Fence laws in Eagle Mountain, Utah
What the Eagle Mountain municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Eagle Mountain sets no rule of its own, the Utah rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Eagle Mountain, Utah, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Eagle Mountain tells owners to build only on their own property and encourages a survey where the lines are not clearly marked, which is advice rather than a rule, but the location restrictions that follow are firm, and the answer turns on what the fence would enclose or cross. The figure is 3 feet, for clearance from a hydrant or utility box.
- How tall
- On an interior lot in Eagle Mountain no fence may exceed four feet in the front yard area, and the answer turns on where on the lot the fence stands and the zone. The figure is 4 feet, for fence in a front yard.
- Permits
- A fence permit, or authorization through city site plan approval, is required before any fence, wall or privacy screen is placed in Eagle Mountain, with no small fence exemption, and the answer turns on what is being built and when. The figure is 7 feet, for privacy screen height needing a building permit.
- Pool barriers
- Utah requires a fence around the whole edge of a public pool, the pool deck and any extra deck. The figure is 6 feet, for minimum height of the barrier around a public pool, measured from the outside.
- Spite fences
- Eagle Mountain has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Eagle Mountain gives two ways to measure a fence and then says which one wins: whichever results in a higher screen.
- Corner lots
- At the intersection of two local streets the Eagle Mountain clear vision triangle is drawn between two points thirty feet from the intersection, and the answer turns on the class of street and whether the fence is see through. The figure is 30 feet, for leg of the local street triangle.
- Retaining walls
- Utah writes its own permit rule for a wall that holds back earth and puts it in the statute in place of the model code line. The figure is 4 feet, for depth of unbalanced fill at or above which a retaining wall needs a building permit. It reaches one and two family homes only.
- Materials
- A residential fence in Eagle Mountain may be board such as cedar, vinyl, a solid decorative concrete or masonry wall, pre-weathered ASTM A606-4 or A588 steel at least an eighth of an inch thick, wrought iron or an imitation of it, composite, or limited amounts of black painted hog wire under eighty percent of a section, in each case with top and bottom rails and substantial posts, and the answer turns on the zone, the material and which road the lot faces. The figure is 75 feet, for distance from the Parkway that triggers the rule.
- Livestock
- In Utah the owner of the animal pays for damage it does on someone else's land.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Eagle Mountain?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Eagle Mountain answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the fence would enclose or cross.
Eagle Mountain tells owners to build only on their own property and encourages a survey where the lines are not clearly marked, which is advice rather than a rule, but the location restrictions that follow are firm. Nothing may sit in a public right-of-way without written city consent in the form of an encroachment agreement, and where one is allowed the owner has to remove it at their own expense on notice for any reason the city thinks sufficient. Fences may cross or sit in an easement, but walls, retaining walls included, may not unless the easement is vacated or released with an encroachment agreement. Fire hydrants and utility boxes may not be fenced into a yard, and fencing has to stay at least three feet from any such fixture. Where meters end up inside a fenced area, there has to be an unlocked gate so they can be read.
Utility Fixtures. Fire hydrants and utility boxes shall not be fenced into a yard (i.e., trapped). Fencing shall be kept at least three feet from any such fixtures.
The answer turns on what the fence would enclose or cross.
- a hydrant or utility box
- Three feet clear, and never enclosed. 3 ft
- an easement
- A fence may cross it, a wall may not.
- a public right-of-way
- Written consent, and removal on demand.
- a gas, electric or water meter
- An unlocked gate to reach it.
Also on fences on the property line in Eagle Mountain
- set in state lawUtah splits the cost of a fence on the line between two owners. Each side pays in step with how much land it fences in. If one owner built the fence first and a neighbor later fences land against it, that neighbor pays half the value of the shared part before doing it. An owner who stops farming the land gives notice and waits 30 days before pulling any of the fence out. Utah Code 4-26-102Utah · Statute
- set in state lawUtah has a second cost rule for grazing land and big game country. One owner can make the neighbor pay half the cost of the fence. The cost has to be reasonable, the kind of fence has to be one that is common in that area, and the bill cannot run past the price of posts, wire and connectors. A neighbor who refuses can be sued for the half. Utah Code 4-26-103Utah · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Eagle Mountain?
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Eagle Mountain answers this, but the answer changes depending on where on the lot the fence stands and the zone.
