Don’t fence me in, or out, or who pays for the fence

As newcomers seeking a change of pace relocate into rural Idaho, conflicts can arise out of a misunderstanding of existing norms. Quite often, some of those norms have state or county law on their side, and yet, settling differences between neighbors can often lead to litigation.

 The phrase “good fences make good neighbors,” from Robert Frost’s poem Mending Wall comes to mind.

 During the Dec. 23 regular weekly Washington County commissioners meeting, District 3 Commissioner Gordon Wilkerson questioned county prosecutor Delton Walker whether or not the county can add an ordinance to put some local teeth in the state’s code on boundary fences between properties.

 He said a constituent in the upper country had run into an issue with a neighbor whose fence wasn’t holding up to keep the constituent’s cows in. Wilkerson said the two landowners hadn’t arrived at an agreement on the fence’s repair.

 “What legal grounds does the owner of the livestock have?” Wilkerson asked. “Can he then call up a fencing company and have them fence the neighbor’s property and have the neighbor billed?”

 Among the details found in Idaho State Title 35 lawful fences are described, qualifying materials, heights, and spacing of posts, boards or wires, along with sections addressing fence care, and even disagreements between owners.

 “My question is, can we draft an ordinance in our county that if the opposing landowner is not maintaining his fence to state statute, you can have that repaired to a state statute and have him billed fully for his responsibility,” Wilkerson asked.

 Walker responded that he didn’t think so.

 “Just simply because it feels like the state has regulated that area,” he answered. “You could do it and see if somebody challenges you. But, if they (the state) fully occupy an area and regulates that area… I guess you can provide additional protection for your citizens, but you have to be careful not to get crossways with that.” 

 Commission Chairman Lyndon Haines said this is an issue that comes with the recent growth in the county. He suggested there might be a way to address fences in property purchase closing documents.

 “The weed board discovered that currently in Washington County, if someone buys a 20-acre piece of bare ground, in the realtors contract you sign, it actually talks about weeds,” Haines said. “But if you buy a 20-acre piece with a house on it, it doesn’t talk about weeds. So the weed board was talking about trying to get the real estate agencies to add that in no matter what, that way, when you sign on the bottom line when you buy your house, and the county shows up with a weed truck, the buyer can’t go “what are you doing?” 

 “Maybe they could go down the same road with fences,” he said, “making it where at least the person has acknowledged it when they bought that property in the county.”

 Walker said that might help.

 “I think the statute is pretty clear, though” he said.” What we’re trying to do is regulate something that might be settled in litigation it sounds like… (if) one person is not following the statute. So what we would be doing is regulating something that they should settle in litigation.”

 Walker suggested the board have Planning and Zoning Administrator Bonnie Brent-Dowell check with other counties to see if some have any regulations on fences.

 “If they haven’t, they’ve probably taken the same approach, the state statute covers the fencing regulations,” Walker said.

 A second part to Idaho’s statutes on fencing is found in Title 25, which describes livestock areas outside of cities or villages as being either open range or established herd districts. If the area is open range, it is the responsibility of property owners to fence ranging livestock “out.” In herd districts, on the other hand, livestock owners are responsible to fence their animals in.