Fence laws in Rocky Mount, North Carolina
What the Rocky Mount municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Rocky Mount sets no rule of its own, the North Carolina rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Rocky Mount lets a fence stand inside the five foot drainage or utility easement in residential and office-institutional districts, and then spells out what that costs, and the answer turns on which easement the fence occupies. The figure is 5 feet, for easement a fence may occupy.
- How tall
- In every residential and office-institutional district a fence or wall along a side or rear property line may reach six and a half feet, and in a front yard setback area nothing may exceed four feet, and the answer turns on the district, the yard, and whether the planning board approves. The figure is 78 inches, for residential side or rear fence.
- Permits
- Rocky Mount splits electric fencing by the kind of current, and the answer turns on whether the current is alternating or direct. The figure is 5 feet, for shortest pool enclosure fence.
- 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
- Rocky Mount has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Rocky Mount answers the sloping boundary question in the most generous way any city in this set does, and the answer turns on whether the two lots sit at different levels.
- Corner lots
- The visibility rule in Rocky Mount is written about entrances and exits rather than about street corners, and it applies only to a fence that is not open, and the answer turns on whether the fence meets the open fence definition. The figure is 35 feet, for leg of the sight distance easement.
- Retaining walls
- Rocky Mount 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
- Barbed wire, razor wire and embedded glass fences are prohibited in any residential district or local historic district, and the only route past that is specific approval from the city council after a public hearing, and the answer turns on the district and whether an outer fence protects the wire. The figure is 15 feet, for setback for wire from a right-of-way.
- Livestock
- North Carolina puts the duty on the livestock owner everywhere in the state.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Rocky Mount?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Rocky Mount answers this, but the answer changes depending on which easement the fence occupies.
Rocky Mount lets a fence stand inside the five foot drainage or utility easement in residential and office-institutional districts, and then spells out what that costs. The city may remove such a fence at the owner expense without notice, and takes no responsibility for damage to it, for putting it back, or for any cost of repairing or reinstalling it. A wall in the same easement is prohibited outright. Fences are prohibited in every other easement and right-of-way unless the director of public works approves in writing, and no fence may be built in a public street right-of-way or on city owned property without that same written approval. Nothing in the section asks for consent from the adjoining owner, sets a distance from the line, or says which way the good side faces.
In residential and O-I zoning districts, fences may be allowed within the five (5) feet drainage or utility easement. Fences are prohibited in all other easements and or rights-of-way unless approved in writing by the director of public works.
The answer turns on which easement the fence occupies.
- the five foot drainage or utility easement
- A fence may go there, and the city may remove it without notice. 5 ft
- a wall in that easement
- Prohibited.
- any other easement or right-of-way
- Written approval from the director of public works.
Also on fences on the property line in Rocky Mount
- 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 Rocky Mount?
Compare fence height across all 50 states
Rocky Mount answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, the yard, and whether the planning board approves.
In every residential and office-institutional district a fence or wall along a side or rear property line may reach six and a half feet, and in a front yard setback area nothing may exceed four feet. Eight feet is available along side and rear lot lines, but only where the planning board approves it as part of a residential planned building group, so a single homeowner cannot reach it. Business districts take ten feet along side and rear lines and the same four feet at the front. Industrial districts take ten feet, subject to anything else in the code. One specific allowance runs much higher: on a rear property line in any district a chain link fence may reach twelve feet to enclose a tennis court or other court game. A dwelling standing in a nonresidential zone is governed by the residential figures.
Fences and walls along side and rear lot lines may be constructed to a maximum height of eight (8) feet if approved by the planning board as part of a residential planned building group.
710.A.1, with A.5, A.6 and A.8
The answer turns on the district, the yard, and whether the planning board approves.
- a residential side or rear line
- Six feet six. 78 in
- a front yard setback area
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a business or industrial district
- Ten feet along the side and rear. 10 ft
- a tennis court on a rear line
- Twelve feet of chain link. 12 ft
Also on fence height in Rocky Mount
- 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 Rocky Mount?
Compare permits across all 50 states
Rocky Mount answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the current is alternating or direct.
Rocky Mount splits electric fencing by the kind of current. No one may install or energize a fence, or let one remain, that is capable of producing an electrical shock by alternating current, and there is no permit route to it. A fence capable of shocking by direct current is allowed but only after a permit from inspection services and the necessary inspections. Enforcement is unusually direct: the electrical inspector may disconnect utilities, have the city correct the fault at the owner expense with the cost becoming a lien if unpaid, prosecute, or all three, once the owner or responsible party has been told verbally or in writing and has failed to fix it within eight hours. A swimming pool, spa or similar pool needs a fence with a gate and security latch at not less than five feet, and an above ground pool with a deck and enclosure railing at least five feet up is exempt if the deck is enclosed and every entrance has a gate and latch.
