Bessemer, AL Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

7 of the city's zoning ordinance, Appendix B, governs walls and fences citywide. Subsection (1) bars any fence, wall or planting that creates a hazard to pedestrian or vehicular traffic on a public right-of-way, and gives the Bessemer Police Department and the city engineer of public safety authority to determine whether a hazard exists. Subsection (2) is the operative limit for homeowners: no wall or fence in a required front yard may exceed three and one-half feet, except when the structure is a retaining wall, and any front-yard fence has to be a decorative fence approved by the building official before it goes up.

That approval step means a chain-link or plain wire fence facing the street can be turned down even if it meets the height cap, because the ordinance ties compliance to the fence's design as well as its height. 6(1) caps accessory structures in a rear yard at 30 percent of that yard's area and requires a five-foot setback from side and rear lot lines. 11, a commercial and industrial use, not a residential fence standard.