Fence laws in Rochester, New York
What the Rochester municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Rochester sets no rule of its own, the New York rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Rochester, New York, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- In a Rochester nonresidential district a fence or wall along any street frontage has to sit behind a ten foot landscaped setback, so the fence cannot come to the sidewalk. The figure is 10 feet, for landscaped setback behind which a nonresidential fence stands.
- How tall
- Six feet in the side and rear yards of a Rochester residential or village center lot, and four feet in the front yard, with a retaining wall made necessary by a natural change in grade the only thing excused from the front yard figure, and the answer turns on the district, which yard the fence is in, and what the lot touches. The figure is 6 feet, for fence in a residential side or rear yard.
- Permits
- New York writes one code for the whole state and then hands the permit counter to local government.
- Pool barriers
- New York requires a barrier around a pool at a house, and the height is four feet. The figure is 4 feet, for permanent barrier around a residential swimming pool.
- Spite fences
- New York has a spite fence law with a ten foot trigger. The figure is 10 feet, for height above which a fence blocking light or air can be declared a private nuisance.
- Measured from what
- Rochester measures every fence and wall from the average finished grade within two feet of the fence line, so a hollow or a mound right at the posts is averaged out instead of deciding the number. The figure is 2 feet, for distance from the fence line over which finished grade is averaged.
- Corner lots
- At a Rochester street intersection in a residential district, nothing over thirty inches may stand inside a triangle drawn thirty feet back along each street right of way line. The figure is 30 feet, for leg of the corner triangle along each right of way line.
- Retaining walls
- Rochester prohibits wooden retaining walls in a single sentence with no exception attached, which rules out the railroad tie and timber crib walls common on older lots.
- Materials
- A fence in a Rochester residential or village center front yard may be no more than sixty percent solid, so a picket fence is fine and a stockade one is not. The figure is 60 percent, for most solid a front yard fence may be.
- Livestock
- New York prints one build in its fence article, and it is wire. The figure is 4 strands, for minimum number of wire strands in a division fence. It reaches a fence on the line between two neighbors only.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Rochester?
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Rochester answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
In a Rochester nonresidential district a fence or wall along any street frontage has to sit behind a ten foot landscaped setback, so the fence cannot come to the sidewalk. The one thing allowed inside that strip is a decorative fence or wall of no more than three feet, and then only in conjunction with landscaping. Rochester also allows a fence on a lot that has no principal structure at all, which several cities forbid.
Within nonresidential districts, a ten-foot perimeter landscaped setback shall be required in conjunction with any fence or wall proposed along any street frontage, except a decorative fence or wall of no more than three feet in height in conjunction with landscaping may encroach in the required setback area.
10 ftlandscaped setback behind which a nonresidential fence stands
Also on fences on the property line in Rochester
- set in state lawNew York Town Law splits a fence on the line between the two neighbors in fair shares, unless they agree on something else. The rule turns on animals. A neighbor who has kept no animals on the land in the five years before the fence was built or fixed owes nothing. A neighbor who does build or fix it can get back twenty percent of the other side's share for each year that land was used for animals. Where a stream forms the line, the fence viewers settle the split. Town Law 300New York · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Rochester?
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Rochester answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, which yard the fence is in, and what the lot touches.
Six feet in the side and rear yards of a Rochester residential or village center lot, and four feet in the front yard, with a retaining wall made necessary by a natural change in grade the only thing excused from the front yard figure. Where such a lot touches a commercial or industrial district and use, eight feet is allowed on the shared property line alone. A nonresidential district gets eight feet throughout, and a fence around a private or public tennis court, or a public basketball court, may reach twelve.
No fence or wall in a residential or village center district shall exceed six feet in height in the side and rear yards, except, where contiguous to a commercial or industrial district and use, a fence height of 8 feet shall be allowed in the side or rear yard on the shared property line only.
The answer turns on the district, which yard the fence is in, and what the lot touches.
