Fence Repair in Palo Alto

Eichler neighborhoods. Palo Alto has more than 2,000 Eichler homes in 31 tracts, according to the city's Eichler Design Guidelines. Two tracts, Greenmeadow and Green Gables, are National Register historic districts. Greenmeadow alone is 243 homes built in 1954–1955 to designs by A. Quincy Jones and Frederick Emmons.

The city's guidelines describe the original pattern: "Fences sometimes enclose the front courtyard and use vertical or horizontal wood," and "there are also few fences that divide front yards, which increases the sense of a shared landscape." The guidelines are voluntary. Section 6.3 of the guidelines recommends wood over other materials, names vertical or horizontal board as a fit for the Eichler style, and advises against tall, solid fences that block the view of the house from the street. A repair that keeps the original board width, orientation and spacing preserves the look the neighborhood was built around; a contractor should match those details rather than swap in a generic board-on-board panel. A gate in that fence line that sags, drags or misses its latch is a repair of its own: see gate repair.

Soil. A city environmental review states that "soils in Palo Alto are known to be expansive in places," naming clay-bearing series such as Clear Lake and Botella. Expansive clay swells when wet and shrinks when dry. For a fence, that matters at the post footing: a post that keeps working loose after being reset deserves a look at the footing depth and drainage, not just a new post in the same hole.

Special setbacks. Some Palo Alto streets carry special setback lines drawn on a city map dated October 12, 1959, and amended many times since. No public copy of the map is posted. The city's Online Parcel Report shows whether a parcel has one. Check before rebuilding a front or street-side fence in a new position.

Height and permits. The city's fence chapter, PAMC Chapter 16.24, sets heights and locations and contains no permit section. Palo Alto's height limits for front, side and corner fences are on the Palo Alto fence rules page.

• Photograph the post at ground level from two sides; rot and soil movement look different.
• Note whether water from a downspout, sprinkler or slope runs toward the fence line.
• If the fence is shared, read who pays for a shared fence in California before agreeing on a split.
• If it is unclear which side of the line the fence sits on, see finding the property line before a fence project.

Do I need a permit to repair a fence in Palo Alto?
Replacing boards or posts on an existing fence at the same height and in the same place does not change what the city's limits regulate. Rebuilding in a new location, raising the height, or building near a special setback line is different. The Palo Alto fence rules page lists the limits.

Do the Eichler guidelines require a specific fence?
No. The city states the Eichler Design Guidelines are voluntary and are not applied retroactively. They describe what the original neighborhoods looked like, which is useful when choosing a repair.

Why does the same post keep leaning?
A post can fail from rot at the ground line or from movement of the soil around it. Palo Alto has expansive soils in places, and water running toward the footing makes both worse. Photos of the base and the area around it help the contractor tell which one it is.

• City of Palo Alto, Eichler Design Guidelines, adopted April 2, 2018 — pp. 12, 14, 26, 49, 59, 102–103.
• California Office of Historic Preservation, Greenmeadow (listed 7/28/2005).
• City of Palo Alto, Castilleja School Project Draft EIR, ch. 12 Geology, July 2019, p. 12-2.
• Palo Alto Municipal Code ch. 20.08 (special setback lines; map dated October 12, 1959).
• Palo Alto Municipal Code ch. 16.24 (fence heights and locations).