Jefferson Parish, LA Fence Regulations: Height Limits (2026)

Sec. 5 of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance sets the parish-wide fence standard, and it explicitly defers to Sec. 40-665's clear vision area rule at corners: wherever the two sections conflict, the more restrictive one controls. The baseline height limit is eight feet for a fence running along a lot line, in a side yard, or around a rear yard when it connects to the main building; only the I-MU, I-L, I-H and AIM industrial and mixed-use districts get a taller ten-foot allowance. Measurement is not casual: the code measures from the lowest elevation of the soil next to the fence, and that measurement folds in the height of any chain, retaining, or low masonry wall built along the same line, so a homeowner cannot stack a masonry base under an eight-foot fence to exceed the cap.

Front yards are the strictest zone in the section: a front yard cannot be fenced or otherwise enclosed at all unless the property owner obtains a variance from the Board of Zoning Adjustments. Even with a variance, anything above three feet must meet the code's definition of an open fence, and any living, planted fence in that front area is capped at three feet regardless of the variance. The BZA looks at existing fences on both sides of the street within three hundred feet of the property before deciding, and the applicant has to document what is already there.

Corner and through lots get their own carve-outs for which street frontage counts as the front for these purposes, and sloping grades get an averaging allowance so a fence can step down a hill without artificially exceeding the height cap section by section.