Brookhaven, GA Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Sec. 27-955 of the Brookhaven Code contains three short material and design rules, each with a different reach.

The chain link ban is the widest. Subsection (a) prohibits chain link fences in street yard areas of all lots. It is not limited to residential zoning, so commercial, mixed-use and residential lots are all covered, and a chain link fence is out wherever the fence would sit in the street yard. Chain link is not banned by this section elsewhere on the lot, which leaves side and rear placement to the other Division 3 rules, such as the height limits in Sec. 27-954.

Subsection (b) is a placement rule: the finished side of all fences shall face the abutting property and public right-of-way. The framing and posts go on the owner's side, and the smooth face goes toward the neighbor and the street.

Subsection (c) applies only to fences on R-zoned lots. They cannot include barbed wire, spikes, or similar devices, or an electric charge. Electrified fencing and sharp-topped fencing are therefore out on residential lots, and the words similar devices reach other point-and-blade hardware not named in the list.

Other Brookhaven sections speak to fence materials in specific settings. Sec. 27-928(b)(2) requires that decorative fences and masonry walls used to screen outdoor storage, service areas and mechanical equipment be brick, stone, wrought-iron or wood. Sec. 27-928(a)(2) requires dumpsters with a capacity of 1.5 cubic yards or more to be screened by a masonry wall at least six feet and no more than eight feet in height on three sides. Sec. 27-956 adds that when the zoning ordinance or a condition of zoning approval requires a wall or fence, it must be in place before the certificate of occupancy for the principal structure is issued.

All of it sits behind the permit in Sec. 27-953, which is issued only for fences that conform.