Washington County, UT Fence Regulations: Fence Permit Requirements (2026)

Washington County's fencing standards sit in County Code chapter 10-15B, adopted by Ordinance 2024-1271-O on September 17, 2024. A fence that stays inside the numbers in section 10-15B-3 needs no Planning Commission sign-off: up to six feet along interior side and rear lot lines, three feet in a front setback area, and up to ten feet where a grade difference between two lots justifies it. Corner lots follow section 10-15B-4's clear view triangle: no fence, wall or planting over three feet is allowed within the 30-foot triangle formed at a street intersection, though a non-sight-obscuring fence up to six feet is allowed elsewhere in the setback.

Planning Commission approval, the county's functional fence permit, is required in three situations. Section 10-15B-5 requires Commission sign-off before any fence crosses the property line onto the public right-of-way, and even an approved right-of-way fence must stay at least one foot from a sidewalk and five feet from a fire hydrant; the county can order it removed at the owner's expense at any time. Section 10-15B-6(C) lets the Commission require a six-foot fence around a pond, canal or ditch it finds hazardous. Section 10-15B-10 sends any fence type not otherwise addressed in the chapter to the Planning Commission for case-by-case review before it can be built.

Barbed wire and razor ribbon are barred outside agricultural zones or properties keeping large livestock under section 10-15B-9, and even where allowed must be pulled straight and capped at seven feet total height on top of a fence or wall.