No person shall install or energize any fence or allow a fence to remain that is capable of producing an electrical shock by alternating current (AC).
The answer turns on whether the current is alternating or direct.
- alternating current
- Banned, with no permit available.
- direct current
- A permit and inspections from inspection services.
- a pool or spa
- A gate and security latch at no less than five feet. 5 ft
Also on permits in Rocky Mount
- 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 Rocky Mount
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 Rocky Mount 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 Rocky Mount
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
Rocky Mount 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 Rocky Mount 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 Rocky Mount
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Rocky Mount answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the two lots sit at different levels.
Rocky Mount answers the sloping boundary question in the most generous way any city in this set does. Where a fence runs along an interior property line between two lots and the two properties sit at different levels, the fence may be built to the maximum height permitted on either side of the line. So the owner on the low side is not penalized for the fall of the land, and the fence is judged against whichever reading allows more. Most codes do the opposite and take the lower ground or the neighbor grade as the datum. The section states no rule for a fence on a berm or a retaining wall, sets no post depth, and defines grade nowhere, so the one sentence about a difference in grade carries the whole of the measurement question.
Where a fence is located along an interior property line separating two (2) lots and there is a difference in grade of the two (2) properties, the fence may be erected or allowed to the maximum height permitted on either side of the property line.
The answer turns on whether the two lots sit at different levels.
- two lots at different levels
- The taller of the two permitted heights applies.
- a berm, a wall or a post depth
- The section says nothing.
Also on how height is measured in Rocky Mount
- 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 Rocky Mount
Compare corner visibility across all 50 states
Rocky Mount answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence meets the open fence definition.
The visibility rule in Rocky Mount is written about entrances and exits rather than about street corners, and it applies only to a fence that is not open. A fence or wall failing the open fence or open wall definition has to be set back at each entrance and exit of the site to provide a triangular sight distance easement of at least thirty-five feet on each corner side of that opening. Thirty-five feet is a long leg by the standards of this set, and tying it to the driveway rather than to the intersection means it reaches every site with a way in, not just corner lots. An open fence is not caught by the rule at all, which turns transparency into the way round a long setback. Stormwater retention ponds may separately be required to be fenced, as the director of public works determines.
A fence or wall that does not meet the requirements of an open fence or open wall shall maintain a setback at entrances and exits of the site to provide a triangular sight distance easement that shall be a minimum of thirty-five (35) feet in length on each corner side of said entrance or exit.
The answer turns on whether the fence meets the open fence definition.
- a fence that is not open
- Thirty-five feet each side of every entrance. 35 ft
- an open fence or wall
- The setback does not apply.
- a stormwater retention pond
- Fencing may be required by the director of public works.
Also on corner visibility in Rocky Mount
- 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 Rocky Mount
Compare retaining walls across all 50 states
Rocky Mount 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 Rocky Mount 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 Rocky Mount
Compare materials across all 50 states
Rocky Mount answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district and whether an outer fence protects the wire.
Barbed wire, razor wire and embedded glass fences are prohibited in any residential district or local historic district, and the only route past that is specific approval from the city council after a public hearing. Naming embedded glass, meaning shards set into the top of a wall, is unusual in a modern American code and reads as a survival from an older ordinance. Where barbed or razor wire is permitted elsewhere, it is kept away from people twice over: it may not stand in the front setback of any building, and it has to sit at least fifteen feet from the closest side or rear setback line abutting a public right-of-way unless an outer fence protects it, in which case at least three feet has to separate the two fences. Barbed and razor wire are prohibited in the front yards of all zoning districts.
Barbed wire, razor wire or embedded glass fences are prohibited in any residential district or local historic district unless specific approval is granted by the city council following a public hearing on the matter.
The answer turns on the district and whether an outer fence protects the wire.
- a residential or local historic district
- No wire and no glass without a council hearing.
- wire near a right-of-way where it is allowed
- Fifteen feet back, or behind an outer fence. 15 ft
- an outer fence protecting it
- Three feet between the two. 3 ft
Also on materials in Rocky Mount
- 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 Rocky Mount
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 Rocky Mount 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 Rocky Mount
- 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 Rocky Mount 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 Rocky MountRocky Mount Code of Ordinances, Appendix A, Land Development Code, Chapter 7, Section 710, 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 Rocky Mount 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