Greenville, NC Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Section 9-4-268(M)(3) of the Greenville City Code sets the material palette for residential fences and walls: brick, stone, stucco, wrought iron, wood, or a material similar in appearance and durability. Chain link or woven wire is the one exception carved into that list, and it is only allowed in the side or rear yard, behind the front building line, so a resident cannot run chain link along the street-facing yard. Beyond materials, the same subsection bars barbed wire and concertina wire from residential fencing altogether, unless the property is part of a bona-fide agricultural operation, keeping that harsher material limited to farms and similar working land rather than ordinary residential lots.

Non-residential districts are treated differently under subsection (M)(4): barbed wire or concertina wire may be added to the top of a commercial or industrial fence, and the code specifies that this addition does not count toward the eight-foot front-yard or ten-foot side/rear-yard height ceiling, so a business can add a strand of wire above a ten-foot fence without exceeding the limit. All fences, whatever the material, must still be built in a workmanlike manner under subsection (M)(1), and none of these material rules waive the separate requirement in subsection (M)(6) for a zoning compliance letter, and building permit where applicable, before the fence goes up. A fence using a disallowed material in a residential yard, such as barbed wire strung along a backyard property line outside an agricultural operation, is treated the same as any other fence built without the required approval.