Livermore, CA Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Section 8.14.030(E) of the Livermore Municipal Code, part of the land-use nuisance list, singles out fencing materials in clause 5: on property in residential zones, the "use of barbed wire, concertina wire, razor-cut wire, fencing topped with spikes, nails, broken glass or other such similar fencing material, and any fencing of screening material that violates LDC 4.05.040" is declared a public nuisance per se. The clause does two things at once: it bans the enumerated dangerous materials outright on residential property, and it cross-references the Livermore Development Code's fencing standards in LDC § 4.05.040 so that any fence violating those separate height, location, or material rules is also automatically a nuisance under this chapter, even though the underlying development code standard is not itself part of the nuisance chapter.

Because this is a nuisance-per-se declaration rather than a stand-alone criminal ban, a homeowner cited for a barbed-wire or spiked fence goes through the same compliance-order and notice-and-order-to-abate process as any other Chapter 8.14 nuisance: LMC § 8.14.050 makes maintaining the prohibited fencing unlawful, with each day it remains up a separate offense, and Chapter 8.15 governs the notice, administrative-hearing, and cost-recovery steps if the fence is not removed.