Fence laws in Springfield, Oregon
What the Springfield municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Springfield sets no rule of its own, the Oregon rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Springfield, Oregon, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- In a Springfield residential district a fence may be located along the property line, stated as a permission rather than left to inference, and the answer turns on the district and which line the fence runs along. The figure is 0 feet, for setback from a residential property line.
- How tall
- Springfield prints a table and the base figure is six feet almost everywhere, in the front yard, the street side yard and the rear yard alike, across residential, commercial, public land and the medical services district, and the answer turns on the district, the yard and what the lot abuts. The figure is 6 feet, for base fence height in front, street side and rear yards.
- Permits
- A construction permit is required in Springfield for any fence over six feet, on top of whatever else the code requires, and the answer turns on how far over the allowed height the fence goes and where it stands. The figure is 6 feet, for height at which a construction permit starts.
- Pool barriers
- A public pool in Oregon sits inside an enclosure at least 6 feet tall, meant to keep out people who should not get in. The figure is 6 feet, for minimum height of an enclosure around a public aquatic venue.
- Spite fences
- Springfield has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Springfield measures from the average height of the grade next to where the fence is to be located, which is a third answer to the sloping ground question and sits between the two common ones.
- Corner lots
- The vision clearance limit in Springfield is two and a half feet and the table repeats it across every land use district without variation, which is unusual in a code that otherwise changes almost every figure by district. The figure is 30 inches, for height limit inside the vision clearance area.
- Retaining walls
- Oregon sets the retaining wall rule in two halves. The figure is 4 feet, for height at or below which a local ordinance may not require a building permit for a retaining wall, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall. It reaches one and two family dwellings only.
- Materials
- Barbed wire, razor wire and electrified fencing are permitted in Springfield but only in one configuration: atop a six foot chain link fence, with the total height of fence and wire together not exceeding eight feet, and the answer turns on the district and what the wire sits on. The figure is 8 feet, for total height of fence and wire together.
- Livestock
- Oregon calls the farm standard an adequate fence and says what it has to do rather than how it is built.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Springfield?
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Springfield answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district and which line the fence runs along.
In a Springfield residential district a fence may be located along the property line, stated as a permission rather than left to inference. Everywhere else the fence has to sit behind the street yard setback, and in every district it has to be behind the front yard setback unless it qualifies as one of two low exceptions. The Campus Industrial district goes the other way and pushes fences well back: none is permitted within thirty five feet of the district perimeter, or within twenty feet of any development area perimeter, or on the interior lots of a development area at all, with a three foot decorative fence or masonry wall allowed as screening around parking. Where outdoor storage in a commercial, industrial, mixed use employment or public land district abuts a residential district along a common line, the screen has to be one hundred percent sight obscuring.
In the residential districts, a fence may be located along the property line. In all other districts, the fence must be located behind the street yard setback.
The answer turns on the district and which line the fence runs along.
- a residential lot line
- On the line. 0 ft
- any other district
- Behind the street yard setback.
- the Campus Industrial perimeter
- Thirty five feet back. 35 ft
- storage next to houses
- Fully sight obscuring. 100%
Also on fences on the property line in Springfield
- set in state lawOregon splits the cost of a fence on the line between neighbors. When one person already keeps a good fence there and the neighbor then encloses the other side, that neighbor pays half of what the fence is worth as a fence on the line. The two of them set that value between them. If they cannot agree, the one owed the money may sue for half the cost of building or repairing it, and the winning side also gets attorney fees. ORS 96.010Oregon · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Springfield?
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Springfield answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, the yard and what the lot abuts.
Springfield prints a table and the base figure is six feet almost everywhere, in the front yard, the street side yard and the rear yard alike, across residential, commercial, public land and the medical services district. Industrial goes to eight except in the Campus Industrial district, which stays at six. Above the base there are two routes up. Eight feet is allowed for public utility facilities, school yards and playgrounds, and for residential property that abuts one of those, a railroad, or a street with four or more travel lanes. Ten feet is allowed for residential property abutting a commercial or industrial district along a common line, and around permitted storage areas, with the yard of a single unit dwelling expressly not counting as a storage area. Inside the vision clearance area everything drops to two and a half feet.
Ten feet for residential properties abutting commercial or industrial districts along common property lines, and around permitted storage areas in residential districts. Yards of a single unit dwelling do not constitute permitted storage areas.
The answer turns on the district, the yard and what the lot abuts.
- the base in most districts
- Six feet. 6 ft
- next to a school or a four lane street
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- backing onto commercial or industrial
- Ten feet. 10 ft
- inside the vision clearance area
- Two and a half feet. 30 in
Also on fence height in Springfield
- no rule, documents checkedOregon sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The fence chapter deals with cost sharing, repair and removal, not size. The residential code names 7 feet, and that figure is a floor on how low a city may set its permit trigger rather than a cap on how tall a fence may be. Cities and counties set the height limit. ORS Chapter 96Oregon · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Springfield?
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Springfield answers this, but the answer changes depending on how far over the allowed height the fence goes and where it stands.
