Amherst, NY Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Section 7-5-2 governs fence materials in nonresidential districts: with the exception of fences used to screen loading docks, dumpsters, refuse containers, outdoor storage and mechanical equipment as required elsewhere in the Zoning Ordinance, no fence or wall in a nonresidential district may exceed eight feet in height or carry barbed wire or a similar style of security topping. The same barbed-wire ban recurs in Amherst's telecommunications-siting standards: § 6-11 fencing installed around small cell/personal wireless facilities may not use barbed wire or similar fence styles, and solar energy compound fencing under § 6-10 carries an identical restriction plus a requirement that fencing materials have a camouflage nature to blend with the surroundings.

The code's general residential fence standard in § 7-5-1, by contrast, sets only a height limit (six feet, or eight feet abutting a nonresidential district) without listing prohibited materials, so residential fence material choice is governed by the height and setback rules rather than a separate materials ban. Anyone screening a dumpster or loading dock enclosure in a nonresidential district under § 7-2-4(D) still needs a fence, wall, berm or planting that is opaque, which functionally rules out chain-link or other see-through fencing for that specific screening purpose even though it is not barbed wire.