Fence laws in Lacey, Washington
What the Lacey municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Lacey sets no rule of its own, the Washington rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Lacey, Washington, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Lacey singles out one material for a setback and explains what the setback is for, and the answer turns on the material, and whether the fence is temporary. The figure is 3 feet, for setback of chain link from the back of the sidewalk.
- How tall
- Lacey sets a wide spread between the two ends of a residential lot, and the answer turns on the yard, how transparent the fence is, and whether noise mitigation is required. The figure is 3 feet, for wall, fence or hedge in a front yard.
- 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
- Washington puts its clear view duty at the railroad tracks. The figure is 100 feet, for distance from a railroad grade crossing that has to be kept clear of brush and timber. It reaches brush, trees and signs within 100 feet of a railroad crossing on a county road only.
- Retaining walls
- Lacey leaves retaining walls to the 2021 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, whose Sections R105.2 and R404 Washington leaves unamended. It reaches one and two family homes only.
- Materials
- Lacey bans electrified fences outright and then adds a category rather than a list, prohibiting other dangerous fences along with them, so the rule does not depend on the city having thought of every design, and the answer turns on the zone and how high the wire sits. The figure is 6 feet, for lowest the wire may sit above the ground.
- 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 Lacey?
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Lacey answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material, and whether the fence is temporary.
Lacey singles out one material for a setback and explains what the setback is for. Every chain link fence stands at least three feet back from the back of the sidewalk, and the code says the reason in the same sentence: to allow for landscaping elements to screen the fence. So the strip is not empty space, it is planting room, and the rule assumes chain link is something to be hidden rather than something to be banned. Temporary construction fences are exempt, which is the exception that makes the rule workable on a building site. A residential swimming pool is placed by different numbers in the neighboring section, kept out of the required front yard setback entirely and set back at least five feet from the rear and side property lines.
All chain link fences shall be set back at least three feet from the back of the sidewalk to allow for landscaping elements to screen the fence.
16.03.070.B, with LMC 16.03.065
The answer turns on the material, and whether the fence is temporary.
- a chain link fence along a sidewalk
- Three feet back, with room to plant. 3 ft
- a temporary construction fence
- Exempt.
- a residential swimming pool
- Five feet from the rear and side lines, and out of the front setback. 5 ft
Also on fences on the property line in Lacey
- 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 Lacey?
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Lacey answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, how transparent the fence is, and whether noise mitigation is required.
Lacey sets a wide spread between the two ends of a residential lot. A free-standing wall, fence or hedge in the front yard of a residential building stops at three feet, which is lower than most cities allow, and the same thing in a side or rear yard gets seven, which is higher than most. A decorative wall or fence that allows visibility, with wrought iron and split rail given as the examples, may reach eight feet anywhere the rule applies, so transparency is worth a foot more than the tallest solid fence. Both of the first two limits carry the same escape clause and it is not a variance: a taller masonry wall is allowed where the responsible official requires one to mitigate significant noise impacts, which puts the decision with the city rather than with the owner asking.
The maximum height of free-standing walls, fences, or hedges placed in the front yard of residential buildings shall be three feet unless a taller masonry wall is required, per the responsible official, to mitigate significant noise impacts.
The answer turns on the yard, how transparent the fence is, and whether noise mitigation is required.
- a front yard
- Three feet. 3 ft
- a side or rear yard
- Seven feet. 7 ft
- a decorative fence that is see through
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a masonry wall the city requires for noise
- Taller than either limit.
Also on fence height in Lacey
- 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 Lacey?
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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 Lacey 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 Lacey
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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 Lacey 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 Lacey
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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 Lacey 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 Lacey
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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 Lacey 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 Lacey
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Washington answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Washington 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.
This one is Washington law, not Lacey law. All Washington findings
The county legislative authority shall cause brush and timber to be cleared from the right-of-way of county roads in the proximity of a railroad grade crossing for a distance of one hundred feet from the crossing in such a manner as to permit a person traveling upon the road to obtain an unobstructed view in both directions of an approaching train or other on-track equipment.
100 ftdistance from a railroad grade crossing that has to be kept clear of brush and timber
Also on corner visibility in Lacey
- no rule, documents checkedLacey writes its whole fence rule in three short subsections covering height, chain link and prohibited material, and none of them mentions an intersection, a driveway, a sight triangle or a clear vision area. The zoning title has no vision clearance chapter either, and a search of the code for the phrase clear vision turns up the tree and vegetation chapter rather than anything about fences. So a Lacey homeowner reading the fencing standards is given the three foot front yard figure and nothing that says the corner of the lot is different. The practical effect is that the front yard limit is doing the work a corner rule does elsewhere, because three feet is already below the height at which a driver view is normally protected. the whole section, subsections A through CLacey · Zoning code
Retaining wall rules in Lacey
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Lacey does not set this. It leaves it to the 2021 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, whose Sections R105.2 and R404 Washington leaves unamended.
Washington 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.
This one is Washington law, not Lacey law. All Washington findings
The 2021 edition of the International Residential Code as published by the International Code Council is hereby adopted by reference
The code hands this to the 2021 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, whose Sections R105.2 and R404 Washington leaves unamended, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Lacey
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Lacey answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone and how high the wire sits.
Lacey bans electrified fences outright and then adds a category rather than a list, prohibiting other dangerous fences along with them, so the rule does not depend on the city having thought of every design. Barbed and razor wire are prohibited in every zone except the light industrial and light industrial commercial zones, and even there they are allowed only on a security fence and only at a minimum height of six feet from the ground, which is a floor rather than a ceiling: the wire has to be up out of reach before it may exist at all. One further limit follows. No part of barbed or razor wire on a security fence may extend into the right of way, so the fence cannot lean its most dangerous element out over the public sidewalk.
Electrified and other dangerous fences are prohibited. Barbed and razor wire is prohibited in all zones except for light industrial or light industrial/commercial zones where the barbed and razor wire shall be placed on security fences at a minimum height of six feet from the ground.
The answer turns on the zone and how high the wire sits.
- an electrified or otherwise dangerous fence
- Prohibited everywhere.
- barbed or razor wire on light industrial land
- Only on a security fence, six feet up. 6 ft
- wire reaching over the right of way
- Not allowed.
Also on materials in Lacey
- 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 Lacey
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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 Lacey 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 Lacey
- 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 Lacey 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 LaceyLacey Municipal Code, Title 16, Section 16.03.070, Fencing standards
- 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 LaceyLacey Municipal Code, Title 16, Section 16.03.065, Residential swimming pools
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 Lacey 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