Fence laws in Kirkland, Washington
What the Kirkland municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Kirkland sets no rule of its own, the Washington rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Kirkland, Washington, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- The fifteen foot distance from the curb is not really a setback, it is what Kirkland uses when nobody knows where the boundary is, and the answer turns on whether the owner can prove where the line is. The figure is 15 feet, for default distance from the curb without a survey.
- How tall
- Kirkland starts from the opposite end to most cities, and the answer turns on the street it faces, the distance from the curb, and whether it exceeds six feet. The figure is 6 feet, for fence away from a street and outside a setback.
- Permits
- Kirkland does not run fence height relief through a variance, and the answer turns on whether the property is on the shoreline.
- 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
- Kirkland leaves corner clearance to the Public Works Department Pre-Approval Plan, an operational policy standard that sets the sight distance areas by intersection type.
- Retaining walls
- A rockery or retaining wall in a Kirkland required yard stops at four feet on its own, and a wall and a fence standing within five feet of each other are read as one thing capped at six, and the answer turns on whether a guard rail is required, and what the applicant offers in exchange. The figure is 4 feet, for retaining wall in a required yard.
- Materials
- Electrified fences are not permitted in Kirkland at all, with one exception, and it is livestock rather than security: containing large domestic animals under the animal keeping rules, and the answer turns on the material and what the fence contains. The figure is 18 inches, for offset between a wood fence and the charged wire.
- 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 Kirkland?
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Kirkland answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the owner can prove where the line is.
The fifteen foot distance from the curb is not really a setback, it is what Kirkland uses when nobody knows where the boundary is. The code says so in the next breath: if the applicant can show the location of the property line with a survey or other reasonable means, the fence can be placed on that line regardless of how far it ends up from the curb or the edge of the pavement. So a survey is worth whatever the gap between the curb and the deeded line happens to be, and on a street with a wide right of way that is a lot of yard. The arterial rule works the other way and creates a strip the owner keeps but must plant: where a three foot band along a principal or minor arterial applies, the area between the fence and the property line has to be planted with vegetation and maintained by the property owner.
If the applicant can show with a survey, or other reasonable means, the location of his/her property line, the fence can be placed on the property line regardless of the distance from a street curb or the edge of the pavement.
The answer turns on whether the owner can prove where the line is.
- no survey
- Fifteen feet back from the curb. 15 ft
- a survey or other reasonable proof
- On the line, whatever the distance from the curb.
- a three foot band along an arterial
- Planted by the owner and maintained by the owner. 3 ft
Also on fences on the property line in Kirkland
- 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 Kirkland?
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Kirkland answers this, but the answer changes depending on the street it faces, the distance from the curb, and whether it exceeds six feet.
Kirkland starts from the opposite end to most cities. A fence up to six feet may go anywhere on the property, and then five exceptions pull it back. It may not come within fifteen feet of a street curb, or of the edge of the pavement where there is no curb. A detached dwelling or middle housing development on a neighborhood access or collector street is cut to three and a half feet inside the required front yard, and on a corner lot with two front yards that cut applies only in the yard facing the front of the house. Along a principal or minor arterial the same three and a half foot limit applies within three feet of the property line, unless the arterial already has an improved landscape strip between the street and the sidewalk. Anything over six feet is barred from a required setback yard entirely, and no fence of any height may stand waterward of the shoreline setback.
A fence may not be within 15 feet of any street curb, or the edge of the street pavement, if no curb exists;
The answer turns on the street it faces, the distance from the curb, and whether it exceeds six feet.
- anywhere on the property clear of the exceptions
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a front yard on a neighborhood access or collector street
- Three and a half feet. 42 in
- a fence over six feet
- Not in any required setback yard.
- waterward of the shoreline setback
- No fence at any height.
Also on fence height in Kirkland
- 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 Kirkland?
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Kirkland answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the property is on the shoreline.
Kirkland does not run fence height relief through a variance. The Planning Official may approve a modification to the fence height requirements on two findings made together: that the modification is necessary because of the size, configuration, topography or location of the property, and that it will not have any substantial detrimental effect on abutting properties or on the city as a whole. The first is about the land and the second about everybody else, and neither is about hardship in the usual variance sense. The limit on that power is written into the same sentence. It does not reach the shoreline setback regulated under Chapter 83, which is the one place in the code where no fence of any height is allowed and no official can say otherwise. The same modification test reappears for storage sheds, minor garden structures and retaining walls elsewhere in the chapter.