A construction permit is required in Springfield for any fence over six feet, on top of whatever else the code requires. Because six feet is also the base height in most districts, that means the ordinary fence needs nothing and every fence using one of the height exceptions needs a permit. Above that sits a second threshold that is stated as a percentage rather than a number. In a residential district, a fence inside a required setback that exceeds the allowable height for that setback by more than twenty percent has to go through a Type 3 procedure, which is the full discretionary review with a hearing rather than a counter decision. A fence in the Willamette Greenway setback area takes a different route again, reviewed as a discretionary use under its own section of the code.
A construction permit is required for fences over 6 feet in height, in addition to any other permits or approvals required by this code.
The answer turns on how far over the allowed height the fence goes and where it stands.
- six feet or under
- No construction permit. 6 ft
- over six feet
- A construction permit.
- more than a fifth over the limit
- A Type 3 hearing. 20%
- the Willamette Greenway
- Discretionary use review.
Also on permits in Springfield
- set in state lawOregon leaves a wood, wire mesh or chain link fence off the statewide building permit list. A city may pass its own ordinance requiring a permit for one, and the state code puts a floor under that: the city trigger cannot reach a fence 7 feet tall or less. A city may set the trigger higher than 7 feet, and it may regulate a fence made of some other material at any height. One rule holds everywhere in Oregon, that a fence acting as a swimming pool barrier needs a building permit. ORSC R101.2.2, item 1Oregon · Building code
- set in state lawOregon runs one building code for the whole state. The statute makes that code the same in every city and county, and it stops a local government enforcing its own rule on a matter the state code already covers when the local rule asks for something different. The director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services can allow an exception. ORS 455.040Oregon · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Springfield
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Oregon answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A public pool in Oregon sits inside an enclosure at least 6 feet tall, meant to keep out people who should not get in. The gap under the fence is held to 2 inches over grass or gravel and 4 inches over a solid surface, and openings between bars go no wider than 4 inches. A gate onto a public way closes and latches on its own. A pool open only part of the year may use a 4 foot enclosure. The rules come from the Oregon Health Authority and cover public aquatic facilities.
This one is Oregon law, not Springfield law. All Oregon findings
ENCLOSURES shall be no less than 6 feet (1.83 m) in height.
OAR 333-060-1000, Section 4.8.6.2.4A
6 ftminimum height of an enclosure around a public aquatic venue
Spite fence laws in Springfield
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Springfield law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Oregon has no spite fence law. The fence chapter covers cost sharing, repair, removal and gates, and never mentions a fence built to annoy a neighbor. The property rights chapter has no fence height and no rule about ill will either. A claim of that kind rests on a nuisance case in court or on a local ordinance.
This one is Oregon law, not Springfield law. All Oregon findings
Documents read before writing that:
- ORS Chapter 96Oregon Legislative Assembly
- ORS Chapter 105Oregon Legislative Assembly
How fence height is measured in Springfield
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Springfield answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Springfield measures from the average height of the grade next to where the fence is to be located, which is a third answer to the sloping ground question and sits between the two common ones. Taking the lowest grade, as Bend and Corvallis do, is hard on the owner. Taking the highest, as St. Joseph does, is hard on the neighbor. An average splits it and judges a run of fence as a whole rather than at its worst point. The berm rule then goes the other way from most cities that address it: where a fence is built on top of a berm the height is measured from the top of the berm, so the berm itself does not count toward the fence and an owner can gain real height by mounding the ground first. Bristol and Bridgeport add the berm in and reach the opposite answer.
Fence height is measured from the average height of the grade adjacent to where the fence is to be located. If a fence is to be constructed on top of a berm, the height is measured from the top of the berm.
Also on how height is measured in Springfield
- left to the townOregon names 7 feet for a fence and never says 7 feet from what. The residential code lists work a city may choose to require a permit for, puts wood, wire mesh and chain link fences on that list, and blocks a city from setting the permit trigger at 7 feet or less. A city may go higher than 7 feet and may regulate fences of other materials at any height. So the measuring point comes from the city ordinance. ORSC Section R105.2Oregon · Building code
Fence rules for corner lots in Springfield
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Springfield answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The vision clearance limit in Springfield is two and a half feet and the table repeats it across every land use district without variation, which is unusual in a code that otherwise changes almost every figure by district. Residential, commercial, industrial, public land and medical services all get the same two and a half feet. The fence section states it twice over, once as a row in the height table and once as a standalone rule saying no fence is allowed to exceed the two and a half foot limitation within the vision clearance area, with the area itself defined elsewhere in the development code. The eight foot allowance for utility, school and playground fencing is expressly conditioned on staying outside the vision clearance area, so the exception that lifts height everywhere else does not reach the corner.
No fence is allowed to exceed the 2.5 foot height limitation within the vision clearance area as specified in SDC 4.2.130.
