Fence Repair in Los Gatos: Hillside, Creek and Historic Rules

Permits and local rules

The Town documents a Los Gatos fence quote has to fit

Section 29.40.0315: height, materials and location
Beyond the heights, the section bans any fence with bare lengths of wire stretched between posts, electric fences, barbed or razor wire and anything with attached barbs, sharp points or razors, and transparent fences of glass or clear plastic. It keeps fences, walls and gates out of emergency egress easements. In the Landmark and Historic Preservation overlay, plastic fencing is prohibited and fences in a required front yard must be open view, defined as one where no more than 20 percent of the surface blocks the view through it.
Los Gatos Town Code, Section 29.40.0315 (opens in a new tab)
Exceptions go through Community Development
The Community Development Director can relax any of the fence regulations, but only on a fence exception application with a fee and written justification. The grounds are limited: a perimeter fence beside commercial property, up to 8 feet if most adjacent residential owners ask or agree; side and rear fences up to 8 feet on interior lots for a privacy or wildlife problem that landscaping cannot fix; utility, infrastructure and emergency access sites; a special security concern; or a lot whose size or shape makes strict enforcement an undue hardship.
Los Gatos Town Code, Sections 29.40.0320-29.40.0325 (opens in a new tab)
The hillside standards for fences and walls
The Town's hillside standards aim to keep 6-foot fences, walls and deer fencing to the places that need them, such as around landscaping, for security or for play areas. Fences and walls are to be minimized so landforms appear to flow together, solid materials need an exception granted under the Town Code, only open fencing goes within 20 feet of a street property line, and fences are not allowed where the decision-making body finds they would impede wildlife. Temporary construction fencing stays within the building envelope or is raised for small animals to pass.
Source: Town of Los Gatos, Hillside Development Standards (losgatosca.gov)
Handling pressure-treated posts once they come out
The state toxics department notes that households typically generate treated wood waste when a fence or deck is replaced. Under California's alternative management standards, that wood may not be burned, chipped, ground or mulched, its treated-wood markings stay on, and it is kept apart from other material. A household stores less than 1,000 pounds for no more than 30 days after removal and takes it to an authorized treated wood waste facility, calling first if that is a household hazardous waste center. Contractors who routinely generate it follow stricter storage, labeling and record rules.
Source: California Department of Toxic Substances Control (dtsc.ca.gov)

State license for this work: C-13 Fencing, C-29 Masonry. Look up a contractor's license on the CSLB website (cslb.ca.gov).

The work

Five fence calls and the Town Code line behind each

Replacing a fence built before September 2019
The current fence regulations took effect on September 6, 2019, and any fence, hedge, gate or wall standing then that breaks them is nonconforming and exempt. The Town Code lets an owner maintain such a fence or replace it in kind, and it names historic stone and river rock walls in the same sentence. A 7-foot solid board fence along an interior line can therefore be rebuilt as it was. A replacement that is taller or of a different kind is no longer in kind, so plan it against the current limits.
Side fences where a driveway meets the sidewalk
The 3-foot limit reaches well past the front yard. It also covers a side yard abutting a street, a driveway view area, which is a triangle with 10-foot sides measured along the driveway from the back of the sidewalk or street, and a traffic view area, meaning anything within 15 feet of a street and 200 feet of an intersection's right-of-way line. At a corner, the sight triangle has 30-foot sides measured from the intersecting property lines. Only the Town Engineer together with the Community Development Director can grant an exception.
Deer fencing around a hillside garden
On the Hillside Area Map, fences, walls, gates and hedges stop at 6 feet, with no lattice allowance on top, and the hillside guidelines measure that height from the highest side of the fence. Anything taller goes through a fence exception: on an interior lot, side and rear fences behind the front setback may reach 8 feet where a wildlife problem cannot practically be solved another way, and the code names documented grazing of gardens as an example. The guidelines limit 8-foot deer fencing to the area around ornamental landscaping.
Back fences near Los Gatos Creek and other streams
Section 29.40.0315 places no fence, wall or gate within 20 feet of a riparian corridor, which the code defines as habitat strongly influenced and delineated by a perennial or intermittent stream. On a lot that backs onto a creek or a seasonal channel, that holds a new fence line back from the bank. An older fence already inside those 20 feet in September 2019 is nonconforming and can be maintained where it stands; a new or relocated line starts from the 20-foot rule.
Driveway gates and entry arbors
A vehicular gate must sit at least 18 feet back from the edge of the street, measured along the centerline of the driveway, and further when the gate serves more than one house. On hillside lots, the guidelines add that entry gates with locking devices or electronic control switches need the approval of the Santa Clara County Fire Department. A pedestrian gateway or entry arbor may stand 8 feet tall, but only one per street frontage, open in design, no more than 6 feet wide and 4 feet deep.

