Fence laws in Burlington, North Carolina
What the Burlington municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Burlington sets no rule of its own, the North Carolina rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Burlington, North Carolina, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Fences and walls may stand inside required setbacks but may not encroach onto a separate lot, which is the whole of what Burlington says about a shared boundary, with no consent requirement and no setback from the line, and the answer turns on whether the fence touches an easement or a neighboring lot.
- How tall
- Burlington sets its heights in a table split three ways by district family, and the answer turns on the district and where on the lot the fence runs. The figure is 4 feet, for residential fence facing a street.
- Permits
- A fence or wall in Burlington may only be erected in accordance with this section and the fence permit procedure at Section 2.4.J, and the requirement covers all construction or replacement of fences, screening walls and retaining walls, and the answer turns on what kind of fence it is and how long it will stand. The figure is 36 inches, for wire mesh height exempt from a permit.
- Pool barriers
- The North Carolina pool safety statute is for public pools, and its scope section leaves out a private pool at a single family home used only by the people living there and their guests.
- Spite fences
- Burlington has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- The fence section states four heights and then hands the question of how to read them to a different chapter, saying fence and wall height is measured in accordance with Section 8.3.P of the ordinance, and the answer turns on what is being measured and from where. The figure is 6 feet, for lowest barbed wire above the base of the fence.
- Corner lots
- Burlington bars a fence or wall from a required sight distance triangle outright rather than limiting its height there, and carves out one exception: a necessary retaining wall, and the answer turns on whether the thing in the triangle is a necessary retaining wall.
- Retaining walls
- Burlington leaves retaining walls to the North Carolina Residential Code, a volume of the North Carolina State Building Code adopted by the Residential Code Council.
- Materials
- The permitted materials are bricks or stone, ornamental iron, steel or aluminum, wood, vinyl, rigid non-rolled plastic or composite, textured concrete masonry units, and chain link or wire of twelve gauge or heavier except where the ordinance prohibits it, and the answer turns on the material and whether it has been reprocessed.
- Livestock
- North Carolina puts the duty on the livestock owner everywhere in the state.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Burlington?
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Burlington answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence touches an easement or a neighboring lot.
Fences and walls may stand inside required setbacks but may not encroach onto a separate lot, which is the whole of what Burlington says about a shared boundary, with no consent requirement and no setback from the line. Easements get a great deal more attention and the rule is geometric. A fence proposed within a public easement may cross the easement perpendicularly and run along its edge, but may not run along and inside it, and a crossing may be required to carry a gate wide enough for maintenance equipment to get through. For a private easement the landowner verifies the position with the easement owner, and the city states plainly that permitting the fence does not override any private easement agreement. The landowner stays solely liable for repair or replacement where a fence inside an easement is damaged by the easement owner working there.
Fences or walls may be located within required setbacks but shall not encroach onto a separate lot.
The answer turns on whether the fence touches an easement or a neighboring lot.
- a required setback
- A fence may stand in it.
- a public easement
- Cross it square or edge it, never run inside it.
- damage during easement maintenance
- The landowner bears it.
Also on fences on the property line in Burlington
- no rule, documents checkedNorth Carolina had a boundary fence law and threw it out. Chapter 68 still prints the heading Article 2, Division Fences, and the only thing under it says sections 68-6 through 68-14 were repealed by Session Laws 1971, chapter 741. Article 1, Lawful Fences, went at the same time. Nothing took their place, so the state has no rule at all on splitting the cost of a fence on the line. N.C.G.S. ch. 68North Carolina · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Burlington?
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Burlington answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district and where on the lot the fence runs.
