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

WWCC Chapter 17.24, the county's standalone fence chapter, sets front, side and rear yard limits in a single section, § 17.24.010. Solid front yard fences cannot exceed forty-two inches, and that limit runs all the way to the front property line, including on corner lots where county traffic and visibility concerns are highest. Open-rail fences get an added six inches of height, up to four feet six inches, but only if the fence is at least two-thirds open rather than solid, so a picket or split-rail style with substantial gaps qualifies while a board fence at that height does not.

Side and rear yard fences are allowed up to six feet countywide, with no distinction drawn between residential, commercial or agricultural zoning districts in the fence chapter itself. Subsection B adds a separate, non-numeric standard: a fence cannot deprive an adjacent property of a natural view of the landscape where that view is a contributing factor in the value of the land, a provision the county can apply even to a fence that otherwise meets the height limits. This general fence chapter sits apart from the animal-enclosure fencing standards in WWCC § 17.26.020, which set different height and material rules, including barbed wire and electric strand allowances, for fences built specifically to contain horses, livestock or other domestic animals.

A property owner building a standard yard fence should look to § 17.24.010 alone; a fence built to pen animals falls instead under the § 17.26.020 table for that species.