Owning a plot does not let the holder build any fence they choose. Property rights leave construction rules, spatial planning, protection zones, street red lines and other requirements in place. Tatjana Smirnova says fence building no longer has to be cleared with the building authority under the Construction Law, and an explanatory note, a construction application in the BIS system, or other papers setting out the construction intention are no longer required. She adds that the work is still far from simple.
Before a new fence goes up, the exact boundaries of the plot should be established. An old fence, a ditch or the ground people have actually been using may not match the legal line, so a certified surveyor is worth bringing in when there is doubt. That step is especially important if the fence is planned on the boundary with a neighbour.
The land-use and building regulations in force at that location come next. A municipal spatial plan is only part of the picture: a local plan or a detailed plan can impose different conditions on the particular property. Those documents set conditions on where the fence stands, its maximum height, how much of it must be see-through, and other parameters.
The property line is not always the line where a fence is permitted. Next to a street, red lines, the road reserve strip and visibility requirements have to be taken into account. Elsewhere, ditches, drainage systems, protection zones or utility networks can restrict the site. Where a fence will separate neighbouring properties, the owner should find out whether the neighbour’s agreement is required. A written arrangement that states the location and the design is recommended, and a neighbour’s consent does not override municipal requirements. Once the place and the solution are known, the municipality or the building authority should be asked whether further approvals are needed in that case. Building can safely begin only after those questions are settled.
Each municipality’s spatial plan and its land-use and building regulations set the practical demands: maximum height, transparency, position relative to the plot boundary or the street red line, gate placement, and rules for fences between neighbours. The building authority of that municipality can explain them. Smirnova says Riga sometimes requires a longer approval path, both when a fence is planned in a building-protection area or on cultural-monument land and when it is planned in an area reserved for the long-term development of major roads. Other laws also apply, including civil rules on relations between co-owners, and planning requirements on height, placement, transparency and type. In Riga, those planning documents do not allow a fence above 1.2 metres.
In residential areas of Jurmala, a fence facing public outdoor space may in specified cases be at most 1.6 metres high and must be at least 30 percent transparent. It may be raised to 1.8 metres if transparency exceeds 90 percent. Between adjoining plots, the design and the position must be agreed with the neighbour. In residential-house areas of Kraslava municipality, a fence along streets and access roads must not exceed 1.5 metres. Between neighbouring properties it may reach 1.8 metres if the owners have agreed in writing. In Gulbene, a fence 1.2 metres high may be solid, while a fence 1.5 metres high must be 50 percent transparent.
Under point 13 of Article 1 of the Protection Zone Law, a red line is a boundary fixed in the municipal spatial plan. It separates land intended for streets, access roads or engineering communications from land that may be built on or used in another way, and it can cross private property. Land inside the red lines is not automatically taken from the owner, but its use is limited. Buildings, fences and other structures are generally not allowed there. Digging, installing communications, and planting or cutting trees and shrubs may have to be agreed with the municipality or the road owner. The exact limits are set in that municipality’s spatial plan and building regulations. The owner should expect that this part of the plot may later be used to widen a street or to build a pavement, a cycle path or utilities. Until that happens, the owner must tend the land and keep it in order. The specialist says red lines are set by binding municipal regulations, that construction is not allowed inside them, that planting is also restricted, and that the owner must still keep the area in order.