiana
What the Lafayette municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Lafayette sets no rule of its own, the Louisiana rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Lafayette, Louisiana, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Fences may be erected along the boundaries of a lot or along a required setback, which gives express permission to build on the line and no distance to keep from it, and the answer turns on whether a servitude or utility runs under the line. The figure is 0 feet, for setback stated from a lot line for a fence.
- How tall
- Section 89-32 is headed Fences and it never says how tall one may be, and the answer turns on whether the fence is a required buffer, a parking lot screen or an ordinary one. The figure is 6 feet, for minimum height of a buffer fence where a use abuts a residential district.
- Permits
- The development code names no fence permit, and the line that decides it is in the building permit rules, where it is drawn at seven feet on both the residential and the commercial side, and the answer turns on the height of the fence and whether the property is residential. The figure is 7 feet, for height above which a fence at a home needs a building permit.
- Pool barriers
- Louisiana sets no statewide pool fence height.
- Spite fences
- Lafayette has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- The only datum in the code is the street, and the answer turns on whether the height is an intersection figure or a screening figure.
- Corner lots
- Lafayette makes the corner rule unlawful to break rather than merely prohibited, and it computes the answer instead of drawing it, and the answer turns on the speed and lane count of the major street, and whether the streets are public or private. The figure is 30 feet, for triangle that may be used in place of the calculation where two private streets meet.
- Retaining walls
- Lafayette leaves retaining walls to the International Residential Code, not including Part I-Administration. It reaches one and two family homes and townhouses only.
- Materials
- For an ordinary fence the code names no material at all, and the answer turns on whether the fence is a required screen or an ordinary one.
- 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 Lafayette?
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Lafayette answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether a servitude or utility runs under the line.
Fences may be erected along the boundaries of a lot or along a required setback, which gives express permission to build on the line and no distance to keep from it. What the section spends its words on instead is what is underneath. No fence foundation may conflict with a public servitude or public infrastructure, meaning water, electrical power, natural gas, drainage, storm sewer or any other utility, and any damage to that infrastructure is repaired and paid for by the fence owner. If repairs are not started within thirty days of notice, the consolidated government may do the work and assess the cost against the property in the same way as a driveway charge. A fence may also not block the function or flow of the public storm water system, or access to utility facilities, unless the utility agrees. A fence may go inside a public servitude only with prior submission to the government.
Fences may be erected along the boundaries of a lot or required setback.
The answer turns on whether a servitude or utility runs under the line.
- an ordinary lot line
- On the boundary. 0 ft
- a public servitude
- Only with prior submission.
- damage to a utility
- The fence owner pays.
- repairs not started in thirty days
- The government does it and bills the owner. 30 days
Also on fences on the property line in Lafayette
- 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 Lafayette?
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Lafayette answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is a required buffer, a parking lot screen or an ordinary one.
Section 89-32 is headed Fences and it never says how tall one may be. It handles where a fence may stand, what may be printed on it, and what happens when its foundation damages public infrastructure, and then sends screening and privacy barriers to Section 89-36. The heights that do appear in the code are floors rather than ceilings. Where a land use abuts a residential district, the buffer has to carry a fence or wall at least six feet high and two and a half inches thick, in addition to the required trees and shrubs. A continuous fence between a parking lot and an RS or RM district has to be six feet. The only ceiling anywhere is thirty six inches, and it applies inside a line of sight at an intersection rather than across a yard. The seven foot line in the building permit rules is the closest thing to a general limit and it is a paperwork trigger, not a cap.
A fence or wall with a minimum height of six feet high and two and one-half (2½) inches thick is required where the land use abuts a residential district.
The answer turns on whether the fence is a required buffer, a parking lot screen or an ordinary one.
- an ordinary fence
- No maximum stated.
- a required buffer fence
- At least six feet, and two and a half inches thick. 6 ft
- a parking lot beside RS or RM
- Six feet, continuous.
- a line of sight at an intersection
- Thirty six inches. 36 in
Also on fence height in Lafayette
- 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 Lafayette?
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Lafayette answers this, but the answer changes depending on the height of the fence and whether the property is residential.
The development code names no fence permit, and the line that decides it is in the building permit rules, where it is drawn at seven feet on both the residential and the commercial side. A residential building permit is required for almost any structure associated with a home, and the page names a fence over seven feet high in that list next to a carport, a shed, a gazebo and an RV cover. The commercial side states the same threshold as an exemption, releasing fences not over seven feet high from needing a commercial permit alongside a small shed on skids and a retaining wall under four feet. Both sides then add the same warning, that setback and development requirements still apply whether or not a permit is needed. A fence in a required buffer or beside a parking lot is reviewed as part of that site plan instead.
This type of permit is required for a single-family dwelling, a duplex, or almost any structure associated with a home, such as: a carport, shed, gazebo, RV cover, or a fence that is over 7 feet high.
