Brookhaven, NY Fence Regulations: Height Limits (2026)

Town Code § 85-190B(4), governing the A Residence District, sets a base four-foot fence height measured from the ground to the highest component of the fence. Where a fence sits on top of a retaining wall or an artificially created berm, that four feet is measured from the bottom of the wall or berm to the top of the fence, so a homeowner cannot buy extra height by building on a raised platform. The code allows a taller, six-foot fence only in the rear yard once a residence has been built: on an interior lot it can run along the rear lot line and side lot lines up to the front foundation line; on a corner lot it can run along the rear lot line and secondary front lot line but may not project into the required primary front yard; and on a through lot it can run along both side lot lines and the secondary front lot line (§ 85-190B(4)(a)).

Any fence erected along a street has its height measured from the center line of that street, and within a 30-foot radius of any intersecting-street corner the fence, hedge or dense shrubbery cannot exceed two and a half feet, unless it is open woven wire or another design that does not block sight lines (§ 85-190B(4)(b)). Agricultural lots get a carve-out: wire-strand or open woven wire fencing up to six feet is allowed on all lot lines of land principally used for agriculture, though it still drops to four feet within the 30-foot corner radius (§ 85-190B(4)(c)).

Barbed wire, ribbon wire and electrified fencing are prohibited outright in this district's base rule, and where allowed at all require Planning Division or Zoning Board of Appeals approval (§ 85-190B(4)(d)).