Fence laws in Taunton, Massachusetts
What the Taunton municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Taunton sets no rule of its own, the Massachusetts rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Taunton, Massachusetts, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Taunton files a fence under accessory structure, defined as any structure not intended for human occupancy, and the examples given are carports, sheds and other nondwelling buildings, heat pumps, fences, trellises, flagpoles and tanks.
- How tall
- Taunton sets no maximum fence height. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Permits
- Taunton puts a survey between an applicant and a fence along a public way, and the answer turns on whether the fence adjoins a public way.
- Pool barriers
- Massachusetts sets a pool fence height in law, but only for public and semipublic outdoor inground pools. The figure is 6 feet, for fence height around a public or semipublic outdoor inground swimming pool. It reaches public and semipublic outdoor inground pools, not a pool at a home only.
- Spite fences
- Massachusetts has a spite fence law, and it is the best known one in the country. The figure is 6 feet, for height above which a maliciously built fence may be treated as a private nuisance.
- Measured from what
- Taunton never says what a fence height is measured from. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Corner lots
- Taunton draws the strictest corner rule on this site and then offers three ways around it, and the answer turns on the size of the openings in the fence and how far back it stands. The figure is 2 feet, for height limit at a corner.
- Retaining walls
- 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. The figure is 4 feet, for height at or below which a retaining wall needs no building permit. It reaches one and two family homes and townhouses up to three stories only.
- Materials
- Taunton reaches any artificial pool twenty four inches deep or more at any point, whether or not it existed when the chapter took effect, and requires it to be enclosed by a protective fence at least four feet high whose design, materials and construction have been approved by the Superintendent of Public Buildings, and the answer turns on the depth of the pool and what the Superintendent approves. The figure is 4 feet, for fence required around a pool.
- Livestock
- Massachusetts calls a fence legal and sufficient at four feet tall and in good repair. The figure is 4 feet, for height of a legal and sufficient fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Taunton?
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Taunton answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Taunton files a fence under accessory structure, defined as any structure not intended for human occupancy, and the examples given are carports, sheds and other nondwelling buildings, heat pumps, fences, trellises, flagpoles and tanks. That matters for the boundary question because the zoning chapter attaches no setback to a fence anywhere, so whatever setback applies to an accessory structure in the district is what a fence has to meet, and the corner rule is the only place a distance from a line is stated for a fence by name. The streets chapter supplies the other boundary rule, and it is about proof rather than distance: nobody gets a permit for a fence next to a public way until the line of that way has been established.
Any structure not intended for human occupancy. Examples of accessory structures include carports, sheds, and other nondwelling buildings, heat pumps, fences, trellises, flagpoles, and tanks.
440-201, definition of ACCESSORY STRUCTURE
Also on fences on the property line in Taunton
- set in state lawMassachusetts splits a fence on the line in equal shares between the two neighbors. That holds as long as both of them are working their land, and any deal the two make instead wins over it. Massachusetts also still appoints fence viewers in every town to settle arguments about those shares. M.G.L. c. 49, § 3Massachusetts · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Taunton?
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Taunton law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Massachusetts sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The six foot figure in Chapter 49 is what turns a spite fence into a nuisance case, not a cap on height. Chapter 49 covers fence viewers, fences on the line and boundary fights, and nowhere limits an ordinary fence. Height comes from town zoning bylaws.
This one is Massachusetts law, not Taunton law. All Massachusetts findings
Documents read before writing that:
- M.G.L. c. 49Massachusetts General Court
- M.G.L. c. 49, § 21Massachusetts General Court
Also on fence height in Taunton
- no rule, documents checkedAway from a corner, the Taunton zoning chapter sets no height for a fence at all. The word appears in Chapter 440 in four places and none of them is a general limit: the corner lot section, the definition of an accessory structure, a provision about solar panels and one about dwelling conversions. The definition is the one that shapes everything else, because it lists fences alongside carports, sheds, heat pumps, trellises, flagpoles and tanks as examples of an accessory structure, meaning any structure not intended for human occupancy. So a Taunton fence is an accessory structure with no dimension of its own, and the only numbers it has to meet are the corner rule, the pool rule, and whatever the state building code requires. Chapter 440, Article VII, General ProvisionsTaunton · Zoning code
Do I need a permit for a fence in Taunton?
