Fence laws in Roanoke, Virginia
What the Roanoke municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Roanoke sets no rule of its own, the Virginia rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Roanoke, Virginia, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Roanoke treats a fence as an accessory structure and then writes it out of the rule that governs the rest of them, and the answer turns on whether the structure counts as a fence or as an ordinary accessory structure. The figure is 0 feet, for setback stated for a fence from a side or rear property line.
- How tall
- Roanoke prints a schedule and keys it to the entrance rather than to the yard, and the answer turns on the district, where the fence sits relative to the main entrance, and what the lot abuts. The figure is 48 inches, for fence between the entrance building line and the frontage it faces.
- Permits
- Roanoke requires a zoning permit for almost everything built on a lot, including outdoor lighting, parking areas, signs and even required landscaping, and then writes two exemptions.
- Pool barriers
- Virginia handles pool fences through its statewide building code.
- Spite fences
- Roanoke has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Roanoke leaves the measuring rule to the zoning ordinance of a locality.
- Corner lots
- Roanoke sets three different limits inside the same sight distance triangle depending on what is standing there, and the answer turns on whether the thing in the triangle is a fence, a shrub, a tree or a sign. The figure is 36 inches, for fence or wall height inside a sight distance triangle.
- 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
- Roanoke names almost no materials and regulates openness and wire instead, and the answer turns on where on the lot the fence sits and which district it is in. The figure is 25 percent, for minimum open area of a fence in front of the principal entrance.
- 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 Roanoke?
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Roanoke answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the structure counts as a fence or as an ordinary accessory structure.
Roanoke treats a fence as an accessory structure and then writes it out of the rule that governs the rest of them. Accessory structures generally may not sit closer to any street than the principal building, and the very first words of that sentence except fences, walls, arbors, trellises and outdoor light support structures, so a fence may come forward of the house where a shed may not. No distance from a side or rear line is stated anywhere in the fence section, so the shared boundary is open. Two structures nearby do carry real setbacks and show what a distance rule looks like in this code: a dumpster serving a non-residential use has to stay fifteen feet from an abutting residentially zoned lot, and a portable storage container has to stay five feet from any side or rear line. Retaining walls are lifted out of the fence rules entirely and are not subject to them at all.
Except for fences, walls, arbors, trellises, or outdoor light support structures, or as otherwise provided in this section, accessory structures, including refuse dumpster enclosures, shall be located no closer to any street than the principal building.
The answer turns on whether the structure counts as a fence or as an ordinary accessory structure.
- a fence or a wall
- Exempt from that setback.
- a side or rear line
- No distance stated. 0 ft
- a retaining wall
- Outside these rules altogether.
- a shed or a dumpster
- Never forward of the house.
Also on fences on the property line in Roanoke
- 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 Roanoke?
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Roanoke answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, where the fence sits relative to the main entrance, and what the lot abuts.
Roanoke prints a schedule and keys it to the entrance rather than to the yard. In the residential, institutional and mixed use districts, a fence between the building line carrying the principal entrance and the frontage it faces is held to forty eight inches. On a lot with more than one frontage, the other building lines and the frontages they face get six feet, so a corner lot is not treated as having two fronts. A required side or rear yard gets six feet, and then comes the borrowing rule that makes this code unusual: where one of those residential districts abuts a downtown, open space, commercial, industrial, planned unit development or airport district, the maximum height along that shared line becomes the height of the abutting district instead. A house lot touching an industrial district therefore gets ten feet without applying for anything. Downtown, commercial and urban flex districts get eight feet in any required yard and the industrial ones get ten.
Any required side or rear yard 6 feet, except where one (1) of these districts abuts a D, ROS, CN, CG, CLS, I-1, I-2, IPUD, INPUD, or AD District, maximum height shall be that of the abutting district along that abutting property line
The answer turns on the district, where the fence sits relative to the main entrance, and what the lot abuts.
- in front of the main entrance
- Forty eight inches. 48 in
- a required side or rear yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a line shared with a busier district
- That district height applies.
- an industrial district
- Ten feet in any required yard. 10 ft
Also on fence height in Roanoke
- 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 Roanoke?
