Ames, IA Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Sec. 29.408(2)(d) of the Ames Zoning Ordinance flatly bans barbed wire, razor wire, electric fences, and similar fence types across the districts covered by the general fence standards. Those standards, set out in Sec. 29.408(2)(b), apply broadly to walls, fences, and screens of all types, whether open, solid, wood, metal, wire, masonry, earthen, or another material, so the prohibition is not limited to a narrow definition of fencing. Per Sec. 29.408(2)(a), the fence standards, including the prohibited-materials rule, apply to every zoning district except General Industrial (GI), Research and Innovation (RI), Intensive Industrial (II), and Planned Industrial (PI), meaning barbed wire, razor wire, and electric fencing remain barred in every residential, commercial, and institutional district in the city.

The rule was most recently amended by Ordinance No. 4245 on January 26, 2016, following earlier amendments under Ordinance No. 3796 in 2004 and Ordinance No. 4052 in 2010, and it sits directly beside the height and visibility-triangle requirements in the same Sec. 29.408(2), so a fence built with a banned material is independently noncompliant even if it otherwise meets the height limit. Property owners who install any of these prohibited materials, including electrified wire meant to deter animals or intruders, are subject to the same zoning enforcement process the city uses for any nonconforming fence.