FENCE RULES – LA VISTA (CITY), NEBRASKA

OVERVIEW

Residential fences are permitted on private property within City of La Vista, subject to local regulations.

The City of La Vista regulates residential fences through the City of La Vista Zoning Ordinance, especially Section 7.12, Fences, together with permit materials administered through the Community Development Department and Building Department. The City’s fence rules apply within the City’s zoning jurisdiction, including applicable extraterritorial zoning areas.

This page focuses on typical single-family residential fencing, including rural residential and agricultural residential contexts where applicable. If the jurisdiction’s adopted materials do not state a specific limit or requirement, this page notes that the code does not specify one.

Compiled From the City of La Vista Zoning Ordinance, La Vista Municipal Code, City of La Vista Subdivision Regulations, Community Development Department materials, Building Department and Building Permits materials, Planning Department materials, Gateway Corridor District Design Guideline, Light Remodeling & Accessory Permit Application, and Code Enforcement materials as of May 2026.

GOVERNANCE

The City of La Vista is governed by the Mayor and City Council, with zoning and subdivision regulations adopted into the City’s municipal framework.

The Community Development Department administers and interprets the Zoning Ordinance, Subdivision Regulations, Comprehensive Plan, and adopted building codes. The department also provides plan and code review, permit review, and staff support for the Planning Commission and Board of Adjustment.

Fence permits are administered through the City’s building and community development process. The Chief Building Official is the approving official named in the fence section of the Zoning Ordinance.

The La Vista Police Department Code Enforcement program handles complaint-based code enforcement matters involving zoning, property maintenance, public nuisances, fence upkeep, swimming pools, and fences around swimming pools.

PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS

• Fence Permit Required: No fence may be constructed within the zoning jurisdiction of the City of La Vista unless a permit is approved and issued by the Chief Building Official.

• Application Materials: The Light Remodeling & Accessory Permit Application includes fences. Fence submittals require the fence height, type, location, estimated materials cost, and a site plan showing fence location, type, and height.

• Site Drawing: The Building Permits materials require a drawing showing the location of the improvement and distances from the property line, house, detached garage, and other existing structures.

• Inspections: For projects requiring a permit, final inspection is part of the City’s permit process. The permit application asks for inspections to be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance.

• Subdivision Perimeter Fencing: Along an arterial or other perimeter road or street in a subdivision, perimeter fencing must be approved by the City for consistency with existing and adjacent subdivisions. If the subdivision agreement does not prescribe perimeter fencing to be installed all at once, each fence requires a fence permit.

• Gateway Corridor / Design Review: The Gateway Corridor District Design Guideline applies to property in the Gateway Corridor Overlay District and defines fences and walls as miscellaneous structures. Construction or modification of a single-family residence or duplex is exempt unless the property is part of or located within a Planned Unit Development or redevelopment area.

• Floodplain Review: The Building Permits materials publish a Flood Plain Development Permit Application. Fence work located in an FF/FW Flood Plain District is subject to floodplain permit standards when the work qualifies as floodplain development.

• Private Swimming Pools: Before work begins on a private swimming pool, the City requires building permit review. Pool fences and barriers are reviewed under the City’s private swimming pool enclosure standards.

FENCE PLACEMENT RULES

• Property Boundaries: Fences must be located inside the boundaries of the property on which they are constructed, except where two adjacent property owners file a written agreement with the City to build one fence on the common lot line of adjacent side yards or back yards.

• Owner Property / Survey: The permit application states that fence location must be on or into the fence owner’s property and may require a survey.

• Front Yard Placement: Front yard fences must be 12.5 feet from the curb.

• Corner Lot Side Yard Placement: Side yard fences on a corner lot must be 12.5 feet from the curb or off the right-of-way.

• Through Lots: Where a through lot abuts a major thoroughfare, such as 84th Street, Giles Road, or Harrison Street, access is made from the other frontage street, and access along the thoroughfare is restricted, the rear-yard setback for fences and screening devices is 0 feet.

