Fence laws in Taylorsville, Utah
What the Taylorsville municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Taylorsville sets no rule of its own, the Utah rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Taylorsville, Utah, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Utah splits the cost of a fence on the line between two owners. The figure is 50 percent, for share of an existing fence value paid by a later adjoining owner when it becomes a partition fence.
- How tall
- In any required side or rear yard on a Taylorsville lot a fence may not exceed six feet, and the answer turns on the yard, the use and whether the ground slopes. The figure is 6 feet, for fence in a side or rear yard.
- Permits
- Where a subdivider develops or builds on property abutting an arterial or collector street in Taylorsville, the code makes them construct and install a fence or wall at their own expense along the back property line of the abutting lots, and the section lists named streets as examples of what counts, and the answer turns on who is building and what they are asking for. The figure is 8 feet, for commercial fence approved at site plan review.
- 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
- Taylorsville has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Taylorsville measures a fence from the highest grade, so where the ground differs across a boundary the taller side sets the number and the fence ends up shorter as the lower neighbor sees it. The figure is 11 feet, for fence and retaining wall combined.
- Corner lots
- A thirty foot sight visibility triangle has to be kept on a corner side yard at a local street or a controlled intersection, and every other intersection is sent to the AASHTO standards, which are usually larger, and the answer turns on the kind of intersection and whether the fence is see through. The figure is 30 feet, for leg of the sight visibility triangle.
- Retaining walls
- A retaining wall on the line separating two Taylorsville lots may not exceed five feet, and the answer turns on how deep the cut or fill is. The figure is 5 feet, for tallest single retaining wall on a line.
- Materials
- Taylorsville states its wire rule twice and the two statements together leave almost nothing, and the answer turns on the property type and whether the fence can be seen.
- 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 Taylorsville?
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Utah answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Utah 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.
This one is Utah law, not Taylorsville law. All Utah findings
the owner of the adjoining land shall, before making the enclosure, pay to the owner of the existing fence one-half of the value of all that part of the fence that will become a partition fence.
50%share of an existing fence value paid by a later adjoining owner when it becomes a partition fence
Also on fences on the property line in Taylorsville
- 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 Taylorsville?
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Taylorsville answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, the use and whether the ground slopes.
In any required side or rear yard on a Taylorsville lot a fence may not exceed six feet. In a required front yard a solid fence stops at three feet and an open one, wrought iron being the example given, gets four. Above all of it sits an absolute: in no instance may a fence without a retaining wall exceed eight feet. A fence on a slope may reach seven feet so long as its average height is no greater than six, which lets the top run level across falling ground. Posts, gateposts, pillars and support columns may extend twelve inches above the maximum where they are separated by at least six linear feet of fencing and are no more than eighteen inches in diameter or width. A commercial or industrial fence along a side or rear line is held to six feet, rising to eight if the Planning Commission approves it during site plan review.
Side Yards And Rear Yards: In any required side or rear yard on lots, the height of fences shall not exceed six feet (6'), unless otherwise allowed herein. 2. Front Yards: Fences in required front yards shall be allowed provided that solid type fences shall not exceed three feet (3'), and open type fences, e.g., wrought iron, shall not exceed four feet (4').
The answer turns on the yard, the use and whether the ground slopes.
- a side or rear yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a solid front yard fence
- Three feet. 3 ft
- a fence on a slope
- Seven feet, averaging six. 7 ft
- any fence without a retaining wall
- Never above eight feet. 8 ft
Also on fence height in Taylorsville
- 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 Taylorsville?
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Taylorsville answers this, but the answer changes depending on who is building and what they are asking for.
Where a subdivider develops or builds on property abutting an arterial or collector street in Taylorsville, the code makes them construct and install a fence or wall at their own expense along the back property line of the abutting lots, and the section lists named streets as examples of what counts. A request to exceed any of the height limits goes to the Planning Commission on unusual circumstances, with views and landscaping given as the examples, so the route past the numbers is a hearing rather than staff discretion. On the commercial side the Planning Commission is also the body that can lift a side or rear fence from six feet to eight, and it does so during site plan review rather than as a separate application. A front yard fence between a building and the front property line has to be decorative iron, or decorative iron with brick pillars, at up to six feet and set immediately behind the required front landscape area.
Fences along side or rear property lines shall not exceed six feet (6') in height measured from the highest elevation on either side of the fence and up to eight feet (8') if approved by the Planning Commission during site plan review.
13.28.050.A and B, with 13.28.090
The answer turns on who is building and what they are asking for.
- a commercial side or rear fence
- Six feet, eight with the Commission. 8 ft
- a subdivision on an arterial
- The subdivider builds the wall.
- a height variation
- The Planning Commission reviews it.
