Provo, UT Fence Regulations: Height Limits (2026)
Key Facts
- Front yard, sight-obscuring
- 3 feet max
- Front yard, 50%+ open
- 6 feet max
- Side yard
- 7 feet max
- Rear yard over 7 ft
- Requires building permit
- Corner lot street-facing
- 7 feet, outside sight triangle
- Sight triangle
- 25-ft corner, 3-ft height cap
Summary
Provo caps sight-obscuring front-yard fences at 3 feet (6 feet if at least half open), side yards at 7 feet, and lets rear-yard fences exceed 7 feet only with a building permit. Corner-lot fences facing the street are capped at 7 feet and must clear the sight triangle.
(a) Front Yard. Solid walls, fences or hedges which are sight obscuring may be built to a maximum of three (3) feet in height in any required front yard perimeter. Such walls, fences, or hedges may slope upward to connect to a higher side yard fence. The length of a sloped fence section shall not exceed one (1) section or a maximum of ten (10) feet. Walls, fences or hedges which are not sight obscuring (at least fifty percent (50%) open) may be built to a maximum of six (6) feet in height in a front yard. (b) Side Yard. Solid sight-obscuring fences or walls and non-sight-obscuring fences (at least fifty percent (50%) open) may be built to a maximum of seven (7) feet. (c) Rear Yard. Walls and fences in a rear yard may exceed seven (7) feet; provided, that a building permit is first obtained from the Building Inspection Division prior to construction. (d) Corner Lots. A fence not more than seven (7) feet in height may be constructed in a side yard adjacent to a public street on a corner lot, provided it does not extend into the clear vision area of a corner lot as defined by Section 14.34.100, Provo City Code.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 2026-17, passed June 9, 2026).
Full Breakdown
Provo City Code 14.34.500 sets citywide fence height limits for the R1, RC, VLDR, LDR, MDR, HDR, CR, NMU and MU residential zones. In the front yard, solid, sight-obscuring walls, fences or hedges max out at three (3) feet, though a sloped run up to one section (10 feet) may step up to meet a taller side-yard fence; a front-yard fence that is at least 50% open (not sight-obscuring) can go up to six (6) feet (14.34.500(1)(a)). Side yards allow both solid and at-least-50%-open fences up to seven (7) feet (14.34.500(1)(b)). Rear-yard fences may exceed seven feet only after a building permit is obtained from the Building Inspection Division (14.34.500(1)(c)).
Corner lots get their own rule: a fence up to seven feet may sit in the side yard facing the public street, but it cannot intrude into the corner clear-vision triangle defined by Section 14.34.100, which bars anything over three feet tall within a triangle formed by the street property lines and a line connecting points 25 feet from the intersection (14.34.500(1)(d); 14.34.100). Entry pillars at driveway or subdivision entrances may rise 18 inches above the otherwise-allowed fence height if spaced at least 6 feet apart, and entry treatments generally cap at six feet (14.34.500(1)(e)). Height is measured from the natural grade of the property where the fence sits when the two sides of a fence line differ in elevation (14.34.500(1)(f)). These are the current numbers after Am 2024-09; the older 6-foot side/front thresholds still printed in some individual zone chapters (e.g., R2's 14.11.150) predate this 2024 citywide rewrite.
Violations & Fines
A fence built over the applicable height limit, or one that creates a sight-distance hazard as determined by the Provo City Traffic Engineer, is a code violation the Building Inspection Division and code enforcement can act on; remedies include ordering the fence lowered, relocated or removed. A rear-yard fence over seven feet built without a permit is both a height violation and an unpermitted-structure violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How tall can a front yard fence be in Provo?
How tall can a side yard fence be in Provo?
Are there special fence rules for corner lots in Provo?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Provo
How Provo compares: Cities That Allow the Tallest Residential Fences·Compare Provo to another location·View the Utah fence regulations overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.
Height Limits in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Utah County handle height limits.