Fence laws in Newport News, Virginia
What the Newport News municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Newport News sets no rule of its own, the Virginia rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Newport News, Virginia, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- The setbacks in Newport News are measured from the street rather than from the neighbor, and the code says nothing about how close a fence may come to the line it shares with the house next door, and the answer turns on what kind of fence it is and what it stands next to. The figure is 20 feet, for setback of a decorative fence from an abutting right-of-way.
- How tall
- Newport News keeps its fence rules in the building chapter rather than the zoning one and sets four figures, and the answer turns on the district, the yard and whether the fence is decorative or built for security. The figure is 6 feet, for fence in a residential side or rear yard.
- Permits
- Newport News writes the permit rule as an exemption with four holes in it, and every hole is about position rather than height, and the answer turns on where on the lot the fence stands.
- Pool barriers
- Virginia handles pool fences through its statewide building code.
- Spite fences
- Newport News has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Newport News leaves the measuring rule to the zoning ordinance of a locality.
- Corner lots
- The corner rule appears twice in Newport News, in two chapters, with the same twenty foot legs and the same three foot ceiling but not the same instructions, and the answer turns on which of the two chapters is being applied and whether the lot is in the C3 district. The figure is 20 feet, for leg of the clear sight triangle at a corner.
- 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
- Newport News does not keep a list of approved fence materials, and the answer turns on the material, what the fence encloses and what stands next to it. The figure is 6 feet, for lowest height at which barbed or razor wire may sit.
- 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 Newport News?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Newport News answers this, but the answer changes depending on what kind of fence it is and what it stands next to.
The setbacks in Newport News are measured from the street rather than from the neighbor, and the code says nothing about how close a fence may come to the line it shares with the house next door. On a non-residential lot a decorative fence of up to ten feet has to sit at least twenty feet back from any public right-of-way abutting the property, and a security fence of up to twenty feet has to sit at least a hundred feet back. The twenty foot figure comes with a named escape: the city manager or a designee may cut it where strict application would be an undue hardship because the lot is shallow or because of existing structural features, and may attach conditions to soften the effect. Two other position rules apply everywhere. A fence may not go in a recorded city easement where it would obstruct stormwater or block access for maintenance, and no fence may stand in the part of a corner lot rear yard that is closer to the street side line than the building is.
A decorative fence not to exceed ten (10) feet in height, may be erected on any lot in a non-residential zoning district provided that said fence is set back a minimum of twenty (20) feet from any public right-of-way that abuts the property.
The answer turns on what kind of fence it is and what it stands next to.
- a decorative fence
- Twenty feet off the street. 20 ft
- a security fence
- A hundred feet off the street. 100 ft
- a shallow lot
- The city manager may cut the twenty.
- a city easement
- Not where it blocks water or access.
Also on fences on the property line in Newport News
- 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 Newport News?
Compare fence height across all 50 states
Newport News answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, the yard and whether the fence is decorative or built for security.
Newport News keeps its fence rules in the building chapter rather than the zoning one and sets four figures. In a residential district a side or rear yard fence stops at six feet, lifting to eight in the side or rear yard of an apartment house containing at least six dwelling units, and a required front yard stops at four. Outside residential districts the numbers climb sharply. A rear yard fence on any interior or corner lot may reach ten feet, a decorative fence may reach ten anywhere on the lot, and a security fence may reach twenty, which is the tallest fence allowance anywhere in this project. That twenty feet is not free: the fence has to stand at least a hundred feet back from a public right-of-way and be attached or connected to the primary structure, so it works as an extension of the building rather than as a boundary. A fence that is both decorative and secure counts as decorative, which drops it to ten.
In side or rear yards, no fence shall exceed six (6) feet in height, except that in side or rear yards of apartment houses containing at least six (6) dwelling units, no fence shall exceed eight (8) feet in height.
The answer turns on the district, the yard and whether the fence is decorative or built for security.
- a residential side or rear yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- behind an apartment house of six units or more
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a required front yard
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a security fence off the street
- Twenty feet. 20 ft
Also on fence height in Newport News
- 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 Newport News?
Compare permits across all 50 states
Newport News answers this, but the answer changes depending on where on the lot the fence stands.
Newport News writes the permit rule as an exemption with four holes in it, and every hole is about position rather than height. Nothing is needed for an ordinary back yard fence. A permit is needed for a fence in the front yard area of any lot, for one in an interior or corner side yard, for one along any property line abutting the city street right-of-way, and for any fence in a flood hazard district. Between the first three of those, most of the perimeter of an ordinary lot is covered, and the exempt stretch is the rear line and the parts of the side yards behind the house. The fee is a flat thirty five dollars whatever the fence costs, and the application comes from the department of codes compliance on its own form. The article also carries its own penalty rather than leaning on a general one: erecting a fence in violation of it is a Class 4 misdemeanor under state law.
Permits for fence construction are not required except in the following instances: construction of any fence in the front yard area of any lot, construction in the interior or corner side yard of any lot, construction along any property line abutting the city street right-of-way, or construction of any fence in a flood hazard district as such district is defined by section 45-3112.
