Fence laws in Minneapolis, Minnesota
What the Minneapolis municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Minneapolis sets no rule of its own, the Minnesota rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Minneapolis, Minnesota, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Minneapolis states in one sentence that a fence may be erected, placed or maintained along or adjacent to a lot line, and then puts the risk on the builder: the fence owner is responsible for properly locating all property lines before construction, and the answer turns on where the line actually runs.
- How tall
- Minneapolis caps every fence in the city at eight feet regardless of location, then works down from there yard by yard, and the answer turns on the yard, the distance to the neighbor structure and how opaque the fence is. The figure is 4 feet, for fence in a required front or side yard.
- Permits
- The Minneapolis fence article requires no fence permit, and the answer turns on whether the fence leaves the lot or encloses a corner entrance.
- 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
- Minnesota does name the ground, once. The figure is 16 inches, for bottom wire of a legal fence, measured from the ground. It reaches a legal fence built of barbed wire only.
- Corner lots
- The Minneapolis corner rule is a distance, not a triangle. The figure is 15 feet, for clear distance from a street or alley intersection.
- 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
- A fence in Minneapolis has to be wood, metal, brick, masonry or another permanent material designed for permanent fencing, with no more than two types of related material in any one fence or wall, and wood has to be resistant to decay, and the answer turns on the material, the height and the district. The figure is 78 inches, for height below which a cut wire end may not be exposed.
- 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 Minneapolis?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Minneapolis answers this, but the answer changes depending on where the line actually runs.
Minneapolis states in one sentence that a fence may be erected, placed or maintained along or adjacent to a lot line, and then puts the risk on the builder: the fence owner is responsible for properly locating all property lines before construction. So no survey is required and no neighbor consent is asked for, but a fence that turns out to be over the line is the owner problem. The posts and supporting members have to be erected so the finished side or sides face the adjacent property or the public right-of-way, which settles the question of who looks at the rails. Maintenance reaches past the fence as well, with the property owner responsible for keeping up the area between the property line and their own fence, which is the strip that gets forgotten when a fence is set back a few inches. Nothing in the article divides the cost of a fence on a shared line.
Fences may be erected, placed, or maintained along or adjacent to a lot line. The fence owner shall be responsible for properly locating all property lines before construction of any fence.
550.1510, with 550.1540 and 550.1560(3)
The answer turns on where the line actually runs.
- the lot line
- A fence may sit on it.
- finding the line
- The fence owner does it.
- the finished side
- Faces the neighbor or the street.
- the strip behind the fence
- Still the owner to maintain.
Also on fences on the property line in Minneapolis
- 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 Minneapolis?
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Minneapolis answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, the distance to the neighbor structure and how opaque the fence is.
Minneapolis caps every fence in the city at eight feet regardless of location, then works down from there yard by yard. The required front yard, corner side yard and interior side yard are all held to four feet, and a front yard fence additionally has to be open, decorative, ornamental material that is less than sixty percent opaque. A rear yard fence, and a side yard fence running along the rear lot line, may reach six feet. Two routes lift the interior side yard to six: standing at least five feet from the structure on the adjoining property, or building the entire fence of open ornamental material under sixty percent opaque, and the six feet is available anyway between the rear wall of the neighbor house and the rear lot line. In a corner side yard the six feet begins where the corner side wall meets the rear wall of the principal structure, with open decks and porches not counted as part of the structure.
Fence height shall be limited by its location as specified below. In no case shall a fence exceed eight (8) feet in height, regardless of location.
The answer turns on the yard, the distance to the neighbor structure and how opaque the fence is.
- a front, corner side or interior side yard
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a rear yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- five feet off the neighbor structure
- Six feet in the interior side yard. 5 ft
- anywhere in the city
- Eight feet, and no further. 8 ft
Also on fence height in Minneapolis
- 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 Minneapolis?
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Minneapolis answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence leaves the lot or encloses a corner entrance.
The Minneapolis fence article requires no fence permit. The one permit it names is for going past the lot: no portion of any fence may encroach upon or project into any public right-of-way or other public property without the owner first obtaining an encroachment permit. That covers the fence built a few inches into the boulevard as much as the one built across a sidewalk. The other discretionary power in the article belongs to the zoning administrator and is narrow. Where a structure has an entrance facing the corner side yard, the administrator may authorize a fence up to six feet between the structure and the corner side property line, extending as far toward the front of the lot as reasonably necessary to bring the entrance inside the fenced area. So the request is about enclosing a door rather than about height for its own sake. Institutional and civic uses may put up snow fences between the first of November and the fifteenth of April.
No portion of any fence shall encroach upon or project into any public right-of-way or other public property without the fence owner first obtaining an encroachment permit.
The answer turns on whether the fence leaves the lot or encloses a corner entrance.