Residential Building Information
The answer turns on the height of the fence and whether the property is residential.
- a home fence over seven feet
- A residential building permit. 7 ft
- a commercial fence at or under seven feet
- Exempt from the commercial permit.
- any fence at all
- Setback and development rules still apply.
- a buffer or parking lot fence
- Reviewed with the site plan.
Also on permits in Lafayette
- 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 Lafayette
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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 Lafayette 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 Lafayette
- 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 Lafayette
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Lafayette 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 Lafayette 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 Lafayette
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Lafayette answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the height is an intersection figure or a screening figure.
The only datum in the code is the street. The thirty six inch limit at an intersection is measured from street level rather than from the ground the fence stands on, and the sight distance calculation behind it uses two more street references, an eye three and a half feet above the minor street pavement and an object three and a half feet above the major street pavement. Nothing states what the six foot buffer fence or the six foot parking lot fence is measured from, and the seven foot permit threshold carries no datum either. A berm is treated as an alternative to a fence in a buffer and never as something a fence stands on. A fence on a retaining wall is not addressed, and a fence running down a slope is not addressed. Setbacks by contrast are measured with real care, from the right-of-way line, from the interior edge of a servitude, from the edge of pavement on a private street, or from the edge of a sidewalk servitude.
This point is established at 3½ feet above the minor street pavement elevation.
The answer turns on whether the height is an intersection figure or a screening figure.
- an intersection
- From street level.
- the driver and the object
- Three and a half feet above each pavement.
- a buffer or parking lot fence
- No datum named.
- a berm or a retaining wall
- Not addressed as a base for a fence.
Also on how height is measured in Lafayette
- left to the townLouisiana 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. La. R.S. 33:4721Louisiana · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Lafayette
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Lafayette answers this, but the answer changes depending on the speed and lane count of the major street, and whether the streets are public or private.
Lafayette makes the corner rule unlawful to break rather than merely prohibited, and it computes the answer instead of drawing it. It is unlawful to build or keep any fence, sign, movable object, hedge, bush or other plant over thirty six inches above street level where it obstructs the line of sight at a street intersection. The sight distance is worked from a point on the minor street approach fourteen and four tenths feet back from where the minor street centerline meets the curb line extension of the major street, set three and a half feet above the minor street pavement, and a driver there has to be able to see an object three and a half feet above the major street pavement at a distance taken from Table 89-44-5, which varies with the speed of the major street and how many lanes it has. An intersection on the inside of a curve needs more. Existing obstructions from before the ordinance are covered, and utility structures, traffic signs and existing buildings are exempt. Where two private streets meet, a thirty foot triangle may be used instead.
It is unlawful to construct or maintain, or permit to remain, any fence, sign, movable object, hedges, bushes or other plants which exceed 36 inches in height measured from the street level on any lot where the fence, sign, movable object, hedges, bushes or other plants obstruct the line of sight at street intersections as defined in this section.
The answer turns on the speed and lane count of the major street, and whether the streets are public or private.
- two public streets
- A calculated sight distance from Table 89-44-5.
- two private streets
- A thirty foot triangle may be used instead. 30 ft
- the driver eye point
- Three and a half feet up, fourteen and four tenths feet back.
- a utility structure or a traffic sign
- Exempt.
Also on corner visibility in Lafayette
- 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 Lafayette
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Lafayette 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 Lafayette 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 Lafayette
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Lafayette answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is a required screen or an ordinary one.
For an ordinary fence the code names no material at all. Barbed wire does not appear. Razor wire does not appear. An electric fence does not appear. Wood, vinyl, chain link and masonry are not mentioned, and there is no rule that the finished side has to face outward. The two places a material is described belong to required screens and both are written as performance rather than as a list. A continuous fence between a parking lot and an RS or RM district has to be six feet of permanent durable material, and the same sentence makes clear that a fence is not otherwise required along a property line or in a buffer bordering a street. A buffer fence where a use abuts a residential district has to be six feet high and two and a half inches thick, which is a thickness requirement on a fence and is rare. Outside the city, a fence may carry no advertising except one owner sign per street frontage.
The fence shall be six feet in height and constructed of permanent durable material. Fences are not otherwise required along the property line or within a buffer bordering a street.
The answer turns on whether the fence is a required screen or an ordinary one.
- an ordinary fence
- No material named either way.
- a parking lot screen
- Permanent durable material.
- a buffer fence
- Two and a half inches thick.
- a fence outside the city
- One owner sign per frontage and no other advertising.
Also on materials in Lafayette
- 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 Lafayette
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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 Lafayette 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 Lafayette
- 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 Lafayette 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
- Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated GovernmentCode of Ordinances, Chapter 89, Development Code, Article 3, Development Standards
- 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
- Lafayette Consolidated Government, Permitting DivisionLafayette Consolidated Government, Building Codes, Residential and Commercial Building Information
- 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 Lafayette 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