# Fences, Ranch Rail and Gates in Fallbrook, CA > Fence work in Fallbrook under San Diego County's Section 6708: 42 in. solid front fences, 72 in. rear, 6 ft ranch rail at the road on an acre, gates and exceptions. URL: https://caskfencetemecula.com/service-areas/fallbrook/ Service area Fence work in Fallbrook under San Diego County's Section 6708: 42 in. solid front fences, 72 in. rear, 6 ft ranch rail at the road on an acre, gates and exceptions. Get an Estimate [(951) 944-2778](tel:+19519442778) Last Updated: October 31, 2026 Fallbrook is San Diego County. Its fence heights come from the county zoning ordinance, not a Riverside County city. a open ranch fence at 72 in. on acreage b drive gate set back from the road 1. **a** open ranch fence at 72 in. on acreage 2. **b** drive gate set back from the road On an acre or more in Fallbrook's rural zones, county code lets open ranch fencing run six feet tall right along the road. San Diego County Planning & Development Services issues building permits (County of San Diego) Fire zone CAL FIRE's 2025 local responsibility area map places the Fallbrook center point outside a mapped hazard zone, while De Luz to the north maps Very High; the zone varies by address. 92028 ZIP codes ## What usually starts a fence project in Fallbrook ### A front yard fence under the 42-inch limit San Diego County Zoning Ordinance 6708 caps solid fences and walls at 42 inches in front and exterior side yards, and most open fences there too. ### Ranch fencing along the road on acreage On lots of one gross acre or more in the A70, A72, RR, S82, S88, S90 and S92 use regulations, open wire, wrought iron, pipe corral or rail fences may be 72 inches high in front. ### A drive gate and entry pillars Gates up to 12 feet are allowed, and gate entry structures on a lot have to sit at least 10 feet from the nearest edge of the road right-of-way or private road easement. ### An older fence due for replacement Only 18.5% of Fallbrook's homes were built in 2000 or later, so many projects replace or repair a fence that has stood for decades. ## Services in Fallbrook ### Horse and Ranch Fencing → Pasture, paddock and turnout fencing in rail, vinyl ranch rail, steel pipe or no-climb mesh, with braced corners and gates sized for horses and equipment. ### Gates → Walk gates, double drive gates and RV gates in wood, vinyl, steel or aluminum, hung on posts sized for the leaf and set up for slope and swing clearance. ### Automatic Gates → Swing and slide gate operators matched to the gate and its use, with monitored safety sensors, planned power and fire department access. ### Wood Fences → Redwood, cedar, fir or treated pine privacy fences, on wood or galvanized steel posts, planned around Temecula's soil, sun and wind. ### Wrought Iron Fences → Ornamental tubular steel and aluminum fences and iron gates, on their own posts or between block pilasters, finished to hold up in Temecula sun. ### Fence Replacement → Old fence out, concrete footings removed, boundary markers protected, and a new wood, vinyl, metal or chain-link fence built on a fresh post plan. ### Fence Repair → Leaning and rotted posts, broken boards and panels, wind damage, sagging gates and slack chain link, repaired where the rest of the fence is still sound. ### Hillside Fences → Fences that step or rack down a slope, gates placed where the grade allows a swing, posts drilled into hardpan or rock, and fences built on or above retaining walls. Fallbrook sits across the county line, and that changes the height rules before anything else. It is unincorporated San Diego County, so fences follow Section 6708 of the County Zoning Ordinance, which keeps front yards low but lets open ranch fencing run six feet tall along the road on acreage in rural zones. [Cask Fence Temecula](https://caskfencetemecula.com/) plans and manages fence and gate work in Fallbrook, carried out by licensed and insured contractors, from [ranch and horse fencing](https://caskfencetemecula.com/horse-fence-installation/) on orchards and pasture to privacy fences between neighbors and [drive gates](https://caskfencetemecula.com/gate-installation/). ## Section 6708 heights, line by line The rules are short, and they split fences into solid and open: | Where on the lot | Solid fence or wall | Open fence | | --- | --- | --- | | Main building area | Up to the height allowed for the main building | Up to the height allowed for the main building | | Front or exterior side yard | 42 inches | 42 inches, or 72 inches on qualifying acreage (below) | | Rear or interior side yard | 72 inches | 72 inches | | Gates | Up to 12 feet | Up to 12 feet | So a six-foot wood or vinyl privacy fence works on side and rear lines, while anything across the front stays at 42 inches unless the lot qualifies for the acreage exception. Fences that confine animals also have to meet the county’s animal regulations, which start at Section 3000. Where the county fire code or a local fire district ordinance is stricter, the stricter rule