Howell, NJ Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Howell Township's fence material language is in Chapter 188 (Land Use), Article XXV, Nonresidential Community Design Standards, at § 188-225, Streetscape design principles. Subsection B ties every wall and fence to the principal building on the same lot: style, materials and colors must be architecturally compatible. Front yards can use brick walls with a stone or cast stone cap, wood or synthetic picket fences, and decorative metal or cast-iron fences. Razor wire fencing is prohibited. Chain link fencing is permissible with the appropriate landscaping as determined and approved by the appropriate board. Gates in fences are built of the fence material, walls are built of brick to match the principal building, and gates in walls can be steel or wrought iron.

Subsections C and D add placement and height. Front yard fences sit on private property, set back a minimum of three feet from the paved sidewalk and further if they conflict with underground utilities, and cannot exceed four feet in height above ground level or be more than 50% solid. Side and rear yards can be defined by a fence, trellis or lattice, vegetative hedge, or a combination, with a height not exceeding six feet above ground level, suitable to provide privacy and screen views of neighboring uses, trash receptacles/containers or recycling bins.

Barbed wire is addressed in a different place. Section 188-98, Telecommunications facilities, requires security fencing around towers of not less than six feet in height and states that in no instance shall barbed or concertina wire be permitted.

Fences on residential lots fall under § 188-12, Fences and walls. They cannot sit in a required sight triangle and cannot exceed four feet unless set back from the street line the minimum setback required for the zone. Beyond that setback the cap is six feet in a residential zone and eight feet in a business zone, and fences and walls in the required setback area need open space for light and air of at least 50% of the fence area.