Boca Raton, FL Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Sec. 28-1356(f) governs barbed wire specifically as an add-on to a security fence or wall: single or double 3-strand barbed wire outriggers or extension arms installed at roughly a 45-degree angle at the top of the fence or wall. The section restricts where those outriggers may be installed to three settings. First, at a zoning district boundary line where a business, commercial, or industrial district directly abuts a residential district with no street, alley, park, or other public open space separating them, and only if the residential property owner either applies for a permit for the fence or agrees in writing to its installation.

Second, anywhere within a business, commercial, or industrial district on its own. Third, around electrical substations and similar hazardous facilities. Outside those three settings, barbed wire outriggers are not authorized, meaning an ordinary single-family or multifamily residential lot cannot add barbed wire to its yard fence. The section also gives an installation benefit: where outriggers are lawfully installed, the added height they contribute is not counted toward the fence's measured height under the district height limits set out in subsection (a). This carve-out sits within the same Sec. 28-1356 that was rewritten by Ord. No. 5636, Secs. 5 and 8, adopted December 13, 2022, replacing the prior fence ordinance dating to 1956.