FENCE RULES – CAMPBELL (COUNTY), VIRGINIA

OVERVIEW

Residential fences are permitted on private property within Campbell County, subject to local regulations.

This page applies to properties in the unincorporated areas of Campbell County; incorporated towns such as Altavista and Brookneal may regulate fences under their own ordinances.

Campbell County publishes a fence-specific administrative page for ordinary fences. That page states that fences normally encroach into setback areas and that the County does not regulate where ordinary fences are placed, what they look like, or which way they face. Additional fence-related context appears in the Campbell County Code, the Building Permits and Permits & Inspections materials, zoning and site-plan materials, environmental-management materials, floodplain-management provisions, subdivision materials, roads and setback guidance, chicken-enclosure guidance, and permit checklists.

This page focuses on typical single-family residential fencing. 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 Campbell County Fences, Building Permits, Permits & Inspections, Zoning, Site Plans, Roads, Setbacks, Environmental Management, Construction – Residential Single Family, and Chickens materials; Campbell County Code Chapters 5, 8, 11, 21, and 22; Campbell County permit checklists; SWPPP materials; and setback and property-line handouts as of July 2026.

GOVERNANCE

The Campbell County Board of Supervisors adopts county code provisions for zoning, buildings, floodplain management, subdivision of land, erosion and sediment control, and stormwater management. Campbell County Community Development is the primary local office identified for building, zoning, planning, subdivision, environmental-management, and permit matters.

The Building Inspections Office consists of the Building Official, inspectors, and supporting staff responsible for issuing permits, reviewing plans, and performing inspections for compliance with the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code.

The Office of Zoning, Planning and Subdivisions administers plans and ordinances, maintains the subdivision and zoning ordinances, and handles special use permit, variance, and rezoning requests. The Zoning Administrator is the fence-page contact for atypical fence questions.

The Environmental Management Program administers erosion, sediment control, and stormwater management for regulated land-disturbing activities. Campbell County operates the Virginia Stormwater Management Program locally for projects requiring state stormwater permit coverage.

Campbell County does not publish a consolidated residential fence code. Standard residential fence review is therefore structured through the County’s fence-specific guidance, building-permit exemption materials, zoning and plat context, right-of-way and property-line materials, floodplain and land-disturbance rules where applicable, pool-related permit review, and private restrictions.

PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS

• Building Permit: Campbell County lists fences as projects exempt from a building permit. The Campbell County Fences page states that the current building code does not require a building permit for most typical fences.

• Atypical Fences: For an atypical fence, Campbell County directs the property owner to contact the Zoning Administrator and/or the Building Official. The referenced published materials do not define a separate height threshold or permit category for an atypical fence.

• General Zoning Permit Context: Campbell County publishes zoning-permit guidance for most instances where something is added to a property, including primary structures, additions, and accessory structures such as garages, sheds, carports, and swimming pools. The referenced published materials do not explicitly state that standard residential fences require a zoning permit.

• Zoning Compliance: Building permit requirements are separate from zoning, setback, subdivision, floodplain, historic, Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area, Resource Protection Area, wetland, shoreline, right-of-way, easement, drainage, and plat requirements. Confirm any applicable zoning conditions, setbacks, and plat requirements with the Office of Zoning, Planning and Subdivisions before construction.

• Site Plan Context: Campbell County requires site plans for specified developments, including business and industrial facilities, institutional facilities, certain multi-dwelling residential developments, manufactured home parks, conditional zoning, rezoning applications, and special use permit applications. Where a site plan is required, the minimum site-plan contents include fences, easements, water courses, roads or street names, road rights-of-way, utilities, and drainage districts. The referenced published materials do not state that a standard single-family residential fence by itself requires a site plan.

• Land Disturbance / Stormwater: Campbell County requires permit coverage for regulated land-disturbing activity. For single-family residential construction, Campbell County identifies a land-disturbance permit trigger for projects disturbing more than 10,000 square feet and for projects in a Common Plan of Development, defined in the permit checklist as any parcel of land created on or after July 1, 2004. Chapter 8 lists installation of fence and sign posts among activities not required to comply with the stormwater-management ordinance unless federal law requires; broader clearing, grading, driveways, drain fields, or other land disturbance remains governed by the land-disturbance materials.

