Fence laws in Columbia, Missouri
What the Columbia municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Columbia sets no rule of its own, the Missouri rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Columbia, Missouri, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A fence on the property line in Missouri starts with written notice to the neighbor.
- How tall
- Columbia sets no maximum fence height. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Permits
- Missouri has no building code of its own and hands the job to local government by statute.
- Pool barriers
- Columbia sets no statewide pool barrier rule. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Spite fences
- Columbia has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Columbia leaves the measuring rule to the legislative body of each city, town and village.
- Corner lots
- Columbia leaves corner clearance to city policy based on the Missouri Department of Transportation Engineering Policy Guide. The figure is 3 feet, for mature height of plant material allowed in the triangle.
- Retaining walls
- Columbia leaves retaining walls to the building code each county, fire protection district or city adopts by reference in its own ordinance.
- Materials
- Columbia puts its two hard fence rules in the offences chapter rather than in the development code, and both carry a misdemeanor, and the answer turns on whether the fence carries current and where it runs.
- Livestock
- A lawful fence in Missouri is posts and wire or boards at least four feet high, once the two owners agree on it or the associate circuit court decides it. The figure is 4 feet, for minimum height of a lawful fence in Missouri.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Columbia?
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Missouri answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A fence on the property line in Missouri starts with written notice to the neighbor. The two owners then meet, and each one builds or fixes the half on their own right. Right means standing at the middle of the shared line, on their own land, facing the fence. If they cannot agree, an associate circuit judge names viewers to split the cost.
This one is Missouri law, not Columbia law. All Missouri findings
Whenever the owner of real estate desires to construct or repair a lawful fence, as defined by section 272.020, which divides his or her land from that of another, such owner shall give written notice of such intention to the adjoining landowner.
Also on fences on the property line in Columbia
- set in state lawMissouri says what happens when one side does not build its half. If either side fails to build or fix its part in a reasonable time, the other can ask the associate circuit court for permission to do the work the way the court directs. The court then orders the other side to pay its share of the whole cost, plus court costs and reasonable lawyer fees. That order is a lien on the other side's land, meaning the debt is attached to the property until it is paid. RSMo § 272.070Missouri · Statute
- set in state lawMissouri also covers the case where only one neighbor wants a fence. That neighbor may build the whole thing and report the total cost to the associate circuit judge, who has the cost written onto each deed. If the other owner later runs livestock against that fence, the builder gets back half the cost of building it, split the way section 272.060 says. RSMo § 272.132Missouri · Statute
- set in state lawThe duty in Missouri does not end once the fence is up. Anyone who owns part of a fence on a property line keeps that part in good repair, to the standard in Chapter 272. The same section gives a right to cross the line. The person doing the repair may step onto the land next door to do it. RSMo § 272.110Missouri · Statute
- no rule, documents checkedColumbia states no setback for a fence from a lot line and gives no rule about which side faces the neighbor. The definitions article does make one thing clear that matters elsewhere in the code: a structure includes fences, walls and retaining walls, and a fence is a freestanding structure resting on or partially buried in the ground, used for confinement, screening, enclosure, security or partition, excluding a hedge or other natural growth, with a railing provided for public safety expressly not a fence. That definition pulls a fence into any rule written about structures generally. What the code does place on a property line is required screening, which has to be placed on private property and continuously maintained in good condition. Section 29-1.11Columbia · Zoning code
How tall can a fence be in Columbia?
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Columbia law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Missouri sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. Chapter 272 defines a lawful fence by whether it keeps livestock in, not by a maximum height for a yard fence, and Missouri runs no statewide building code for homes that could add one. The city or county sets the limit.