- a fence on private land
- No fence permit named in the article.
- a fence over the line onto public land
- An encroachment permit.
- an entrance on the corner side
- Six feet by zoning administrator authorization.
- a snow fence
- Institutional uses, November to April.
Also on permits in Minneapolis
- 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 Minneapolis
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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 Minneapolis 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 Minneapolis
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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 Minneapolis 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 Minneapolis
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Minnesota answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Minnesota 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.
This one is Minnesota law, not Minneapolis law. All Minnesota findings
fences consisting of at least four barbed wires with at least 40 barbs to the rod, the wires firmly fastened to posts not more than one rod apart, the top wire not more than 48 inches high and the bottom wire 12 to 16 inches from the ground
16 inbottom wire of a legal fence, measured from the ground
Also on how height is measured in Minneapolis
- no rule, documents checkedThe fence article states five different height limits and never says where a measurement starts. No sentence names a grade, so on the sloping lots common along the Minneapolis river bluffs and lake edges it is not settled whether four feet is read from the high side or the low side. The zoning code defines a fence as a structure providing a barrier or screening, erected to provide privacy or security, but stops there and gives no measuring rule. A fence on a berm is not mentioned, a fence on top of a retaining wall is not mentioned, and nothing prohibits building the ground up before setting posts. Post caps and finials get no allowance either. The one height in the article tied to a physical reference is the barbed wire rule, which measures from the ground, and that phrase is the closest the article comes to naming a starting point for anything. 550.1550Minneapolis · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Minneapolis
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Minneapolis answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The Minneapolis corner rule is a distance, not a triangle. No fence may be constructed or maintained within fifteen feet of any street or alley intersection. There is no height band, so the rule reaches a two foot garden wall the same way it reaches a six foot privacy fence, and there is no exception for an open or ornamental design. Including alleys matters in a city laid out on alleys, because the point where an alley meets a street is where a driver backing out has the least view and it is exactly where a rear yard fence would otherwise be allowed six feet. The rule sits inside a section about fences that may endanger public safety, alongside a requirement that no fence obstruct free access to any fire hydrant, and the list in that section is expressly not exhaustive, so a fence creating a hazard some other way is caught by the opening sentence.
No fence shall be constructed or maintained within a distance of fifteen (15) feet from any street or alley intersection.
15 ftclear distance from a street or alley intersection
Also on corner visibility in Minneapolis
- 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 Minneapolis
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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 Minneapolis 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 Minneapolis
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Minneapolis answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material, the height and the district.
A fence in Minneapolis has to be wood, metal, brick, masonry or another permanent material designed for permanent fencing, with no more than two types of related material in any one fence or wall, and wood has to be resistant to decay. The prohibited list is long and specific: electrically charged wire, razor wire, chain link with slats, chicken wire, rope, cable, railroad ties, landscape timbers, utility poles, and anything similar or not specifically manufactured for permanent fencing. Two details go further than most codes. The cut or selvage end of wire or metal fencing may not be exposed at the top of a fence under six and one-half feet, which is a rule about the sharp ends children reach rather than about appearance. And barbed wire is allowed only above six and one-half feet, only in a production district, and only where that district sits at least a hundred feet from an urban neighborhood or residential mixed-use district.
Fences shall not be constructed of electrically charged wire, razor wire, chain link with slats, chicken wire, rope, cable, railroad ties, landscape timbers, utility poles or any other similar materials or materials not specifically manufactured for permanent fencing.
The answer turns on the material, the height and the district.
- a house lot
- Wood, metal, brick or masonry, two types at most.
- slatted chain link
- Prohibited.
- a cut wire end
- Not exposed below six and a half feet. 78 in
- barbed wire
- A production district a hundred feet from housing. 100 ft
Also on materials in Minneapolis
- 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 Minneapolis
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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 Minneapolis 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 Minneapolis
- 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
13 documents, of which 5 were published by Minneapolis 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 MinneapolisMinneapolis Code of Ordinances, Title 20, Zoning Code, Section 550.1510, Fence location on a zoning lot
- 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
- City of MinneapolisMinneapolis Code of Ordinances, Title 20, Zoning Code, Section 550.1550, Fence height
- City of MinneapolisMinneapolis Code of Ordinances, Title 20, Zoning Code, Section 550.1520, Fence encroachment onto public property
- 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
- City of MinneapolisMinneapolis Code of Ordinances, Title 20, Zoning Code, Section 550.1560, Fence design
- Minnesota Office of the Revisor of StatutesMinnesota Statutes, Chapter 160, Section 160.2715, Right-of-way use; misdemeanors
- City of MinneapolisMinneapolis Code of Ordinances, Title 20, Zoning Code, Section 550.1530, Prohibited fence locations
- 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 Minneapolis 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