Davis, CA Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

14 (Supplemental to Downtown Zones), draws a sharp line between temporary and permanent fencing materials. Subsection (g) allows temporary fencing to secure approved special events, active construction sites, or vacant structures and land that cannot otherwise be secured; that fencing must consist of chain link or another director-approved material, must not exceed six feet in height, and must come down at the conclusion of the event or upon final inspection of the construction work. Temporary construction fencing cannot go up until a building or grading permit has issued, and fencing around vacant land needs its own administrative permit spelling out its terms.

Subsection (h), by contrast, addresses permanent screening and bars barbed wire, razor wire, and chain link screening outright, with no exception for any Downtown zoning district or use. Read together, the two subsections mean a chain link fence is lawful downtown only as a time-limited construction or event measure, never as a permanent property-line screen or wall topper. The article's purpose clause in subsection (a) explains the rationale: screening rules exist for the conservation and protection of property, safety and security, privacy, noise attenuation, and the visual quality of the neighborhood.

As with the retaining wall standard in the same section, this ban runs to development within the mapped Downtown Zones under the Downtown Davis Specific Plan; it is not stated as a citywide fencing-material rule.