Does anyone kmow the rules about fence height? Is there any kind of permitting required to make a fence higher? In the event a fence/retaining wall that is between two houses is there any kind of agreement from the neighbor required to modify the fence?
3 comments
Depending on the construction material, height can be legally limited. You should consult your ward or city office.
Building codes are more concerned about the strength and durability of your wall or fence. So the legal height depends on the materials you uses. Most walls have a maximum 1.2 meters of height while a composite wall and fence can be as high as 2.2 meters.
There are some rules for how you place your wall near a street—a different question—and you are encouraged by the law to build a privacy fence if your windows are near your neighbor’s property. That means when two houses are right next to each other you actually need a privacy barrier between the houses.
The zoning rules for light and shadow only apply to the building and not to your fence. This may be a part of the law that needs improvement.
When it comes to blocking the sunlight to your neighbor due to a massive fence, that is in Civil Law territory. They could sue you for reducing their quality of life, but that lawsuit would take a long time and might not go anywhere.
The right thing for you to do would be to consult the neighbor about your plans for a wall. Maybe they don’t mind. If you offer to build a special wall with slanted slats that allow sunlight to pass into their garden, but which blocks the view from your backyard, maybe they would contribute something to the cost?
Anyway, there are considerations beyond the law here that should take precedence. If you are buying a property it is important to have good relations with your neighbors. Sometimes good fences lead to good neighborly relations. Sometimes ridiculously large ones will seem to be an extreme provocation.
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