Fence laws in Virginia Beach, Virginia
What the Virginia Beach municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Virginia Beach sets no rule of its own, the Virginia rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Virginia Beach, Virginia, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- The rule that governs a Virginia Beach boundary is about the street, not the neighbor, and the answer turns on the material and how close to the right-of-way it sits. The figure is 5 feet, for minimum distance from a right-of-way line.
- How tall
- A fence in Virginia Beach may not exceed eight feet anywhere, and drops to four wherever it faces a street, and the answer turns on which yard the fence is in and how close it is to a street. The figure is 8 feet, for maximum fence or wall height.
- Permits
- Virginia Beach triggers its fence permit by distance from the street rather than by height, which almost nobody else does. The figure is 30 feet, for distance from a public right-of-way within which a permit is required.
- Pool barriers
- Virginia handles pool fences through its statewide building code.
- Spite fences
- Virginia Beach has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Virginia Beach leaves the measuring rule to the zoning ordinance of a locality.
- Corner lots
- Virginia Beach protects a band rather than setting a ceiling, running from two and a half feet to eight feet above the centerlines of the intersecting trafficways, and nothing may be erected, placed, parked, planted or allowed to grow so as to impede vision inside it. The figure is 20 feet, for leg of the visibility triangle at a street intersection.
- 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
- Barbed wire and electrified fences are prohibited in every residential and apartment district in Virginia Beach, and the ban then reaches fifteen feet past the district boundary, and the answer turns on the material, the district and what the fence faces. The figure is 15 feet, for buffer beyond a residential district where wire is still banned.
- 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 Virginia Beach?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Virginia Beach answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material and how close to the right-of-way it sits.
The rule that governs a Virginia Beach boundary is about the street, not the neighbor. No fence or wall may be erected closer than five feet to any right-of-way line, and where it sits ten feet or closer, Category I landscaping has to go in between the fence and the line. Then comes an exception written around maintenance rather than appearance: a fence built of materials generally recognized industry-wide as maintenance-free, vinyl and aluminum being the named examples, may be located on the right-of-way line itself, provided landscaping runs immediately inside its entire length and the fence is no more than fifty percent opaque. The city is trading position for a fence that will not rot against a public sidewalk. On a corner lot a fence of six feet or less may go in the required side yard setback but never closer than ten feet to a right-of-way line.
Fences constructed of materials generally recognized on an industry-wide basis as maintenance-free, such as vinyl and aluminum, may be located on a right-of-way line, provided that (i) Category I landscaping shall be installed immediately inside the entire length of any such fence; (ii) the height of any such fence shall not exceed the limits set forth in subsection (e)(1) above; and (iii) any such fence shall be no greater than fifty (50) percent opaque.
The answer turns on the material and how close to the right-of-way it sits.
- an ordinary fence
- Five feet off the right-of-way. 5 ft
- within ten feet of the line
- Landscaping in between.
- a maintenance-free fence
- On the line, half open.
- a corner lot side yard
- Ten feet off the line. 10 ft
Also on fences on the property line in Virginia Beach
- 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 Virginia Beach?
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Virginia Beach answers this, but the answer changes depending on which yard the fence is in and how close it is to a street.
A fence in Virginia Beach may not exceed eight feet anywhere, and drops to four wherever it faces a street. Four feet applies in a required front yard, and in a side yard adjacent to a street when the fence sits within ten feet of the right-of-way, so the low limit is tied to proximity rather than to the yard name. One case reverses it: on a through lot where the required front yard setback is clearly and physically the rear of the dwelling, an eight foot fence is allowed, which stops a lot with a street at the back being treated as though it had two fronts. A fence next to a city, state or federal sound-wall gets its own rule and may go to the right-of-way line behind the wall at eight feet. The whole subsection yields to the Oceanfront Resort District Form-Based Code where that applies.
Fences and walls shall not exceed a height of eight (8) feet. Walls and fences may project into or enclose any part of any yard; provided, however, that any fence that projects into or encloses a required front yard shall not exceed a height of four (4) feet, and that any fence or wall which projects into or encloses a side yard adjacent to a street shall not exceed four (4) feet in height when located within ten (10) feet of the right-of-way
The answer turns on which yard the fence is in and how close it is to a street.
- anywhere in the city
- Eight feet is the ceiling. 8 ft
- a required front yard
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a street side yard near the line
- Four feet within ten. 10 ft
- a through lot with the back to the street
- Eight feet allowed.
Also on fence height in Virginia Beach
- 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 Virginia Beach?
