Pasadena, CA Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

250 caps the cumulative height of retaining walls built because of grading cuts or fills, whether existing, new, replacement, or a combination, at 8 feet measured in the vertical plane, and the wall's freeboard counts toward that 8-foot limit. Freeboard itself is capped at a maximum of 6 inches and the wall has to be designed to keep drainage from running down the slope, with drainage devices placed at the top or bottom of the wall. Retaining walls supporting pools, hot tubs and similar accessory structures built because of hillside cuts or fills are held to the same 8-foot cumulative cap.

The chapter carves out one exception: cuts or fills created before September 1, 1998 that the building official finds are failing or in danger of failing can be supported by taller walls, but only if a licensed professional designs the wall, it's built from shotcrete meeting Chapter 19 of the California Building Code, concrete cribbing, or another building-official-approved material, drains are placed no more than 30 feet apart vertically, the wall follows the slope's natural contours in an earth-tone finish, and the planning manager approves landscaping and irrigation on the wall face.

Plans for any such taller wall must go to the director of planning and community development, and a permit issues only after that approval. 190's setback rules, which require tops and toes of cut and fill slopes and their retaining structures to be set back from property lines and structures far enough to protect adjacent property and prevent water-runoff or erosion damage, per the distances in Appendix A.