Fence laws in Schenectady, New York
What the Schenectady municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Schenectady sets no rule of its own, the New York rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Schenectady, New York, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Schenectady states the orientation rule in one line with no exception: the finished or ornamental side faces out from the property.
- How tall
- Schenectady sets its heights in a table, Schedule D, row by location rather than by district, and the answer turns on where on the lot the fence stands, and how far back from the sidewalk it is. The figure is 4 feet, for fence in a front yard or on a street line.
- Permits
- Schenectady applies its fence standards to five verbs, not one.
- 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
- Schenectady leaves the measuring rule to the town board, by local law or ordinance. It reaches the part of a town outside the limits of any incorporated village or city only.
- Corner lots
- On a Schenectady corner lot where a front yard is required, nothing over four feet above the established grade may be grown, kept or built within twenty feet of where the curb lines meet. The figure is 20 feet, for distance from the intersection of the curb lines.
- Retaining walls
- Schenectady leaves retaining walls to the Residential Code of New York State, published by the International Code Council and incorporated by reference in 19 NYCRR Part 1220.
- Materials
- Schenectady names six things that may not be a fence or any part of one, and the list is aimed at improvised fencing rather than at security wire alone: barbed wire, chicken wire, pallets, plywood, sheet metal and construction fencing.
- 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 Schenectady?
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Schenectady answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Schenectady states the orientation rule in one line with no exception: the finished or ornamental side faces out from the property. There is no allowance for two owners to agree otherwise and no separate treatment of the boundary between two houses, so the posts and rails stay on the owner’s side everywhere.
The finished or ornamental side shall face out from the property.
Also on fences on the property line in Schenectady
- 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 Schenectady?
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Schenectady answers this, but the answer changes depending on where on the lot the fence stands, and how far back from the sidewalk it is.
Schenectady sets its heights in a table, Schedule D, row by location rather than by district. Four feet in a front yard, on the street side yard of a corner lot behind the front building line, on the street line of a rear yard, and within four feet of where a driveway meets a city street line. Six feet in a side yard between residential buildings, in all other rear yards, and for anything the chapter does not name elsewhere. The four foot rows rise to six where the fence sits more than four feet back from the sidewalk or street line. An ornamental fence as defined in the chapter gets five feet.
70% if less than 5 feet from adjacent house; none if at least 5 feet
The answer turns on where on the lot the fence stands, and how far back from the sidewalk it is.
- a front yard, a corner lot street side yard, or the street line of a rear yard
- Four feet, no more than seventy percent opaque. 4 ft
- more than four feet back from the sidewalk or street line
- Six feet, with no opacity limit. 6 ft
- a side yard between residential buildings, or any other rear yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- an ornamental fence as defined in the chapter
- Five feet. 5 ft
Also on fence height in Schenectady
- 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 Schenectady?
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Schenectady answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Schenectady applies its fence standards to five verbs, not one. Building a fence is covered, and so is altering, repairing, enlarging or relocating an existing one, with no percentage threshold and no exemption for small work. Landscaping is caught on the same terms as a fence or a wall throughout the section.
No fence, wall or landscaping shall be erected or constructed, nor shall any existing fence, wall or landscaping be altered, repaired, enlarged or relocated, except in compliance with this article, the Zoning Chapter and other applicable laws.
Also on permits in Schenectady
- set in state lawNew 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. Exec. Law 381(2)New York · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Schenectady
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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 Schenectady 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 Schenectady
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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 Schenectady 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 Schenectady
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Schenectady does not set this. It leaves it to the town board, by local law or ordinance.
New 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.
This one is New York law, not Schenectady law. All New York findings
the town board is hereby empowered by local law or ordinance to regulate and restrict the height, number of stories and size of buildings and other structures
The code hands this to the town board, by local law or ordinance, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence rules for corner lots in Schenectady
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Schenectady answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
On a Schenectady corner lot where a front yard is required, nothing over four feet above the established grade may be grown, kept or built within twenty feet of where the curb lines meet. Two things are excepted: a structure or tree that is already there, provided the foliage is at least eight feet off the ground, and a four foot fence that is no more than seventy percent opaque. So the corner rule stops a solid fence rather than every fence.
On any corner lot on which a front yard is required by this chapter, no fence, wall or other obstruction exceeding four feet in height above the established grade shall be grown, maintained or erected within 20 feet of the intersection of the curblines forming such corner.
20 ftdistance from the intersection of the curb lines
Also on corner visibility in Schenectady
- 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 Schenectady
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Schenectady does not set this. It leaves it to the Residential Code of New York State, published by the International Code Council and incorporated by reference in 19 NYCRR Part 1220.
New 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.
This one is New York law, not Schenectady law. All New York findings
2020 RCNYS. The publication entitled 2020 Residential Code of New York State (publication date: November 2019), published by the International Code Council, Inc. The 2020 RCNYS is incorporated by reference in Part 1220 of this Title.
The code hands this to the Residential Code of New York State, published by the International Code Council and incorporated by reference in 19 NYCRR Part 1220, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Schenectady
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Schenectady answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Schenectady names six things that may not be a fence or any part of one, and the list is aimed at improvised fencing rather than at security wire alone: barbed wire, chicken wire, pallets, plywood, sheet metal and construction fencing. Pallets and construction fencing are rarely named anywhere else. Nothing is named as required, so any other material is open.
Barbed wire, chicken wire, pallets, plywood, sheet metal, and construction fencing shall not be used as a fencing material or as any part of a fence.
Also on materials in Schenectady
- 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 Schenectady
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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 Schenectady 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 Schenectady
- 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 Schenectady itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- New York State SenateNew York Town Law, Article 18, Fences and Fence Viewers
- City of SchenectadyZoning Ordinance, Chapter 264, Article V, Section 264-32, Fences, walls and landscaping
- 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 Schenectady 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