Fence laws in Everett, Washington
What the Everett municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Everett sets no rule of its own, the Washington rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Everett, Washington, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- In the Everett mixed use and industrial zones any fence taller than forty two inches has to stand back at least ten feet from a lot line along a street, or the required landscape width if that is greater, so the fence never sits in front of the planting the city asked for, and the answer turns on the zone, the height of the fence, and what it faces. The figure is 10 feet, for setback from a street lot line.
- How tall
- In an Everett residential zone a fence stops at forty two inches within twenty feet of the right of way at the front lot line, six feet in the street side setback, and seven feet in an interior side or rear setback, and the answer turns on the zone, the distance from the front lot line, and how transparent the fence is. The figure is 42 inches, for fence near the front lot line.
- Permits
- Washington has no fence permit rule of its own.
- Pool barriers
- Washington sends pools at homes to the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, 2021 edition, through its residential building code.
- Spite fences
- A Washington court can stop a structure built out of spite.
- Measured from what
- Washington gives one plain starting point, in its livestock fence law, and nowhere else. The figure is 48 inches, for top wire of a lawful fence, measured above the ground. It reaches a lawful fence for animal damage claims only.
- Corner lots
- Everett leaves corner clearance to EMC 19.41.060(B), which sets the corner site and vision clearance standards.
- Retaining walls
- Everett handles raised ground with three rules in one paragraph, and the answer turns on whether the ground was raised by a berm, and how tall the retaining wall is. The figure is 6 feet, for wall height below which the fence keeps its full allowance.
- Materials
- Barbed wire and razor wire are barred from every Everett residential zone except as security around a utility, communications or government facility, and the answer turns on the zone, and what the fence stands next to. The figure is 10 feet, for clearance from housing for wire topped fencing.
- Livestock
- Washington prints the fence in the statute. The figure is 48 inches, for height above the ground of the top wire of a lawful fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Everett?
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Everett answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone, the height of the fence, and what it faces.
In the Everett mixed use and industrial zones any fence taller than forty two inches has to stand back at least ten feet from a lot line along a street, or the required landscape width if that is greater, so the fence never sits in front of the planting the city asked for. Any fence within ten feet of residentially zoned property is separately cut to seven feet. In the MU zones a fence of up to six feet has to be at least ten feet from the back of the sidewalk, and where no sidewalk exists yet, ten feet from where the city engineer determines one will go. In the residential zones the same idea appears as the condition on a taller front yard fence, which has to stand at least ten feet from the sidewalk.
Any fence taller than forty-two inches must be set back a minimum of ten feet or the required landscape width, whichever is greater, from any lot line along a street
The answer turns on the zone, the height of the fence, and what it faces.
- a fence over forty two inches on mixed use or industrial land
- Ten feet from a street lot line, or the landscape width if greater. 10 ft
- a fence within ten feet of residential property
- Seven feet at most. 7 ft
- a six foot fence in an MU zone
- Ten feet from the back of the sidewalk, present or future.
Also on fences on the property line in Everett
- set in state lawWashington splits a fence on the property line in half. Where neighbors share one fence around their land and one of them needs a dividing fence, the other builds half of it once notice is given. The fence goes on the property line, or as close to it as can be managed. RCW 16.60.030Washington · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Everett?
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Everett answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone, the distance from the front lot line, and how transparent the fence is.
In an Everett residential zone a fence stops at forty two inches within twenty feet of the right of way at the front lot line, six feet in the street side setback, and seven feet in an interior side or rear setback. The front figure can be traded up to six feet on three conditions together: the fence stands at least ten feet from the sidewalk, it is at least seventy percent transparent between three and six feet, and it is not chain link or anything similar. An arbor may exceed the front limit to eight feet across up to twenty percent of the lot frontage. On a corner or double fronting lot the front and street side or rear limits may be swapped where the house faces the other way. A fence abutting I-5 or SR-526 has no height limit at all, and mixed use and industrial zones take ten feet including any barbed wire on top.
Fences within twenty feet of the front lot line may be up to six feet in height if the fence is at least ten feet from the sidewalk, is at least seventy percent transparent from three feet to six feet, and is not chain link or other type of similar material.
The answer turns on the zone, the distance from the front lot line, and how transparent the fence is.
- within twenty feet of the front lot line
- Forty two inches, or six feet if it is transparent and set back. 42 in
- an interior side or rear setback
- Seven feet. 7 ft
- a mixed use or industrial zone
- Ten feet, barbed wire included. 10 ft
- a fence abutting I-5 or SR-526
- No height limit.
Also on fence height in Everett
- no rule, documents checkedWashington sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The state fence chapter says what counts as a lawful fence for livestock and how the cost of a shared fence is split, and it caps nothing at a house. The state residential code takes up the model code and adds no fence height. Cities and counties set it. RCW 16.60Washington · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Everett?