Burlington sets its heights in a table split three ways by district family. In the residential districts a fence between the front facade line of the building and a lot line abutting a street right-of-way stops at four feet, and so does one between the building setback line and that lot line, with eight feet allowed in all other locations. The office, business, downtown and mixed use districts take four feet in front of the facade, six between the setback line and the street line, and eight elsewhere. The industrial districts take six feet in front of the facade and ten everywhere else. Two notes soften the residential figures. On a through lot bounding a street at both front and rear, a fence at the rear may reach six feet between the building setback line and the street lot line. And on a corner lot of record the building setback may be reduced by half along the long side. Chain link around a tennis court or ball field backstop is outside the limits entirely.
On through lots bounding a street at the front and the rear, a fence or wall in the rear of the lot may have a maximum height of six feet between the building setback line and the lot line abutting the street ROW.
The answer turns on the district and where on the lot the fence runs.
- a residential lot toward the street
- Four feet. 4 ft
- all other locations on a residential lot
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- an industrial district
- Six feet in front of the facade, ten elsewhere. 10 ft
- a tennis court or ball field backstop
- No height limit.
Also on fence height in Burlington
- no rule, documents checkedNorth Carolina sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The fence chapter that once held fence standards was repealed, and what is left is about livestock. The building permit statute draws its line at a dollar amount and names no height at all. The city or county development rules set the limit. N.C.G.S. ch. 68North Carolina · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Burlington?
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Burlington answers this, but the answer changes depending on what kind of fence it is and how long it will stand.
A fence or wall in Burlington may only be erected in accordance with this section and the fence permit procedure at Section 2.4.J, and the requirement covers all construction or replacement of fences, screening walls and retaining walls. Three things are outside it. Bona fide farms and agricultural uses in districts where those uses are permitted are exempt from the section. Temporary fences for construction sites, including erosion control and tree protection fencing, are exempt. And wire mesh fencing such as chicken wire or hardware cloth, used as part of a residential use and kept out of a required principal setback or under thirty-six inches above the adjacent grade, expressly needs no fence permit. Temporary fences standing up to ninety days may be of any material the Planning Director approves, and the Director may also permit alternative wall materials giving a similar level of opacity and suiting the architecture.
A fence or wall may only be erected in accordance with the standards in this section and Section 2.4.J, Fence Permit.
4.5.F.11.b and c, with i.iii and k
The answer turns on what kind of fence it is and how long it will stand.
- any permanent fence
- A fence permit.
- garden wire mesh under thirty-six inches
- No permit required. 36 in
- a temporary fence up to ninety days
- Any material the Planning Director approves. 90 days
Also on permits in Burlington
- set in state lawNorth Carolina decides its home permit rule by price, not by height. Work on a single family home that costs forty thousand dollars or less and is done to the current State Building Code needs no permit. A short list of exceptions is left out of that, such as work on load bearing structures or changes to plumbing, heating or electrical systems. An ordinary yard fence costs far less than forty thousand dollars and hits none of those exceptions. N.C.G.S. 160D-1110(c)North Carolina · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Burlington
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North Carolina answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The North Carolina pool safety statute is for public pools, and its scope section leaves out a private pool at a single family home used only by the people living there and their guests. It goes further than most states. The pool stays outside the statute even when guests book it through a rental app or pay a fee. One condition comes with that. Where money changes hands for access, the pool has to be kept in good and safe working order. The fence rule for a pool at a house comes from the North Carolina State Building Code instead.
This one is North Carolina law, not Burlington law. All North Carolina findings
A private pool serving a single family dwelling and used only by the residents of the dwelling and their guests, regardless of whether their guests gain use of the private pool through a sharing economy platform or pay a fee for its use.
Spite fence laws in Burlington
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Burlington law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
North Carolina has no spite fence law. What is left of the fence chapter covers livestock running loose, penning up stray animals, and the ponies on the Outer Banks. It names no height and says nothing about why a fence went up. The building permit statute does not cover it either. A claim about a fence built to annoy a neighbor rests on nuisance law made by judges, and on city and county zoning.
This one is North Carolina law, not Burlington law. All North Carolina findings
Documents read before writing that:
- N.C.G.S. ch. 68North Carolina General Assembly
- N.C.G.S. 160D-1110North Carolina General Assembly
How fence height is measured in Burlington
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Burlington answers this, but the answer changes depending on what is being measured and from where.
