Chino Hills, CA Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

120(B) sets a separate height regime for retaining and crib walls, distinct from the ordinary fence and wall limits in subsection (A). 050(B), is capped at four feet. 72 can raise that to five feet if the wall is visible from a public street, or to eight feet if it is not visible, with the Director of Community Development deciding what counts as visible. The code also allows a stepping alternative to the flat height cap: a downslope retaining wall or fence can be stepped up the slope as long as the horizontal distance between the down-slope wall face and the up-slope wall face is at least equal to the down-slope wall's vertical height, and any crib block walls or areas created by stepping have to be screened with landscaping.

Retaining walls built at a slope of one-half to one, meaning a six-inch horizontal offset for every foot of vertical rise, are exempt from both the stepping method and the maximum height rule. Required Building Code guardrails on top of a retaining wall are open-type and are not counted toward the wall's height. 120(C)(6) caps any retaining wall, including a retaining portion combined with a fence on top, at four feet total, unless the six-foot minor exception process under subsection (C)(3) applies.