Fence laws in Harrisonburg, Virginia
What the Harrisonburg municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Harrisonburg sets no rule of its own, the Virginia rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Harrisonburg, Virginia, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- The section opens by granting the yards outright, and the answer turns on whether the fence sits at a corner and whether it blocks vision. The figure is 0 feet, for setback stated from a side or rear property line.
- How tall
- Harrisonburg is one of the few cities in this project that allows the same six feet in a front yard as in a back one, and the answer turns on the yard, the district and whether the fence is attached to the building. The figure is 6 feet, for wall or fence within a front yard.
- Permits
- A fence of any height needs no building permit in Virginia.
- Pool barriers
- Virginia handles pool fences through its statewide building code.
- Spite fences
- Harrisonburg has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Harrisonburg uses two different measuring rules in two consecutive sentences and both are unusual.
- Corner lots
- Harrisonburg writes its corner rule as a remedy rather than as a prohibition, and the answer turns on the district, the height of the thing and whether it actually blocks vision. The figure is 3.5 feet, for height above which a corner obstruction has to be cured.
- Retaining walls
- Virginia writes its own statewide code and sets the bar lower than the model code does. The figure is 3 feet, for depth of unbalanced fill at or above which a retaining wall needs a building permit.
- Materials
- Harrisonburg names no permitted materials and writes its one prohibition as a standard rather than a list, and the answer turns on whether the fence adjoins a property line and how far it sits from houses.
- Livestock
- Virginia describes a lawful fence several ways and any one of them counts, as long as the livestock cannot get through. The figure is 42 inches, for minimum height of a barbed wire or board lawful fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Harrisonburg?
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Harrisonburg answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence sits at a corner and whether it blocks vision.
The section opens by granting the yards outright. Walls and fences, beams and similar items which may restrict passage or vision or simply enhance private property may be located within required yards and defined by building setbacks, except as the section itself restricts, so the setback that holds a house back does not hold a fence back and no distance from a side or rear line is stated anywhere. Two things pull a fence away from a line. On a corner lot in any district other than the central business district, a fence over three and a half feet that presents an obstruction to vision is cut down or relocated at least twenty feet from the intersection of the right-of-way lines, which is a setback triggered by what the fence does rather than by where it sits. And a wall or fence may not impede sight distance at an entrance or an intersection, judged against the Design and Construction Standards Manual rather than against a figure in the code.
Walls and fences, beams and similar items which may restrict passage or vision or simply enhance private property may be located within required yards and defined by building setbacks except as restricted herein
The answer turns on whether the fence sits at a corner and whether it blocks vision.
- an ordinary side or rear line
- Inside the required yard. 0 ft
- a corner lot fence blocking vision
- Twenty feet back, or cut down. 20 ft
- a driveway entrance
- Judged against the standards manual.
- a pool or transformer enclosure
- Other rules take over.
Also on fences on the property line in Harrisonburg
- set in state lawIn Virginia neighbors split a fence on the property line down the middle. Both build it, both keep it up, and both pay the same share. Two things end that duty: one neighbor choosing to leave their land open, or the two of them agreeing to something else. Va. Code § 55.1-2821Virginia · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Harrisonburg?
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Harrisonburg answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, the district and whether the fence is attached to the building.
Harrisonburg is one of the few cities in this project that allows the same six feet in a front yard as in a back one. No wall or fence within a front yard may exceed six feet, and in side and rear yards the limit is an average height of six feet, with the front figure a flat ceiling and the rear one an average. Above that sit two lifts. An item attached to the principal building may reach eight feet where it is clearly incidental to a function of the building rather than a site improvement, which ties the extra two feet to what the thing does rather than to where it stands. And in business and industrial districts, walls and fences used for safety or security purposes may be greater than the height otherwise permitted, with no ceiling stated and no application named, which is the loosest security allowance in this project. Enclosures for pools, refuse containers, transformers and substations are governed by other rules that supersede this section.