30 inheight limit inside the vision clearance area
Also on corner visibility in Springfield
- left to the townOregon has no state rule for the clear view at a corner. ORS 227.215 lets a city regulate land development and require a development permit, so a corner triangle comes from the city ordinance. The highway chapter, ORS 374, does use the words sight distance, but only as a test the Department of Transportation applies when it decides whether to allow a new driveway onto a state highway. ORS 227.215Oregon · Zoning code
Retaining wall rules in Springfield
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Oregon answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Oregon sets the retaining wall rule in two halves. Statewide, a wall needs a building permit at any height when it keeps people using a building safe, holds up a regulated building, or holds back dirt that could hit a regulated building if the wall let go. For any other retaining wall a city may pass its own ordinance, and the state code puts a floor under it: the city permit trigger cannot reach a wall 4 feet tall or less, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall. A city may set that trigger higher than 4 feet. The 4 foot floor falls away where the wall holds up a slope steeper than 3 to 1 or carries a load that is not soil.
This one is Oregon law, not Springfield law. All Oregon findings
A municipality may adopt an ordinance to regulate other retaining walls, provided that the threshold established for requiring a permit does not include retaining walls 4 feet (1219 mm) or less in height, when measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall
4 ftheight at or below which a local ordinance may not require a building permit for a retaining wall, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall
Fence materials allowed in Springfield
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Springfield answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district and what the wire sits on.
Barbed wire, razor wire and electrified fencing are permitted in Springfield but only in one configuration: atop a six foot chain link fence, with the total height of fence and wire together not exceeding eight feet. The table carries the permission district by district, allowing it in residential, commercial and industrial, splitting the public land district and prohibiting it outright in the medical services district. The Campus Industrial district writes its own material rules and they are the strictest in the city. Chain link is permitted there only when combined with evergreen shrubs or climbing vines that will completely cover the fence within five years of installation, certified by a landscape architect or a licensed nursery operator, and a painted fence has to match the building color scheme of the development area.
Chain link fences must be permitted only when combined with plantings of evergreen shrubs or climbing vines that will completely cover the fence(s) within 5 years of installation (as certified by a landscape architect or licensed nursery operator).
The answer turns on the district and what the wire sits on.
- barbed, razor or electric wire
- On top of a six foot chain link only. 8 ft
- the medical services district
- No wire at all.
- chain link in Campus Industrial
- Covered by plants within five years.
- a painted fence there
- It matches the buildings.
Also on materials in Springfield
- no rule, documents checkedOregon never says what a fence may be built from. The line and partition fence chapter runs six sections and names no material at all. Its only test is whether the fence is the sort a careful farmer would keep on the line. The estray chapter in the animal title calls an adequate fence a continuous barrier of natural barriers, structures, masonry, rails, poles, planks, wire or a mix of them, and then tests it by whether it holds cattle and horses in or out. Neither chapter says a word about barbed wire, razor wire or an electric fence. ORS 96.010 to 96.060Oregon · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Springfield
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Oregon answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Oregon calls the farm standard an adequate fence and says what it has to do rather than how it is built. It is a continuous barrier made of natural barriers, structures, masonry, rails, poles, planks, wire, or a mix of them, kept up so it stands as a continuous guard against cattle or horses getting in or out. A hedge, ditch, river, stream, pond or lake can serve as the natural barrier. The definition gives no height, no wire count and no post spacing.
This one is Oregon law, not Springfield law. All Oregon findings
means a continuous barrier consisting of natural barriers, structures, masonry, rails, poles, planks, wire or the combination thereof, installed and maintained in a condition so as to form a continuous guard and defense against the ingress or egress of cattle or equines into or from the lands enclosed by the barrier.
Also on agricultural fencing in Springfield
- left to the townBecause the statute gives no numbers, whether a fence was good enough gets decided case by case. When cattle or horses break through a fence on open range and the answer matters, the State Department of Agriculture makes that call, and it weighs how good farmers in that particular area build and keep their fences. The department may charge a fee for making the call. ORS 607.300Oregon · Statute
- depends, see the pageOregon runs both systems at once and a map decides which one applies. A livestock district is an area where a class of livestock may not run loose. Open range is an area where livestock may lawfully run loose. Every incorporated city is a livestock district. The county governing body forms a district, adds land to it, takes land out and dissolves it, and it publishes notice when it does. ORS 607.045(1)Oregon · Statute
Documents behind this page
8 documents, of which 1 was published by Springfield itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Oregon Legislative AssemblyOregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 96, Line and Partition Fences, 2025 Edition, Section 96.010
- City of SpringfieldSpringfield Development Code, Chapter DC4, Development Standards, Article 4.4.100, Landscaping, Screening and Fence Standards, Section 4.4.115, Fences
- Oregon Building Codes Division, Department of Consumer and Business Services2023 Oregon Residential Specialty Code, Chapter 1, Scope and Administration
- Oregon Legislative AssemblyOregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 455, Building Codes, 2025 Edition, Section 455.040
- Oregon Health Authority, Public Pool ProgramOregon Public Aquatic Facility Rules, OAR 333-060-1000, Aquatic Facility Design Standards and Construction, effective April 1, 2025
- Oregon Legislative AssemblyOregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 105, Property Rights, 2025 Edition
- Oregon Legislative AssemblyOregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 227, City Planning and Zoning
- Oregon Legislative AssemblyOregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 607, Livestock Districts; Estrays; Animals at Large
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 Springfield publishes, plus the Oregon rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Oregon 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