Looking at requirements for fence installation:
In all residential districts except Residential Estate (RE), side and rear setback requirements shall not apply to fences and walls six feet high or less behind the minimum front setback line, except for a corner lot where a side property line abuts a road, the setback shall be a minimum of 7.5 feet of the property line.
I don't know why, but reading this makes my brain just lock up. It's like I get hydro-locked!
6' tall or less inside your property line the set amount.
Looks like, if your fence is 6 feet or less, it goes on the property line. If you are fencing a property line next to a road, then you fence 7.5 feet inboard of the property line. Fairly typical in my limited experience.
In reply to matthewmcl :
...And that the fence must still adhere to the minimum front setback.
In reply to Driven5 :
Yes, since that is generally also a side with a road.
Driven5 is correct. You have to follow the front yard setback for the front fence, not 7.5 feet.
As a former surveyor, DON'T put the fence right on the line. If it ends up the pins you used are wrong, you may end up ripping it out and moving it back. A 6 in offset is usually safe.
In reply to Appleseed :
I have seen home transfers where the fence has redefined the property line, if left in place long enough (you lose the six inches). Have you encountered anything like that?
Perhaps that only happens in areas that are not pinned as well as other places. Some spots in California were located off of other features (some natural) or recorded distances from other pins. With a legacy fence, they would sometimes update plat charts to reference the location of the fence.
Here's what ChatGPT said when I asked it to translate that into plain English that a child could understand:
"Sure, in simple terms, if you want to build a fence in most neighborhoods, you can make it up to six feet tall in your backyard without worrying about how far it is from the sides and back of your property. But, if your house is on a corner lot and one side of your yard is next to a road, then you need to make sure the fence is at least 7.5 feet away from that side of your yard. The rules are a bit different if you live in a Residential Estate."
And you have to be 7.5 feet back from the pins at the front corners, think line of sight for drivers.
Thanks all.
I'm repairing the fence that was messed up during hurricane Ian's rampage. I want to move my rear fence closer to the road. It sounds like it has to be 7.5' from the property line then. I think I can still put it where I planned on putting it, a tape measure will help me decide.
In reply to DrBoost :
I think you're in the same county as me. When I've had questions about this sort of thing the Permitting department has been really great.
In reply to DrBoost :
Would it be easier to call local code enforcement and have them ensure where you should put it?
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