Oxnard, CA Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

Sec. 16-308, Fences, Hedges, Height Limitations; Front Yard, sets the zoning height rules that apply before any retaining wall goes up in an Oxnard front yard. Subsection (A) lets open fences, hedges, and similar features up to 42 inches high stand in a required front yard as long as they are at least 50 percent open. Subsection (B) caps solid walls and fences at 18 inches in the front yard, then carves out retaining walls specifically, stating that nothing in the section limits their height except that front yard retaining walls will not be more than 18 inches higher than the soil retained.

In practice that means the wall's exposed face above the retained grade cannot exceed 18 inches in a front yard, even though the buried or grade-level portion holding back the slope is unrestricted by this zoning section. Height limits in side and rear yards run separately under Sec. 16-309, where fences and walls generally top out at 7 feet, dropping to 6 feet along a corner lot's side street. Zoning compliance is only half the picture: Sec. 2 so that a retaining wall needs no building permit only if it is 3 feet or less, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, and is not holding back a surcharge or impounding Class I, II or II-A liquids.

Cross a 3-foot exposed structural height, or retain a surcharge load at any height, and the property owner must file plans, often engineered, with the Building and Engineering Division before construction.