This one is Missouri law, not Columbia law. All Missouri findings
Documents read before writing that:
- RSMo ch. 272Missouri Revisor of Statutes
- RSMo ch. 701Missouri Revisor of Statutes
Also on fence height in Columbia
- no rule, documents checkedThe Unified Development Code sets no maximum height for a fence on an ordinary Columbia lot. Every fence height in the chapter belongs to something other than a homeowner choice. A street wall in the M-DT downtown district has to be not less than four feet and not greater than eight, and the front yard fence and privacy fence of that district take their heights from the building form standards rather than from the text. Required screening is written as an opacity rather than a height, asking for at least fifty percent opacity viewed horizontally between one foot and five feet above grade at the screening line, or eighty percent where a more intense buffer applies. Outside those cases the code defines what a fence is, lists it among the things that count as a structure, and never says how tall one may be. Section 29-4.4Columbia · Zoning code
Do I need a permit for a fence in Columbia?
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Missouri answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Missouri has no building code of its own and hands the job to local government by statute. A county, a fire protection district or a city that already has power to pass such a rule may adopt a code by naming it instead of printing all of it, as long as the code is named by date and source. One copy has to sit with the local clerk, open to anyone, for ninety days before the rule passes, and the rule has to state its own penalty rather than borrow one from the code. The codes this covers are building construction and use, mechanical work, plumbing, electrical work and fire prevention.
This one is Missouri law, not Columbia law. All Missouri findings
Any community, if the community otherwise has the power under the law to adopt such an ordinance, may adopt or repeal an ordinance which incorporates by reference the provisions of any code or portions of any code, or any amendment thereof, properly identified as to date and source, without setting forth the provisions of such code in full.
Also on permits in Columbia
- no rule, documents checkedNothing in the Unified Development Code requires a permit for a fence, and nothing exempts one either. The chapter deals with fences through screening and buffering requirements attached to development, so a fence that forms part of required screening is reviewed with the development plan rather than applied for on its own. The two rules that do bite on an ordinary fence, the barbed wire ban along a street and the citywide ban on electric fences, are enforced as misdemeanors in the offences chapter rather than through a permit counter. That makes Columbia unusual in this set: the consequence of building the wrong fence is a criminal charge rather than a refused application. Section 29-4.4Columbia · Zoning code
Pool fence requirements in Columbia
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Columbia law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Missouri sets no statewide fence rule for a swimming pool at a private home. The only pool fencing rules in state regulation sit in health department chapters on public bathing places and on hotels and motels, and both are aimed at pools open to the public. The one place a swimming pool shows up in the statutes is a definition inside a section about what a landowner can be sued for, and it sets no fence at all.
This one is Missouri law, not Columbia law. All Missouri findings
Documents read before writing that:
- RSMo ch. 701Missouri Revisor of Statutes
- RSMo § 537.348Missouri Revisor of Statutes
Spite fence laws in Columbia
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Columbia law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Missouri has no spite fence law. Chapter 272 is the state fence chapter and it runs from what counts as a lawful fence through boundary fences, repairs and local option rules. Nothing in it covers a fence built to hurt a neighbor, and there is no height anywhere in it. A fence like that is an ordinary nuisance question in Missouri.
This one is Missouri law, not Columbia law. All Missouri findings
Documents read before writing that:
- RSMo ch. 272Missouri Revisor of Statutes
- RSMo § 272.060Missouri Revisor of Statutes
How fence height is measured in Columbia
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Columbia does not set this. It leaves it to the legislative body of each city, town and village.
Missouri gives a fence height and never says where to measure it from. Section 272.020 calls a fence of posts and wire or boards at least four feet high a lawful fence, and says nothing about the surface those four feet start at. Section 89.020 then lets every city, town and village set the height of buildings and other structures. So the number for a fence at a house, and the point it is measured from, are both written by the city.
This one is Missouri law, not Columbia law. All Missouri findings
the legislative body of all cities, towns, and villages is hereby empowered to regulate and restrict the height, number of stories, and size of buildings and other structures, the percentage of lot that may be occupied, the size of yards, courts, and other open spaces
The code hands this to the legislative body of each city, town and village, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on how height is measured in Columbia
- no rule, documents checkedWith no general fence height in the code there is nothing for a measuring rule to attach to, and none is written. No grade is named for a fence, a berm is not addressed except as a screening alternative in its own right, and no allowance is made for a post cap. The one place the chapter fixes a vertical reference belongs to required screening, which has to reach at least fifty percent opacity viewed horizontally in the space between one foot and five feet above grade at the screening line, measured at the time of installation, with plant material given four full growing seasons to get there. That is a band above grade rather than a height above ground, and it applies to what a driver or neighbor can see through rather than to how tall a fence may be. Section 29-4.4(d)Columbia · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Columbia
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Columbia does not set this. It leaves it to city policy based on the Missouri Department of Transportation Engineering Policy Guide.