Also on permits in Taylorsville
- 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 Taylorsville
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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 Taylorsville 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 Taylorsville
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Taylorsville 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 Taylorsville 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 Taylorsville
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Taylorsville answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Taylorsville measures a fence from the highest grade, so where the ground differs across a boundary the taller side sets the number and the fence ends up shorter as the lower neighbor sees it. The combined height of a fence and a retaining wall may not exceed eleven feet. Read against the absolute ceiling of eight feet for a fence standing on its own, that means a retaining wall can buy three more feet and no more. The commercial standards repeat the same two sentences word for word, so the rule does not change with the use, and the commercial side and rear paragraph says explicitly that the six feet is measured from the highest elevation on either side of the fence. Posts get their own twelve inch allowance above whatever the maximum works out to be.
Measurement Of Height: The height of a fence shall be measured from the highest grade and the combined height of a fence and retaining wall shall not exceed eleven feet (11').
11 ftfence and retaining wall combined
Also on how height is measured in Taylorsville
- 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 Taylorsville
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Taylorsville answers this, but the answer changes depending on the kind of intersection and whether the fence is see through.
A thirty foot sight visibility triangle has to be kept on a corner side yard at a local street or a controlled intersection, and every other intersection is sent to the AASHTO standards, which are usually larger. The triangle is drawn between two points along the back edge of the right-of-way, and height inside those thirty feet has to meet the front yard figures, which means three feet solid or four feet open. A second and smaller rule covers a driveway: a clear view zone has to be kept free of fencing, except a see-through fence or a view obscuring one no higher than three feet, and that zone is the triangle on either side of the driveway running ten feet back from the right-of-way and ten feet along it. The commercial standards add that a triangle increases significantly on or near the inside of a horizontal curve.
Sight Visibility Triangle: A thirty foot (30') sight visibility triangle shall be maintained on corner side yards located on local streets and controlled intersections, all other intersections shall be subject to AASHTO standards.
The answer turns on the kind of intersection and whether the fence is see through.
- a local or controlled intersection
- Thirty feet. 30 ft
- any other intersection
- Sized by AASHTO.
- a driveway
- Ten feet each way. 10 ft
- inside either area
- Three feet solid, four open.
Also on corner visibility in Taylorsville
- 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 Taylorsville
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Taylorsville answers this, but the answer changes depending on how deep the cut or fill is.
A retaining wall on the line separating two Taylorsville lots may not exceed five feet. Where the cut or fill to be held back is deeper, the wall has to be stepped, with the steps separated horizontally by at least five feet, so a tall face becomes a terrace. The uppermost wall may then be topped by a fence, wall or hedge of the height that would otherwise have been permitted there if the retaining wall did not exist, subject to the eleven foot combined ceiling. The Director may grant an exception where the stepping would cause an unreasonable hardship, and the code gives its own example: where stepping would eat the side or rear yard and leave a strip of unusable space under five feet, or where it is impractical because of adjoining uses. A building permit may be required for a retaining wall.
Where a retaining wall protects a cut below or a fill above the natural grade and is located on the line separating lots or properties, such retaining wall shall not exceed five feet (5'). For cuts/fills to be retained that exceed five feet (5'), retaining walls shall be stepped and separated horizontally by a minimum of five feet (5').
The answer turns on how deep the cut or fill is.
- a single wall on the line
- Five feet. 5 ft
- a deeper cut
- Stepped, five feet apart.
- the top wall
- A full height fence on it.
- a hardship
- The Director may excuse the stepping.
Also on retaining walls in Taylorsville
- set in state lawUtah 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. Utah Code 15A-3-202(5)(a)Utah · Statute
Fence materials allowed in Taylorsville
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Taylorsville answers this, but the answer changes depending on the property type and whether the fence can be seen.
Taylorsville states its wire rule twice and the two statements together leave almost nothing. The residential section says barbed wire and other security wire are not allowed on commercial, industrial, business or civic property for the purpose of maintaining security and preventing property loss and vandalism, and then says the same about residential property, which is every category and the only purpose anybody uses it for. The separate barbed wire section is narrower and more conventional: strands of barbed wire, concertina or similar are prohibited on residential, mixed use and open space properties unless the Director specifically approves them for agricultural uses, and are not allowed on commercial, office or industrial property when it adjoins residential uses or sits within public view. In the sensitive area overlay the palette is a color rule, with chain link, wrought iron and three rail fencing all limited to dark brown, dark green or black so they blend into the native landscape.
Barbed Wire Fences: Barbed wire and other security wire are not allowed on fences on commercial, industrial, business, or civic property for the purpose of maintaining security and preventing property loss and vandalism.
The answer turns on the property type and whether the fence can be seen.
- security wire on a business lot
- Not allowed.
- barbed wire on a house lot
- Only with the Director, for agriculture.
- a hillside in the sensitive area overlay
- Dark brown, dark green or black only.
Also on materials in Taylorsville
- 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 Taylorsville
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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 Taylorsville 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 Taylorsville
- 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
15 documents, of which 2 were published by Taylorsville 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
- 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
- Taylorsville CityTaylorsville City Code, Section 13.28.030, Fences; Residential Standards
- Taylorsville CityTaylorsville City Code, Section 13.28.050, Fencing; Commercial and Industrial Standards
- 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 Taylorsville 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