On an interior lot in Eagle Mountain no fence may exceed four feet in the front yard area. Wing fencing running from the front corners of the house out to the side property lines may be six feet, and so may fencing along the side lines past the front wall plane, round to and along the rear line, including against an alley or service drive. So the six feet begins where the house does. A corner lot follows the same pattern except that nothing over three feet may stand in a clear vision triangle. Agricultural, commercial and industrial zones all stop at eight feet. Fencing for public municipal facilities is bounded at both ends, not less than six feet nor higher than eight, and has to be simulated wrought iron. Sport court fencing and golf course screening are exempt from the residential heights but may not be used as the exterior fence of a property.
Interior Lots. No fence shall exceed four feet in height in the front yard area of a property. Wing fencing extending from the front corners of a residence to the side property lines may be up to six feet tall.
The answer turns on where on the lot the fence stands and the zone.
- a front yard
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a wing fence or anything behind the house
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a commercial or industrial zone
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a city facility
- Between six and eight feet of simulated wrought iron.
Also on fence height in Eagle Mountain
- no rule, documents checkedUtah sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The construction code statute names which code editions apply and gives no fence height. The fence chapter of the farming code covers splitting cost and fencing bison, not yard fences. Cities and counties set the height. Utah Code 15A-2-103Utah · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Eagle Mountain?
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Eagle Mountain answers this, but the answer changes depending on what is being built and when.
A fence permit, or authorization through city site plan approval, is required before any fence, wall or privacy screen is placed in Eagle Mountain, with no small fence exemption. A residential privacy screen is treated as an accessory structure for height, setbacks and easements, and the permit line for one sits at seven feet: under seven feet neither a fence permit nor a building permit is required, and over seven feet a building permit is. Where a wall is required as a buffer or a street screen it has to be installed before the building permit for the related project is issued, and a developer has to put privacy screening in before any building permit is issued in a phase abutting an arterial or collector right-of-way. Where a buyer later wants screening along such a road and none exists, the duty to install an acceptable wall falls to them.
A fence permit or authorization via city site plan approval shall be required by the city to sanction the placement of a fence or wall or privacy screen.
The answer turns on what is being built and when.
- any fence or wall
- A fence permit or site plan approval.
- a privacy screen over seven feet
- A building permit. 7 ft
- a required buffer or street screen
- Built before the building permit issues.
Also on permits in Eagle Mountain
- set in state lawUtah uses one construction code across the whole state and names the exact editions in the statute, including the 2024 International Building Code and the 2021 International Residential Code. State changes to those codes sit in a separate chapter of the same title. Utah changes only three items on the list of home work that needs no permit, covering walls that hold back earth, low decks and small storage containers. The fence item on that list is model code text that Utah leaves alone, so it is printed on no Utah state site. Utah Code 15A-2-103Utah · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Eagle Mountain
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Utah answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Utah requires a fence around the whole edge of a public pool, the pool deck and any extra deck. It stands at least six feet tall, measured on the outside face. No opening can pass a four inch ball, and horizontal rails sit at least 45 inches apart. Gates close and latch on their own, and at least one gate swings outward so people can get out.
This one is Utah law, not Eagle Mountain law. All Utah findings
is at least six feet in height measured from the exterior side of the barrier
6 ftminimum height of the barrier around a public pool, measured from the outside
Spite fence laws in Eagle Mountain
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Eagle Mountain law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Utah has no spite fence law. The fence chapter of the farming code covers splitting cost and fencing bison, and nothing else. The stray animal chapter covers animals that wander onto other land. Neither one gives a neighbor a claim over a fence put up out of spite, and neither sets a height that starts one.
This one is Utah law, not Eagle Mountain law. All Utah findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Utah Code 4-26-101 through 4-26-104Utah State Legislature
- Utah Code 4-25-101 through 4-25-406Utah State Legislature
How fence height is measured in Eagle Mountain
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Eagle Mountain answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Eagle Mountain gives two ways to measure a fence and then says which one wins: whichever results in a higher screen. The first is the ordinary one, from the finished grade of the property the fence lies on to the top of the fence. The second applies where a commercial or industrial building or parking pad sits at a higher grade than the residential property next to it, and in that case the height is taken from the commercial grade instead. Choosing the reading that produces the taller screen is unusual, because most codes pick a datum and live with it. Here the purpose of the rule drives the arithmetic: the point is to hide the commercial lot from the houses, so the measurement is taken from wherever it produces more screening rather than from wherever the fence happens to stand.