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Roanoke answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Roanoke requires a zoning permit for almost everything built on a lot, including outdoor lighting, parking areas, signs and even required landscaping, and then writes two exemptions. The second one is a flat, unconditional line: construction of fences, arbors and trellises. No height threshold, no district limit and no reference to another document. The first exemption is conditional and covers accessory structures, walls and swimming pools only where the Virginia Construction Code already exempts them, pointing at section 108.2 of that code by name. The two together split fences from walls, because a fence is out of the permit requirement outright while a wall is out only where the state code lets it be. A zoning permit that is issued expires if work has not begun within six months, and the Zoning Administrator may reissue it on the original plans within ninety days of that expiry.
except that the following activities are exempt from the zoning permit requirement: A. Construction of accessory structures, walls, or swimming pools which are otherwise exempt from permit requirements pursuant to the Virginia Construction Code. (Ref. Sec. 108.2 Exemptions from application for permit); B. Construction of fences, arbors, and trellises;
Also on permits in Roanoke
- 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 Roanoke
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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 Roanoke 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 Roanoke
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Roanoke 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 Roanoke 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 Roanoke
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Roanoke 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 Roanoke 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 Roanoke
- no rule, documents checkedThe height schedule states forty eight inches, six feet, eight feet and ten feet and never says what any of them is measured from. No grade is named in the schedule, a berm is not addressed, and a fence built on top of a retaining wall is not addressed, which matters more here than in most cities because Roanoke sits in a valley and the same rule sends retaining walls out of the fence section entirely. Two rules in the same chapter do name a datum and both use the same phrase. A fence or wall inside a sight distance triangle is measured at thirty six inches from graded ground level, and shrubs and ground cover there are held to thirty inches above the graded ground level. Graded rather than natural ground level means the measurement is taken after the earth has been moved, which answers the berm question at the corner and leaves it open everywhere else on the lot. Section 36.2-410(b)(3)Roanoke · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Roanoke
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Roanoke answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the thing in the triangle is a fence, a shrub, a tree or a sign.
Roanoke sets three different limits inside the same sight distance triangle depending on what is standing there. A fence or wall may not exceed thirty six inches from graded ground level. Landscaping is held six inches lower, with shrubs and ground cover capped at thirty inches above the graded ground level and evergreen trees excluded from the triangle entirely, which is a species rule rather than a height rule and recognizes that an evergreen never loses the screen a deciduous tree drops each winter. A freestanding sign takes the opposite approach and is required to be high rather than low, with no part other than a slim supporting pole allowed lower than nine feet from grade inside the triangle. What the fence and landscaping sections do not do is state the size of the triangle. Its geometry is defined elsewhere in the city code, in a section not read for this page, so the distance from the corner is not recorded here.
No fence or wall that exceeds a height of 36 inches from graded ground level shall be permitted within a sight distance triangle.
The answer turns on whether the thing in the triangle is a fence, a shrub, a tree or a sign.
- a fence or a wall
- Thirty six inches. 36 in
- shrubs and ground cover
- Thirty inches. 30 in
- an evergreen tree
- Not allowed there at all.
- a freestanding sign
- Nothing below nine feet. 9 ft
Also on corner visibility in Roanoke
- 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 Roanoke
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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 Roanoke 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 Roanoke
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Roanoke answers this, but the answer changes depending on where on the lot the fence sits and which district it is in.
Roanoke names almost no materials and regulates openness and wire instead. In front of the main entrance a fence may not be solid, and the code sets the test at twenty five percent, naming lattice and open wire as examples of what qualifies and allowing any other fence type with twenty five percent or more open area. That is a lower bar than the fifty percent that Norfolk and Suffolk use for the same purpose, and it lets a close-spaced picket fence through. Barbed and razor wire are prohibited in all residential districts, with one exception that follows the activity rather than the lot: barbed wire is permitted to contain animals associated with an agricultural operation in the residential agricultural district. Elsewhere the wire may top a fence at least six feet tall, on arms or brackets angled inward, or outward provided nothing projects over a public right-of-way, with not more than three strands and the first at least six inches off the face.
No fence located in an area as set forth in subsections (A) and (B) below shall be a solid fence, unless otherwise required by this chapter. Lattice, open wire, or any other fence type with 25 percent or more open area shall be permitted.
The answer turns on where on the lot the fence sits and which district it is in.
- in front of the main entrance
- A quarter open, at least. 25%
- barbed or razor wire in a house district
- Prohibited.
- barbed wire on a farm
- Allowed to hold the animals.
- wire on a commercial fence
- Three strands, six inches off the face. 3 strands
Also on materials in Roanoke
- 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 Roanoke
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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 Roanoke 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 Roanoke
- 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
9 documents, of which 3 were published by Roanoke 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 RoanokeCode of the City of Roanoke (1979), Chapter 36.2, Zoning, Article 4, Supplemental Regulations
- 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
- City of RoanokeCode of the City of Roanoke (1979), Chapter 36.2, Zoning, Article 5, Procedures, Section 36.2-522, Zoning permits
- 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 RoanokeCode of the City of Roanoke (1979), Chapter 36.2, Zoning, Article 6, Development Standards, Section 36.2-642, General landscaping and screening standards
- 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 Roanoke 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