• Floodplain Context: Campbell County Code Chapter 11 applies to flood-prone lands and defines development to include buildings or other structures, utilities, filling, grading, excavating, mining, dredging, or drilling operations. The referenced published materials do not publish a separate fence-specific floodplain permit trigger, but fence-related development in a mapped floodplain must comply with Chapter 11.

• Swimming Pool Context: Campbell County lists swimming pools more than 24 inches deep as building-permit projects. The Swimming Pools Permit Checklist requires zoning verification and building-permit details for swimming pool permits. A fence used as a swimming-pool barrier is reviewed in the pool-barrier and building-code context, not as an ordinary yard fence.

FENCE PLACEMENT RULES

• County Fence Placement Guidance: Campbell County states that it does not regulate where ordinary fences are placed, what they look like, or which way they face because fences normally encroach into setback areas.

• Property Lines: The ordinance does not state a setback requirement for standard residential fences from property lines; however, fences must be located entirely on the owner’s property and must not encroach into rights-of-way or easements.

• Property-Line Caution: Campbell County suggests installing a fence a measurable distance on the owner’s side of the property line and states that placing it exactly on the property line, or on the neighbor’s side, is not recommended.

• Road Rights-of-Way: The Campbell County property-line handout states that a property line is not the edge of the road surface in most cases. Road rights-of-way can be 30 to 60 feet wide or wider and commonly include shoulders, drainage ditches, and utilities unless a plat or survey shows otherwise.

• Easements and Plats: Fence placement must account for recorded plats, survey information, public or private easements, utilities, drainage districts, roads, and road rights-of-way where those features affect the property.

• Chicken Enclosures: Outside agricultural districts, up to 10 chicken hens must be kept in the rear yard inside a fenced enclosure at least 10 feet from any property line, and the enclosure must include a coop. This is a chicken-enclosure rule, not an ordinary yard-fence setback.

• Floodplain / Land-Disturbance Placement: Fence work that is part of broader clearing, grading, fill, excavation, construction, or mapped floodplain development is governed by the applicable floodplain, stormwater, and land-disturbance materials for that site condition.

• Utility Safety: Virginia law requires notice to the notification center / Virginia 811 before excavation or demolition where the Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act applies. For fence projects that involve excavation, including digging, drilling, augering, or other movement of earth, the excavator must submit a locate request and must review the positive-response information before work begins unless an exemption applies. A Virginia locate request is generally valid for 15 working days, and re-marking may be required before that period ends or when markings become illegible. Virginia law includes an important exemption for hand digging performed by an owner or occupant of a property. This statewide utility-notice framework is separate from local fence permitting, zoning, development approval, easement limits, right-of-way approvals, floodplain review, Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area review, Resource Protection Area review, stormwater review, wetland or shoreline approvals, HOA restrictions, and other applicable requirements.

FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES

• Maximum Height: The code does not specify a maximum height for standard residential fences.

• Building-Permit Exemption Is Not a Height Limit: Campbell County lists fences as exempt from a building permit and states that most typical fences do not require a building permit, but that exemption is not a local maximum height, zoning approval, pool-barrier approval, floodplain approval, stormwater approval, right-of-way approval, easement permission, or private-restriction approval.

• Visibility / Clear Vision: The code does not specify a fence-specific sight-triangle, clear-vision, driveway, alley, gate-swing, or intersection-visibility height standard for standard residential fences.

• Use-Specific Fencing: Height standards in the zoning ordinance for tower security fencing, solar energy facility security fencing, and manufactured-home park conditions are not stated as ordinary single-family residential fence height rules.

MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS

• Standard Residential Materials: The code does not specify permitted or prohibited materials for standard residential fences.

