Fence laws in Springfield, Missouri
What the Springfield municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Springfield sets no rule of its own, the Missouri rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Springfield, Missouri, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Springfield states no setback for a fence from a lot line, and the answer turns on which yard the fence stands in. The figure is 0 feet, for setback from a lot line.
- How tall
- Springfield allows a fence of up to seven feet in any yard except a front yard, listing it among the things that are not treated as obstructions in a required yard, and the answer turns on the yard. The figure is 7 feet, for fence in a side or rear yard.
- Permits
- Springfield requires a building permit to construct a fence in any required front yard and says in the same sentence that it is issued at no charge, and the answer turns on which yard the fence stands in.
- Pool barriers
- Springfield sets no statewide pool barrier rule. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Spite fences
- Springfield has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Springfield measures a front yard fence above yard grade and uses that phrase twice, once for the four foot limit and once inside the open void calculation. The figure is 4 feet, for front yard height measured above yard grade.
- Corner lots
- Nothing over two feet may stand inside a Springfield sight triangle, whether it is a wall, fence, other structure, hedge, tree, shrub, flower, other vegetation or landscaping material, and the answer turns on how the two streets are classified. The figure is 2 feet, for height limit inside a sight triangle.
- Retaining walls
- Springfield leaves retaining walls to the building code each county, fire protection district or city adopts by reference in its own ordinance.
- Materials
- Springfield names no prohibited material and instead writes out, in detail almost nobody else matches, how to prove a front yard fence is open enough, and the answer turns on how the fence is framed and what it is set between. The figure is 4 inches, for widest a post or cross bar may be and still be excluded.
- 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 Springfield?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Springfield answers this, but the answer changes depending on which yard the fence stands in.
Springfield states no setback for a fence from a lot line. It gets a fence into a required yard by listing it among the permitted projections and structures that are not considered obstructions there, alongside eaves, fire escapes, flag poles, statuary, arbors and trellises. A retaining wall is on the same list and is permitted in any required yard without qualification. Other items on that list carry distances a fence does not: an open terrace has to stay ten feet from the rear or front lot line, three feet from a side line on an interior lot and five feet from the side line next to the street on a corner lot. The controlling rule for a fence is instead about sight, since no wall, fence or other structure may be erected in a required front yard so as to obstruct the view except as the subsection allows.
On any lot on which a front yard is required by this article, no wall, fence or other structure shall be erected and no hedge, tree, shrub, or other growth or object of any kind shall be maintained in such location within such required front yard so as to obstruct the view, except as permitted by this subsection.
Section 36-453(5)(a)6, with (6)(a)1
The answer turns on which yard the fence stands in.
- a lot line
- No setback stated. 0 ft
- a required yard
- A fence is not an obstruction there.
- a retaining wall
- Permitted in any required yard.
- an open terrace
- Three to ten feet off the lines, unlike a fence. 3 ft
Also on fences on the property line in Springfield
- set in state lawA 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. RSMo § 272.060Missouri · Statute
- 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
How tall can a fence be in Springfield?
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Springfield answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard.
Springfield allows a fence of up to seven feet in any yard except a front yard, listing it among the things that are not treated as obstructions in a required yard. In a front yard the limit is four feet above yard grade and the fence may not exceed fifty percent screening. Seven feet is a foot more than the usual six and it applies to the side yard as well as the rear. A hedge, shrub or other vegetation planted to form a continuous line of growth in a front yard is held to the same four feet, so a planted screen gains nothing over a built one there. Where the city requires screening rather than permitting a fence the numbers come from a different section, which asks for at least four feet beside a parking area and a solid six foot fence or wall around a household resource recovery collection center.
Fences not exceeding seven feet in height and which comply with the provisions of subsection (6).
Section 36-453(5)(b)3 and (6)(a)2
The answer turns on the yard.
- any yard but the front
- Seven feet. 7 ft
- a front yard
- Four feet, half open. 4 ft
- a hedge at the front
- Also four feet.
- a required parking screen
- Four feet, at least.
Also on fence height in Springfield
- no rule, documents checkedMissouri 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. RSMo ch. 272Missouri · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Springfield?
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Springfield answers this, but the answer changes depending on which yard the fence stands in.
Springfield requires a building permit to construct a fence in any required front yard and says in the same sentence that it is issued at no charge. Charging nothing while still requiring the paperwork is an unusual choice, and it means the city sees the front yard fence and gets to check the four foot limit and the fifty percent open test before it goes up rather than after. No permit is named for a fence anywhere else on the lot. Where the yard grade itself is in question, the section gives the answer to the director of the department of building development services. A fence or hedge in a front yard that exceeds the permitted height can still be allowed as a special exception, and the board of adjustment handles that route.
