Lafayette, IN Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Lafayette Municipal Code § 11.05.020 makes it unlawful to erect, build or maintain a barbed wire fence anywhere in the City of Lafayette, Indiana unless the fence stands eight feet or taller. Even fences that clear that height limit cannot use more than three strands of barbed wire, and all of it must sit within eighteen inches of the top of the fence rather than spread down toward eye or hand level. The section also caps the inward angle: the barbed strands can lean toward the owner's own property, but the angle cannot exceed seventy-five degrees from horizontal, a detail aimed at keeping the wire from projecting toward a neighbor's yard or the public way.

Before anyone builds, erects or maintains such a fence, they must first get the approval of the city's Board of Public Works and Safety, submitted on a written petition, so the height and configuration limits and the approval step apply together. The chapter does not separately address electric fencing; § 11.05.020 is the only material-specific fence restriction in Title 11, sitting in the same chapter as the swimming pool barrier-fence rule at § 11.05.010. A general penalty for the chapter is set at § 11.05.990: a fine of not more than $1,000, with each day of an unlawful barbed wire fence treated as a new offense. The rule traces back to the city's 1971 Code § 19-3 and Ordinance 10-4-65, showing the restriction predates the current recodification by decades.