Columbia states the prohibition and then hands the measurement away. On any corner space or lot where a front or side yard is required, and outside the M-DT downtown district, no wall, fence, sign or other structure and no plant growth of a type that would interfere with traffic visibility may stand within a sight triangle, and the triangle itself is set in accordance with city policy based on the Missouri Department of Transportation Engineering Policy Guide. So the distance from the corner and the protected band of heights are not in the ordinance at all, and an owner has to reach a state highway engineering manual and a city policy to find them. The one number the code does give in the same sentence is for planting: material reaching no more than three feet at maturity is allowed.
Sight triangle. Except in the M-DT district (section 29-4.2), on any corner space or lot on which a front or side yard is required, no wall, fence, sign, or other structure or no plant growth of a type within a sight triangle which would interfere with traffic visibility, in accordance with city policy based on the Missouri Department of Transportation's Engineering Policy Guide provided plant material reaching no more than three (3) feet or higher at maturity will be allowed.
3 ftmature height of plant material allowed in the triangle
The code hands this to city policy based on the Missouri Department of Transportation Engineering Policy Guide, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on corner visibility in Columbia
- set in state lawMissouri lists the ways a person may not damage a road, and fencing is one of them. Chapter 229 makes it against the law to block or damage a public road on purpose, including by fencing across or onto the right of way, or by planting a hedge or putting up an ad sign inside the road lines. A road overseer or county highway engineer sends written notice to take it out, and can ask the circuit court for permission to go clear it. The section does not reach charter counties or the City of St. Louis, and it sets no clear view triangle at a corner. Mo. Rev. Stat. 229.150Missouri · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Columbia
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Columbia does not set this. It leaves it to the building code each county, fire protection district or city adopts by reference in its own ordinance.
Missouri puts no retaining wall rule in state law. Section 67.280 lets a county, a fire protection district or a city pass a rule that adopts a building code by naming it. The code has to be named by date and source, and a copy has to sit with the local clerk for ninety days first. So the rule for a wall that holds back earth is whatever the adopted code says, and it changes from one town to the next.
This one is Missouri law, not Columbia law. All Missouri findings
Any community, if the community otherwise has the power under the law to adopt such an ordinance, may adopt or repeal an ordinance which incorporates by reference the provisions of any code or portions of any code, or any amendment thereof, properly identified as to date and source, without setting forth the provisions of such code in full.
The code hands this to the building code each county, fire protection district or city adopts by reference in its own ordinance, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Columbia
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Columbia answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence carries current and where it runs.
Columbia puts its two hard fence rules in the offences chapter rather than in the development code, and both carry a misdemeanor. No person may construct, or permit to be constructed, any fence composed in whole or in part of barbed wire along the line of any street, alley or sidewalk in the city. And no person may construct, or permit to be constructed, any fence charged with electricity at any place within the city limits, with no exception for agriculture, industry or livestock. The development code says nothing about what an ordinary fence may be built from. Where it does name a material it is for something the city requires: a privacy fence in the downtown district has to be opaque wood or masonry and expressly not chain link or any other rolled fence, and a front yard fence there has to be wood picket, wrought iron or a masonry wall.
No person shall construct, or cause or permit to be constructed, any fence charged with electricity at any place within the limits of the city, and whoever shall violate the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.
The answer turns on whether the fence carries current and where it runs.
- an electric fence
- A misdemeanor anywhere in the city.
- barbed wire along a street
- Also a misdemeanor.
- an ordinary fence elsewhere
- No material named.
