Fence laws in Cary, North Carolina
What the Cary municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Cary sets no rule of its own, the North Carolina rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Cary, North Carolina, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Cary states a boundary setback for one situation and expressly none for the rest, and the answer turns on whether the fence is near a thoroughfare or collector street. The figure is 5 feet, for setback from the line near a main road.
- How tall
- Cary answers the height question by asking first where the fence stands, and the answer turns on whether the fence is inside a required setback. The figure is 8 feet, for fence inside a required setback.
- Permits
- The only permit the fence section requires is tied to the road, and the answer turns on whether the fence faces a thoroughfare or collector street. The figure is 5 feet, for spacing of the required shrubs.
- 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
- Cary has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Cary leaves the measuring rule to a zoning regulation adopted by a local government.
- Corner lots
- The visibility rule in the Cary fence section is a single sentence: no fence or wall may be allowed to obstruct sight distance triangles, and the answer turns on the triangle dimensions defined elsewhere in the ordinance.
- Retaining walls
- Cary treats a retaining wall as a fall hazard and fixes the threshold low, and the answer turns on the height of the wall and the use of the lot. The figure is 30 inches, for wall height that triggers a guard.
- Materials
- Cary names nothing a fence may be made of and two things it may not, and the answer turns on the material and what the fence encloses. The figure is 20 percent, for surface that may be damaged or peeling.
- Livestock
- North Carolina puts the duty on the livestock owner everywhere in the state.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Cary?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Cary answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is near a thoroughfare or collector street.
Cary states a boundary setback for one situation and expressly none for the rest. A fence within thirty feet of a thoroughfare or collector street right-of-way has to stand at least five feet from the property line, with the section adding that ten feet is preferred so the planting has room between it and the sidewalk, and the stated reason is to let the required landscaping mature. There is no setback at all for a fence that does not face one of those roads, so an ordinary boundary fence may sit on the line. A principle of interpretation printed alongside the rule covers the common subdivision case where a strip of homeowners association open space sits between the road and the fence: there the setback may be measured from the right-of-way rather than from the property line. The good side rule is also tied to the road, requiring exposed framing to face the interior yard where the fence is visible from a thoroughfare or collector.
To allow sufficient room for the landscaping to mature, fences and walls located within thirty (30) feet of a thoroughfare or collector street right-of-way shall be installed a minimum of five (5) feet (preferably ten (10) feet to allow room between plants and the sidewalk) from the property line. There shall be no setback for fences not located adjacent to a thoroughfare or collector street right-of-way.
The answer turns on whether the fence is near a thoroughfare or collector street.
- within thirty feet of a main road
- Five feet back from the line, ten preferred. 5 ft
- anywhere else
- No setback at all.
- a fence seen from a thoroughfare
- Exposed framing faces the interior yard.
Also on fences on the property line in Cary
- 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 Cary?
Compare fence height across all 50 states
Cary answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is inside a required setback.
Cary answers the height question by asking first where the fence stands. Outside the minimum front, rear and side yard setbacks a fence or wall may be erected to any height permitted for buildings in that zoning district, which for a normal residential district is a figure in the thirty to forty foot range rather than anything a fence rule would usually allow. Inside a required roadway, rear or side setback the limit is eight feet, and that may only be exceeded where the fence is specifically approved as part of a buffer under Section 7.2.3, or approved by the Zoning Board of Adjustment as part of a development plan, a Special Use Permit or a variance. Columns and entry features get their own figure of twelve feet, unless approved as an entry monument alternative to a principal ground sign, and all of them have to stand outside the required sight distance triangles.
Fences and walls located outside of the minimum front, rear and/or side yard setbacks, as shown in Section 6.1, Tables of Density and Dimensional Standards, may be erected to any height permitted for buildings in the respective zone district, also indicated in Section 6.1.
The answer turns on whether the fence is inside a required setback.
- outside the required setbacks
- As tall as a building may be in that district.
- inside a required setback
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a column or entry feature
- Twelve feet. 12 ft
Also on fence height in Cary
- 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 Cary?
Compare permits across all 50 states
Cary answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence faces a thoroughfare or collector street.
The only permit the fence section requires is tied to the road. A fence permit has to be obtained for fences adjacent to thoroughfare or collector street rights-of-way, so an ordinary fence between two houses on a residential street is outside it. The trigger sits inside a subsection about landscaping, which is the clue to why it exists: a fence taller than forty-two inches within thirty feet of a thoroughfare or collector has to be planted with one evergreen shrub for every five feet of frontage, each at least twenty-four inches tall at installation, and all of the planting has to go on the side of the fence facing the right-of-way. The permit is how the town checks that. Retaining walls of forty-two inches or more above an established grade have to meet the same screening requirement. Anything above the eight foot setback limit goes instead to the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
A fence permit shall be obtained for fences adjacent to thoroughfare or collector street right(s)-of-way.