The answer turns on where on the lot the fence stands.
- a back yard fence away from the street
- No permit.
- a front yard or a side yard
- A permit.
- a line abutting the street
- A permit.
- the fee
- Thirty five dollars, flat.
Also on permits in Newport News
- set in state lawA 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. 13VAC5-63-80Virginia · Building code
Pool fence requirements in Newport News
Compare pool barriers across all 50 states
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 Newport News 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 Newport News
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
Newport News 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 Newport News 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 Newport News
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Newport News does not set this. It leaves it to the zoning ordinance of a locality.
Virginia 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.
This one is Virginia law, not Newport News law. All Virginia findings
The size, height, area, bulk, location, erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, maintenance, razing, or removal of structures;
The code hands this to the zoning ordinance of a locality, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on how height is measured in Newport News
- no rule, documents checkedThe fence article states six feet, eight feet, four feet, ten feet and twenty feet and never says what any of them is measured from. No grade is named for an ordinary fence, a berm is not addressed and a fence built on a retaining wall is not addressed, although the zoning chapter does lift a necessary retaining wall out of the yard requirements entirely. Two other rules in the same few pages are precise about their datums, which makes the silence stand out. The barbed wire rule counts six feet from the nearest ground level, picking the low side deliberately so the wire stays out of reach from wherever a person can stand. The corner rule counts from the adjoining street curb grade, and the zoning version of it counts from the curb grade or the edge of pavement, whichever is higher. Three measuring points appear in one short article and none of them governs the height of the fence itself. Sections 13-143 through 13-145Newport News · Building code
Fence rules for corner lots in Newport News
Compare corner visibility across all 50 states
Newport News answers this, but the answer changes depending on which of the two chapters is being applied and whether the lot is in the C3 district.
The corner rule appears twice in Newport News, in two chapters, with the same twenty foot legs and the same three foot ceiling but not the same instructions. The zoning version protects a band rather than a ceiling, barring any obstruction to a motorist view between three feet and ten feet above the adjoining street curb grade or the edge of pavement, whichever is higher, inside a triangle measured from the point where the property lines abutting the rights-of-way meet, and it does not apply in the C3 district. The building version speaks only to fences, holds a front yard fence on a corner lot to three feet above the adjoining street curb grade, and measures the twenty foot legs from the intersecting street right-of-way lines instead. Between them the outcome for a fence is the same three feet, and the difference is the datum: one takes the curb, the other takes whichever of the curb and the pavement edge sits higher.
On a corner lot, no planting, wall, fence, sign, display, or other obstruction to motorists' vision shall be planted, erected or maintained at any height between three (3) feet and ten (10) feet above the adjoining street curb grade or the edge of pavement, whichever is higher, within a clear sight triangle comprised of two (2) twenty (20) foot legs measured from the point of intersection of the property lines that abut rights-of-way.
The answer turns on which of the two chapters is being applied and whether the lot is in the C3 district.
- the triangle itself
- Twenty feet each way. 20 ft
- a fence inside it
- Three feet. 3 ft
- the top of the band
- Ten feet, so a high canopy is fine. 10 ft
- the C3 district
- The zoning rule does not apply.
Also on corner visibility in Newport News
- 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 Newport News
Compare retaining walls across all 50 states
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 Newport News 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 Newport News
Compare materials across all 50 states
Newport News answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material, what the fence encloses and what stands next to it.
Newport News does not keep a list of approved fence materials. A fence may be built of any material permitted by the building code, which hands the question to a different document and keeps the fence article short. The restrictions that remain are aimed at wire. Barbed wire is out of any fence on the same premises as a dwelling in a residential district, so the test is the house next to it rather than the zoning line. Where barbed or razor wire is allowed, around permitted storage areas, similar commercial uses or swimming pools, it has to sit in the uppermost portion of the fence and may not come lower than six feet from the nearest ground level, which keeps it out of reach rather than out of sight. Electrified fencing is prohibited except in two cases: livestock in an agricultural district, and wild animals kept under the animal chapter, and the second one has to be built so the public cannot touch it by accident and has to carry warning signs.
Barbed or razor wire strands may be used to enclose permitted storage areas, other similar commercial uses or swimming pools where the strands are restricted to the uppermost portion of the fence and do not extend lower than a height of six (6) feet from the nearest ground level.
The answer turns on the material, what the fence encloses and what stands next to it.
- an ordinary fence
- Anything the building code allows.
- barbed wire beside a house
- Prohibited.
- barbed wire around storage or a pool
- Top of the fence, above six feet. 6 ft
- an electric fence
- Livestock or wild animals only, with signs.
Also on materials in Newport News
- 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 Newport News
Compare agricultural fencing across all 50 states
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 Newport News 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 Newport News
- 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
8 documents, of which 2 were published by Newport News 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 Newport NewsNewport News Code of Ordinances, Chapter 13, Building Regulations, Article VI, 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
- City of Newport NewsNewport News Code of Ordinances, Chapter 45, Zoning Ordinance, Article XXVIII, Modifications and Adjustments of District Regulations, Section 45-2807, Walls, fences and obstructions
- 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 Newport News 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