- a downtown privacy fence
- Opaque wood or masonry, not chain link.
Also on materials in Columbia
- set in state lawMissouri says what a battery charged fence is and blocks every city, county, town and village from banning one. To fit the definition it ties into an alarm that calls law enforcement, sits on land not set aside for homes, and runs off a battery of no more than twelve volts. It also has to stand completely inside a fence or wall that carries no current and is at least five feet tall, stop at ten feet, and carry warning signs no more than sixty feet apart. Whoever installs it has to give the local government written notice once it is up. Mo. Rev. Stat. 67.301Missouri · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Columbia
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Missouri answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A lawful fence in Missouri is posts and wire or boards at least four feet high, once the two owners agree on it or the associate circuit court decides it. The posts go firmly in the ground no more than twelve feet apart. The wire or boards are fastened tight and spaced so horses, cattle and animals like them cannot get through.
This one is Missouri law, not Columbia law. All Missouri findings
Any fence consisting of posts and wire or boards at least four feet high which is mutually agreed upon by adjoining landowners or decided upon by the associate circuit court of the county is a lawful fence.
4 ftminimum height of a lawful fence in Missouri
Also on agricultural fencing in Columbia
- set in state lawThe four feet in Missouri is a minimum, not a maximum. A separate section says nothing in the fence chapter stops either owner from building their own part, or the neighbor's part, better than the chapter asks for. So Chapter 272 sets the least a lawful fence can be and puts no cap on it. RSMo § 272.136Missouri · Statute
Documents behind this page
16 documents, of which 3 were published by Columbia itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Missouri Revisor of StatutesRevised Statutes of Missouri, Chapter 272, Section 272.060, Division fences, rights of parties in, how determined
- Missouri Revisor of StatutesRevised Statutes of Missouri, Chapter 272, Section 272.070, Duty of judge if owners disagree, apportionment of costs
- Missouri Revisor of StatutesRevised Statutes of Missouri, Chapter 272, Section 272.132, Total cost of fence attributable to one landowner, when
- Missouri Revisor of StatutesRevised Statutes of Missouri, Chapter 272, Section 272.110, Division fences to be kept in repair
- City of ColumbiaCode of Ordinances of the City of Columbia, Chapter 29, Unified Development Code, Article 1, General Provisions, Section 29-1.11, Definitions and rules of construction
- City of ColumbiaCode of Ordinances of the City of Columbia, Chapter 29, Unified Development Code, Article 4, Form and Development Controls, Section 29-4.4, Landscaping, screening, and tree preservation
- Missouri Revisor of StatutesRevised Statutes of Missouri, Chapter 272, Fences, Enclosures and Trespassing Animals, full chapter listing
- Missouri Revisor of StatutesRevised Statutes of Missouri, Chapter 701, Minimum Standards for Certain Structures and Materials, full chapter listing
- Missouri Revisor of StatutesRevised Statutes of Missouri, Chapter 67, Section 67.280, Communities may incorporate by reference certain technical codes
- City of ColumbiaCode of Ordinances of the City of Columbia, Chapter 16, Offenses and Miscellaneous Provisions, Article II, Division 15, Sections 16-235 and 16-236
- Missouri Revisor of StatutesRevised Statutes of Missouri, Chapter 537, Section 537.348, Definition of conditional use
- Missouri Revisor of StatutesRevised Statutes of Missouri, Section 89.020, Powers of municipal legislative body
- Missouri Revisor of StatutesRevised Statutes of Missouri, Chapter 229, Section 229.150, Ditches and crossings, how made, obstructions or damage prohibited
- Missouri Revisor of StatutesRevised Statutes of Missouri, Chapter 67, Section 67.301, Battery-charged fence
- Missouri Revisor of StatutesRevised Statutes of Missouri, Chapter 272, Section 272.020, Fencing requirements
- Missouri Revisor of StatutesRevised Statutes of Missouri, Chapter 272, Section 272.136, Landowner may exceed lawful fence requirements
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 Columbia publishes, plus the Missouri rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Missouri 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