• Street Rights-of-Way: New, repaired, modified, or replaced fences must not be installed or encroach in, on, under, over, or across street rights-of-way. The Municipal Code allows only certain pre-2003 fence or retaining-wall encroachments under an older permit process, and those must be moved, removed, or relocated out of the right-of-way when removed, repaired, modified, replaced, or determined to need substantial repair.

• Utility Easements: Platted utility easements are reserved for public utilities and are subject to the right of the utility or City to install, repair, replace, and maintain utility facilities.

• Subdivision Perimeter Roads: Fencing along an arterial or other perimeter road or street in a subdivision must be consistent in style, type, material, height, and color, and must be approved by the City based on existing and adjacent subdivisions.

• Subdivision Entrances: The same perimeter-fence consistency requirements apply to street-side yard fencing of lots on the corner of subdivision entrances.

• Traffic Safety: No fence or vegetation may be situated or constructed in a way that obstructs vehicular traffic or creates a traffic safety hazard.

• Utility Safety: Nebraska law requires notice through Nebraska 811 before excavation begins. For fence projects that involve digging, including fence post holes, notice generally must be given at least 2 full business days and not more than 10 business days before excavation begins, subject to limited exceptions.

FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES

• Standard Height: The height limitation for fences is 6 feet above ground level, except where a specific exception applies.

• Residential Front Yards: A fence constructed within the front yard of a residential lot, and vegetation used as a barrier, screen, or fence along and parallel to the front line of a residential lot, may not exceed 42 inches in height.

• Forward Side-Yard Area: A fence constructed within the portion of a residential side yard that lies in front of a line extending perpendicularly from the side lot line to the front corner of the structure closest to that side lot line may not exceed 4 feet in height.

• Corner Lot Street-Side Side Yard: On a corner lot, a fence constructed within a side yard along the side lot line adjacent to a street may not exceed 6 feet in height.

• Residential Lots Next to Commercial or Industrial Property: Fences constructed along and parallel to lot lines separating a residential lot from property in a Commercial or Industrial district may not exceed 8 feet in height.

• Rear and Side Lot Lines Along Arterial Streets: Fences constructed along and parallel to rear and side lot lines adjoining arterial streets, as designated by the Nebraska Department of Roads, may not exceed 8 feet in height.

• Intersection Sight Triangle: At a street intersection, no obstruction may materially impede vision between 2.5 feet and 10 feet above the grades of the bottom of the curb of the intersecting streets within the sight-triangle area.

• Sight-Triangle Measurement: The standard sight-triangle distance is measured from the point of intersection of the street centerlines, 60 feet in each direction along the centerline of the streets. At intersections involving major or arterial streets, the distance increases to 90 feet for each arterial leg of the intersection.

• Retaining Wall Exception: The intersection-visibility rule does not prohibit a necessary retaining wall.

• City Adjustment of Sight Distance: The City may increase the required sight-distance area based on subdivision design and speed limits along major or arterial streets.

MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS

• Open Fence Definition: An open fence, including gates, has 50 percent or more of its surface area in open spaces that allow direct views through the fence.

• Front and Side Yard Openness: Fences located within a front or side yard of a residential lot must qualify as an open fence, except for the solid-fence situations listed below.

• Solid Fence Exceptions: A solid fence may be constructed along a side lot line parallel and adjacent to a lot line that is adjacent to a Commercial or Industrial district. A solid fence may also be constructed in a side yard parallel and adjacent to the lot line that is adjacent to a street.

• Front Yard Fence Types: The permit application states that front yard fences must be open pickets, split rail, or chain link.

• Fence Posts: All supporting posts for fence construction must be set in concrete except agricultural fencing. For wood and chain-link fences, the permit application states that posts must be set in concrete at a minimum depth of 24 inches.

• Finished Side Orientation: The finished surface of all fences must face toward adjoining property or street frontage.

• Shared Common Fence Line: When two or more property owners share a common fence line, those owners jointly determine which side of the common fence line receives the finished face of the fence. The determination must be consistent for the entire length of the common fence line.

• Barbed Wire: Barbed wire is prohibited for standard residential fences. Farm fencing constructed for agricultural purposes on parcels of 20 acres or more in the TA Transitional Agriculture District is an exception.

