Fence laws in Woodbury, Minnesota
What the Woodbury municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Woodbury sets no rule of its own, the Minnesota rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Woodbury, Minnesota, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Fences may be placed along property lines in Woodbury provided no damage of any kind results to abutting property, which puts a condition on the placement rather than a distance, and the answer turns on whether the line carries an easement.
- How tall
- Woodbury measures the front of a lot from the house rather than from a setback line, and the answer turns on where the fence sits relative to the house and the lot lines. The figure is 6 feet, for fence behind the front corner of the building.
- Permits
- The Woodbury fence article requires no fence permit, and the answer turns on what the applicant wants that the article does not allow.
- 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 Woodbury obstruction rule is a single sentence and it does two jobs.
- 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
- Woodbury names no materials for a house lot at all, and the answer turns on the district and whether the land is platted.
- 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 Woodbury?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Woodbury answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the line carries an easement.
Fences may be placed along property lines in Woodbury provided no damage of any kind results to abutting property, which puts a condition on the placement rather than a distance. A fence on a property line is also made subject to the easement rule, and that rule is short and unforgiving: any fence placed within an easement that impedes the access or intended use of that easement may be removed by the city or its representative at the expense of the owner. There is no encroachment agreement and no notice period. Orientation is settled in one sentence, with the side of the fence considered the face, defined by where the posts sit, having to face the abutting property. The article opens by saying fences are permitted in all yards subject to its provisions, and it carries a state law reference to the Minnesota fence law and to the local fence viewer statutes on legal and sufficient fences, which is where the cost of a shared farm fence is actually settled.
Fences may be placed along property lines provided no damage of any kind results to abutting property. Fences placed on property lines are subject to section 6-146, easements.
The answer turns on whether the line carries an easement.
- a plain lot line
- A fence may sit on it.
- an easement
- Removed by the city at the owner expense.
- the face of the fence
- Faces the abutting property.
- cost sharing
- Left to the state fence law.
Also on fences on the property line in Woodbury
- 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 Woodbury?
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Woodbury answers this, but the answer changes depending on where the fence sits relative to the house and the lot lines.
Woodbury measures the front of a lot from the house rather than from a setback line. A fence up to six feet may be erected on the rear lot line and the side lot lines and may return to the front corner of the principal building, and it may come no closer to the street than that corner. Forward of the corner a side lot line fence is held to four feet, and a fence over thirty inches extending across a front yard is not permitted at all in a platted residential area. In a rear yard a fence may reach eight feet, but only where it stands ten feet off the side lines and thirty-five feet off the rear line, which is a long way back and effectively reserves eight feet for a deep lot. Business and industrial districts take six feet on the lot line, or eight with a security arm for barbed wire under a special use permit, and a fence there may go higher still so long as it stays out of the front and side yards, ten feet off the rear line, and no taller than the principal building.
A fence up to six feet in height may be erected on the rear lot line, the side lot lines and it may return to the front corner of the principal building and shall not be closer to the street than the front corner of the principal building.
The answer turns on where the fence sits relative to the house and the lot lines.
- behind the front corner of the house
- Six feet. 6 ft
- across a platted front yard
- Thirty inches. 30 in
- a side line forward of the corner
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a deep rear yard
- Eight feet, ten off the sides and thirty-five off the rear. 35 ft
Also on fence height in Woodbury
- 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 Woodbury?
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Woodbury answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the applicant wants that the article does not allow.
The Woodbury fence article requires no fence permit. What it names is two ways past the rules. A fence in a business or industrial district may go to eight feet with a security arm for barbed wire subject to a special use permit, which is a public process rather than a counter decision. And appeals from the provisions of the article may be made under the variance procedures in the zoning chapter, so a homeowner who wants a fence the article does not allow applies for a variance rather than asking the building official. Two cross references pull other permits in. Fencing around a private swimming pool has to comply with the swimming pool chapter, which carries its own requirements. And a fence in an easement may simply be removed by the city at the expense of the owner, with no permit or agreement available to protect it. All fences have to be properly maintained with respect to appearance and safety.
