Fence laws in Lowell, Massachusetts

Who owns the fence between two properties in Lowell?

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

In the Suburban and Traditional Neighborhood Residential districts at least a quarter of every Lowell lot has to be yard area, and every part of a required yard has to be open to the sky and unobstructed. The ordinance then names the things that do not count as an obstruction, and a fence is on that list with awnings, arbors, flagpoles and laundry drying equipment. No dimension is attached, so a fence may stand anywhere in the required yard, boundary included, which is what the permitting page means when it says a fence may be located on or close to a lot line. By contrast the same paragraph gives a one story accessory building in a side or rear yard both a footprint and a height, at two hundred square feet and sixteen feet, so the ordinance does attach figures where it means to.

Awnings, arbors, fences, flagpoles, recreational and laundry drying equipment and similar objects shall not be considered obstructions when located within a required yard.

5.1.6, YardsCity of Lowell · Read 21 September 2026

16 ftheight of an accessory building allowed in a side or rear yard

How tall can a fence be in Lowell?

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

Lowell settles the fence height question in its definitions rather than in a fence section. The ordinance says the word building includes the word structure, and then defines building to cover every part of any kind of structure above ground except fences and field or garden walls and embankment retaining walls. That exception is what does the work. Because a fence is not a building, the height table in Section 5.1 and the story limits that go with it never reach it, and the ordinance sets no separate fence figure anywhere else. What is left governing height is the permitting practice, where six feet is the line, and the corner clearance rule, which overrides everything inside a fifteen foot triangle.

also all parts of any kind of structure above ground except fences and field or garden walls or embankment retaining walls.

Article 2, definition of BUILDINGCity of Lowell · Read 21 September 2026

Do I need a permit for a fence in Lowell?

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Lowell answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence passes six feet.

The city says the practical rule plainly on its own permitting page, and it is three sentences long. A fence up to six feet may be located on or close to a lot line and needs no building permit. It may not obstruct views on a corner lot. Above six feet a building permit is required. That is the whole of it: no separate front yard figure, no setback from the boundary, and no materials condition attached to the permit. Because this is a city web page rather than a codified section, it sits one rung below the ordinance on the source ladder, but it is the city speaking about its own practice and it is the only place Lowell states a height at all.

A fence up to six feet in height may be located on or close to a lot line. No building permit is required. However, a fence cannot obstruct views on corner lots.

When a Fence Permit is RequiredCity of Lowell, Development Services · Read 21 September 2026

The answer turns on whether the fence passes six feet.

a fence of six feet or less

No building permit, and it may sit on the line. 6 ft

a fence over six feet

A building permit.

a corner lot

The view rule applies whatever the height.

Pool fence requirements in Lowell

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

Massachusetts sets a pool fence height in law, but only for public and semipublic outdoor inground pools. Those need a six foot fence held down at ground level. A board or stockade fence may be five feet, and anything over five feet has to be chain link. The section does not reach a pool behind a house, which falls under the state building code instead.

This one is Massachusetts law, not Lowell law. All Massachusetts findings

Every public and semipublic outdoor inground swimming pool shall be enclosed by a fence six feet in height and firmly secured at ground level provided that any board or stockade fence or structure shall be at least five feet in height, but if over five feet in height, the fence shall be chain link.

M.G.L. c. 140, § 206Massachusetts General Court · Read 13 September 2026

6 ftfence height around a public or semipublic outdoor inground swimming pool

Spite fence laws in Lowell

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

Massachusetts has a spite fence law, and it is the best known one in the country. A fence, or anything built like one, that goes over six feet for no reason and was put up or kept up out of spite to annoy a neighbor counts as a private nuisance. The neighbor can sue for money over the harm to the comfort or use of their property. Both the height and the spite have to be there.

This one is Massachusetts law, not Lowell law. All Massachusetts findings

A fence or other structure in the nature of a fence which unnecessarily exceeds six feet in height and is maliciously erected or maintained for the purpose of annoying the owners or occupants of adjoining property shall be deemed a private nuisance.

M.G.L. c. 49, § 21Massachusetts General Court · Read 13 September 2026

6 ftheight above which a maliciously built fence may be treated as a private nuisance

How fence height is measured in Lowell

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Lowell law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.