- a residential or village center side or rear yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a residential or village center front yard
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a nonresidential district, or the shared line with one
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a fence enclosing a tennis court or a public basketball court
- Twelve feet. 12 ft
Also on fence height in Rochester
- no rule, documents checkedNew York does not limit how tall a fence at a house can be. The fence article of the Town Law is about who pays for a shared fence and never caps the height. The only height anywhere in New York fence law is the ten feet in the spite fence section, and that is the point where a nuisance claim becomes possible, not a limit. Villages, towns and cities set the height rule. Town Law 300New York · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Rochester?
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New York answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
New York writes one code for the whole state and then hands the permit counter to local government. Executive Law section 381 puts running and enforcing the code on every local government, lets a town pass the job to its county, and lets the Secretary of State step in when local enforcement drops below the state minimum. So whether a fence needs a permit is answered by the local code office, not by one statewide line.
This one is New York law, not Rochester law. All New York findings
every local government shall administer and enforce the uniform fire prevention and building code
Pool fence requirements in Rochester
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New York answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
New York requires a barrier around a pool at a house, and the height is four feet. The state building standards office publishes the rules in a technical bulletin. The gap between the barrier and the ground stays under two inches, and the barrier cannot go where something next to it can be climbed to get over. While a pool is being built, a temporary barrier of at least 48 inches has to be up.
This one is New York law, not Rochester law. All New York findings
The top of the barrier must be at least 4 feet (48 inches) high.
4 ftpermanent barrier around a residential swimming pool
Spite fence laws in Rochester
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New York answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
New York has a spite fence law with a ten foot trigger. A fence, or anything built like a fence, that goes over ten feet and cuts off light or air from a building next door can be declared a private nuisance by the supreme court. The court can then order the owner to stop keeping it up. The section ends by protecting an owner who built in good faith.
This one is New York law, not Rochester law. All New York findings
Whenever the owner or lessees of land shall erect or shall have erected thereon any fence or structure in the nature of a fence which shall exceed ten feet in height, to exclude the owner or occupant of a structure on adjoining land from the enjoyment of light or air, the owner or occupant who shall thereby be deprived of light or air shall be entitled to maintain an action in the supreme court to have such fence or structure adjudged a private nuisance.
10 ftheight above which a fence blocking light or air can be declared a private nuisance
How fence height is measured in Rochester
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Rochester answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Rochester measures every fence and wall from the average finished grade within two feet of the fence line, so a hollow or a mound right at the posts is averaged out instead of deciding the number. It is the same method Buffalo uses at the other end of the state, and it is kinder to a sloping lot than the highest adjacent grade rule common further south.
The height of all fences or walls shall be measured from the average finished grade within two feet of the fence line.
2 ftdistance from the fence line over which finished grade is averaged
Also on how height is measured in Rochester
- left to the townNew York sets no fence height for a house, so it never says where a height starts. Town Law 261 lets a town board set the height, number of stories and size of buildings and other structures by local law, and that power covers the part of the town outside any village or city. Both the height limit for a fence and the point the height is counted from are written by the town board. N.Y. Town Law 261New York · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Rochester
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Rochester answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
At a Rochester street intersection in a residential district, nothing over thirty inches may stand inside a triangle drawn thirty feet back along each street right of way line. The exceptions are named and narrow: an existing building, a post, a column or a tree. A new fence gets no such allowance, and the rule applies in residential districts only.
In residential districts, at all street intersections, no obstruction to vision (other than an existing building, post, column or tree) exceeding 30 inches in height shall be erected or maintained on any lot within the triangle formed by the street lines on such lot and a line drawn between points along such street line rights-of-way 30 feet distant from the point of intersection.
30 ftleg of the corner triangle along each right of way line
Also on corner visibility in Rochester
- left to the townNew York leaves the corner to the town, village or city. Town Law section 261 lets a town board set the height of structures and the size of yards and open spaces by local law. The highway title was read as well. Highway Law section 319 treats a fence as an obstruction when it stands inside the bounds of the highway, which turns on where the right of way line falls and not on the view across a corner. N.Y. Town Law 261New York · Zoning code
Retaining wall rules in Rochester
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Rochester answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Rochester prohibits wooden retaining walls in a single sentence with no exception attached, which rules out the railroad tie and timber crib walls common on older lots. Retaining walls are otherwise treated gently: one made necessary by a natural change in the topographic grade is the only structure excused from the four foot front yard limit. Every required fence and wall has to be kept up, and repaired or replaced when necessary.