Appeals from the provisions of this article may be made pursuant to the variance procedures in chapter 24, article II, division 5.
6-137, with 6-140(b) and 6-139
The answer turns on what the applicant wants that the article does not allow.
- an ordinary fence
- No fence permit named.
- barbed wire on a security arm
- A special use permit.
- anything the article forbids
- A zoning variance.
- a pool fence
- The swimming pool chapter applies.
Also on permits in Woodbury
- 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 Woodbury
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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 Woodbury 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 Woodbury
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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 Woodbury 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 Woodbury
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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 Woodbury 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 Woodbury
- no rule, documents checkedThe article states six different heights and never says what they are measured from. No grade is named anywhere in it, so on a sloping lot it is unsettled whether six feet is read from the high side or the low side. A fence on a berm is not mentioned, a fence on a retaining wall is not mentioned, and nothing stops an owner building the ground up before setting posts. Post caps and finials get no allowance, so a post standing above the top rail has nothing in the article excusing it. One height in the article is tied to something rather than to the ground, with a business district fence not permitted to exceed the height of the principal structure, and that is the closest the article comes to naming a reference point. The absence is more noticeable here than in most codes because Woodbury is precise about horizontal distances, specifying ten feet, thirty-five feet and the front corner of the building. 6-140Woodbury · Building code
Fence rules for corner lots in Woodbury
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Woodbury answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The Woodbury obstruction rule is a single sentence and it does two jobs. No fence may be constructed in a manner that would block the view of vehicular traffic or restrict snow plowing of streets. The first half is the ordinary visibility standard, written as a standard rather than a triangle, with no leg length, no height band and no reference to an engineering manual that would supply them. The second half is unique in this set: a fence that gets in the way of a plow is prohibited on the same footing as one that blocks a driver view. In a city that clears snow from November through March, a fence built close to the curb line collects the windrow and becomes an obstacle for the blade, and Woodbury is the only city here that says so in its ordinance. Nothing in the sentence limits it to corner lots, so a mid-block fence set too close to the street is caught as readily as one at an intersection.
No fence shall be constructed in a manner that would block the view of vehicular traffic or restrict snow plowing of streets.
Also on corner visibility in Woodbury
- 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 Woodbury
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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 Woodbury 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 Woodbury
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Woodbury answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district and whether the land is platted.
Woodbury names no materials for a house lot at all. Its one materials rule covers the commercial, office, business park and city center districts, where a fence has to be high-quality vinyl coated chain link of at least nine gauge with a required top rail support, brick, stone, wrought iron, decorative metal, or another material the city approves. Nine gauge is a thicker wire than the twelve gauge floor Bloomington sets, so the standard is demanding, and requiring the top rail as part of the material specification rather than as a separate construction rule is unusual. The only prohibition that reaches a house is short: barbed wire and electric fencing are prohibited in platted areas. Land that has never been platted, which in a city that grew outward from farmland still exists, is therefore outside that ban, and the business district rules allow barbed wire on a security arm with a special use permit.
In commercial, office, business park and city center zoning districts, fence materials shall be high-quality vinyl-coated chain link (minimum 9 gauge thickness with a required top rail support), brick, stone, wrought iron, decorative metal or other such material as approved by the city.
The answer turns on the district and whether the land is platted.
- a commercial or office district
- Nine gauge coated chain link, masonry or metal.
- a platted residential area
- No barbed wire and no electric fence.
- unplatted land
- The prohibition does not reach it.
- a business district security arm
- Barbed wire by special use permit.
Also on materials in Woodbury
- 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 Woodbury
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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 Woodbury 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 Woodbury
- 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 Woodbury 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 WoodburyWoodbury Code of Ordinances, Chapter 6, Buildings and Building Regulations, Article IV, Fences
- 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 Woodbury 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