Paramount, CA Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

The rule sits in Paramount Municipal Code § 17.08.080(F), the site standards for the R-1 single-family zone, and it applies to a wall, fence or hedge in any R zone. Paragraph 5 is the material ban: barbed wire, concertina wire, razor wire and cut glass cannot be used as a fence or as part of a fence, wall or hedge. Because the text reaches part of a fence, wall or hedge, wire strung along the top of a wall is covered just as a fence built of it would be.

The same subsection sets the height limits that go with the material rule. A wall, fence or hedge not exceeding 42 inches can stand in a required front yard. Behind the required front yard line, up to six feet is allowed, subject to approval by the Director of Planning and to the cross-reference to § 17.08.060(D). Where a retaining wall holds fill, the wall's height counts toward the permitted fence height, a protective fence of not more than 42 inches can sit on top of it, and any portion of a fence above six feet must be an open work fence. The code defines that as a fence whose solid portions are evenly distributed and make up more than 50% of the face. Where a retaining wall protects a cut below natural grade on the lot line, it can be topped by a wall, fence or hedge of the same height otherwise allowed at that spot, measured from the ground on the high side.

Corner lots carry a separate sight rule in § 17.08.060(E): inside the vision triangle, no tree, fence, shrub or other obstruction can rise higher than 42 inches above established grade. Fence plans in Paramount go to the Planning Department and its Director, who approve placement behind the front yard.