Steel Gates & Fencing in Palmdale, CA

Those bigger west-side and east-side lots change the job, longer fence runs, wider gate openings, and more exposure to the same desert wind that runs through the rest of the Antelope Valley.

Palmdale is its own city, and that is the first thing that matters for a fence here. Lancaster's ordinance stops at the Lancaster line and the county's rules cover the unincorporated ground around both. Palmdale Municipal Code 17.86.040 runs a job inside Palmdale, and its numbers match neither of them.

On a home lot the front setback is where the limit is tightest. Inside the required front setback a sight-obscuring wall, fence or hedge stops at 3 feet, and open view fencing may be allowed up to 5 feet. On a residential lot of 20,000 square feet or more, a 6 foot open view fence may stand in the required front setback. In the street side, interior side and rear setbacks the limit is 6 feet. One more foot, to 7 feet, is allowed only where the part above 6 feet is open view fencing. A new fence or wall over 6 feet needs a building permit, in every zone.

The material rule decides the product before height does. The code accepts engineered wood, masonry, wrought iron, durable vinyl, or other similar durable materials as approved by the city. It prohibits fencing made of natural wood, plywood, solid metal, tires, garage doors and other salvageable materials. On a Palmdale home lot a solid steel face fence is barred, at the front and behind it, so we do not build one here. What fits is open steel in the wrought iron style: pickets, bar and tube welded into one frame. Where an owner wants a solid lower section, masonry is a named material, and plain precision block is not allowed. Block has to be finished with stucco or given varied texture or color, such as split-faced block, and capped with a decorative cap. Confirm the design with Palmdale Planning before anyone orders steel.

Chain link is prohibited in residential and mixed-use zones unless it is temporary fencing, such as a fence around a construction project. In nonresidential zones it may not be visible from public streets or from adjacent residential or mixed-use zones. Barbed wire, razor wire, electrified fence and other hazardous fencing is prohibited, with exceptions the code lists. One of them: in the LI, HI, AI and MRE zones, barbed wire may be allowed atop fencing at least 8 feet tall where the city finds it necessary for security.

Commercial and office lots allow 3 feet sight-obscuring or 5 feet open view in the required front setback. The other required setbacks allow 6 feet, and 7 feet where the part above 6 feet is open view. Where open view fencing is required for security and can be seen from a public right-of-way, it has to be decorative, such as tubular steel or wrought iron. Industrial zones use the same front setback figures and allow 8 feet in the other required setbacks. On industrial land a fence or wall up to 12 feet may be approved with a minor site plan review, based on a finding of no adverse visual or aesthetic impact on adjacent properties and public rights-of-way.

The physical job changes across the city. The middle of Palmdale is newer tract housing, where the work is a driveway gate sized to a standard drive and a side yard run to match. The east and west edges turn rural quickly: larger parcels, longer runs, wider openings, and the same desert wind that runs the rest of the valley.

Wind is what sizes the post. A solid face has no gaps, so the whole panel catches the gust and hands that load to the post and the footing under it. Because Palmdale bars solid metal fencing, the steel we build here is open, and an open panel lets most of the wind through. The gate is still the heavy part, since it hangs on hinges from one post. We set gate and fence posts at least 36 inches into concrete, deeper on a wide leaf. The 36 inches is this shop's own practice and no published standard sets it.

A driveway gate is where most Palmdale calls start, and the code has a rule for it. In the required front setback of a home lot, fencing across the driveway must be an automated rolling gate or open inward, away from the public right-of-way. Any main gate opens away from the right-of-way as well. On a lot of 20,000 square feet or more, a vehicle gate must be set back at least 20 feet from the property line, so a vehicle can park in front of it while the gate is closed. The gate gets measured on site, cut and welded at our Lancaster shop, and set on your drive. If you might want an operator, say so at the measure: the frame, the hinges and the posts get sized for that load, and we weld a sleeve through the post so the wiring has a path through the steel later.

The code also asks for upkeep. Fences and walls must be continuously maintained, with no sign of rust or disrepair. Bring the run length, the opening width, the height you want, and your lot size. That last one is not a formality in Palmdale, because 20,000 square feet is the line that changes what may stand in the front setback and where a vehicle gate sits. Photos showing the drive and the way the ground falls get us the rest of the way. Estimates are free and we come out to measure.

We build and install all of it from our Lancaster shop, so you get the same fabrication and the same crew as the yard down the road. Call (818) 220-8704 for a free estimate and we will come measure.