No walls or fences within front yards shall exceed a height of six (6) feet as measured from grade at the front property line. (2) No walls or fences or similar items other than landscaping within side and rear yards shall exceed an average height of six (6) feet; except that such items, when attached to a principal building, may not exceed eight (8) feet in height when clearly incidental to a function of the building rather than site improvement.
The answer turns on the yard, the district and whether the fence is attached to the building.
- a front yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a side or rear yard
- Six feet on average. 6 ft
- attached to the house
- Eight feet where it serves the building. 8 ft
- security in a business district
- Higher, with no figure stated.
Also on fence height in Harrisonburg
- no rule, documents checkedVirginia sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The state fence chapter says nothing about height, and the statewide building code lets a fence of any height go up with no building permit. Counties and cities set the limit in their zoning rules. Va. Code §§ 55.1-2800 through 55.1-2841Virginia · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Harrisonburg?
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Virginia answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A fence of any height needs no building permit in Virginia. The Uniform Statewide Building Code puts no number on it at all, where most states stop the pass at six or seven feet. Two fences are left out: one needed to keep people on foot safe under Section 3306, and one used as the barrier for a swimming pool. A zoning permit from the county or city is a separate question from the building permit this section covers.
This one is Virginia law, not Harrisonburg law. All Virginia findings
Fences of any height unless required for pedestrian safety as provided for by Section 3306 or used for the barrier for a swimming pool.
Also on permits in Harrisonburg
- no rule, documents checkedThe walls and fences section runs to seven numbered paragraphs and mentions no application, no fee, no inspection and no height at which review begins. No fence permit exists in it. The one approval-shaped thing in the section is a waiver rather than a permit: the ban on electrified and barbed fencing may be waived in customary agricultural areas isolated from residential buildings, and the section does not say who grants that or on what showing. Two obligations point outside the zoning chapter without creating a permit. Sight distance at entrances and intersections is judged in accord with the Design and Construction Standards Manual, and enclosures for swimming pools, refuse containers, transformers and substations are governed by other regulations which supersede this section. Whether a Harrisonburg fence needs a building permit is a question for the state building code, a separate document that was not read for this page. Section 10-3-115Harrisonburg · Zoning code
Pool fence requirements in Harrisonburg
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Virginia answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Virginia handles pool fences through its statewide building code. That code sends swimming pools and pool enclosures to the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, 2021 edition. Virginia states no height of its own, so the numbers come from that private code and not from Virginia text.
This one is Virginia law, not Harrisonburg law. All Virginia findings
Swimming pools, swimming pool enclosures, and aquatic recreational facilities, as that term is defined in the ISPSC, shall comply with applicable provisions of the ISPSC.
Spite fence laws in Harrisonburg
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Harrisonburg law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Virginia has no spite fence law. Chapter 28 of Title 55.1 is the state fence chapter, and its eight parts cover electric fences, lawful fences, cattle guards, animals that get onto other land, no fence areas, fences on a property line, unincorporated communities and cutting trees. None of them mentions a fence built to bother a neighbor, and none sets a height that starts a claim.
This one is Virginia law, not Harrisonburg law. All Virginia findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Va. Code §§ 55.1-2800 through 55.1-2841Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code § 55.1-2821Virginia General Assembly
How fence height is measured in Harrisonburg
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Harrisonburg answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Harrisonburg uses two different measuring rules in two consecutive sentences and both are unusual. A front yard fence is measured from grade at the front property line, which is a fixed point out at the street rather than the ground the fence stands on, so a lot that rises away from the road loses height as the fence moves back up the slope and a lot that falls away gains it. Almost every other code in this project measures at the fence. In a side or rear yard the rule changes again, capping the average height at six feet rather than the height at any point, so a run stepping over uneven ground is judged as a whole and a tall stretch may be balanced by a short one. What neither sentence covers is the ground itself. A berm is not addressed and a fence built on top of a retaining wall is not addressed, so nothing says whether raising the earth first raises the allowance with it.
as measured from grade at the front property line
Also on how height is measured in Harrisonburg
- left to the townVirginia does not set this. The county or city does. Section 15.2-2280 lets a locality split its land into districts and, in each one, set rules for the size, height, area, bulk, place, building, changing, repair and removal of structures. That word structures covers a fence, so a fence falls inside it. The section never says how a height is taken, so the local ordinance gives both the limit and the point the measuring starts from. Va. Code 15.2-2280(2)Virginia · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Harrisonburg
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Harrisonburg answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, the height of the thing and whether it actually blocks vision.
