Fence laws in Coon Rapids, Minnesota
What the Coon 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 Coon Rapids sets no rule of its own, the Minnesota rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- The setback rule in Coon Rapids is two lines long, and the answer turns on what the fence runs along or sits in. The figure is 3 feet, for setback from a right-of-way or trail easement.
- How tall
- The height table in Coon Rapids gives four feet in a front yard setback and seven feet in an interior side yard or a rear yard, which is a foot taller than the usual six, and the answer turns on the yard, the district and what the lot abuts. The figure is 4 feet, for fence in a front yard setback.
- Permits
- The Coon Rapids rule is four words long: maximum height without building permit, seven, and the answer turns on whether the fence passes seven feet. The figure is 7 feet, for height up to which no building permit is needed.
- Pool barriers
- Minnesota rules say a public pool has to be closed off so children cannot get in. The figure is 5 feet, for minimum height of fencing around a public pool.
- Spite fences
- Minnesota counts a spite fence as a private nuisance.
- Measured from what
- Coon Rapids measures from the finished grade at the base of the fence, and says no part of a fence may exceed the maximum height, which means the limit applies at every point along the run rather than on average, and the answer turns on whether the fence stands on the ground or on a berm. The figure is 30 feet, for minimum run in one material.
- Corner lots
- Coon Rapids leaves corner clearance to subsection 11-1206.2(3) of the land development regulations, which defines the site triangle.
- Retaining walls
- A retaining wall in Minnesota needs no building permit if it is four feet tall or less, and the four feet is measured from the bottom of the footing up to the top of the wall, not from the ground. The figure is 4 feet, for height at or below which a retaining wall needs no building permit. It reaches work covered by the Minnesota State Building Code only.
- Materials
- Coon Rapids prohibits electric, barbed, razor and wire fences, and chain link thinner than eleven gauge, in one sentence and with no exception anywhere in the section, and the answer turns on the material and whether the fence is temporary.
- Livestock
- Minnesota lists the builds that count as a legal fence. The figure is 32 inches, for minimum woven wire height on a legal fence that carries two barbed wires above it.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Coon Rapids?
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Coon Rapids answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the fence runs along or sits in.
The setback rule in Coon Rapids is two lines long. A fence has to sit within the boundary lines of the property, and it has to stand three feet back from a public right-of-way or from a trail or sidewalk easement. So a fence may come up to an interior lot line but not onto it, and the three feet at a public edge is a working clearance for a plow and a walker rather than a sight rule. Any side of a fence facing a neighboring property or a street has to be finished, and the code defines finished as a side on which framing, supports or posts are not visible. A fence in a drainage or utility easement must not impede runoff or interfere with planned or installed utilities, and neither the city nor the utility is liable to repair or replace it if it is moved, damaged or destroyed during maintenance. Walls are prohibited in a drainage or utility easement outright.
Property Boundary: Within the boundary lines. Public Rights of Way, Trail or Sidewalk Easements: Three feet.
11-1204.3, with 11-1204.2 and 11-1204.1(2)
The answer turns on what the fence runs along or sits in.
- an interior lot line
- Inside the boundary.
- a right-of-way, trail or sidewalk easement
- Three feet back. 3 ft
- the side facing a neighbor
- Finished, with no posts visible.
- a wall in an easement
- Prohibited.
Also on fences on the property line in Coon Rapids
- set in state lawMinnesota splits the cost of a fence on the property line in equal shares, and only on farm land. Both sides have to be used, fully or partly, to raise or keep livestock, and at least one owner has to want a fence. Then each side builds and keeps up half. The statute names which animals count as livestock. A yard that holds none of them is outside the rule. Minn. Stat. 344.03, subd. 1(a)Minnesota · Statute
- set in state lawMinnesota settles a boundary fence argument through fence viewers, who are town officers picked for the job. When one side will not build or fix a fence it has to keep, the other side can complain to them. The fence viewers give notice, look at the fence or at whether one is needed, and can order the work done in a reasonable time. If that order is ignored, the side that complained can do the work and get paid back under section 344.05. Minn. Stat. 344.04Minnesota · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Coon Rapids?