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Taunton answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence adjoins a public way.
Taunton puts a survey between an applicant and a fence along a public way. No permit may be granted to erect, place or change any fence or building adjoining a public street, way or sidewalk until the true bounds of that street, way or sidewalk have been ascertained to the satisfaction of the City Engineer, and the burden of doing that sits with the applicant. It is the same problem other cities warn about in a leaflet, that the curb is not the boundary, turned into a condition precedent. The same section separately requires a permit from the Municipal Council or a designee before anyone erects or removes a post in the streets or changes the grade or width of a street, way or sidewalk, with the work supervised by the Supervisor of Streets.
No permit shall be granted to erect, place or change any fence or building adjoining any public street, way or sidewalk until the true bounds of the street, way or sidewalk have been first ascertained to the satisfaction of the City Engineer by the applicant.
The answer turns on whether the fence adjoins a public way.
- a fence adjoining a public way
- The applicant establishes the true bounds first.
- a post in the street, or a change of grade or width
- A permit from the Municipal Council or a designee.
Also on permits in Taunton
- set in state lawMassachusetts runs one building code for the whole state, written by the Board of Building Regulations and Standards under this law. The board makes the rules on building work and on issuing permits. The tenth edition is built on the 2021 International Codes, and its chapter 51 adopts the 2021 International Residential Code with Massachusetts changes. The list of work that needs no permit sits in that code, not in the law itself. M.G.L. c. 143, § 94Massachusetts · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Taunton
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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 Taunton 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.
6 ftfence height around a public or semipublic outdoor inground swimming pool
Spite fence laws in Taunton
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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 Taunton 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.
6 ftheight above which a maliciously built fence may be treated as a private nuisance
How fence height is measured in Taunton
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Taunton 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 Taunton 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 Taunton
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Taunton answers this, but the answer changes depending on the size of the openings in the fence and how far back it stands.
Taunton draws the strictest corner rule on this site and then offers three ways around it. The rule itself is two feet: no shrub two feet or more in overall diameter, and no hedge or fence, may rise higher than two feet above the main finished pavement centerline grade, throughout the required front yard for fifty feet along each street frontage from the corner. Fifty feet along each side is two or three times the usual triangle. The exceptions are all about the fence rather than the height. A wire fence whose openings are at least four inches passes anywhere in that area. One with openings of at least two inches passes if it stands five feet back from the corner property line. And any fence at all passes if it stands ten feet back. So an owner either keeps it low, keeps it open, or moves it off the corner.
no shrub two feet overall diameter or larger and no hedge or fence shall extend higher than two feet above the main finished pavement center-line grade throughout that part of the front yard required on such lot 50 feet along the street frontage of each such yard from their street corner, unless:
The answer turns on the size of the openings in the fence and how far back it stands.
- anything solid at the corner
- Two feet above the pavement centerline. 2 ft
- wire with openings of at least four inches
- Allowed anywhere in the corner area. 4 in
- wire with two inch openings
- Five feet back from the corner line. 5 ft
- any fence at all
- Ten feet back from the corner line. 10 ft
Also on corner visibility in Taunton
- left to the townMassachusetts leaves this to the town. The public ways chapter lets the town board or officer in charge of laying out roads give permits for signs, awnings and other things that stick out into or over a public road. The same section lets that board set the fees and write its own rules and fines for them. The chapter runs from direction signs to snow clearing to bicycles, and never measures a corner. Zoning covers the rest, so both routes end at the local bylaw and neither one prints a triangle. M.G.L. c. 85, s. 8Massachusetts · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Taunton
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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 Taunton 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.
4 ftheight at or below which a retaining wall needs no building permit
Fence materials allowed in Taunton
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Taunton answers this, but the answer changes depending on the depth of the pool and what the Superintendent approves.