The Planning Official may approve a modification to the fence height requirements, except within the shoreline setback regulated under Chapter 83 KZC, if:
The answer turns on whether the property is on the shoreline.
- an ordinary lot
- The Planning Official may modify the height on two findings.
- inside the shoreline setback
- No modification is available.
Also on permits in Kirkland
- set in state lawWashington 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. WAC 51-51-003Washington · Building code
Pool fence requirements in Kirkland
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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 Kirkland 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 Kirkland
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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 Kirkland 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 Kirkland
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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 Kirkland 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 Kirkland
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Kirkland does not set this. It leaves it to the Public Works Department Pre-Approval Plan, an operational policy standard that sets the sight distance areas by intersection type.
The Kirkland sight distance section is one paragraph and it sets no number at all. It says areas around every intersection, including where a driveway meets a street, have to be kept clear of sight obstruction, that the extent of those areas depends on a number of factors, and then sends the reader to the Public Works Department Pre-Approval Plan, which it describes as operational policy standards, for the types of intersection, the rules applying to each and what may stand in the area to be kept clear. So there is no triangle size in the zoning code, no height inside it and no list of exempt objects. The fence section still enforces it, because a fence may not violate the provisions of this section, which means a Kirkland fence at a corner is measured against a document the zoning code does not contain.
Refer to the Public Works Department’s Pre-Approval Plan (operational policy standards) for the types of intersections and the regulations applicable to each intersection, and what may be in the area that is to be kept clear of sight obstructions.
The code hands this to the Public Works Department Pre-Approval Plan, an operational policy standard that sets the sight distance areas by intersection type, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on corner visibility in Kirkland
- 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 Kirkland
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Kirkland answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether a guard rail is required, and what the applicant offers in exchange.
A rockery or retaining wall in a Kirkland required yard stops at four feet on its own, and a wall and a fence standing within five feet of each other are read as one thing capped at six. What makes the rule worth reading is the trade the Planning Official is allowed to accept for going higher. One route is structural honesty about safety: where the Building Code requires an open guard railing, the extra height is allowed so long as the railing goes no higher than the minimum the code requires, which stops a guard rail from becoming a privacy screen. The other is a design bargain. The applicant has to show the size, configuration, topography or location of the property makes the modification necessary, and then either terrace the wall deeply enough to grow vegetation in it or use another technique that reduces its visual mass, and design the fence to be no more than fifty percent solid.
The combined height of fences and retaining walls within five feet of each other in a required yard may be a maximum of six feet.
The answer turns on whether a guard rail is required, and what the applicant offers in exchange.
- a rockery or retaining wall on its own
- Four feet in a required yard. 4 ft
- a wall and fence within five feet of each other
- Six feet for the pair. 6 ft
- a terraced and planted wall
- More height, if the fence is no more than half solid. 50%
Also on retaining walls in Kirkland
- 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 Kirkland
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Kirkland answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material and what the fence contains.
Electrified fences are not permitted in Kirkland at all, with one exception, and it is livestock rather than security: containing large domestic animals under the animal keeping rules. Where one is allowed, the equipment has to be listed or labeled by a qualified testing agency, installed to the manufacturer specifications and in compliance with the latest edition of the National Electrical Code, and posted with permanent signs of at least thirty six square inches every fifteen feet saying the fence is electrified. The placement rule is the distinctive part: along any property line the charged fence has to be at least eighteen inches inside a wood fence, so the animal is contained but the neighbor reaching over a board fence cannot touch the wire. Barbed wire keeps the usual allowance, permitted only on top of a fence or wall already at least six feet in height.
Furthermore, electrified fences must be located at least 18 inches on the inside of wood fences when located along any property line.
The answer turns on the material and what the fence contains.
- an electric fence for anything but large animals
- Not permitted in Kirkland.
- an electric fence containing large animals along a line
- Eighteen inches inside a wood fence. 18 in
- barbed wire
- Only on top of a fence at least six feet high. 6 ft
Also on materials in Kirkland
- 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 Kirkland
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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 Kirkland 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 Kirkland
- 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
9 documents, of which 3 were published by Kirkland 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 KirklandKirkland Zoning Code, Chapter 115, Section 115.40, Fences
- 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 KirklandKirkland Zoning Code, Chapter 115, Section 115.135, Sight Distance at Intersections
- City of KirklandKirkland Zoning Code, Chapter 115, Section 115.115, Required Yards
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 Kirkland 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