Anaheim, CA Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

0501 flatly prohibits chain link fencing, with or without privacy slats, if it is visible from the public right-of-way, excluding alleys. 200, fencing around vacant lots, construction sites or abandoned structures, chain link up to ten feet for a tennis or paddleball court in a rear or side yard (not a corner lot's street side), fencing between single-family residences, and fencing between industrial properties. 030, separately sets a 'Material Limitations' standard for fences and walls within required front or street setbacks: Single-Family Residential, Multiple-Family Residential, Commercial, and Public and Special-Purpose zones are all restricted to 'No barbed wire or chain link,' while Industrial-zoned property may use barbed wire only where it is not visible to the public right-of-way (excluding alleys) or to non-industrial property.

The same table's Note 4 addresses electric fencing directly: 'Electric fences not visible to the public right-of-way shall be permitted in an Industrial Zone,' meaning electric fencing is off-limits in every residential and commercial zone and restricted even in Industrial zones to stretches hidden from the street. 110, Screening, Fences, Walls and Hedges, which also caps most residential fence height at three feet in a required front setback (six feet in the RH-1 and RH-2 hillside zones) and eight feet elsewhere on the lot, with any fence or wall over seven feet requiring a building permit.

A homeowner who wants decorative wrought iron instead of chain link along a front property line, or who inherited an old barbed-wire-topped fence from a rural-era lot, must bring the fence into compliance with Table 46-B before Code Enforcement or Planning and Building will sign off on a permit for related site work.