Fence Company in Jefferson, Oregon

A corner lot has two front yards. This is the one that catches people on a small-town grid. JMC 12.20.040(A) says all corner lots shall be considered as having two front yards, and the four-foot limit in 12.40.050 is keyed to the front yard setback — so on a residential corner lot it runs 15 ft in from both street lines, not one. You can't designate the side street away either: under the front lot line definition at JMC 12.04.080, an owner on a corner lot may designate a front yard only for the purpose of determining the non-street side and rear yard setbacks.

Six feet covers hedges and walls, not just fences. JMC 12.40.050 is written for fences, walls and hedges as a single category, so an evergreen screen out front is measured the same way a cedar panel is. The same section also requires they be built within your property lines — no straddling the line with a neighbor — and that they conform to the clear vision rules in 12.40.080.

Barbed wire and electric fences have their own rule. This one lives in the nuisance code, not the development code. Under JMC 5.04.200 you can't build or keep a barbed-wire fence, or leave barbed wire as part of a fence, along a sidewalk or public way — the single allowance is barbed wire set above other fencing not less than six feet, six inches high. Because 12.40.050 caps fences at six feet, that allowance is effectively out of reach on a normal residential lot without a variance, so ask the City before you plan on it. Electric fences are prohibited along a sidewalk or public way and along the adjoining property line of another person — that second half is what rules out the shared line with your neighbor.

Corners and driveways need a clear vision area. JMC 12.40.080 requires a clear vision area at each access to a public street and on each corner of property at the intersection of two streets, or a street and a railroad. Nothing that would impede visibility between two feet and eight feet goes inside it — fence, wall, hedge, sign, planting or structure — measured from the top of the curb, or from the established street center line grade where no curb exists. Depth depends on the intersection: the table at 12.40.080(D) sets 20 ft at a controlled intersection, 30 ft at an uncontrolled intersection on a 60 ft right-of-way, 40 ft where the right-of-way is under 60 ft, 15 ft at a residential driveway, 20 ft at a commercial or industrial driveway and 20 ft at an alley under 25 ft. Landscaping standards don't get you out of it — JMC 12.42.200 says the landscaping provisions are superseded by the clear vision requirements of 12.40.080.

In the Historic Preservation Overlay, a fence is a review. JMC 12.36.090(D) lists construction of a fence that meets 12.40.050 as an activity subject to Minor Historic Resource Review, which the Historic Preservation Officer may issue a Certificate of Appropriateness for. Materials matter here: the chapter asks that fence materials be compatible with those used on the property during its period of significance, and it wants elevations or plan drawings with the materials and construction described. Pick the material before you price the job.

Over six feet means a permit — or a variance. JMC 12.40.050 requires a building permit for a fence over six feet in height, or a retaining wall over four feet. Structural permits start at Jefferson City Hall (150 N. 2nd St., 541-327-2768) before they go to the County; electrical and plumbing permits go to Marion County Building. If you want a fence taller than the code allows, that's a land use application, not a permit — fences, hedges and walls are on the list the Planning Commission can grant a variance for under JMC 12.96.020(A), and changing the permitted height of a fence in a required yard area is handled as a minor variance on the Type I-B track under 12.96.030(A)(1). Faster, but still before the posts go in.

Call 811 first. Contact the Oregon Utility Notification Center two business days before digging. That's every post hole.