Apple Valley, MN Fence Regulations: Height Limits (2026)

Fence height in the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, is set by § 155.351 and, at corners, by § 155.335. In all areas zoned residential and not a farm, no boundary line fence can be erected or maintained above 3½ feet, with five exceptions. Fences on corner lots within 30 feet of the intersecting curb line answer to § 155.335. A fence on the side property line can reach eight feet from the rear lot line to the front setback line of the principal building. A fence along a rear line that is also the rear line of an abutting lot, or that abuts a street right-of-way, is capped at eight feet.

Where a rear property line is also the side lot line of an abutting lot, the cap is eight feet, but the fence drops to 3½ feet inside a triangle whose corner is the meeting of the common line and the abutting lot's front lot line, with 17-foot legs along the common line and the side street lot line. Fences on side street lot lines are capped at eight feet and cannot extend toward the front lot line past the projected front building line of the principal building. Fences in business, industrial or institutional districts stop at eight feet unless the City Council permits otherwise.

The corner rule in § 155.335 applies in all districts. On a corner lot, no structure or planting above 36 inches over the abutting curb line is permitted in a triangle that begins where the projected curb lines meet, runs 30 feet along one curb, cuts diagonally to a point 30 feet along the other, and returns to the start.

A permit is required from the city before building any fence, wall or similar barrier over seven feet, measured from the ground with an exception of a two-inch ground clearance, and a fence needing a building permit follows the Minnesota State Building Code. A boundary fence goes entirely on the builder's own land unless the neighbor agrees in writing to the division line, and the building inspector can require a survey by a registered land surveyor. Barbed wire is limited to agricultural districts unless the Council permits it, and electric fences to farm use.