A building permit, at no charge, shall be required to construct a fence in any required front yard.
Section 36-453(6)(a)2d, with (6)(a)2c
The answer turns on which yard the fence stands in.
- a front yard fence
- A building permit, free.
- any other yard
- No permit named.
- a dispute about yard grade
- The building development services director decides.
- a taller front yard fence
- A special exception route exists.
Also on permits in Springfield
- set in state lawMissouri 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. RSMo § 67.280Missouri · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Springfield
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Springfield 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 Springfield 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 Springfield
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Springfield 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 Springfield 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 Springfield
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Springfield answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Springfield measures a front yard fence above yard grade and uses that phrase twice, once for the four foot limit and once inside the open void calculation. Then it does something practical that most codes skip: it names the person who settles an argument about it, sending any question regarding the yard grade to the director of the department of building development services. That turns an undefined term into a workable one. What remains open is the seven foot limit for a side or rear yard, which carries no reference at all, and a fence on top of a retaining wall, which is not addressed although a retaining wall is permitted in any required yard. The sight triangle rules use a different datum again, pruning a tree to eight feet above the lowest grade of the intersecting streets.
Open fences not exceeding 50 percent screening and four feet in height above yard grade shall not be deemed to obstruct the view.
4 ftfront yard height measured above yard grade
Also on how height is measured in Springfield
- left to the townMissouri 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. RSMo 89.020.1Missouri · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Springfield
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Springfield answers this, but the answer changes depending on how the two streets are classified.
Nothing over two feet may stand inside a Springfield sight triangle, whether it is a wall, fence, other structure, hedge, tree, shrub, flower, other vegetation or landscaping material. One exception is written in: a single tree with a single trunk is allowed if it is pruned to eight feet above the lowest grade of the intersecting streets. The size of the triangle is not a single number but comes from a table that pairs the classification of each of the two streets, from expressway down to low-volume residential local, and gives a category for each pairing, measured along the required right-of-way. At a driveway the triangle is measured differently again, sixty-five feet down the street pavement on the left and twelve feet up the driveway. The city traffic engineer may require more, and the administrative review committee may allow a modified triangle with the engineer agreeing.
No wall, fence, other structure, hedge, tree, shrub, flower, other vegetation, or landscaping materials over two feet in height shall be placed within the sight triangle formed by the intersection of two public streets, as defined in subsection (6)(b)1. or within the sight triangle formed by the intersection of a public street and a driveway, as defined in subsection (6)(b)2.
The answer turns on how the two streets are classified.
- inside the triangle
- Two feet. 2 ft
- the size of it
- From a table of street classifications.
- a driveway
- Sixty-five feet along the street. 65 ft
- a single trunked tree
- Allowed if pruned to eight feet.
Also on corner visibility in Springfield
- 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 Springfield
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Springfield 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 Springfield 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 Springfield
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Springfield answers this, but the answer changes depending on how the fence is framed and what it is set between.
Springfield names no prohibited material and instead writes out, in detail almost nobody else matches, how to prove a front yard fence is open enough. The open void square footage is the area defined by the length of the fence and a height of four feet above yard grade, less the square footage of screening within it, divided back into the total and multiplied by a hundred. The framing is excluded from the screening figure, meaning the vertical posts and no more than two horizontal cross bars between them, provided the posts and bars are no more than four inches wide and the posts sit at least eight feet apart. Brick or stone pillars, by contrast, count as screening. So a fence between masonry piers fails the test sooner than the same fence on wooden posts. Where the code requires a screen it lists four alternates: a masonry or concrete wall, a landscaped earthen berm, a solid wood fence, or an evergreen hedge.
The fence's framing (the vertical posts supporting the fence from the ground and no more than two horizontal cross bars between the posts) shall not be included in the calculation of the total square footage of screening, provided the framing posts and cross bars do not exceed a four-inch width and the posts are spaced at least eight feet apart.
The answer turns on how the fence is framed and what it is set between.
- the framing
- Not counted as screening. 4 in
- the posts
- Eight feet apart at least. 8 ft
- brick or stone pillars
- Counted as screening.
- a required screen
- Wall, berm, wood fence or evergreen hedge.
Also on materials in Springfield
- 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 Springfield
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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 Springfield 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 Springfield
- 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
14 documents, of which 1 was published by Springfield 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 SpringfieldSpringfield Land Development Code, Article III, Zoning Regulations, Division 5, Supplemental District Regulations, Section 36-453, Supplemental open space and yard regulations
- 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
- 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 Springfield 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