Yakima County, WA Fence Regulations: Height Limits (2026)

040(9)(a) sets the fence and wall standards that apply countywide outside the incorporated cities. Fence height is measured to include every attachment, including posts and any barbed wire installed along the top, though ornaments of 12 inches or less do not count. In the RT district and the urban residential zones (SR, R-1, R-2 and R-3), plus allowed residential uses in the RS district, a fence may reach four feet within the required front yard setback and up to six feet behind that setback line.

On corner lots, no fence taller than four feet may extend closer to either street than the required building setback line. In the county's commercial and industrial zones (SCC, LCC, GC, B-1, B-2, M-1, M-2 and HTC), the front-yard cap stays at four feet but the allowance behind the front setback rises to eight feet. The code sets no maximum fence height at all for nonresidential uses in the RS district or for any use in the AG, FW, MIN, R/ELDP-40 and R-10/5 districts, reflecting the county's rural and resource-land character.

Fences and walls may sit on or behind the property line, and no fence, hedge or wall over two and one-half feet may be placed inside a vision clearance triangle at an intersection or driveway. 35. A combined fence-and-retaining-wall assembly cannot exceed ten feet measured from the lower grade, except where a retaining wall already over ten feet existed when the Title was adopted; in that case a compliant fence may still be added above it. All fences must also meet the construction standards of YCC Title 13.