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Free to request, and you agree the scope and price with the person you hire before work starts. In California, a job over $1,000 in labor and materials, or one that needs a building permit, must be done by a contractor licensed by the CSLB in the right class. Ask for the license number and check it at cslb.ca.gov.

A white wooden picket fence with an open gate in front of a white weatherboard house. Photo: Jorge Royan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The houses here

Picket fences near downtown, open rail fences up the hillsides

Los Gatos fences follow the two halves of the town. Near downtown, the Residential Design Guidelines describe traditional wood picket fences and arbor gateways as common in many neighborhoods, along with brick and stone retaining walls, and for historic properties they ask that existing picket and ornate wire fences, rock walls and front-yard concrete walls be repaired and kept. Uphill, the Hillside Development Standards and Guidelines, adopted in 2004, cover every lot zoned HR or RC and some R-1 lots with steep slopes or a hillside setting. They say chain link and solid fences around hillside properties disrupt the way wildlife moves and the open, rural look of the slopes, and they prefer wood rail fences and gates that follow the topography.

Part by part

Three parts of Los Gatos with their own fence limits

Almond Grove, Broadway, Fairview Plaza and University-Edelen
For historic properties in these residential districts, the design guidelines want replacement fences and walls to match what stands on the property or on other contributing properties on the block, and they prohibit new rock wall patterns or veneers not already found in the district. Mortar is to match in color, texture, joint width and profile. New front-setback fencing should be open, in wood, ornate wire or wrought iron, and the guidelines say chain link does not count as ornate wire.
HR and RC hillside zones
On lots covered by the Hillside Area Map, the code reads differently: 6 feet with no lattice allowance, open view fencing within 20 feet of a street property line, chain link or wire mesh only when coated green, brown or black and framed in wood, and no solid, double or buck-and-rail fences. On a parcel of an acre or more, perimeter fencing has to be wildlife-friendly, no more than 42 inches tall with at least 18 inches between the bottom rail and the ground.
Southern Los Gatos
The Town's wildfire page places southern Los Gatos in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone and lists avoiding wood fencing near structures among its home-hardening tips. In January 2020 the Town Council amended its fire protection chapter to require a 5-foot nonflammable zone around new structures in the wildland-urban interface, which matters wherever a fence will meet a new house.

Questions

Fence questions Los Gatos owners bring to the Planning counter

Our Los Gatos side fence is 7 feet of solid boards with no lattice. Can it be rebuilt the same way?

If it stood on September 6, 2019, yes. The Town Code treats a fence that existed then and breaks today's rules as nonconforming and exempt, and it may be maintained or replaced in kind. A brand-new fence off the hillside would be held to 6 feet with a foot of lattice on top, and on a hillside lot to 6 feet with no solid boards unless the Town grants an exception.

Can a new fence run right along the creek bank behind our Los Gatos house?

No. Section 29.40.0315 keeps any fence, wall or gate at least 20 feet from a riparian corridor, the habitat shaped by a perennial or intermittent stream. A fence already there in September 2019 is nonconforming and may be kept and replaced in kind, but a new line starts 20 feet back. Ask the Planning Division where the corridor begins on your lot before choosing a new line.

