New Brunswick, NJ Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Section 17.03.070.B, titled Materials and Placement, opens with a general safety test: no fence shall be constructed of any material or in a manner that is dangerous to persons. It then names barbed wire, razor wire and concertina wire, and prohibits any similar material types. The section does not name electric fencing, so the test for anything else is whether the material or manner is dangerous to persons. Subsection B.2 requires the side of any fence facing adjoining properties or a public right-of-way to be finished, so the good side faces out.

Subsection B.3 requires all fences, shrubs and trees to be installed within the property lines of the lot. The definition in § 17.02.020 describes a fence as an artificially constructed barrier of wood, masonry, stone, wire, metal, or any other manufactured material or combination of materials, for the enclosure of yard areas. Table 1 in the same section adds a material rule for the R-1 through R-5C rows: no chain link fences in the front yard. Subsection E allows a residential property next to an industrial use to request an eight foot fence with no open design requirements by zoning permit application.

Section 17.07.060 also names fences, walls and berms as screening for exterior storage areas and service yards. The zoning officer enforces the ordinance, and a fence in violation is subject to the penalties in § 17.08.040.