Sampson County, NC Fence Regulations: Height Limits (2026)

Sampson County's Zoning Ordinance regulates fences through targeted rules rather than one blanket front/side/rear height table. Corner-lot visibility is the most widely applicable: § 2-27-15 forbids any fence, planting, structure or other obstruction between 2 feet and 10 feet above the street center line inside a triangular sight area, measured from the right-of-way lines out to a base line 25 feet from the corner, or inside any sight triangle shown on a recorded plat or required by NCDOT. That rule effectively limits how a corner-lot fence can be built near the intersection even though it isn't phrased as a simple height cap.

Where a required buffer separates a commercial, institutional or industrial use from a residential or residential agricultural use, § 2-27-17.B allows an opaque fence between 6 and 8 feet tall, set at least one foot off the property line, as one of three qualifying buffer options alongside a 20-foot natural wooded strip or an 8-foot-wide double row of evergreen plantings; the fence must fully block visibility through it and may be masonry, wood plank, or similar opaque material. Solar farms face a heavier standard under § 2-27-17.C, a 10-foot opaque fence paired with 6-foot evergreen plantings around the entire perimeter.

Section 2-28-12 addresses electric fencing specifically: any electric fence on a residential property must be shielded by a privacy fence if it sits within 3 feet of the property line, though the code exempts bona fide farms from that requirement, reflecting the county's working-agricultural character.