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Washington answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Washington has no fence permit rule of its own. It uses the 2021 International Residential Code as the code for one and two family homes across the state, and it did not change that code's list of work that needs no permit, so the model list applies as written. That list is model code text and is printed on no Washington state site, so no fence height is quoted here.
This one is Washington law, not Everett law. All Washington findings
The 2021 edition of the International Residential Code as published by the International Code Council is hereby adopted by reference
Pool fence requirements in Everett
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Washington answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Washington sends pools at homes to the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, 2021 edition, through its residential building code. The rule reaches a pool used only by the people who live at a single family house and their invited guests. Washington states no fence height of its own, so the numbers sit in that private code.
This one is Washington law, not Everett law. All Washington findings
The design and construction of swimming pools, spas, and other aquatic recreation facilities shall comply with the 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, if the facility is one of the following:
Spite fence laws in Everett
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Washington answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Washington court can stop a structure built out of spite. A judge may order the owner or renter of land not to put up a structure meant to spite, injure or annoy a neighbor, and where one already stands, the court may order it taken down. The law turns on why it went up and not on how tall it is.
This one is Washington law, not Everett law. All Washington findings
An injunction may be granted to restrain the malicious erection, by any owner or lessee of land, of any structure intended to spite, injure or annoy an adjoining proprietor.
How fence height is measured in Everett
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Washington answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Washington gives one plain starting point, in its livestock fence law, and nowhere else. RCW 16.60.010 says a lawful fence has at least four barbed wires with the top wire 48 inches above the ground, give or take four inches, and the rest spaced 12, 22 and 32 inches below it. Above the ground is the answer, and it is the only answer the state gives. For a fence on a city lot, RCW 35.63.080 lets a council set rules for the height, number of stories, size, building and design of buildings and other structures, so the city ordinance gives both the limit and the point it starts from.
This one is Washington law, not Everett law. All Washington findings
A lawful fence shall be of at least four barbed, horizontal, well-stretched wires, spaced so that the top wire is forty-eight inches, plus or minus four inches, above the ground and the other wires at intervals below the top wire of twelve, twenty-two, and thirty-two inches.
48 intop wire of a lawful fence, measured above the ground
Fence rules for corner lots in Everett
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Everett does not set this. It leaves it to EMC 19.41.060(B), which sets the corner site and vision clearance standards.
The Everett fence chapter lists corner sites and vision clearance as one of its six exceptions to the residential height rules, and the whole entry is a cross reference to Section 19.41.060(B) elsewhere in the Unified Development Code. Nothing in Chapter 19.40 gives a triangle size, a height inside it or a measuring point, so a reader working from the fence chapter alone cannot answer what a fence may be at an Everett corner. The chapter does control the corner indirectly through position: within twenty feet of the front lot line the limit is forty two inches unless the fence is set back ten feet from the sidewalk and made seventy percent transparent.
Corner Sites and Vision Clearance. See EMC 19.41.060(B).
The code hands this to EMC 19.41.060(B), which sets the corner site and vision clearance standards, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on corner visibility in Everett
- set in state lawWashington puts its clear view duty at the railroad tracks. RCW 36.86.100 tells the county to clear brush and trees out of the county road right of way for 100 feet on each side of a railroad crossing, so a driver can see a train coming, and puts the same duty on the railroad for its own land. It also bans a sign within 100 feet of that crossing outside city limits, unless the county finds the sign does not cut the view. Nothing in it draws a triangle at an ordinary street corner. RCW 36.86.100Washington · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Everett
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Everett answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the ground was raised by a berm, and how tall the retaining wall is.
Everett handles raised ground with three rules in one paragraph. A fence on a berm may not exceed what it would have been allowed had the berm not been there, so the berm adds nothing. A fence on a rockery or retaining wall of six feet or less gets its full allowance measured above that wall, so the wall and the fence are counted separately and the total can be high. But once the rockery or retaining wall passes six feet, the fence on top is cut to forty two inches, which reverses the usual direction: the taller the wall, the shorter the fence it may carry.
Fences placed on top of berms shall be constructed so as not to exceed the maximum height allowed if the berm were not there. Fences placed upon rockeries or retaining walls shall be permitted to be constructed to the maximum allowable fence height above the rockery or retaining wall, provided the rockery or retaining wall does not exceed a height of six feet. Fences constructed on top of retaining walls which are greater than six feet in height shall not exceed a maximum fence height of forty-two inches.
The answer turns on whether the ground was raised by a berm, and how tall the retaining wall is.
- a fence on a berm
- The berm adds nothing to the allowance.