• Appearance / Orientation: Campbell County states that it is up to the property owner what an ordinary fence looks like and which way it faces. The code does not specify a finished-side, opacity, or orientation requirement for standard residential fences.

• Barbed Wire / Electric / Security Fencing: The code does not publish a separate residential prohibited-materials list for standard fences. Security-fencing rules for towers and solar energy facilities are use-specific and are not stated as ordinary residential fence material standards.

• Chicken Enclosures: Outside agricultural districts, the chicken rule requires hens to be inside a fenced enclosure that includes a coop; it does not state a separate fence material or height standard for that enclosure.

• Pool Barriers: The Swimming Pools Permit Checklist does not publish a separate fence-material, height, latch, or gate standard in the referenced published materials; fences used as pool barriers are handled separately from ordinary yard fences.

PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS

HOA covenants, subdivision restrictions, deed restrictions, private easements, architectural-review covenants, agricultural agreements, private boundary agreements, recorded agreements, conservation easements, and other private restrictions operate independently from Campbell County fence review and may be more restrictive than county rules.

Campbell County’s fence-specific guidance leaves ordinary fence appearance and orientation to the property owner, but that local administrative posture does not remove private covenants, recorded plat restrictions, easements, or HOA requirements.

REVIEW AND ENFORCEMENT CONTEXT

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

• Building-Permit Review: Campbell County lists fences as exempt from a building permit and states that most typical fences do not require a building permit. Atypical fences are directed to the Zoning Administrator and/or the Building Official.

• Zoning and Placement Review: Campbell County states that it does not regulate ordinary fence placement, appearance, or orientation, but fences still must stay on the owner’s property and outside rights-of-way and easements.

• Property-Line and Road Context: Review can involve property-line uncertainty, road rights-of-way, shoulders, drainage ditches, utilities, plats, surveys, and easements where those features affect fence placement.

• Site-Plan Context: Where a site plan is otherwise required for a covered development, the site-plan materials require fences, easements, water courses, roads, road rights-of-way, utilities, and drainage districts to be identified.

• Land-Disturbance / Stormwater Review: Review can involve regulated land-disturbing activity, the more than 10,000 square feet residential construction trigger, a Common Plan of Development, SWPPP materials, and broader clearing, grading, driveways, drain fields, or land disturbance. Chapter 8 lists installation of fence and sign posts as an activity not required to comply with the stormwater-management ordinance unless federal law requires.

• Floodplain Review: Mapped floodplain development is reviewed under Chapter 11 where fence-related work involves development, grading, excavation, drilling, fill, or other activity regulated in the floodplain districts.

• Pool-Related Review: Swimming pools more than 24 inches deep require building permits, and a fence used as a swimming-pool barrier is reviewed in the pool and building-code context rather than as an ordinary yard fence.

• Chicken-Enclosure Review: Outside agricultural districts, the chicken enclosure rule requires hens to be in the rear yard, inside a fenced enclosure, at least 10 feet from any property line, with a coop included.

• Utility Safety: Fence excavation can trigger Virginia 811 / notification-center requirements where the Virginia Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act applies.

USING THIS INFORMATION

This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within Campbell County, based on the referenced published materials as of July 2026.

In addition to local fence rules, certain Virginia laws apply statewide. See Statewide fence laws in Virginia.

It is not legal advice and does not replace official ordinances, permits, zoning approvals, zoning certifications, development approvals, surveys, or professional guidance. Rules and interpretations may change, and application may vary based on zoning district, site conditions, easements, rights-of-way, floodplain status, stormwater requirements, Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area status, Resource Protection Area status, wetland or shoreline status, historic district status, design-review status, rural or agricultural context, livestock or division-fence context, pool-barrier use, utility safety requirements, and private restrictions such as HOA covenants, deed restrictions, private agreements, or conservation easements. Before purchasing materials or beginning construction, confirm current requirements and any site-specific limitations with Campbell County Community Development and any applicable private agreements. If this page conflicts with official ordinances, published guidance, or direction from Campbell County staff, the official sources control. For legal advice or legal interpretation, consult a licensed attorney.