Wooden retaining walls are prohibited.
Also on retaining walls in Rochester
- left to the townNew York runs one code statewide and it prints no rule for a wall that holds back earth. For houses the rule is the Residential Code of New York State, a book published by the International Code Council and taken into Part 1220 by reference. The section listing the changes New York makes to that book was read in full, and it covers snow load, insulation, oil tanks, sewer depth and repair work, never that kind of wall. 19 NYCRR 1219.2(a)(8)New York · Building code
Fence materials allowed in Rochester
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Rochester answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A fence in a Rochester residential or village center front yard may be no more than sixty percent solid, so a picket fence is fine and a stockade one is not. Chain link is barred from the front yard of a residential structure, and from any lot in a residential or village center district, unless an administrative adjustment is granted. Every solid fence turns its finished side outward with the bracing inside, and the outward face has to be of similar materials and colors to the inward one, which stops a fence being dressed on one side only.
In residential and village center districts, fences not more than sixty-percent solid may be located in any front yard.
60%most solid a front yard fence may be
Also on materials in Rochester
- set in state lawNew York names barbed wire in its town fence law and allows it in a fence on the line as long as the fence is built a set way. It carries at least four strands, the posts stand no more than fourteen feet apart, and the town fence viewers set the spacing of the posts and supports. The owner has to fix the fence as soon as it becomes unsafe. The section does not let railroad companies string barbed wire along their lines where the railroad law bars it. N.Y. Town Law 309New York · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Rochester
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New York answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
New York prints one build in its fence article, and it is wire. A fence on the line made of barbed or other wire carries at least four strands. The town fence viewers set how far apart the posts and supports go, and the posts may never stand more than fourteen feet apart. Past that, the fence has to be built solidly and hold the kind of animals usually pastured on either side. A town cannot ban a wire fence that meets this section.
This one is New York law, not Rochester law. All New York findings
The fence shall be of at least four strands of wire with the posts and supports of such fence, at such distances apart, as the fence viewers of the town may prescribe, but the posts thereof shall be no further apart than fourteen feet
4 strandsminimum number of wire strands in a division fence
Also on agricultural fencing in Rochester
- left to the townNew York sets no statewide standard for what makes a shared fence good enough. The voters of each town make that rule for their own town. Once a town has one, a neighbor whose fence falls short loses the right to collect for damage done by an animal that was lawfully kept next door and came through the bad fence. Where nobody raises the question, a fence is taken as good enough until someone proves otherwise. Town Law 307New York · Statute
- set in state lawNew York lets two neighbors turn the fence rule off between them. Each one normally builds and keeps up a fair share of the fence on the line, but both may agree to let the land lie open instead. While that agreement holds, neither can sue the other for damage done by animals that were lawfully on the other's land. Either one can end it with written notice, and then both go back to building their shares. Town Law 301New York · Statute
Documents behind this page
10 documents, of which 1 was published by Rochester itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- New York State SenateNew York Town Law, Article 18, Fences and Fence Viewers
- City of RochesterZoning Code, Chapter 120, Article XX, Section 120-167, Fences and walls
- New York State SenateNew York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law, Article 8
- New York State SenateNew York Executive Law, Article 18
- New York State Department of State, Division of Building Standards and CodesTechnical Bulletin, Uniform Code Swimming Pool and Spa Requirements Summary
- New York State SenateNew York Consolidated Laws, Town Law, Article 16, Zoning and Planning
- New York State Department of StateOfficial Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York, Title 19, Chapter XXXIII, Subchapter A, Part 1219, Section 1219.2 Definitions
- New York State LegislatureLaws of New York, Town Law, Article 18, Fences, Strays and Pounds, Section 309, Use of barbed or other wire for division fence
- New York State LegislatureNew York Town Law, Article 18, Fences, Strays and Pounds, Section 307, Damages for insufficient fence
- New York State LegislatureNew York Town Law, Article 18, Fences, Strays and Pounds, Section 301, Lands lying open
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 Rochester publishes, plus the New York rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in New York 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