Fence Rules in Redwood City

The definition, and it is stricter than the word "open" suggests. An open fence is one that permits direct vision through at least 80 percent of any one square foot of vertical surface, distributed evenly rather than concentrated in one area, with no single component wider than 12 inches, lamp posts and pilasters included. Major posts, pilasters and other structures that give the fence lateral strength are left out of the measured area (§36.3(A)(2)). Anything that fails that test is a solid fence.

In the required front yard a solid fence is limited to 3 feet, and a combination solid and open fence to 5 feet (§36.3(C)(1)).

That is why "we'll put in a lattice-top" is not an answer to the height question. Lattice with heavy framing, wide boards or a solid base can miss 80 percent per square foot and stay a solid fence in the code's eyes — at 3 feet, not 5. Measure the openness of the panel you are actually buying, in one square foot of it, before agreeing a height.

Seven feet in the interior side and rear yards, whatever the material. It can go to 10 feet with an Architectural Permit — but not in the Professional Office district or in any Residential district (§36.3(C)(2)). On a house lot, seven is the working ceiling.

Seven feet, and one number that is not about height at all: the fence has to be set back 18 inches from the sidewalk and meet the vision triangle requirement (§36.3(C)(3), as amended by Ord. 1130-892 in July 2026).

Eighteen inches is a placement rule. A run drawn tight to the sidewalk does not become compliant by staying under seven feet — it moves. The strip between the fence and the sidewalk is privately owned and has to be landscaped and kept weed-free, which is worth knowing before choosing where the posts go.

Nothing solid over 3 feet. No solid fence or hedge exceeding 3 feet may stand within a vision triangle: within 10 feet of a driveway that serves required on-site parking in a residential district, and within 15 feet of the corner of intersecting streets, of driveways in nonresidential districts and of driveways on the high-volume streets the code lists (§36.3(B)(2)).

Two things to hold on to. The distances — 10 feet at a house driveway, 15 at the street corner — are specific to this city, and a figure carried over from a neighbouring one will be wrong on the ground. And the code refers to its own diagram, Figure 36.3, while stating that where the wording and the diagram disagree, the wording controls. If a drawing is being used to justify a fence, the sentence in the code is the thing to check it against.

Planning. An Architectural Permit is what allows a side or rear fence above 7 feet, in districts where that is available at all (§36.3(C)(2)). A fence within the heights above needs no planning approval.

Building. The California Residential Code exempts fences not over 7 feet high from a building permit (CRC § R105.2, Building, item 2). The same section says an exemption does not authorize work that violates other laws or ordinances, so the zoning heights above still apply. Treat anything unusual (a wall, a structure holding soil, anything doubling as a retaining wall) as a question for the Building Division rather than an assumption.

Three things decide a Redwood City fence, and only one of them is height.

What the panel actually is — measure a square foot of it and see whether 80 percent of it is open. Where the sidewalk is, because the street side setback is measured from it. And where the triangle falls, because a solid fence or a hedge over 3 feet cannot stand in it whatever the yard around it allows.

Three more rules sit in the same section. Fence height is measured from the lowest adjoining grade, and lattice or other decorative elements count toward it (§36.3(B)(1)). Chain link above 3 feet is prohibited in the front yard and in side yards adjacent to the street in residential districts (§36.3(C)(1) and (3)). Privately constructed fences are prohibited in the public right-of-way (§36.3(C)(1) and (3)).

A boundary survey by a licensed surveyor is the only thing that fixes a property line for certain, and the city's Planning Division confirms what applies at a specific address. A fence built inside the triangle, or tight to the sidewalk, is not corrected on paper — it comes out and goes back at the owner's cost.

For fence work in Redwood City — repairs, posts, gates and boards — these are the questions to settle before anything is set. Photos of what you have are enough to work out what your yard allows. The wider picture for neighbouring cities is in the fence rules and permits guide.