Gretna, LA Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Section 10-5 of the Gretna Code, titled "Maximum height and composition of fences on residential property," governs both the shape and the substance of a residential fence. Height comes first: back and side yard fences or walls top out at eight feet, and a side fence cannot extend past the front corners of the residence. A front yard fence or wall is limited to four feet and "shall in no case be of a height or composition so as to present a traffic safety hazard," for example by blocking the view from a driveway to the street.

Height is measured from six inches above the lowest point of natural grade next to the fence, from the top of a chain wall (capped at eight inches above grade), or from the top of a properly permitted retaining wall. Columns spaced at least five feet apart may reach nine feet, and gate arbors or trellises built over a permitted gate may reach nine feet six inches. The materials clause in subsection (5) is the operative rule for this page: residential fences must be built of wood, metal, masonry, or another rigid manmade composite that imitates wood, metal, or masonry, ruling out things like unsupported wire mesh, tarps, or improvised sheeting dressed up as a fence.

The whole section applies "except as otherwise provided in chapter 58," the city's separate Unified Development Code, so a zoning-district overlay could add stricter limits the building official would apply on top of this baseline. The building official enforces Chapter 10 under § 10-1 and may cite a property owner directly to Gretna's Mayor's Court.