Fence laws in Marysville, Washington
What the Marysville municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Marysville sets no rule of its own, the Washington rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Marysville, Washington, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A solid fence over four feet in Marysville stands twenty feet back from the street right of way, which is a building setback rather than a fence one and the deepest such figure on this site, and the answer turns on whether the fence is solid and how tall it is. The figure is 20 feet, for setback for a tall solid fence from the street.
- How tall
- Marysville sets the front yard figure by the kind of street rather than by the zone, and the answer turns on the kind of street, the lot line, and whether the fence is open work. The figure is 4 feet, for solid fence at the front on an access street.
- Permits
- A Marysville fence variance is decided by the community development director rather than by a board, in cases of special hardship, unique circumstances and practical difficulties, and none may be granted that would be detrimental to the public health, welfare or environment, and the answer turns on whether the fence needs a variance, a building permit, or both. The figure is 6 feet, for height that triggers a building permit.
- 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
- Where a Marysville fence divides two pieces of ground at different levels, the code gives the owner a choice and phrases it permissively: the height may be measured from the side having the highest elevation.
- 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
- Marysville does not write a separate rule for a fence on a wall. The figure is 6 feet, for height above which a fence on a rockery must be open work.
- Materials
- Marysville opens by defining what it is regulating more widely than most codes, applying the fence standards to walls, fences, trellises, arbors and screens of all types whether open, solid, wood, metal, wire, masonry or other material, so an arbor over a gate and a screen along a patio are both caught, and the answer turns on what the fence is enclosing.
- 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 Marysville?
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Marysville answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is solid and how tall it is.
A solid fence over four feet in Marysville stands twenty feet back from the street right of way, which is a building setback rather than a fence one and the deepest such figure on this site. Two things soften it. On a corner lot it applies only to the street that provides primary access, so the flanking street is free of it. And the city engineer or a designee may waive or modify it where the fence is designed and built so that it does not cause a public safety hazard by obstructing the visibility of pedestrians or motorists using streets, driveways or sidewalks. The alternative is to stay short or stay open: a four foot fence, or a six foot fence with the top two feet built as open work, may be constructed right on the front property line on the same visibility condition. Side and rear lot lines carry no setback requirement at all.
Solid fences greater than four feet in height shall be set back at least 20 feet from the street right-of-way, except in the following circumstances:
The answer turns on whether the fence is solid and how tall it is.
- a solid fence over four feet at the front
- Twenty feet back from the right of way. 20 ft
- a four foot fence, or six feet with an open top
- On the front property line.
- a side or rear lot line
- No setback at all.
Also on fences on the property line in Marysville
- 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 Marysville?
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Marysville answers this, but the answer changes depending on the kind of street, the lot line, and whether the fence is open work.
Marysville sets the front yard figure by the kind of street rather than by the zone. On an access street the front lot line takes four feet if the fence is solid, or six feet if it is an entirely open-work fence. On an arterial the front lot line takes six feet outright, provided the top two feet are built as open work, so the busier road buys the height and the openness is what is asked for in return. Side and rear lot lines take six feet on either kind of street. Open wire mesh and similar fences may go above any of these on the edge of a school or park playground, at public facilities and transmitter and transformer sites, and at government installations where security or public safety is required. The purpose clause is unusually frank about why the limits exist, naming street walls that inhibit police and community surveillance and decrease the sense of community.
Front lot line: Four feet solid or six feet if entirely open-work fence.
22C.010.380(3)(a), (b) and (d)
The answer turns on the kind of street, the lot line, and whether the fence is open work.
- a front lot line on an access street
- Four feet solid, six if fully open work. 4 ft
- a front lot line on an arterial
- Six feet, with the top two open work. 6 ft
- a side or rear lot line
- Six feet.
- a playground, utility site or government installation
- Open wire mesh may exceed the limits.
Also on fence height in Marysville
- 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 Marysville?
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Marysville answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence needs a variance, a building permit, or both.
