Fence Installation in Beaverton, OR
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Three feet. That is as high as a fence may stand in a required front yard in Beaverton when the street it faces is not a collector or an arterial. On a collector or an arterial, the same code allows 6 feet in the required front yard. Everywhere else on the lot, eight. One lot carries all three numbers, and which one applies to a given run of fence depends on where the run sits and what the street out front is classified as.
The Beaverton Development Code puts it this way, in section 60.50.20: fences and walls shall not exceed "six (6) feet in a required front yard along designated Collector and Arterial streets," "three (3) feet in height in a required front yard along all other street classifications," "four (4) feet in height in a required front yard for required above ground stormwater facilities," and "eight (8) feet in height for all other yards." The same section allows a fence to be "constructed at the lot line," subject to the sight-clearance standards in the city's Engineering Design Manual. The code's definitions settle a question that comes up on sloped lots: where a fence or retaining wall sits on a slope, "the measurement shall be taken from the higher side of the fence."
What the three numbers mean on a Beaverton lot
Required front yard is the code's phrase, and it matters. The limit of 3 or 6 feet applies inside the front-yard setback the zoning district requires, which is a strip along the street, and a fence set behind that strip is in "all other yards," where 8 feet is allowed. On a deep lot, a privacy fence can run 8 feet across the width of the property once it is behind the required front yard setback, whatever the street. The 3-foot rule concerns the strip nearest the street, and on a local street, that strip is picket-and-rail territory.
The street classification determines whether it's three or six. The city classifies its streets in its transportation plan: the major boulevards through Beaverton are collectors and arterials, while the residential streets behind them are not. VResh checks the classification of the street each frontage faces before drawing the run.
The higher side decides how a fence on a slope or a wall is measured. A 6-foot fence standing on a 2-foot retaining wall is measured from the uphill side, so it is 6 feet to the code. From the downhill neighbor's ground, the same fence stands 8 feet tall, and the code allows that; it measures from the high side on purpose. How the building code measures that same fence for the 7-foot permit exemption is a separate question, and one VResh raises with the Building Division for any fence that stands on a wall.
Corner lots
A corner lot faces two streets, and the two can be classified differently. How the code treats the second frontage, as a front yard or a street-side yard, is set by the zoning district, and VResh checks it against the code for each corner lot rather than assuming. What is certain is that the sight-clearance standards apply where a fence at the lot line meets an intersection, and that a fence within the height limit can still sit in the wrong place. VResh draws the clearance zone in the Engineering Design Manual before the estimate and keeps the fence outside it.
What a 3-foot front fence is
A 3-foot fence is not a privacy fence and is not trying to be one. In Beaverton's front yards on local streets, it is a cedar picket at 36 inches, a two-rail split rail, or a low horizontal-board fence with a gate at the walk, and its job is to mark the edge of the yard and frame the house. The main fence page covers picket-and-rail construction; what Beaverton adds is the reason so many of its front fences are that height. Behind the front strip, where 8 feet is allowed, the same lot usually carries a 6-foot board-on-board privacy fence on the side and rear lines, and the change in height happens at the back edge of the required front yard, which VResh marks on the estimate drawing.
On the lot line
Beaverton allows the fence on the line, which makes the survey question the main fence page raises sharper here than in a city with a required setback. A fence built on the line is on the boundary between two properties, and one built a foot past it is on the neighbor's property. VResh recommends a survey wherever the corner stakes cannot be found, before the estimate is written.
Permits
Oregon's residential code exempts a fence up to 7 feet from a building permit. A Beaverton fence of 7 feet or less on level ground that meets the height limits and sits outside the sight-clearance zones is built without one; a fence on a wall is the case above. An 8-foot fence, which the code allows in side and rear yards, is over the 7-foot line and needs a permit. VResh raises the question on the estimate whenever a run is drawn at 8 feet.
What VResh draws before a Beaverton fence is priced
The classification of the street each frontage faces.
The required front yard for the lot's zoning district, and the line where the 3- or 6-foot limit ends and 8 feet begins.
The sight-clearance zone at any corner, drawn from the Engineering Design Manual.
The higher-side measurement wherever the fence crosses a slope or stands on a wall.
The permit question, where any run is drawn at 8 feet.
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Fence questions from Beaverton, OR
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VResh works from written estimates only, with scope and cost confirmed before any work begins. On a Beaverton fence, the estimate comes with a drawing of the lot showing where each height limit applies, so that the fence you are pricing is the fence the code describes. Call or text (503) 272-6436.