Fence or wall height is measured or assessed from either: (1) the height of finished grade of the property whereupon a fence lies or to which it pertains, to the top of the fence or wall; or (2) from the height of the grade of a commercial or industrial building/parking pad where such is at a higher-grade elevation than any abutting residentially zoned or developed property, whichever results in a higher screen.
Also on how height is measured in Eagle Mountain
- no rule, documents checkedUtah never says what a fence height is measured from, at any level of its code. The fence sections in title 4 are about deals between neighbors and how the cost of a shared fence is split, and they carry no dimension at all. The land use act was renumbered in 2025 into title 10, chapter 20, and the zoning power it hands a city covers putting up, building, rebuilding, changing, repairing and using buildings and structures, with no mention of height. Height turns up in that chapter only in what makes a structure one that no longer fits the rules, and in the standards a city may put on a charter school. Neither place says what a height starts from, so the city ordinance decides. Utah Code 10-20-505Utah · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Eagle Mountain
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Eagle Mountain answers this, but the answer changes depending on the class of street and whether the fence is see through.
At the intersection of two local streets the Eagle Mountain clear vision triangle is drawn between two points thirty feet from the intersection. Where an alley or a driveway, private ones included, meets a local street, the triangle is fifteen feet along the lot lines or the driveway and thirty feet on the street side. Larger triangles may be required by the city engineer where a local street enters an arterial, a major collector or a parkway. Inside the triangle nothing over three feet above the street is permitted, and no trees at all are allowed, which is stricter than the usual trimmed-canopy exception. Driveways themselves are prohibited inside a local street triangle unless there is no other feasible place for one on the lot. And the whole requirement may be set aside where an approved chain link or other non-sight-obscuring fence is used.
Local Streets. At intersections of local streets, the triangle shall be defined by drawing a line between two points that are 30 feet from the intersection.
17.60.140, Clear vision triangles
The answer turns on the class of street and whether the fence is see through.
- two local streets
- Thirty feet. 30 ft
- an alley or driveway
- Fifteen feet on the lot side, thirty on the street. 15 ft
- a tree
- None at all inside the triangle.
- a non-sight-obscuring fence
- The triangle may not be required.
Also on corner visibility in Eagle Mountain
- no rule, documents checkedUtah sets no corner triangle in state law. The two sections of the highway protection act that come closest were read in full. One bans putting a structure or object inside the right of way of a state highway, county road or city street without a permit, which turns on the right of way line and not on what a driver can see. The other bans blocking traffic on a sidewalk or a highway. The fence chapter of the farming code covers fences on a property line and livestock and never mentions a corner. Cities and counties set the triangle. Utah Code 72-7-102Utah · Statute
Retaining wall rules in Eagle Mountain
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Utah answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Utah writes its own permit rule for a wall that holds back earth and puts it in the statute in place of the model code line. It measures the dirt rather than the wall. A wall holding back less than four feet of unbalanced fill needs no permit. Unbalanced fill is the dirt piled on the high side with nothing on the low side to push back. The pass is gone in two cases: where the wall carries a surcharge, meaning an extra load pressing on the dirt behind it, and where the wall is big enough that Section R404.4 of the residential code calls for a design. Utah changes only three items on that no permit list, and this is the first of them.
This one is Utah law, not Eagle Mountain law. All Utah findings
Retaining walls retaining less than four feet (1219mm) of unbalanced fill, unless supporting a surcharge or requiring design per Section R404.4.
4 ftdepth of unbalanced fill at or above which a retaining wall needs a building permit
Fence materials allowed in Eagle Mountain
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Eagle Mountain answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone, the material and which road the lot faces.
A residential fence in Eagle Mountain may be board such as cedar, vinyl, a solid decorative concrete or masonry wall, pre-weathered ASTM A606-4 or A588 steel at least an eighth of an inch thick, wrought iron or an imitation of it, composite, or limited amounts of black painted hog wire under eighty percent of a section, in each case with top and bottom rails and substantial posts. The composition rule then constrains the mix: no more than two materials throughout, with consistent color, pattern and composition, and only the posts allowed to differ. Chain link, wire, razor, chain, gabion basket and electric fencing are not allowed, nor is sheet metal, corrugated metal, OSB, or non-traditional items such as signs, rugs, cardboard or styrofoam. Weathering steel next to concrete needs a drip edge or rock basin so it does not stain. And a lot within seventy-five feet of the Ranches Parkway that no builder screened has to install a Monterey Gray wood fence at six feet.
