The old city we lived in has 4 feet at front and 6 back. It was super common and totally fine.

Not exactly sure what you are describing-is it a six foot fence with one section in the middle of that being four feet or is it a six foot fence adjoining the four foot fence at right angles? If the latter, it will look fine with landscaping. If the former, you could add lattice atop the four foot section as a work around (here it is allowed, not sure about where you are) or build a free-standing trellis in front of that section as part of your landscaping. I would not want to lose any of my property to setback codes. Hope you find a solution.

Also what makes a privacy fence? Can it be metal and open so you see view beyond or lawn beyond? Chain link gets a bad reputation but we have one line in black running along our back by the creek so we can see it beyond and love it. If we had needed a fence out front I would have done some kind of modern metal one not chain link. Lots of folks around us do this in black and it looks great

As to the height “step down”…perhaps short section 1’ shorter ..dropping down to lower fencing 2’ shorter…like a stair-step….

Could work on corners or straight sections as needed…

Rather than a 2’ abrupt drop…

We have fencing along our back lot line of various heights because they belong to different neighbors. The trick is to plant trees. The tallest and ugliest fence is barely visible.

Looks fine

"standard (cedar) privacy fence"

Defining this may be a good start.

IMO a 4' fence is not a privacy fence so no 4' section but really you need to go to the HOA (God forbid) or to the town who apparently sets this as code. I have never heard of privacy fences being part of code only BS from HOAs .

A "privacy fence" is defined as a fence 4' or taller with no see-through gaps. The 2 examples posted by Olychick above are perfect representations.

And watch out for arbitrarily ignoring the 4' limitation as suggested above!! Fencing codes - very common with many municipalities - often lower the limits for fence heights for front or visible side yards, leaving the taller fence heights for backyards.

If you do not know about that which you are making comment (as with the above), perhaps it might be best not to comment at all!!

Just a note: If privacy is your main goal, six feet is better than four feet. Our neighbors have a four foot fence and it provides no real privacy at all other than for the dogs, who then just put their front paws on the top and look over.

City and privacy don’t go hand in hand, and it’s expensive to have to rip up projects that don’t meet code. So just do the best you can within the parameters of your location and call it a day.