The fence section states four heights and then hands the question of how to read them to a different chapter, saying fence and wall height is measured in accordance with Section 8.3.P of the ordinance. That keeps the measurement rule in one place for every structure rather than restating it here, and it means a fence that satisfies the table still has to be measured the way Chapter 8 says. Two other dimensions in the section are anchored to the ground directly. Barbed or razor wire on top of another fence, where allowed, has to be at least six feet above the ground measured at the base of the fence, which stops a fence on a slope from carrying wire low at one end. And stacked stone or other masonry with no mortar between the units may not exceed thirty-six inches above grade.
Fence and wall height shall be measured in accordance with the standards in Section 8.3.P, Fence and Wall Height.
4.5.F.11.e.ii, with i.ii and l.iii
The answer turns on what is being measured and from where.
- the fence itself
- Measured under Section 8.3.P.
- barbed wire on top
- Six feet above the ground at the base of the fence. 6 ft
- dry stacked stone
- Thirty-six inches above grade. 36 in
Also on how height is measured in Burlington
- left to the townNorth Carolina never says where a fence height is measured from. What is left of Chapter 68 is about stock law fences and penned animals, and it carries no measuring rule. G.S. 160D-702 lets a local government set the height of buildings and other structures. The same section blocks a local government from controlling some design details of a house, and then puts height back outside that block, so height stays a local power. The point the measuring starts from goes with it. G.S. 160D-702(a)North Carolina · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Burlington
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Burlington answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the thing in the triangle is a necessary retaining wall.
Burlington bars a fence or wall from a required sight distance triangle outright rather than limiting its height there, and carves out one exception: a necessary retaining wall. That is a stricter approach than a height cap, because a low fence is no more permitted than a tall one, and it is a sensible exception because a retaining wall is holding ground rather than screening a view. The dimensions of the triangle live in Section 5.2.G of the ordinance rather than in the fence section. Two other locational rules push the same way without mentioning traffic: no fence may impede visibility of the required property address number, and none may block pedestrian access from doors or windows.
Except for necessary retaining walls, no fence or wall shall be located within a required sight distance triangle (see Section 5.2.G, Sight Distance Triangles).
The answer turns on whether the thing in the triangle is a necessary retaining wall.
- a sight distance triangle
- No fence or wall at all.
- a necessary retaining wall
- Allowed in the triangle.
- the address number and the doors
- Neither may be blocked.
Also on corner visibility in Burlington
- left to the townNorth Carolina has no clear view triangle in state law. Chapter 160D gathers local development power in one place and lets a local government set the height of structures and the size of yards and open spaces, so a corner rule comes from there. Chapter 136, the highways chapter, covers something else. It talks about seeing past a sign only for political signs put in the right of way, and it sets sight distance standards for driveway permits. Neither one is a rule about a fence on private land. G.S. 160D-702North Carolina · Zoning code
Retaining wall rules in Burlington
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Burlington does not set this. It leaves it to the North Carolina Residential Code, a volume of the North Carolina State Building Code adopted by the Residential Code Council.
North Carolina prints no retaining wall rule in its General Statutes. The Building Code Council and the Residential Code Council write and adopt the North Carolina State Building Code, and one of its volumes is the North Carolina Residential Code. Whether a wall that holds back earth needs a permit, and how it has to be built, both sit in that volume and not in the statute.
This one is North Carolina law, not Burlington law. All North Carolina findings
The Building Code Council and Residential Code Council may prepare and adopt, in accordance with the provisions of this Article, a North Carolina State Building Code.
The code hands this to the North Carolina Residential Code, a volume of the North Carolina State Building Code adopted by the Residential Code Council, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Burlington
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Burlington answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material and whether it has been reprocessed.