The answer turns on whether the fence faces a thoroughfare or collector street.
- a fence along a thoroughfare or collector
- A fence permit.
- over forty-two inches within thirty feet of one
- A shrub every five feet, on the road side. 5 ft
- a fence between two houses on a local street
- No permit named in the section.
Also on permits in Cary
- 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 Cary
Compare pool barriers across all 50 states
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 Cary 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 Cary
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
Cary 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 Cary 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 Cary
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Cary does not set this. It leaves it to a zoning regulation adopted by a local government.
North 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.
This one is North Carolina law, not Cary law. All North Carolina findings
a zoning regulation may regulate and restrict the height, number of stories, and size of buildings and other structures; the percentage of lots that may be occupied; the size of yards, courts, and other open spaces; the density of population; the location and use of buildings, structures, and land
The code hands this to a zoning regulation adopted by a local government, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence rules for corner lots in Cary
Compare corner visibility across all 50 states
Cary answers this, but the answer changes depending on the triangle dimensions defined elsewhere in the ordinance.
The visibility rule in the Cary fence section is a single sentence: no fence or wall may be allowed to obstruct sight distance triangles. The triangles themselves are defined elsewhere in the ordinance, so the fence rule imports them rather than restating any dimension. The section reaches the same idea twice more from different directions. Columns and entry features, which are allowed to reach twelve feet, have to be located outside the required sight distance triangles, which is the one place the section states the obligation as a positional condition rather than as a prohibition. And the setback and planting rules along a thoroughfare or collector street push a tall fence back from the road and put evergreen shrubs between it and the traffic.
No fence or wall shall be allowed to obstruct sight distance triangles.
The answer turns on the triangle dimensions defined elsewhere in the ordinance.
- any fence or wall
- It may not obstruct a sight distance triangle.
- a column or entry feature
- It has to stand outside the triangles.
Also on corner visibility in Cary
- 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 Cary
Compare retaining walls across all 50 states
Cary answers this, but the answer changes depending on the height of the wall and the use of the lot.
Cary treats a retaining wall as a fall hazard and fixes the threshold low. Every retaining wall over thirty inches, and every steep grade change at a ratio of one to one or greater, has to carry guards or other acceptable fencing or barricades of at least thirty-six inches on a residential lot with a detached dwelling, townhouse, duplex, bed and breakfast, group home, or a family care home with four or fewer residents. For every other use the required guard rises to forty-two inches. Thirty inches is a lower trigger than most codes use, and naming steep grade changes alongside walls means an unwalled bank as steep as one to one is caught as well. A retaining wall of forty-two inches or more above an established grade also has to meet the same evergreen screening requirement that applies to a tall fence near a thoroughfare.
All retaining walls over thirty (30) inches in height and steep grade changes at a one to one (1:1) ratio or greater shall include guards or other acceptable fencing/barricades measuring a minimum thirty-six (36) inches in height on a residential lot with a detached dwelling, townhouse, duplex, bed and breakfast, group home, or a family care home with four (4) or fewer residents.
The answer turns on the height of the wall and the use of the lot.
- a wall over thirty inches on a house lot
- A thirty-six inch guard on top. 30 in
- any other use
- A forty-two inch guard. 42 in
- a wall over forty-two inches near a main road
- The same evergreen screening as a tall fence.
Also on retaining walls in Cary
- left to the townNorth 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. N.C.G.S. 143-138(a)North Carolina · Statute
Fence materials allowed in Cary
Compare materials across all 50 states
Cary answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material and what the fence encloses.
Cary names nothing a fence may be made of and two things it may not. Electrically charged fences and fences of barbed or razor wire are prohibited, and the prohibition lifts only for fences enclosing livestock on bona fide farms and for those serving a public or quasi-public institution for public safety or security purposes. Beyond that the section regulates condition rather than material, and it does so with a number. No fence or wall may have more than twenty percent of its surface area disfigured, cracked, ripped or with peeling paint or other material. None may stand with bent or broken supports or with loose or missing appendages. All have to be plumb to the ground. And replacing a nonconforming fence brings the replacement into full compliance with the section.
Fences that are electrically charged and those constructed of barbed or razor wire shall be prohibited. This prohibition shall not apply to fences used to enclose livestock on bona fide farms and those serving a public or quasi-public institution for public safety or security purposes.
The answer turns on the material and what the fence encloses.
- an electric, barbed or razor wire fence
- Prohibited.
- livestock on a bona fide farm, or a public institution
- The prohibition does not apply.
- the condition of a fence
- No more than a fifth of the surface damaged. 20%
Also on materials in Cary
- 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 Cary
Compare agricultural fencing across all 50 states
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 Cary 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 Cary
- 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 Cary 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
- Town of CaryCary Land Development Ordinance, Section 7.2.7, Fences and Walls
- 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 Cary 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