Composition. Fences shall be constructed such that no more than two materials (i.e., wood or vinyl, etc.) are used throughout and its color(s), pattern, and composition are consistent, save for posts or support columns which may be of different composition or style.
The answer turns on the zone, the material and which road the lot faces.
- how many materials
- Two, plus the posts.
- chain link, wire or gabion baskets
- Not allowed on a house lot.
- a lot near the Ranches Parkway
- A Monterey Gray wood fence at six feet. 75 ft
- weathering steel by concrete
- A drip edge or rock basin.
Also on materials in Eagle Mountain
- set in state lawUtah sets no material rule for an ordinary fence. Its one material rule is about bison. An outside fence meant to hold bison has to reach at least eight feet, and the fence sections and gates have to be a mesh of high tensile steel wire of at least fourteen and one half gauge, with squares no bigger than six inches by six inches, or a material just as strong. The posts get their own rule: treated wood at least four inches across, or something as strong, standing at least six feet two inches above the ground. Utah Code 4-26-104Utah · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Eagle Mountain
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Utah answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
In Utah the owner of the animal pays for damage it does on someone else's land. That covers cattle, a horse, a donkey, a mule, a sheep, a goat or a pig. The owner is off the hook when the land was not fenced in by a lawful fence, in a county or city that has passed a fence ordinance. A second exception covers animals that come in off an old livestock trail onto land without a good enough fence.
This one is Utah law, not Eagle Mountain law. All Utah findings
The owner of any cattle, horse, ass, mule, sheep, goat, or swine that trespasses upon the premises of another person, except in cases where the premises are not enclosed by a lawful fence in a county or municipality that has adopted a fence ordinance, is liable in a civil action to the owner or occupant of the premises for any damage inflicted by the trespass.
Also on agricultural fencing in Eagle Mountain
- set in state lawUtah never says in state law what a lawful fence is, so there is no statewide wire count and no statewide height. Each county decides. A county can pass an ordinance on fencing farms, subdivisions and other private land so grazing animals stay off it, and a county that passes one has to spell out in it what counts as a lawful fence. A county can also split itself into parts with a different fence rule in each. Utah Code 4-25-204Utah · Statute
- set in state lawUtah does set hard numbers for one kind of livestock fence, and it is the bison fence. An outside fence meant to hold bison reaches at least eight feet above the ground, in both the fence sections and the gates. The mesh runs no wider than six inches by six inches, in high tensile steel wire of at least 14 and one half gauge, which is wire made to take more pull before it gives. Posts go no more than 20 feet apart and sit at least two feet in the ground. Utah Code 4-26-104Utah · Statute
Documents behind this page
14 documents, of which 1 was published by Eagle Mountain itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Utah State LegislatureUtah Code, Title 4, Chapter 26, Enclosures and Fences, Section 102
- Utah State LegislatureUtah Code, Title 4, Chapter 26, Enclosures and Fences, Section 103
- Eagle Mountain CityEagle Mountain Municipal Code, Section 17.60.120, General fencing/screening provisions
- Utah State LegislatureUtah Code, Title 15A, State Construction and Fire Codes Act, Chapter 2, Section 103
- Utah State LegislatureUtah Code, Title 4, Chapter 26, Enclosures and Fences
- Utah Department of Health and Human Services, Population Health, Environmental HealthUtah Administrative Code, Rule R392-302, Public Pool Design, Construction, and Operation, Section 17, Fencing and Barriers
- Utah State LegislatureUtah Code, Title 4, Chapter 25, Estrays
- Utah LegislatureUtah Code, Title 10, Chapter 20, Municipal Land Use, Development, and Management Act
- Utah LegislatureUtah Code, Title 72, Chapter 7, Protection of Highways Act, Part 1, Protection of Rights-Of-Way
- Utah LegislatureUtah Code, Title 72, Chapter 7, Protection of Highways Act, Part 1, Protection of Rights-Of-Way
- Utah State LegislatureUtah Code, Title 15A, Chapter 3, Part 2, Statewide Amendments to International Residential Code, Section 202
- Utah LegislatureUtah Code, Title 4, Chapter 26, Enclosures and Fences
- Utah State LegislatureUtah Code, Title 4, Chapter 25, Estrays, Section 205
- Utah State LegislatureUtah Code, Title 4, Chapter 25, Estrays, Section 204
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 Eagle Mountain publishes, plus the Utah rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Utah 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