The permitted materials are bricks or stone, ornamental iron, steel or aluminum, wood, vinyl, rigid non-rolled plastic or composite, textured concrete masonry units, and chain link or wire of twelve gauge or heavier except where the ordinance prohibits it. Over all of them sits a durability requirement: a fence or wall has to be designed, constructed and maintained to ensure a minimum useful life of at least ten years, and built to the North Carolina Building Code and the city wind loading standards. Prohibited are wooden pallets, tires, debris, junk, rolled or sheet plastic, sheet metal, untreated or unpainted plywood, readily flammable material and waste material, unless the material has been recycled and reprocessed for sale to the public as a building material resembling new material. Smooth-face concrete block and monolithic concrete barriers are prohibited for fences and walls alike, and tarps and silt fencing may not remain after construction finishes.
Fences made of wooden pallets, tires, debris, junk, rolled or sheet plastic, sheet metal, untreated or unpainted plywood, readily flammable material, or waste materials shall be prohibited, unless the materials have been recycled and reprocessed, for marketing to the general public as building materials designed to resemble new building materials (e.g., picket fencing made from recycled plastic and fiber).
4.5.F.11.h and j, with f and g
The answer turns on the material and whether it has been reprocessed.
- any fence
- Built to last at least ten years.
- chain link or wire
- Twelve gauge or heavier.
- an electric fence
- Livestock on a farm, or a battery-charged security fence.
Also on materials in Burlington
- set in state lawNorth Carolina sets one standard for a battery charged security fence and takes the question away from cities. The fence ties into a monitored alarm, sits on land not set aside for homes, and runs off a battery of no more than 12 volts. Its charger has to meet the International Electrotechnical Commission standard. It stands inside a fence or wall that carries no current and is at least 5 feet tall, reaches 10 feet, and carries WARNING-ELECTRIC FENCE signs no more than 30 feet apart. A city may not ban one on land that is not zoned for homes only. N.C.G.S. 160A-194.1North Carolina · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Burlington
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North Carolina answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
North Carolina puts the duty on the livestock owner everywhere in the state. Letting livestock run loose is a Class 3 misdemeanor. Livestock here means horses and other animals like them, cattle, sheep, goats, llamas and swine. Anyone may catch and pen an animal found running loose and get back the cost of keeping it plus any damage, and none of that depends on whether the land was fenced.
This one is North Carolina law, not Burlington law. All North Carolina findings
If any person shall allow his livestock to run at large, he shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.
Also on agricultural fencing in Burlington
- no rule, documents checkedNorth Carolina no longer says what a lawful fence is anywhere in state law. Chapter 68 is called Fences and Stock Law, and sections 68-1 through 68-14, where the old fence specification sat, were repealed in 1969 and 1971. What is left is the livestock law, the process for penning and selling a stray animal, and the Outer Banks sections. None of them set a height, a wire count, a board count or a post spacing. Money owed under the chapter does not depend on the land being fenced, so there is nothing left for a fence standard to hang on. N.C.G.S. ch. 68North Carolina · Statute
Documents behind this page
8 documents, of which 1 was published by Burlington itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- North Carolina General AssemblyNorth Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 68, Fences and Stock Law
- North Carolina General AssemblyNorth Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 160D, Article 11, Building Permits
- City of BurlingtonBurlington Unified Development Ordinance, Chapter 4, Section 4.5.F.11, Fence or Wall
- North Carolina General AssemblyNorth Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 130A, Article 8, Part 10, Public Swimming Pools
- North Carolina General AssemblyNorth Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 160D, Local Planning and Development Regulation
- North Carolina General AssemblyNorth Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 143, Article 9, Section 143-138, North Carolina State Building Code
- North Carolina General AssemblyNorth Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 160A, Section 160A-194.1, Regulation of battery-charged security fences
- North Carolina General AssemblyNorth Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 68, Fences and Stock Law, Article 3, Livestock Law
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 Burlington publishes, plus the North Carolina rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in North Carolina 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