• Electric Fences: Electric fences are prohibited within the City of La Vista and its extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction except in the TA Transitional Agriculture District with application to, and approval by, the Chief Building Official. Approved electric fencing may not be energized to a level capable of causing bodily harm to people or animals, and the Chief Building Official must determine that non-electric fencing will not adequately protect the property.

• Private Pool Fences: A private outdoor aboveground or belowground swimming pool must be enclosed by a fence that completely surrounds the property or pool area and is strong enough to make the pool inaccessible to small children. The fence must be at least 6 feet high, may not have openings, holes, or gaps larger than 4 inches in any dimension, and each gate or door must be self-closing and self-latching, with the latch at least 6 feet above ground.

• Pool Barrier Alternatives: A natural enclosure, hedge, or other barrier approved by the City Building Inspector may be used instead of a pool fence if the City Building Inspector determines that it provides the same level of protection.

• Metal Fences Near Pools: Each metal fence or permanent metal fixture within 10 feet of pool water must be separately grounded.

• Maintenance: All fences must be maintained in good repair.

PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS

Private restrictions operate independently from City fence rules and may be more restrictive than City standards.

• Subdivision Covenants: The City’s permit application states that the City of La Vista is not responsible for permits issued for projects not allowed within a subdivision. Subdivision covenants may restrict fence height, type, material, color, placement, or approval procedures.

• Recorded Restrictions: Private covenants, subdivision restrictions, deed restrictions, and private agreements may affect whether a fence is allowed even when the City issues a permit.

• Private Easements: Private easements and recorded utility easements may limit fence placement or access independently from the zoning ordinance.

• Shared Fence Agreements: A fence on a common side-yard or back-yard lot line requires the written agreement described in the zoning ordinance and filed with the City.

REVIEW AND ENFORCEMENT CONTEXT

Fence issues are typically reviewed during permit or approval review when required, and through complaint-based code enforcement. Examples include:

• Permit Review: Construction of a fence without an approved permit issued by the Chief Building Official.

• Application Review: Missing or unclear fence location, type, height, site plan, property-line distance, or structure-distance information.

• Height Review: Residential front-yard, side-yard, corner-lot, arterial-street, commercial/industrial-adjacency, and pool-fence height limits.

• Visibility Review: Sight-triangle obstructions, vehicular traffic obstructions, and traffic-safety hazards involving fences or vegetation.

• Placement Review: Fence placement outside property boundaries, common-lot-line fence agreements, curb-distance requirements, right-of-way encroachments, and easement conflicts.

• Subdivision Perimeter Review: Consistency of fence style, type, material, height, and color along arterial roads, perimeter roads, and subdivision entrance street-side yards.

• Material and Construction Review: Open-fence requirements, solid-fence exceptions, post-concrete requirements, finished-side orientation, barbed wire limits, electric-fence limits, and fence maintenance.

• Pool Safety Review: Private pool enclosure height, opening size, gate and latch requirements, grounding near pool water, and upkeep of fences around swimming pools.

• Overlay and Floodplain Review: Gateway Corridor design-review requirements where applicable, and floodplain development review where a fence project is located in an FF/FW Flood Plain District and qualifies as floodplain development.

• Code Enforcement: Code Enforcement responds to zoning, property-maintenance, public-nuisance, fence-upkeep, swimming-pool, and pool-fence issues after observation or complaint.

USING THIS INFORMATION

This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within City of La Vista, based on publicly available materials reviewed as of May 2026.

In addition to local fence rules, certain Nebraska laws apply statewide. See Statewide Fence Laws in Nebraska.

It is not legal advice and does not replace official ordinances, permits, surveys, or professional guidance. Rules and interpretations may change, and application may vary based on zoning district, site conditions, easements, rights-of-way, rural or agricultural context, and private restrictions such as HOA covenants or private agreements. Before purchasing materials or beginning construction, confirm current requirements and any site-specific limitations with Community Development Department and any applicable private agreements. If this page conflicts with official ordinances, published guidance, or direction from City of La Vista staff, the official sources control. For legal advice or legal interpretation, consult a licensed attorney.