Las Cruces, NM Fence Regulations: Neighbor Fence Rules (2026)

The Las Cruces Land Development Code defines a 'common wall or common fence' as an artificially constructed barrier along a property line shared by two or more separate owners under Sec. 38-60(B). Because that structure belongs to more than one property, Sec. 38-60(F)(4) requires the written consent of every adjacent owner before the wall or fence can be structurally altered in any manner, whether that means raising its height, replacing sections, changing materials or tearing it down. The consent is not just a private matter between neighbors: it must be submitted to the Community Development Department at the time a building permit application is filed for the work, and the department will not issue the permit without it on file.

This consent requirement sits alongside the rest of Sec. 38-60's wall-and-fence standards, so a common fence's replacement design still has to satisfy the underlying height caps in subsection C, four feet in a required front yard and eight feet at rear and side, and the clear sight triangle rules in chapter 32, article VI, in addition to clearing the neighbor-consent hurdle. If a property owner alters a shared fence without securing every co-owner's written sign-off, the change is out of compliance with the Land Development Code the same as any other unpermitted fence work, and the city can treat it as a zoning violation under Sec.

38-15, with the Municipal Court authorized to fine the owner for each day the unauthorized alteration stands and to order the fence restored or brought into compliance.