Eden Prairie, MN Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Section 9.76, Subdivision 3.A requires fences to be built of permanent materials designed for permanent fencing, with any wood used resistant to decay. Subdivision 3.B then lists prohibited materials by name: razor wire, barbed wire, chain link with slats, chicken wire, rope, cable, railroad ties, landscape timbers, utility poles, mesh of any type, tarps, electrically charged wire, and any other material not manufactured for permanent fencing. The prohibition carries five specific exceptions. Chicken wire is allowed where used to fence chickens permitted under Section 9.74, or to enclose a compost area meeting Section 9.01.

Barbed wire is allowed at an airport, data center, City-owned building or facility, public infrastructure, or a similar City Planner-approved use, but only if it sits at least 6½ feet above grade. Temporary electric fencing is allowed to contain animals used to treat invasive vegetation, with City Forester approval, and temporary construction fencing, including erosion-control hay bales, fabric and plastic, is allowed on a construction site but must come down once hazards are eliminated or the project is finished. Additional shoreland fence rules in Subdivision 4 layer on top of the material rules for lots near water: solid fences are barred in the shore impact zone and fences cannot sit in wetlands, wetland buffer areas, bluff impact zones or steep slopes, and any fence in the shore impact zone must go up without removing healthy native vegetation.