Driveway Gates in Lancaster, CA

Start with the setback, because the steel follows it. A lot of drives open straight off the street, which puts the gate line inside the front yard setback. Inside city limits, Lancaster Municipal Code 17.08.130.D caps a fence there at 4 feet. A gate hung in that line gets planned to the same number as the fence it closes. If you picture a taller leaf than the run beside it, ask the city planning counter how they read it before any tube is cut.

Corner lots add a wrinkle. Section 17.08.130.D puts the corner lot side yard setback in the same 4 foot group as the front yard setback, and allows 6 feet within the side or rear setback. Which strip of a corner lot the city treats as that side yard setback is a question for the planning counter, so settle it before an RV gate or a second drive gets drawn there.

Your mailing address does not settle which code you are under. County ground reaches right up to city streets around Lancaster, and on that ground LA County Code 22.110.070 allows 3.5 feet in a required front yard, half a foot less than the city. The parcel record answers it, and the planning counter will confirm an address by phone. We find out before we draw the gate.

Height over the limit is possible, with paperwork. Section 17.08.130.E lets a director's review raise the city limits by as much as 25 percent. That means a submittal and a wait. Decide at the measure, not after the frame is welded, since tube cut to the wrong height has nowhere to go.

Afternoon wind across the valley is what sizes the frame and the posts. A solid leaf catches every gust and hands it to the hinge post. A picket leaf lets most of the air through. On a wide opening that gap in load turns into a heavier post and a deeper hole. Our habit is to set a gate post at least 36 inches into concrete, deeper under a solid or wide leaf. That figure is our own shop practice, not something a code sets.

Tell us at the measure if a motor could come later. The frame, the hinges and the posts get sized for the extra work an operator adds, and a sleeve goes through the post so a wiring path exists later. The operator, its electronics and its wiring belong to another trade. Our side is the steel, square and ready for one.

The shop runs weekdays 8 to 5 and is closed on weekends, but someone is on call if a weekday measure is hard to fit. A new gate leaves Division Street finished and gets hung on site. A smaller older gate that needs squaring comes back to the shop table.

This work runs out of our shop on Division Street in Lancaster. Read the full driveway gates details, or call (818) 220-8704 and we will come out.