Riverside, CA Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

550's height rules fold retaining walls into the same yard-by-yard scheme as fences. 030(A)(3) measures overall fence height 'inclusive of retaining wall portion' and separately restricts any retaining wall exposed to public view to three feet. 030(B)(2) allows a combined freestanding wall and retaining wall to reach ten feet total, but only if the retaining portion itself stays at three feet when exposed to public view, or six feet when it is not exposed to public view, meaning a homeowner can stack a taller fence on top of a hidden retaining wall than one facing the street or a neighbor's sightline.

Subsection C(3) adds a measurement rule for screening or safety walls required elsewhere in the Zoning Code: those minimum heights are measured 'from the highest grade, not including retaining wall portion,' so the retaining structure itself doesn't count toward a required screening height. The chapter does not set a separate engineering or building-permit threshold for retaining walls within these height caps; taller or structural retaining walls fall to the adopted California Building Code provisions administered through the City's standard building-permit process, which sits outside this zoning chapter.