Blue Earth County, MN Fence Regulations: Neighbor Fence Rules (2026)

Section 24-302(g) of the zoning ordinance is the county's default rule for who can build where along a shared property line. The starting position is that 'all boundary line fences shall be entirely located upon the private property of the person constructing, or causing the construction of such fence,' meaning a landowner cannot place a new fence on a neighbor's side of the line without permission. The only way around that default is a written agreement: if the adjoining owner agrees in writing that the fence may be erected on the division line itself, the builder can put it there instead of setting it back onto their own parcel.

That written consent only works, though, if 'property survey markers are present and known,' and the ordinance requires a survey to be conducted first when the boundary isn't already established that way, so a neighbor's verbal agreement or an assumed property line is not enough to authorize a division-line fence. The same subsection then adds that 'no setback requirements shall apply' to fences generally, meaning that once a fence is properly sited, on the builder's own land, or on the line by written agreement with confirmed markers, it doesn't have to be pulled back any additional distance from the property boundary.

This provision sits in the same section as the county's fence height and sight-triangle limits, so a boundary fence still has to meet those separate height caps even after the placement question is settled.