Onslow County, NC Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

1 of the Onslow County Zoning Ordinance is the only provision in the code that names electric or barbed wire fencing outright. It applies to fences in residential zoning districts across the unincorporated county and exempts bona fide farms, which remain free to run barbed wire under the county's agricultural carve-out. Everywhere else a residential fence is used, two design conditions apply. First, any fence located within three feet of a property line must be identified with signs or flags, a visibility measure meant to warn pedestrians, delivery workers and neighboring children before they reach the wire.

Second, whether the fence is electrified or barbed, it must be located on the interior side of the lot rather than facing outward toward a neighboring parcel or the street, so the hazard side reads toward the property owner rather than toward the public. The section sets no minimum setback, height or wire gauge, and it does not ban electric or barbed wire outright in any residential district; it regulates placement and warning signage instead. A subdivision plat or homeowners' association could still impose a tighter private rule, but the county code itself reaches only these two requirements.

8 (Remedies, Penalties, and Enforcement Action), which lets the Zoning Administrator issue a notice of violation, a Stop Work Order, or a Civil Penalty Citation, with the possibility of criminal referral for a continued violation.