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Coon Rapids answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, the district and what the lot abuts.
The height table in Coon Rapids gives four feet in a front yard setback and seven feet in an interior side yard or a rear yard, which is a foot taller than the usual six. A street side yard on a single family or two family lot is held to four feet, except that where the front of the house faces the front yard the fence may reach seven feet between the rear lot line and the front of the house, so the house itself marks where the height changes. Where a residential district abuts a commercial, industrial or office district the side and rear limit rises to eight feet, which is the only place the code gives extra height for a neighbor rather than for a street. A commercial, industrial or office lot is held to four feet in a front or street side yard except under an approved site plan.
Front Yard Setback: Four feet, except as provided in subsection 11-1204.4(6). Street Side Yard, Single-Family or Two-Family Residential Uses: Four feet; provided, if the front of the house faces the front yard, seven feet between the rear lot line and the front of the house.
The answer turns on the yard, the district and what the lot abuts.
- a front yard setback
- Four feet. 4 ft
- an interior side or rear yard
- Seven feet. 7 ft
- a residential lot abutting business or industry
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a commercial front or street side yard
- Four feet, unless the site plan says otherwise.
Also on fence height in Coon Rapids
- no rule, documents checkedMinnesota sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The boundary fence chapter says what a farm fence is built from and never caps a fence in a yard. The building code lets a fence up to seven feet go without a permit, which is a permit line and not a height cap. The city or county sets the limit. Minn. Stat. 344.02, 344.03Minnesota · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Coon Rapids?
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Coon Rapids answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence passes seven feet.
The Coon Rapids rule is four words long: maximum height without building permit, seven. Seven feet is also the height limit in an interior side yard and a rear yard, so a residential fence built to the maximum the zoning table allows needs no building permit, and the permit line bites only on the eight foot fence allowed where a residential district abuts a commercial or industrial one. Nothing else in the section names an application, a fee or a review, and there is no zoning permit, administrative approval or conditional use route written into it. The one discretionary decision is about time rather than height: a temporary fence may not stand more than thirty days unless the City approves it in writing for good cause. Everything else is enforced afterwards, with a fence that becomes a danger or falls into disrepair declared a nuisance.
Maximum height without building permit: seven.
The answer turns on whether the fence passes seven feet.
- seven feet or less
- No building permit. 7 ft
- an eight foot fence at a district boundary
- A building permit.
- a temporary fence past thirty days
- Written city approval.
- a fence in disrepair
- Declared a nuisance.
Also on permits in Coon Rapids
- set in state lawA fence in Minnesota seven feet tall or shorter needs no building permit. Minnesota runs one building code for the whole state, and the rules that come with it list the work that needs no permit. A fence is on that list up to seven feet. Above seven feet it needs a permit. Minn. R. 1300.0120, subp. 4Minnesota · Building code
Pool fence requirements in Coon Rapids
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Minnesota answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Minnesota rules say a public pool has to be closed off so children cannot get in. Where a fence does that job it has to stand at least five feet high, with gates that close and latch themselves and can be locked. No opening in the fence can be wider than four inches, no gap under it can be wider than two inches, and it cannot be built in a way that is easy to climb. The rule covers public pools. A pool at a private home is not in it.
This one is Minnesota law, not Coon Rapids law. All Minnesota findings
Access to a public pool must be controlled to effectively prevent the entrance of children.
5 ftminimum height of fencing around a public pool
Spite fence laws in Coon Rapids
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Minnesota answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Minnesota counts a spite fence as a private nuisance. Any fence or other structure put up or kept there to annoy the owner or occupant next door falls under the statute. The current text names no height at all, so the test is why the fence is there, not how tall it is.
This one is Minnesota law, not Coon Rapids law. All Minnesota findings
Any fence, or any other structure, maliciously erected or maintained for the purpose of annoying the owners or occupants of adjoining property shall be deemed a private nuisance.
How fence height is measured in Coon Rapids
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Coon Rapids answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence stands on the ground or on a berm.
