Fence or deck costs in Oxnard

Near the beach in Oxnard, a fence plan starts with your coastal sub-zone. The city's coastal zoning chapter divides the shoreline into sub-zones, and the beachfront ones carry fence rules of their own.

In the R-BF beachfront residential sub-zone, the homes between the Pacific and the first public road that runs along it, the code allows no fences, walls or hedges as lot enclosures at all. In the R-B-1 single-family beach sub-zone, lots along a public walkway may have a solid front fence. It can't top six feet, and it has to keep a permanent way through to any public access next to it. On lots that face a 26-foot public way, side-line fences inside the required nine-foot parking strip stop at 42 inches and must be at least half open.

Elsewhere in the coastal zone, a fence or wall six feet or under is exempt from a coastal development permit, with two big exceptions. The exemption doesn't apply inside an appealable area, or where the fence would block public access to the beach or the view of it.

Even an exempt fence isn't instant. The city mails written notice to residents within 100 feet, and the exemption only takes effect after it's reported to the commission at its next regular meeting. Build that wait into your schedule.