Davis, CA Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

14, together called the Downtown Code. 030(a) explains the purpose: conservation and protection of property, safety and security, privacy, noise attenuation and the visual environment of the neighborhood. Subsection (b)(2) fixes how screening height is measured: the vertical distance from finished grade at the base of the screen to the top edge of the screen material. Subsection (e), titled Screening on Retaining Walls, caps the total height of a screen plus the retaining wall beneath it at six feet, whether the screen sits on top of the wall or is attached to it.

The director may approve a taller combined wall and screen only on a finding that there will be little or no impact on adjoining properties or the surrounding neighborhood, and that the extra height is necessary to meet the section's purpose or is required for health and safety. This standard applies to development within the mapped Downtown Zones; it does not set retaining wall height outside those zones, where a property's own zoning district and its encroachment standards govern instead. A related exemption in subsection (f)(1)(B) lets mechanical vents under four feet skip the same screening requirement, subject to director review.

An applicant proposing to exceed six feet combined height should expect both a discretionary screening approval and an engineered wall design as part of the same building or landscape permit.