Coon Rapids measures from the finished grade at the base of the fence, and says no part of a fence may exceed the maximum height, which means the limit applies at every point along the run rather than on average. The second sentence closes the gap most codes leave open: the height of a fence built on a berm or a wall is measured from the base of the berm or the wall. So a four foot fence on a three foot berm is a seven foot fence for the purposes of the table, and raising the ground buys nothing. Two other construction rules shape what a fence looks like rather than how tall it is. A fence has to be built of the same material for a minimum run of thirty feet, which rules out patching one section in a different product. And a fence under six feet may not use boards, planks or panels wider than twelve inches.
No part of a fence shall exceed the maximum height allowed in subsection 11-204.4, as measured from the finished grade at the base of the fence. The height of a fence built on a berm or wall is measured from the base of the berm or wall.
The answer turns on whether the fence stands on the ground or on a berm.
- level ground
- Finished grade at the base.
- a berm or a wall
- Measured from the bottom of it.
- a change of material
- Not inside a thirty foot run. 30 ft
- a fence under six feet
- Boards no wider than twelve inches. 12 in
Also on how height is measured in Coon Rapids
- set in state lawMinnesota does name the ground, once. Section 344.02 lists the fences that count as legal, and the barbed wire one puts the top wire no more than forty eight inches high and the bottom wire twelve to sixteen inches from the ground. So the bottom of that fence is measured from the ground. The top is a bare number with no surface named, which leaves a fence on a slope unanswered. For a fence at a house, section 462.357 lets the city set the height rule, so the city decides how it is measured too. Minn. Stat. 344.02Minnesota · Statute
Fence rules for corner lots in Coon Rapids
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Coon Rapids does not set this. It leaves it to subsection 11-1206.2(3) of the land development regulations, which defines the site triangle.
Fences are prohibited within site triangles as defined in subsection 11-1206.2(3), and that one line is the whole of the corner rule in the fence section. The prohibition is absolute rather than a height limit, so unlike the cities that allow a low or a mostly open fence inside the triangle, Coon Rapids allows none at all. The dimensions live two sections later in the same chapter, so an owner reading the fence rules learns that a triangle exists and has to go elsewhere to find out how big it is or which corners it applies to. The location subsection it sits in also covers drainage and utility easements, which suggests the drafters treated the triangle as a place a fence may not go rather than as a visibility standard a fence has to meet.
Fences are prohibited within site triangles as defined in subsection 11-1206.2(3).
The code hands this to subsection 11-1206.2(3) of the land development regulations, which defines the site triangle, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on corner visibility in Coon Rapids
- set in state lawMinnesota names the fence and names the roads. Chapter 160 makes it a misdemeanor to put a fence on the right of way of a trunk highway, a county state aid highway, a county highway or a town road. The one exception is a lane fence at the ends of a livestock crossing. The same section bars a building or structure inside the limits of any highway. Neither reaches a fence standing back on a private corner lot. Section 462.357 gives the city power over the height of structures and the size of yards, and a clear view triangle is written there. Minn. Stat. 160.2715Minnesota · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Coon Rapids
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Minnesota answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A retaining wall in Minnesota needs no building permit if it is four feet tall or less, and the four feet is measured from the bottom of the footing up to the top of the wall, not from the ground. Minnesota prints this in its own state rule instead of pointing at a model code. Two things take a wall off the no permit list at any height. One is holding up a surcharge, which means extra weight pressing on the soil behind the wall, such as a driveway or a building. The other is holding back Class I, II or III-A liquids, which are liquids that burn.
This one is Minnesota law, not Coon Rapids law. All Minnesota 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 or impounding Class I, II, or III-A liquids;
4 ftheight at or below which a retaining wall needs no building permit
Fence materials allowed in Coon Rapids
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Coon Rapids answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material and whether the fence is temporary.
