Hayward, CA Fence Regulations: Fence Permit Requirements (2026)

204(f) bars any fence, hedge, or wall over three feet within the visibility triangle at a corner lot, and specific zoning districts set their own base heights, typically four feet in a front or side street yard and six to eight feet along rear and interior side lines. 2725(g) then layers additional exceptions on top of those district rules. A through lot, where the rear yard faces a second street, is limited to a four-foot fence across that front-acting yard unless the Planning Director finds that up to six feet (seven feet in a residential district) will not compromise the safety of motorists and pedestrians or the streetscape's appearance.

Fences or walls that enclose a public utility installation carry no height limit anywhere in the city. In commercial and Central City districts, a fence cannot occupy a required front or side street yard at all unless it is part of an approved development plan or the Planning Director signs off individually, a step commonly triggered by chain-link security fencing around vacant storefronts. 2725(g)(5) allows a six-foot perimeter fence in the front, side, and rear yards of a vacant site, but only if it meets the material and design standards spelled out for vacant-property fencing elsewhere in the Zoning Ordinance, including a ban on plain chain link along arterial and collector street frontages in most residential, commercial, and Mission Boulevard Code districts.