Fence laws in St. Cloud, Minnesota
What the St. Cloud municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where St. Cloud sets no rule of its own, the Minnesota rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in St. Cloud, Minnesota, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- The same table that sets the heights sets the distance from the lot line, and in the front setback, the interior or street side setback, and the rear setback the answer is that none is required, and the answer turns on whether the lot backs onto an alley. The figure is 0 feet, for distance from the lot line in most setbacks.
- How tall
- The residential table in St, and the answer turns on the setback, the street it faces and whether access is allowed from it. The figure is 4 feet, for fence in a front setback.
- Permits
- A fence in Minnesota seven feet tall or shorter needs no building permit. The figure is 7 feet, for maximum fence height exempt from a building permit.
- 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
- No fence, structure, building, hedge, berm or planting in St, and the answer turns on whether the thing actually interferes with visibility. The figure is 20 feet, for distance from a street corner the rule reaches.
- 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
- St, and the answer turns on the zoning district and who owns the land. The figure is 6 feet, for height of the lowest barbed strand.
- 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 St. Cloud?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
St. Cloud answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the lot backs onto an alley.
The same table that sets the heights sets the distance from the lot line, and in the front setback, the interior or street side setback, and the rear setback the answer is that none is required. So a fence may sit on the boundary across most of a St. Cloud lot. The single exception is a rear setback where the property abuts an alley, which takes two and a half feet, and that figure matches the setback the code applies to a fenced dog kennel or a compost pile at a rear lot line. Two and a half feet is enough to keep the fence clear of a vehicle swinging into an alley and clear of the plow. Nothing in the fence rules says which side the finished face or the posts point toward, asks for the consent of an adjoining owner, or divides the cost of a fence built on a shared line, so all three are left to private agreement and to the state fence law.
None required, unless the property abuts an alley, then 2.5 ft
The answer turns on whether the lot backs onto an alley.
- most lot lines
- No setback at all. 0 ft
- a rear line on an alley
- Two and a half feet back. 30 in
- orientation and cost
- Neither is addressed.
Also on fences on the property line in St. Cloud
- 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 St. Cloud?
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St. Cloud answers this, but the answer changes depending on the setback, the street it faces and whether access is allowed from it.
The residential table in St. Cloud gives four feet in a front setback and six feet in an interior side, street side or rear setback. Three exceptions run higher and each carries a condition about access. A fence or hedge may reach eight feet in a front, rear or street side setback where it stands beside a principal or minor arterial street, access to the property from that arterial is prohibited, and the fence is in the rear yard. On a through lot, meaning one with a street at each end, a fence may reach six feet in the front setback on the same pattern: no access from that street, and the fence in the rear yard. Both exceptions also have to satisfy the view obstruction rule. A tennis court fence may reach twelve feet so long as it is no more than twenty-five percent opaque, and a fence around a permanent swimming pool on a multiple family property may reach ten feet.
The maximum height of a fence or hedge may be increased to eight (8) feet in the front, rear or street side setback, so long as the fence or hedge complies with the view obstruction provisions of Section 15.2.F and the following conditions are met:
The answer turns on the setback, the street it faces and whether access is allowed from it.
- a front setback
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a side, street side or rear setback
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a rear yard on an arterial with no access
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a tennis court
- Twelve feet, a quarter opaque at most. 25%
Also on fence height in St. Cloud
- 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 St. Cloud?
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Minnesota answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A 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.
