West Covina, CA Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

Section 26-77(a) covers interior facing retaining or garden walls, meaning ones facing inward toward the subject property that are negligibly visible from neighbors or the public right-of-way and sit within a required setback: these can reach 7 feet on their own. Stack a freestanding fence or wall on top and the combined height caps at 12 feet in the front setback, or 14 feet if the fence design meets the arterial-street standard in Section 26-76(a)(3); in the side and rear yard, the combined cap is 13 feet, rising to 14 feet for properties that qualify under Section 26-76(b)(4) through (6) for the residential-commercial 8-foot fence allowance.

Section 26-77(b) covers exterior facing walls, meaning ones that face outward toward a public street or a neighboring property: these are capped at just 3 feet on their own, with a combined wall-plus-fence total of 9 feet in the front setback or 10 feet in the side and rear yard, rising to 11 feet under the same Section 26-76(b)(4) through (6) qualification. Section 26-77(c) sets a flat 15-foot ceiling for any interior or exterior retaining wall that fully complies with the zone's required building setbacks rather than sitting within them.

Section 26-77(d) allows parallel, terraced retaining walls with up to a 1:1 gradient to exceed the single-wall limit in aggregate, provided the walls are spaced apart by at least the height of the tallest one. Section 26-75 treats a retaining wall topped by a fence as a single structure for height measurement, taken from the lowest adjacent grade to the top of whatever sits highest.