Downey, CA Fence Regulations: Height Limits (2026)

08(l)(1) sets the residential height scale: walls, fences, and hedges cannot exceed 42 inches in the front or street-side setback area, and that limit drops to 30 inches within the corner cutback at a street intersection. A street-side yard fence can still reach seven feet if it is built no closer than three feet from the side street property line and no closer than 35 feet to the front property line, giving homeowners a way to get taller screening set further back from the corner.

Any fence or wall over 42 inches must also include a five-foot triangular setback where it abuts a driveway or alley within the required setback area, preserving sightlines for vehicles backing out. On interior side and rear property lines outside the front or street setback, fences and walls can rise to seven feet under subsection (l)(1)(ii). Subsection (l)(1)(iii) adds a special rule for R-3 and R-3-O properties that abut an R-1 or R-2 lot: those properties must build a decorative masonry wall between five and one-half feet and seven feet tall along the shared line, capped by whatever the stricter underlying height limit allows.

Height itself is measured under subsection (i) from the existing or finished grade, except in the front or street side yard, where it is measured from the top of the nearest street curb, and where two lots have different grades, from the higher of the two abutting grades.