Coon Rapids prohibits electric, barbed, razor and wire fences, and chain link thinner than eleven gauge, in one sentence and with no exception anywhere in the section. Two things stand out. Listing plain wire among the banned materials rules out farm wire and woven wire fencing on any lot, not just the sharp kinds, which few codes do. And eleven gauge is a heavier minimum than the twelve gauge Bloomington sets and matches the nine gauge commercial standard in Woodbury in spirit: the city is regulating how substantial a chain link fence is, not only where it goes. Every fence has to be built of materials suitable and intended for the purpose in a professional and workmanlike manner. A temporary fence, defined as one not permanently anchored by posts suited to the material, may not stand more than thirty days without written city approval, and snow fences are allowed between the first of November and the fifteenth of April.
Electric, barbed, razor, wire, and chain link less than 11 gauge fences are prohibited.
11-1204.1(3), with (1) and (7)
The answer turns on the material and whether the fence is temporary.
- electric, barbed or razor wire
- Prohibited everywhere.
- plain wire fencing
- Prohibited as well.
- chain link
- Eleven gauge or thicker.
- a snow fence
- November to the middle of April.
Also on materials in Coon Rapids
- set in state lawMinnesota lists five builds that count as a legal fence on a property line, and four of the five are wire. Barbed wire appears in all four, either on its own or stacked above woven wire, with rules on how many strands, how many barbs and how far apart the posts stand. The fifth is an open list of rails, beams, wires, boards, stone walls or a mix, so long as the fence viewers judge it equal to the others. No material is ruled out. Minn. Stat. 344.02Minnesota · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Coon Rapids
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Minnesota answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Minnesota lists the builds that count as a legal fence. Woven wire at least thirty two inches tall with two barbed wires above it counts. So does woven wire at least forty inches tall with one barbed wire above it, and woven wire at least forty eight inches tall with one barbed wire above it. All three go on well set posts no more than a rod apart. A rod is sixteen and a half feet. Four barbed wires also count, with at least forty barbs to the rod, the top wire no higher than forty eight inches and the bottom wire twelve to sixteen inches off the ground. Anything the fence viewers judge equal to those counts too.
This one is Minnesota law, not Coon Rapids law. All Minnesota findings
The following are legal and sufficient fences: (a) fences consisting of at least 32-inch woven wire and two barbed wires firmly fastened to well-set posts not more than one rod apart, the first barbed wire being above and not more than four inches from the woven wire and the second barbed wire being above and not more than eight inches from the first wire;
32 inminimum woven wire height on a legal fence that carries two barbed wires above it
Also on agricultural fencing in Coon Rapids
- set in state lawMinnesota puts the duty on the animal owner. Letting cattle, a horse, a donkey, a mule, sheep, swine or a goat run loose in the state is against the law, and driving an animal onto someone's land over their objection counts as running loose too. The section does not ask the neighbor to have built a fence first. Minn. Stat. 346.16Minnesota · Statute
Documents behind this page
9 documents, of which 1 was published by Coon Rapids itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Minnesota Legislature, Office of the Revisor of StatutesMinnesota Statutes, Chapter 344, Section 344.03, Expense; Equal Shares
- Minnesota Legislature, Office of the Revisor of StatutesMinnesota Statutes, Chapter 344, Section 344.04, Failure to Build or Repair; Rights of Complainant
- City of Coon RapidsCoon Rapids City Code, Title 11, Land Development Regulations, Section 11-1204, Fences and Walls
- Minnesota Legislature, Office of the Revisor of StatutesMinnesota Statutes, Chapter 344, Partition Fences
- Minnesota Department of Labor and IndustryMinnesota Rules, Chapter 1300, Part 1300.0120, Permits
- Minnesota Department of HealthMinnesota Rules, Chapter 4717, Part 4717.1550, Pool Access Restriction; Fencing
- Minnesota Legislature, Office of the Revisor of StatutesMinnesota Statutes, Chapter 561, Section 561.02, Maliciously Maintained Structure
- Minnesota Office of the Revisor of StatutesMinnesota Statutes, Chapter 160, Section 160.2715, Right-of-way use; misdemeanors
- Minnesota Legislature, Office of the Revisor of StatutesMinnesota Statutes, Chapter 346, Animals, Section 346.16, Running at Large; Defined; Prohibited; Treble Damages
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 Coon Rapids publishes, plus the Minnesota rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Minnesota 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