Hawthorne, CA Fence Regulations: Height Limits (2026)

020(A) of the Hawthorne Municipal Code allows a wall, fence or hedge up to six feet in height on any part of a residential lot. On any portion of the lot other than the front yard or along a street frontage, that height can go up to ten feet to prevent criminal activity, but only on the recommendation of the Hawthorne Police Department and with a fence conditional use permit approved by the planning commission. In the front yard, additional standards apply: permitted materials are limited to wrought iron, wood, decorative block such as slump stone or split face, brick, stone or stone veneer, or stucco finished to match the building, while chain link, wire mesh and precision block are barred outright.

Architectural elements like pilasters may be used but must not be spaced more than eight feet apart, and decorative block, brick, stone or stucco walls must be capped. The first eighteen inches above the sidewalk elevation may be built solid, but anything above eighteen inches must be more than 95 percent open to view, with vertical elements no more than three-quarters of an inch wide or deep and no solid horizontal interval greater than eighteen inches. 020(A)(6). 5-foot cap for the triangle. 020(B), including a required six-to-ten-foot solid wall on any boundary shared with residentially zoned property.