Charlottesville, VA Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Section 5-152 draws a hard line between residential and business-zoned property. On any lot or premises "wholly or partially enclosing" a residential parcel, a fence, wall or other barrier made of or including barbed ends, barbed wire, razor wire or similar materials is flatly prohibited; no permit or variance route is offered in the section. The only carve-out is for property zoned for commercial or industrial use, where such materials may be used, but only on top of a wall or fence and only if installed at six feet or more above ground level, keeping the sharp material out of pedestrian reach at street level.

The ordinance places enforcement with the city manager or their designee rather than the zoning or building official: on finding a violation, the city manager sends the property owner written notification, and the owner then has ten days from that notice to remove the noncompliant fence, wall or barrier. The section does not require a warning period before that first notice, and it treats continued noncompliance harshly. Each day the barbed-ends, barbed-wire or razor-wire fence remains after the ten-day removal window expires counts as a separate offense, so an owner who simply ignores the notice can rack up a new violation daily rather than facing one flat penalty.

Because the rule sits in Chapter 5 (Building Regulations; Property Maintenance) rather than the zoning ordinance, it applies citywide regardless of the parcel's Development Code district, and it works alongside, not instead of, any Development Code fence-height and screening standards for the same property.