7 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Shasta County, California.
Verified from official government sources
In unincorporated Shasta County, fences, walls and hedges are limited to 3 feet within a required front yard or the street-side yard of a corner lot, and 6 feet in rear and interior side yards in residential districts. Taller fences require a use permit. Open wire fencing is exempt.
Shasta County Code Section 17.84.030(A) - Height limits-exceptions (Fences)
17.84.030: Height limits-exceptions. The following general height regulations apply: A. Fences. The following shall apply, unless otherwise provided: 1. The height of any fence, wall, hedge, screen planting or other dividing structure placed, grown or maintained in any residential or commercial district shall not exceed three feet within any required front yard or within any side yard on the st...
Routine residential fences need no county building permit, but the California Building Code requires a building permit for any fence over 7 feet tall. A use permit from Planning is needed to exceed the zoning height caps (3 ft front / 6 ft rear). The Building Division handles fence permits.
Shasta County Code Section 17.84.030(B)(4) - Administrative/Use Permit
B. Height Exceptions. The following exceptions apply to height regulations: ... 4. Administrative/Use Permit. Except as otherwise provided in this section, any residential accessory structure, building or fence may be erected to a greater height or number of stories than the limit established for the district in which the structure is to be located, provided that an administrative permit is iss...
Shasta County's zoning code does not set boundary-fence cost rules; California Civil Code Section 841 (the Good Neighbor Fence Law) controls. Adjoining owners are presumed equally responsible for a shared boundary fence's reasonable cost and a neighbor must give 30 days' written notice before doing the work.
A building permit from the Shasta County Building Division is required for any retaining wall over 4 feet measured from the bottom of the footing to the top, or any wall supporting a surcharge (sloped backfill, driveway or structure). Lower freestanding retaining walls are generally exempt under the California Building Code.
Fences in unincorporated Shasta County must meet Zoning Plan height and yard rules in Title 17 (3 ft front / 6 ft rear, Sec. 17.84.030), a use permit to exceed them, and a California Building Code building permit for any fence over 7 feet. Fences within required yards must not block sight distance near streets and corners.
Shasta County's published zoning height rules do not impose a general residential ban on barbed wire or specific fence materials, and the county is largely rural where agricultural fencing is common. Material choices are constrained mainly by building-permit and structural rules and by sight-distance requirements rather than a county materials prohibition.
Shasta County Code Section 17.84.030(A)(3)
3. The height limits of this subsection do not apply to open wire fencing material used as a fence or dividing structure or placed atop any fence, wall or other dividing structure.
Common fence materials - wood, vinyl, chain-link, ornamental metal, masonry, and agricultural wire/barbed wire - are generally allowed in unincorporated Shasta County, with no specific material ban in the published zoning height standard. Open wire fencing is exempt from the county height caps; tall or masonry walls trigger building-permit and engineering review.
1 cities in Shasta County have their own fence regulations rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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