Massachusetts puts a fence height in law and never says what it is measured from. Chapter 49 makes a fence over six feet a private nuisance when it is kept up to annoy a neighbor, and gives the six feet no starting point, which is what decides the answer on a slope or on top of a wall. The Zoning Act does not settle it either. Its section 3 is a list of things a local rule may not do, and it touches height only in passing, for child care buildings and for ham radio masts. Neither place gives a way to measure a fence.

This one is Massachusetts law, not Lowell law. All Massachusetts findings

Documents read before writing that:

• M.G.L. c. 49, s. 21Massachusetts General Court
• M.G.L. c. 40A, s. 3Massachusetts General Court

Fence rules for corner lots in Lowell

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

Lowell draws its corner clearance triangle from the lines of the intersecting streets, taking points fifteen feet from where those lines meet and joining them. Inside that area no building, structure or fence may be erected at all, and vegetation may not be maintained above three and a half feet. The datum is unusual and worth noticing: the height is measured above the plane through the curb grades of the two streets, not above the ground the fence stands on, so a lot sitting well above the road is measured against the road rather than against itself. The rule applies in all districts, and because the fence prohibition is absolute rather than a height limit, the three and a half feet is about planting rather than about building.

In all districts, between the lines of intersecting streets and the line joining points on such lines fifteen (15) feet distant from their point of intersection no building, structure, or fence may be erected

5.2.8, Corner ClearanceCity of Lowell · Read 21 September 2026

15 ftleg of the corner clearance triangle

Retaining wall rules in Lowell

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

Massachusetts needs no permit for a wall that holds back dirt when it is four feet tall or less, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall. A wall holding up extra weight on the soil behind it, such as a driveway or a building, needs a permit at any height. Massachusetts dropped the first chapter of the model residential code and wrote its own, so this permit list is state text rather than a pointer to a model code. Other laws and the trade codes can still call for a permit.

This one is Massachusetts law, not Lowell law. All Massachusetts findings

Retaining walls that are not over four feet (1,219 mm) in height measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, unless supporting a surcharge.

780 CMR 51.00, R105.2Massachusetts Board of Building Regulations and Standards · Read 13 September 2026

4 ftheight at or below which a retaining wall needs no building permit

Fence materials allowed in Lowell

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Lowell answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence can be seen from a street or a park.

The Lowell design standards bar four materials by visibility rather than by zone. Chain link fence, barbed wire, razor wire and chicken wire are not permitted where visible from public streets or public parks, which means the same chain link fence is lawful behind a building and unlawful along the frontage of the same lot. The standard sits in the design section alongside a requirement that accessory components including gates, fences and garden walls reinforce the overall building style, so a fence in Lowell is treated as part of the architecture rather than as a separate object. Elsewhere the ordinance uses fencing the other way round and requires it, saying open lot storage may not exceed twelve feet in height and has to be enclosed by a tight wall or fence.

Materials: Chain link fence, barbed wire, razor wire, and chicken wire are not permitted where visible from public streets or public parks.

Design standards, MaterialsCity of Lowell · Read 21 September 2026

The answer turns on whether the fence can be seen from a street or a park.

visible from a street or a public park

None of those four materials.

out of sight behind a building

The prohibition does not reach it.

open lot storage

A tight wall or fence is required, and the pile stops at twelve feet. 12 ft

Livestock and boundary fence law in Lowell

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

Massachusetts calls a fence legal and sufficient at four feet tall and in good repair. It can be rails, timber, boards, iron or stone. Brooks, rivers, ponds, creeks, ditches and hedges count too, and so does anything else the town fence viewers judge just as good. Height is the only number in it.

This one is Massachusetts law, not Lowell law. All Massachusetts findings

Fences four feet high, in good repair, constructed of rails, timber, boards, iron or stone, and brooks, rivers, ponds, creeks, ditches and hedges, or other things which the fence viewers consider equivalent thereto, shall be deemed legal and sufficient fences.

M.G.L. c. 49, s. 2Massachusetts General Court · Read 13 September 2026

4 ftheight of a legal and sufficient fence