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Virginia Beach answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Virginia Beach triggers its fence permit by distance from the street rather than by height, which almost nobody else does. A permit is required to construct, reconstruct, replace or relocate any fence or wall within thirty feet of a public right-of-way, whatever its height and whatever it is made of, and the fee is a flat fifty dollars rather than a valuation. A three foot picket at the front of a lot needs one and an eight foot privacy fence at the back of a deep lot does not. Fences used principally for agricultural or horticultural purposes are excepted. The same thirty foot band carries a second restriction that bites harder than the permit: a nonconforming fence inside it may not be enlarged, extended, relocated, reconstructed or replaced, with only minor board repairs up to ten percent of its length allowed in any two year period.
A permit shall be required for the construction, reconstruction, replacement or relocation of any fence or wall located within thirty (30) feet of a public right-of-way
30 ftdistance from a public right-of-way within which a permit is required
Also on permits in Virginia Beach
- 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 Virginia Beach
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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 Virginia Beach 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 Virginia Beach
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Virginia Beach 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 Virginia Beach 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 Virginia Beach
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Virginia Beach 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 Virginia Beach 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 Virginia Beach
- no rule, documents checkedThe fence subsection states eight feet, four feet and six feet and never says what any of them is measured from. No grade is named, a berm is not addressed and a fence on a retaining wall is not addressed. The contrast with the subsection immediately following is sharp, because the corner rules fix a datum twice: the protected band runs from two and a half to eight feet above the centerlines of the intersecting trafficways, and the driveway limit of thirty inches is computed from the elevation of the driveway perpendicular to the part of the wall inside the triangle. The general yard rule at the head of the section also names one, holding ordinary obstructions to sixteen inches as measured from ground elevation, but fences are expressly lifted out of that rule and allowed in a yard without regard to height. Section 201(e)Virginia Beach · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Virginia Beach
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Virginia Beach answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Virginia Beach protects a band rather than setting a ceiling, running from two and a half feet to eight feet above the centerlines of the intersecting trafficways, and nothing may be erected, placed, parked, planted or allowed to grow so as to impede vision inside it. Measuring from the centerline of the road rather than the curb or the lot is unusual and means a property sitting above the street gets no allowance for the difference. The triangle is at least the first twenty feet along each intersecting right-of-way with a line joining the ends, and where a sidewalk exists within the right-of-way the measurement is taken from the curb line instead. A driveway gets its own smaller rule: nothing over thirty inches above the finished driveway elevation inside a triangle made by measuring ten feet in from where the driveway meets the property lines.
Visibility triangles, within which nothing shall be erected, placed, or parked, planted or allowed to grow in such a manner as to impede vision between a height of two and one-half (2½) and eight (8) feet above the centerlines of intersecting trafficways shall be provided as follows:
20 ftleg of the visibility triangle at a street intersection
Also on corner visibility in Virginia Beach
- 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 Virginia Beach
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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 Virginia Beach 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 Virginia Beach
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Virginia Beach answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material, the district and what the fence faces.
Barbed wire and electrified fences are prohibited in every residential and apartment district in Virginia Beach, and the ban then reaches fifteen feet past the district boundary. That fifteen foot buffer is the unusual part. Most cities draw the line at the zoning edge and leave the house on the other side of it looking at razor wire; this one pushes the prohibition into the neighboring district so the fence cannot simply be built a foot over. Chain link is permitted rather than banned, on condition that Category I landscaping runs the entire length between the fence and the public right-of-way, so the mesh is screened from the street but allowed between neighbors. Along a parking area facing a street a fence is prohibited altogether unless it is decorative, excludes woven wire, and gives at least seventy five percent unobstructed light penetration.
Barbed wire and electrified fences are prohibited in all residential and apartment districts or within fifteen (15) feet thereof. Chain link fences shall be permitted, provided that Category I landscaping shall be installed between the entire length of any such fence and the public right-of-way.
The answer turns on the material, the district and what the fence faces.
- barbed or electrified wire
- Out, and fifteen feet past the line. 15 ft
- chain link
- Allowed, screened from the street.
- a fence beside parking
- Only if three quarters see-through. 75%
- vinyl or aluminum
- Half opaque at most, on the line. 50%
Also on materials in Virginia Beach
- 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 Virginia Beach
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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 Virginia Beach 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 Virginia Beach
- 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 Virginia Beach 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 Virginia BeachCode of Ordinances of the City of Virginia Beach, Appendix A, Zoning Ordinance, Article 2, General Requirements and Procedures Applicable to All Districts, Section 201, Yards
- 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 Virginia Beach 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