Does a fence in Los Gatos need a building permit?

Usually not. The Building Division's list of work exempt from building permits includes fences not over 7 feet, with a note to contact the Planning Division for added restrictions, and retaining walls up to 4 feet from the bottom of the footing that support no surcharge. The zoning limits still apply to an exempt fence, and anything taller than they allow needs a fence exception application.

Will we have to replace the wood fence attached to our house in southern Los Gatos?

Not yet. In October 2026 the Board of Forestry said its Zone 0 rules for the first 5 feet around buildings were still in final review at the Office of Administrative Law. Its September 2026 guidance describes them as barring new combustible fences within 5 feet, letting existing ones stay and be repaired with the same materials, and requiring a noncombustible gate or panel where a fence attaches to a home within five years of adoption.

How tall can a deer fence around our vegetable garden in the Los Gatos hills be?

Six feet without an exception, since the hillside rules cap fences there at 6 feet and the guidelines measure from the highest side. On an interior lot, a fence exception can allow 8 feet behind the front setback if you document a wildlife problem, such as deer grazing the garden, that other measures cannot practically address. The hillside guidelines limit 8-foot deer fencing to the area around ornamental landscaping.

Before you hire

Questions for a fence pro before a Los Gatos job starts

Is the lot on the Hillside Area Map? If so, ask for an open or rail design, since solid fencing there needs a Town exception.
If the old fence predates September 6, 2019, ask for an in-kind replacement quote that keeps its nonconforming status.
Near a creek, ask the pro to measure 20 feet from the riparian corridor before setting any new post.
Ask how pulled pressure-treated posts will be kept apart, stored no more than 30 days and taken to an authorized facility.
Look up their C-13 Fencing license at cslb.ca.gov, or C-29 Masonry for a stone or river rock wall.

Keep exploring

More on fence and gate work and Los Gatos

Where these facts come from

Checked against these public sources in October 2026. Rules and programs change: confirm permit requirements with the city before work starts, and a contractor's license on the CSLB website.

library.municode.com: code of ordinances
library.municode.com: code of ordinances
library.municode.com: code of ordinances
losgatosca.gov: Regulations for Fences Walls and Gates (losgatosca.gov)
losgatosca.gov: Work Exempt from Permits (losgatosca.gov)
losgatosca.gov: Hillside Development Standards and Guidelines Full (losgatosca.gov)
losgatosca.gov: 985 (losgatosca.gov)
losgatosca.gov: Wildfire Preparedness (losgatosca.gov)
losgatosca.gov: Local Responsibility Fire Hazard Severit (losgatosca.gov)
bof.fire.ca.gov: defensible space zones 0 1 and 2 (bof.fire.ca.gov)
34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-4159cdff6b0d-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net: zonezeroguidancedocseptember final 2026
dtsc.ca.gov: requirements for generators of treated wood waste tww fact sheet (dtsc.ca.gov)

Los Gatos fences, from Almond Grove pickets to wildlife-open hill lines

The Town documents a Los Gatos fence quote has to fit

Section 29.40.0315: height, materials and location

Exceptions go through Community Development

The hillside standards for fences and walls

Handling pressure-treated posts once they come out

Five fence calls and the Town Code line behind each

Replacing a fence built before September 2019

Side fences where a driveway meets the sidewalk

Deer fencing around a hillside garden

Back fences near Los Gatos Creek and other streams

Driveway gates and entry arbors

Get quotes for fence and gate work in Los Gatos

Picket fences near downtown, open rail fences up the hillsides

Three parts of Los Gatos with their own fence limits

Almond Grove, Broadway, Fairview Plaza and University-Edelen

HR and RC hillside zones

Southern Los Gatos

Fence questions Los Gatos owners bring to the Planning counter

Questions for a fence pro before a Los Gatos job starts

More on fence and gate work and Los Gatos

Fences and gates in other cities

Other trades in Los Gatos

Guides and smaller jobs

Where this page belongs

Where these facts come from

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