This one is Minnesota law, not St. Cloud law. All Minnesota findings
fences not over seven feet (2,134 mm) high
7 ftmaximum fence height exempt from a building permit
Also on permits in St. Cloud
- no rule, documents checkedNothing in the St. Cloud code requires a permit to build a fence. The phrase does not appear anywhere in the code of ordinances or the land development code, and the fence and hedge rules consist of a height table and four numbered exceptions with no application, fee, review or inspection attached. The accessory structure rules immediately above them do name permits, requiring plans to be submitted to the Planning and Zoning Department for a detached accessory structure between one hundred and two hundred square feet, and for a deck or platform more than seven inches and less than thirty inches above the adjacent grade that is not attached to a structure with footings. Fences are not on that list. So the standards are enforced after the fact, and for barbed wire and electric fencing the mechanism is a nuisance abatement rather than a refused permit. 15.5(B)St. Cloud · Zoning code
Pool fence requirements in St. Cloud
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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 St. Cloud 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 St. Cloud
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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 St. Cloud 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 St. Cloud
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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 St. Cloud 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 St. Cloud
- no rule, documents checkedThe fence height table gives four figures and none of them says what it is measured from. The view obstruction rule two sections earlier does name a datum, holding anything within twenty feet of a corner to four feet above the level of the public sidewalk, which shows the drafters knew how to fix a reference point. For the ordinary fence they did not. Nothing in the fence rules addresses sloping ground, a berm, a fence on top of a retaining wall, or ground raised before the posts go in, and no allowance is given for a post cap standing above the top rail. Other parts of the same article are precise about vertical measurement when they want to be, limiting a gazebo to twelve feet measured to the peak of the roof with a platform no higher than four feet above grade, and setting the barbed wire security exception at six feet above normal grade. 15.5(B), Table 15-3St. Cloud · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in St. Cloud
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St. Cloud answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the thing actually interferes with visibility.
No fence, structure, building, hedge, berm or planting in St. Cloud may rise over four feet above the level of the public sidewalk within twenty feet of any street right-of-way corner and ten feet of any front property line, where it would interfere with traffic or pedestrian visibility across the driveway, alley or street. Three details separate this from an ordinary triangle. The datum is the public sidewalk rather than the street or the yard, so a raised lot does not gain height. The rule is qualified by effect, applying where the obstruction will interfere with visibility, so it is a standard and a dimension at once. And it protects pedestrian visibility as well as traffic, and reaches across a driveway and an alley, not only a street corner. Buildings in the C-3, C-4 and C-6 downtown districts are exempt, though landscaping and signs there still have to comply.
No fence, structure, building, hedge, berm or planting may rise over four (4) feet in height above the level of the public sidewalk within twenty (20) feet of any street right-of-way corner and ten (10) feet of any front property line where it will interfere with traffic or pedestrian visibility across the driveway, alley or street.
The answer turns on whether the thing actually interferes with visibility.
- within twenty feet of a corner
- Four feet above the sidewalk. 20 ft
- within ten feet of a front line
- The same limit. 10 ft
- a driveway or alley
- Covered as well as a street.
- a downtown building
- Exempt, but not its landscaping or signs.
Also on corner visibility in St. Cloud
- 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 St. Cloud
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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 St. Cloud 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 St. Cloud
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St. Cloud answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zoning district and who owns the land.
St. Cloud does not handle barbed wire in its zoning code. All barbed wire and electrified fences are declared nuisances affecting health, safety, peace and general welfare, and are prohibited, in the public nuisance chapter of the city code, alongside abandoned excavations and unguarded dangerous machinery. That matters because the remedy is abatement rather than a zoning enforcement action, and because it reaches an existing fence as readily as a new one. Three exceptions are listed. The prohibition does not apply in the rural residential and agricultural zoning districts. It does not apply in a commercial or industrial zoned area where the wire is used in connection with security fencing and the first strand sits at least six feet above normal grade. And it does not apply on property owned or leased by a federal, county, state, city or other government subdivision. The land development code itself names no fence material at all.
Barbed and electrified wire fences. All barbed wire or electrified fences.
The answer turns on the zoning district and who owns the land.
- a house lot in the city
- A public nuisance, prohibited.
- a rural residential or agricultural district
- Permitted.
- commercial or industrial security fencing
- First strand at six feet or higher. 6 ft
- government property
- Outside the prohibition.
Also on materials in St. Cloud
- 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 St. Cloud
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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 St. Cloud 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 St. Cloud
- 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
11 documents, of which 3 were published by St. Cloud 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 St. CloudSt. Cloud Land Development Code, Article 15, On-Site Development Standards, Section 15.5, Accessory Structures and Uses
- 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
- City of St. CloudSt. Cloud Land Development Code, Article 15, Section 15.2(F), View Obstruction
- Minnesota Office of the Revisor of StatutesMinnesota Statutes, Chapter 160, Section 160.2715, Right-of-way use; misdemeanors
- City of St. CloudSt. Cloud Code of Ordinances, Chapter X, Public Nuisances, Section 1005:40, Nuisances affecting health, safety, peace and general welfare
- 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 St. Cloud 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