A Marysville fence variance is decided by the community development director rather than by a board, in cases of special hardship, unique circumstances and practical difficulties, and none may be granted that would be detrimental to the public health, welfare or environment. The request goes in writing on a city form, and at the same time the applicant has to give written notice to the immediately adjoining property owners by first class mail or personal service, with an adequate description of the height and location of the proposed fence. So the duty to tell the neighbors sits with the person asking rather than with the city. The director weighs visibility for pedestrians and motorists, whether the fence would interfere with utility or access easements or covenant rights, and whether the added height would adversely affect adjacent owners. Each case is decided on its own and sets no precedent, and the decision is final subject to appeal to the hearing examiner within fourteen days. Any fence over six feet needs a city building permit regardless.
At the time the applicant submits the variance request to the city, the applicant shall also provide written notification of the variance request to immediately adjoining property owners by first class mail or personal service.
The answer turns on whether the fence needs a variance, a building permit, or both.
- a fence over six feet
- A city building permit. 6 ft
- a fence outside the stated standards
- An administrative variance, with the applicant serving notice.
- a decision the applicant or a neighbor disputes
- Fourteen days to appeal to the hearing examiner. 14 days
Also on permits in Marysville
- 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 Marysville
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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 Marysville 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 Marysville
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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 Marysville 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 Marysville
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Marysville answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Where a Marysville fence divides two pieces of ground at different levels, the code gives the owner a choice and phrases it permissively: the height may be measured from the side having the highest elevation. That means an owner on the low side of a slope is not automatically penalized for the drop, and the neighbor looking down at the fence is the one the number is written for. It matters most on a terraced Marysville lot where a back yard has been cut or filled, because the same fence can be five feet on one side and eight on the other and the code will read the five. The permission is limited to finished grade differences across the fence, and does not extend to raising the ground first, because the general rule reads height to the natural elevation of the ground the fence stands on.
Where the finished grade is a different elevation on either side of a fence, the height may be measured from the side having the highest elevation.
Also on how height is measured in Marysville
- set in state lawWashington 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. RCW 16.60.010Washington · Statute
Fence rules for corner lots in Marysville
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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 Marysville 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
Retaining wall rules in Marysville
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Marysville answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Marysville does not write a separate rule for a fence on a wall. It writes one measuring sentence that covers a fence, a freestanding wall, a retaining wall or a combination of the same, and reads all of them from the top surface, board, rail or wire down to the natural elevation of the ground the thing stands on. So a fence on a retaining wall is a single object measured from the bottom of the wall, and the six foot side and rear figure covers the pair rather than the fence alone. One allowance follows for the case where that would be unworkable. A protective fence on top of a rockery may exceed six feet, but any part of it above that height has to be an open-work fence, so what the rockery buys is a barrier against falling rather than a taller screen.
The height of a fence or freestanding wall, retaining wall or combination of the same shall be measured from its top surface, board, rail, or wire to the natural elevation of the ground on which it stands.
6 ftheight above which a fence on a rockery must be open work
Also on retaining walls in Marysville
- 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 Marysville
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Marysville answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the fence is enclosing.
Marysville opens by defining what it is regulating more widely than most codes, applying the fence standards to walls, fences, trellises, arbors and screens of all types whether open, solid, wood, metal, wire, masonry or other material, so an arbor over a gate and a screen along a patio are both caught. Against that breadth, barbed and razor wire get a short list of three permitted uses and nothing else: confining livestock, public facilities together with transmitter and transformer sites, and government installations where security or public safety is required. There is no allowance for an ordinary business, no height above which it becomes acceptable, and no industrial zone exception, which is narrower than most cities of this size. The code says nothing at all about electrified fences.
The standards apply to walls, fences, trellises, arbors and screens of all types whether open, solid, wood, metal, wire, masonry or other material.
The answer turns on what the fence is enclosing.
- barbed or razor wire on an ordinary lot
- Not permitted.
- confining livestock
- Permitted.
- a public facility, transmitter site or government installation
- Permitted where security or public safety requires it.
Also on materials in Marysville
- 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 Marysville
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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 Marysville 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 Marysville
- 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
7 documents, of which 1 was published by Marysville 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 MarysvilleMarysville Municipal Code, Title 22C, Chapter 22C.010, Section 22C.010.380, 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
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 Marysville 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