West New York, NJ Fence Regulations: Height Limits (2026)

The fence rule in the Town of West New York sits in Note 16 to the Schedule of District Regulations, which the Board of Commissioners adopted as part of the Schedule through § 414-15 of the Town Code. The note was added on 7-21-1999 by Ord. No. 11/99 and amended on 4-21-2016 by Ord. No. 4/16. It opens by saying fences and walls may be erected anywhere on a lot, then narrows that with the conditions that follow.

The first condition is the front yard ban. No fence may be erected in the front yard of a residential, commercial or mixed-use building. That covers one- and two-family homes, apartment buildings and Bergenline Avenue storefront properties alike. Because West New York has many corner lots, the code says which yard counts as the front: on a corner lot, the front yard is the yard that faces the primary entrance to the residence or to the commercial or mixed-use building, not simply the yard on the street with the address.

In the side and rear yards of residential, commercial and mixed-use properties, a fence may be built up to a maximum height of six feet. Note 16 prints no separate front, side and rear height table and no sight-triangle dimension, so the two printed rules are the front yard ban and the six foot ceiling for side and rear yards.

Subsection (2) protects landscaping. Unless another provision of this chapter or any other chapter of the Town specifically prohibits it, nothing in the fence rule bars hedges, trees or other plantings anywhere on the lot, so a planted screen is the option for a front yard.

Any fence in the allowed yards needs a permit first. A zoning permit covers six feet or less and a building permit is required over six feet; see the fence permits page for the application contents. The Construction Official administers and enforces the zoning chapter under § 414-40.