Harrisonburg writes its corner rule as a remedy rather than as a prohibition. In every district except the central business district, walls, fences, hedgerows, dense landscaping and other items on a corner lot which exceed three and a half feet and present an obstruction to vision are to be reduced in height or relocated at least twenty feet from the intersection of the right-of-way lines. Two conditions have to be met before anything happens: the thing has to be over three and a half feet and it has to actually obstruct vision, so height alone does not trigger it. The owner is then given a choice of cure, lower it or move it, which most codes do not offer. The central business district is exempt outright, on the logic that downtown buildings already sit at the corner. Alongside this sits a second obligation with no numbers at all, requiring that walls and fences not impede sight distance at entrances and street intersections in accord with the Design and Construction Standards Manual.
In all use districts, except a B-1 central business district, walls and fences, hedgerows and other dense landscaping and other items which occur on corner lots, which exceed three and one-half (3½) feet in height, and present an obstruction to vision, shall be reduced in height or relocated at least twenty (20) feet from the intersection of right-of-way lines.
The answer turns on the district, the height of the thing and whether it actually blocks vision.
- the trigger height
- Three and a half feet. 3.5 ft
- the cure
- Lower it or move it twenty feet. 20 ft
- the central business district
- Exempt.
- a driveway entrance
- The standards manual governs.
Also on corner visibility in Harrisonburg
- set in state lawVirginia prints a real triangle in its code, and it is about signs rather than fences. Section 33.2-1216 bans an advertisement at a public road crossing where it would block the clear view between a point 20 feet back on the side road and points 400 feet away along the main road. The next clause draws a second triangle at a railroad crossing, 400 feet along the road and 500 feet along the track. Every one of these rules covers advertising, so none of them reaches a fence on a house lot. Va. Code 33.2-1216Virginia · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Harrisonburg
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Virginia answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Virginia writes its own statewide code and sets the bar lower than the model code does. A wall that holds back earth gets a pass from the permit only while it holds back less than three feet of unbalanced fill, which is the dirt piled on the high side with nothing on the low side to push back. Virginia measures the dirt and not the wall, the same way Utah does, and it stops a foot sooner. No other state read here sets it lower. Two things end the pass: a wall built to hold Class I, II or III-A liquids, and a wall carrying a surcharge, which means a load pressing on the dirt behind it on top of the ordinary fill. Skipping the permit does not excuse work that breaks another part of the code, and a zoning permit from the county or city is a separate question.
This one is Virginia law, not Harrisonburg law. All Virginia findings
Retaining walls supporting less than three feet of unbalanced fill that are not constructed for the purpose of impounding Class I, II, or III-A liquids or supporting a surcharge other than ordinary unbalanced fill.
13VAC5-63-80 B, Section 108.2, item 7
3 ftdepth of unbalanced fill at or above which a retaining wall needs a building permit
Fence materials allowed in Harrisonburg
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Harrisonburg answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence adjoins a property line and how far it sits from houses.
Harrisonburg names no permitted materials and writes its one prohibition as a standard rather than a list. In all residential districts, walls and fences which adjoin property lines may not be electrified, barbed or otherwise secured in a manner inappropriate or dangerous to the neighborhood. Three things about that sentence are worth noting. It bites only on a fence that adjoins a property line, so the rule is about the neighbor rather than about the district as a whole. It ends in an open phrase, otherwise secured in a manner inappropriate or dangerous, which catches spikes, glass and anything else without naming them and leaves the judgment to whoever enforces it. And it carries a waiver: the restriction may be set aside within customary agricultural areas which are isolated from residential buildings, so the test is distance from houses rather than the zoning of the land.