applies. ## Open ranch fencing at the road on an acre or more This is the rule that suits rural Fallbrook. On lots of one gross acre or larger in the A70, A72, RR, S82, S88, S90 and S92 use regulations, open fences of woven or barbed wire, wrought iron, pipe corral or rails may be 72 inches high in the front yard. The ordinance limits the supports: posts, pilasters and other support elements can be no wider than 24 inches in any direction, must sit at least eight feet apart edge to edge, and can’t exceed 72 inches. Razor wire and angled barbed wire are allowed only to protect high-value agricultural, commercial or industrial uses. In practice that allows a tall pipe or no-climb wire fence along an orchard or paddock frontage without an exception, as long as it stays open and the zone and acreage qualify. A solid wall at the road doesn’t get the same allowance. The [horse fence materials guide](https://caskfencetemecula.com/guide/horse-fence-materials/) compares pipe, rail and wire mesh, and [wrought iron](https://caskfencetemecula.com/wrought-iron-fence-installation/) is the other open option the rule names. Your lot’s use regulation and gross acreage are confirmed before a front fence is designed around this rule. ## Gates, entry pillars and fire access Section 6708 treats drive entries as their own item. On an individual lot, a gate can be up to 12 feet high. A gate entry structure, meaning the pillars and any gate house around a vehicle opening, has to sit at least 10 feet from the nearest edge of the public road right-of-way or private road easement serving the gate. Entry pillars can extend up to 15 feet on each side of the opening, but can’t top 12 feet for more than six feet on either side. For fire access, the structure has to leave 13 feet 6 inches of vertical clearance, and the county fire code and local fire district rules regulate gates across driveways, so the fire agency reviews them. Gates across a shared private road easement have tighter rules: entry structures at least 50 feet from the intersecting road, and written consent from every owner with access rights before a building permit is issued. Swing or slide is a separate choice, covered in the [swing vs sliding gate guide](https://caskfencetemecula.com/guide/swing-vs-sliding-gate/), and the [automatic gate page](https://caskfencetemecula.com/automatic-gate-installation/) covers operators. ## Going taller: the two county exceptions Two paths allow more height. Section 6708i lets the county grant an administrative exception for fences up to 7 feet 6 inches in interior side or rear yard setbacks that don’t abut a street, private thoroughfare or alley. It needs written consent from all contiguous owners, including those across a street or alley, plus an application and a fee. For anything else, Section 6708h allows an administrative permit, with notice to every owner within 300 feet and findings that the fence fits the community and won’t create a traffic or safety problem. ## Older homes, older fences and the ground under them Census figures describe an older, mixed housing stock. Of Fallbrook’s 10,444 homes, 64.3% are single-family detached, 58.5% are owner-occupied and 18.5% were built in 2000 or later. Many fences here have stood for decades, so a project often starts with whether to [repair](https://caskfencetemecula.com/fence-repair/) or [replace](https://caskfencetemecula.com/fence-replacement/) what’s there. The [repair or replace guide](https://caskfencetemecula.com/guide/fence-repair-or-replace/) sets out the signs. A long-standing fence also isn’t proof of the boundary, which matters on acreage where old lines drift; the [property line survey guide](https://caskfencetemecula.com/guide/property-line-survey-fence/) explains when to call a surveyor. A federal soil survey point near the center of Fallbrook maps Fallbrook sandy loam with bedrock about four feet down. That is one point, and the hills toward De Luz get much rockier and steeper, so some lots need rock drilling or [hillside fencing](https://caskfencetemecula.com/hillside-fence-installation/). ## Fire maps, county permits and the dig ticket CAL FIRE’s 2025 local responsibility area map places the Fallbrook center point outside a mapped hazard zone, but De Luz to the north maps Very High, and zones change from parcel to parcel. California’s proposed Zone 0 rules would bar new combustible fences within five feet of a home in Very High local zones and in state responsibility areas, so an address check matters on the rural edges. The 2025 California Residential Code exempts fences not over seven feet from a building permit; whether San Diego County’s adopted code changes that for your project is confirmed per address with [San Diego County Planning & Development Services](https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/pds/bldg.html). The zoning heights above apply either way. On a shared line, California Civil Code 841 presumes neighbors share the cost of a dividing fence and calls for 30 days’ written notice; the [good neighbor fence law guide](https://caskfencetemecula.com/guide/good-neighbor-fence-law/) covers it. A DigAlert ticket is needed two working days before posts are dug, and private irrigation lines aren’t marked by the utilities. To start, try the [cost estimator](https://caskfencetemecula.com/tools/fence-cost-estimator/), then [send the address, the acreage and what you want fenced](https://caskfencetemecula.com/contact/). ## Where Fallbrook sits in the service area ### Who issues permits [San Diego County Planning & Development Services](https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/pds/bldg.html) (County of San Diego) ### Fire hazard zone CAL FIRE's 2025 local responsibility area map places the Fallbrook center point outside a mapped hazard zone, while De Luz to the north maps Very High; the zone varies by address. ### Nearby areas - [Temecula Wine Country](https://caskfencetemecula.com/service-areas/temecula-wine-country/) - [Murrieta](https://caskfencetemecula.com/service-areas/murrieta/) - [Wildomar](https://caskfencetemecula.com/service-areas/wildomar/) 1. 1. Lake Elsinore 2. 2. Menifee 3. 3. Murrieta 4. 4. Temecula Wine Country 5. 5. Canyon Lake 6. 6. Fallbrook 7. 7. French Valley 8. 8. Wildomar Schematic, not to scale: close-together neighborhoods are spread out so each number reads. ## Fallbrook questions ### How tall can a front yard fence be in Fallbrook? Under San Diego County Zoning Ordinance 6708, a solid fence or wall in a front or exterior side yard can be up to 42 inches. Open fences have the same 42-inch limit in front, with one exception for acreage in certain agricultural and rural zones. Rear and interior side yard fences, solid or open, can be up to 72 inches. ### Can a 6-foot ranch fence run along the road on Fallbrook acreage? On a lot of one gross acre or more in the A70, A72, RR, S82, S88, S90 or S92 use regulations, yes, if it's open: woven or barbed wire, wrought iron, pipe corral or rails may be 72 inches high in the front yard. Posts and pilasters can be no more than 24 inches across, at least 8 feet apart edge to edge and no taller than 72 inches. ### What does a fence cost in Fallbrook? There is no separate Fallbrook price. National budgeting ranges run about $15 to $35 per linear foot for ranch or split rail, about $10 to $50 for a 6 ft wood privacy fence, about $25 to $85 for wrought iron or tubular steel, and about $2,000 to $6,000 for a double drive gate. Acreage, slope, rock, gates and tear-out move a quote within those ranges. ### Can a Fallbrook fence be taller than 6 feet? Sometimes, through a county exception. Section 6708i allows an administrative exception for fences up to 7 feet 6 inches in interior side or rear yard setbacks that don't abut a street, with written consent from every contiguous owner and a fee. Other exceptions go through an administrative permit under 6708h, with notice to owners within 300 feet. ### How far from the road must a gate entry be in Fallbrook? On an individual lot, San Diego County's ordinance puts gate entry structures at least 10 feet from the nearest edge of the public road right-of-way or private road easement serving the gate. Gates and entry structures can be up to 12 feet high, and entry structures must leave 13 feet 6 inches of vertical clearance for fire access. The fire agency reviews gates across driveways too. ## Related guides Decision Guide What are the best horse fence materials? A fence that looks right around a vineyard house isn't always one a horse should live behind. How the common horse fence systems compare, and what decides between them. Decision Guide Swing vs. sliding driveway gate: which one fits your driveway? A swing gate needs room to arc open. A sliding gate needs room to roll back. Measuring both spaces, and the slope under them, usually settles it. Decision Guide Should you repair or replace a fence? One broken post and a fence that is failing post after post look alike from the patio. Here is how to tell them apart, and what changes the answer in Temecula. Decision Guide Do you need a survey for a fence? How to tell whether the corner pins and the recorded map are enough to set a fence line, and when a licensed land surveyor is the cheaper answer in the long run. Learn How does California's good neighbor fence law work? Civil Code 841 read line by line: who it covers, what the notice has to contain, how a neighbor can rebut an even split, and the questions it leaves for a surveyor or an attorney. Cost Guide How much does fence installation cost in Temecula? Per-foot budgeting ranges for every common fence, the local conditions that push a Temecula job up or down, and the public figures that sit inside the price. ## Nearby service areas Riverside County Building & Safety permits Temecula Wine Country A fence that should stay under four feet City of Murrieta Building & Safety permits Murrieta A privacy wall where the yards don't match City of Wildomar Building & Safety permits Wildomar A wood fence that runs to the house