Taunton reaches any artificial pool twenty four inches deep or more at any point, whether or not it existed when the chapter took effect, and requires it to be enclosed by a protective fence at least four feet high whose design, materials and construction have been approved by the Superintendent of Public Buildings. Another artificial or natural barrier may be approved instead, which is unusual and lets a wall, a bank or dense planting do the job. No fence or barrier gets that approval unless every gate in it is self closing and self latching with the latch at least fifty four inches above the ground, which is high enough to be out of a small child reach. Everything still has to meet the Massachusetts State Building Code, and public and semi-public pools answer to the Board of Health as well.
No such fence or barrier shall be approved unless every gate therein shall be of a self-closing and self-latching design, with the latch located at least 54 inches above the ground.
The answer turns on the depth of the pool and what the Superintendent approves.
- a pool twenty four inches deep or more
- A protective fence of at least four feet. 4 ft
- the gate in that fence
- Self closing and self latching, latch fifty four inches up. 54 in
- another artificial or natural barrier
- May be approved instead of a fence.
Also on materials in Taunton
- set in state lawMassachusetts bans barbed wire in one place by name. A fence running along a sidewalk on a public road may not carry barbed wire anywhere within six feet of the ground, and building or keeping one is a fine of twenty to fifty dollars. The rule sits in the public ways chapter, not the fence chapter, and it reaches only a fence beside a sidewalk. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 86, 6Massachusetts · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Taunton
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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 Taunton 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.
4 ftheight of a legal and sufficient fence
Also on agricultural fencing in Taunton
- set in state lawMassachusetts lets a landowner hurt by loose farm animals sue the owner of those animals, or hold the animals until the damage is paid. The section names horses, mules, asses, cattle, sheep, goats and swine, and it puts no fence condition on that right. Another section points the same way by making the town field driver pick up farm animals found loose on public roads or on common and unimproved land. M.G.L. c. 49, s. 29Massachusetts · Statute
Documents behind this page
15 documents, of which 4 were published by Taunton itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Massachusetts General CourtMassachusetts General Laws, Part I, Title VII, Chapter 49, Section 3, Maintenance of partition fences
- City of TauntonCity of Taunton Code, Chapter 440, Zoning, Section 440-201, Definitions
- Massachusetts General CourtMassachusetts General Laws, Part I, Title VII, Chapter 49, Fences, Fence Viewers, Pounds and Field Drivers, full chapter listing
- Massachusetts General CourtMassachusetts General Laws, Part I, Title VII, Chapter 49, Section 21
- City of TauntonCity of Taunton Code, Chapter 440, Zoning, Article VII, Section 440-703, Corner lots
- Massachusetts General CourtMassachusetts General Laws, Part I, Title XX, Chapter 143, Section 94, Powers and duties of board
- City of TauntonCity of Taunton Code, Chapter 383, Streets and Sidewalks, Section 383-2, Permit required to erect post or fence or change grade or width
- Massachusetts General CourtMassachusetts General Laws, Part I, Title XX, Chapter 140, Section 206, Enclosure of swimming pools
- Massachusetts General CourtMassachusetts General Laws, Part I, Title VII, Chapter 40A, Section 3, Subjects which zoning may not regulate
- Massachusetts General CourtMassachusetts General Laws, Part I, Title XIV, Chapter 85, Section 8, Permits for signs and other structures projecting into or over ways
- Massachusetts Board of Building Regulations and Standards780 CMR 51.00: Massachusetts Residential Code, Chapter R1, Scope and Application, Tenth Edition, amendments to the 2021 International Residential Code
- Massachusetts General CourtMassachusetts General Laws, Part I, Title XIV, Chapter 86, Section 6, Barbed wire fences
- City of TauntonCity of Taunton Code, Chapter 387, Swimming Pools, Section 387-1, Approved fence required for certain pools
- Massachusetts General CourtMassachusetts General Laws, Part I, Title VII, Chapter 49, Fences, Fence Viewers, Pounds and Field Drivers
- Massachusetts General CourtMassachusetts General Laws, Part I, Title VII, Chapter 49, Fences, Fence Viewers, Pounds and Field Drivers
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 Taunton publishes, plus the Massachusetts rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Massachusetts 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