- a fence on a rockery or wall of six feet or less
- Full fence height above the wall. 6 ft
- a fence on a retaining wall over six feet
- Forty two inches. 42 in
Also on retaining walls in Everett
- left to the townWashington has no rule of its own for a wall that holds back earth. It uses the 2021 International Residential Code for one and two family homes, and lists every section it changed as its own numbered rule. That list was read in full. Nothing changes Section R105, the list of work that needs no permit, so the model code pass for such a wall stands as written. The slot for Section R404, which covers foundations and walls that hold back earth, is marked reserved, so Washington added nothing there either. The number that answers the question is model code text, which the International Code Council sells and which no Washington state site prints. WAC 51-51-003Washington · Building code
Fence materials allowed in Everett
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Everett answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone, and what the fence stands next to.
Barbed wire and razor wire are barred from every Everett residential zone except as security around a utility, communications or government facility. In the commercial and industrial zones they are permitted only on top of a fence or wall at least six feet high, and never on a fence within ten feet of residentially zoned property. Wire other than chain link, along with corrugated and non-decorative sheet metal and similar materials, is prohibited along a street fronting lot line in every zone. Chain link is prohibited outright in the MU and UR7 zones and in the historic overlays. An electric fence is allowed in the AG zone to contain permitted livestock, provided it does not border a public right of way or serve as a lot line fence, and in the mixed use and industrial zones through a review process, provided it sits inside a non-electric perimeter barrier of at least six feet.
Barbed wire, razor wire and other such materials are not permitted in any residential zone except for security facilities around utility or communications facilities, or government facilities. In commercial and industrial zones, these fencing materials are permitted only atop a fence or wall at least six feet in height.
The answer turns on the zone, and what the fence stands next to.
- barbed or razor wire in a residential zone
- Only around a utility, communications or government facility.
- barbed or razor wire on business or industrial land
- Only on top of a six foot fence, and never within ten feet of housing. 10 ft
- chain link in the MU or UR7 zones or a historic overlay
- Prohibited.
- an electric fence in a mixed use or industrial zone
- Inside a non-electric barrier at least six feet high. 6 ft
Also on materials in Everett
- set in state lawWashington writes a lawful fence as a barbed wire fence and prints the build. It takes at least four barbed, level, well stretched wires, with the top one about 48 inches off the ground and the others 12, 22 and 32 inches below it, tied to solid posts set no more than 24 feet apart. Posts more than 16 feet apart need stays every eight feet. The very next section says any other fence as strong and as well made counts too, so barbed wire is the standard to match and not the only material allowed. RCW 16.60.010Washington · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Everett
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Washington answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Washington prints the fence in the statute. A lawful fence carries at least four barbed wires, level and pulled tight. The top wire sits 48 inches off the ground, give or take four inches, and the others hang 12, 22 and 32 inches below it. Posts go in firmly and evenly, no more than 24 feet apart. Posts more than 16 feet apart need stays no more than eight feet from each other or from a post. Any other fence built just as strong counts too.
This one is Washington law, not Everett law. All Washington findings
A lawful fence shall be of at least four barbed, horizontal, well-stretched wires, spaced so that the top wire is forty-eight inches, plus or minus four inches, above the ground and the other wires at intervals below the top wire of twelve, twenty-two, and thirty-two inches.
48 inheight above the ground of the top wire of a lawful fence
Also on agricultural fencing in Everett
- set in state lawIn Washington the damages claim hangs on the fence. A person who built a lawful fence around their land and kept it in repair can sue the owner of an animal that broke through it, collect the full damage and the costs of the suit, and hold the animal until it is paid. Proving the fence was lawful when the animal broke through is enough. The fence has to be there first, so the landowner who wants the animals out is the one who builds. RCW 16.60.015Washington · Statute
Documents behind this page
8 documents, of which 2 were published by Everett itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Washington State LegislatureRevised Code of Washington, Chapter 16.60, Section 16.60.030, Partition fence, Erection, Notice
- City of EverettEverett Municipal Code, Title 19, Chapter 19.40, Fences, Section 19.40.010, Fences height and location
- Washington State LegislatureRevised Code of Washington, Chapter 16.60, Fences, full chapter
- Washington State Building Code CouncilWashington Administrative Code, WAC 51-51-003, International Residential Code
- Washington State Building Code CouncilWashington Administrative Code, WAC 51-51-0327, Section R327, Swimming pools, spas and hot tubs
- Washington State LegislatureRevised Code of Washington, Chapter 7.40, Section 7.40.030, Malicious erection of structure may be enjoined
- Washington State LegislatureRevised Code of Washington, Title 36, Chapter 36.86, County Roads and Bridges
- City of EverettEverett Municipal Code, Title 19, Chapter 19.40, Fences, Section 19.40.020, Barbed wire, razor wire, chain link, electric and other similar fence materials
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 Everett publishes, plus the Washington rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Washington 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