In all residential districts walls and fences which adjoin property lines shall not be electrified, barbed or otherwise secured in a manner inappropriate or dangerous to the neighborhood. Such restrictions may be waived within customary agricultural areas which are isolated from residential buildings.
The answer turns on whether the fence adjoins a property line and how far it sits from houses.
- wire on a shared line
- Not allowed.
- anything dangerous to the neighborhood
- Caught by the same sentence.
- farmland away from houses
- The restriction may be waived.
- any other material
- None named.
Also on materials in Harrisonburg
- set in state lawVirginia puts the electric fence first in its fence chapter, and the rule is about the box rather than the wire. On land used for farming, an electric fence cannot be sold, handed out, built, put in, kept or used unless a controlling device holds down the charge running through it. That device has to carry the Underwriters Laboratories label under UL 69, or meet the matching standard from the International Electrotechnical Commission. One device can feed only one connected run of fence, and it has to be grounded when it goes into service. A device that meets neither standard can be used only while it stays inside the current limits the next section prints. Breaking any of this is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Va. Code 55.1-2801Virginia · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Harrisonburg
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Virginia answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Virginia describes a lawful fence several ways and any one of them counts, as long as the livestock cannot get through. One is a fence at least five feet high. One is barbed wire at least 42 inches high with at least four strands, fixed to posts set no more than 12 feet apart, unless a stay or brace sits halfway between them. One is boards, planks or rails at least 42 inches high with at least three boards. A cattle guard strong enough to turn livestock counts too.
This one is Virginia law, not Harrisonburg law. All Virginia findings
2. Made of barbed wire, at least 42 inches high, consisting of at least four strands of barbed wire, firmly fixed to posts, trees, or other supports substantially set in the ground, spaced no farther than 12 feet apart unless a substantial stay or brace is installed halfway between such posts, trees, or other supports to which such wires are also fixed;
42 inminimum height of a barbed wire or board lawful fence
Also on agricultural fencing in Harrisonburg
- set in state lawIn Virginia the damages follow the fence. When livestock get into land that is already fenced in by a lawful fence, the owner of the animal pays the real damage. The fence has to be there first, which makes the landowner the one who builds, unless the county has changed the rule. Va. Code 55.1-2810Virginia · Statute
- set in state lawA county board can flip that rule for all or part of the county. By ordinance it can declare the line of every lot or tract, or a stream, to be a lawful fence, which means no fence has to be built at all for the damages rule to work. It can also name a different kind of fence than the one the state describes. Where that ordinance is in place, the owner of livestock may not let them off their own land. Va. Code 55.1-2814Virginia · Statute
Documents behind this page
7 documents, of which 1 was published by Harrisonburg itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Virginia General AssemblyCode of Virginia, Title 55.1, Chapter 28, Article 6, Section 55.1-2821, Obligation to provide division fences
- City of HarrisonburgHarrisonburg Code of Ordinances, Title 10, Planning and Development, Chapter 3, Zoning, Article T, Modifications and Adjustments, Section 10-3-115, Walls and fences
- Virginia General AssemblyCode of Virginia, Title 55.1, Chapter 28, Trespasses; Fences, full chapter listing
- Virginia Department of Housing and Community DevelopmentVirginia Administrative Code, 13VAC5-63-80, Section 108 Application for permit
- Virginia Department of Housing and Community DevelopmentVirginia Administrative Code, 13VAC5-63-336, Chapter 31 Special construction, Section 3109.1
- Virginia General AssemblyCode of Virginia, Title 15.2, Chapter 22, Planning, Subdivision of Land and Zoning
- Virginia General AssemblyCode of Virginia, Title 33.2, Chapter 12, Outdoor Advertising in Sight of Public Highways
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 Harrisonburg publishes, plus the Virginia rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Virginia 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