Pismo Beach, CA Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Section 17.24.060(F) of the 1998 Zoning Code is the material rule for fences in the City of Pismo Beach. It says the use of barbed wire, electrified fence, or razor wire fence in conjunction with any fence, wall, or hedge, or by itself within any zoning district, is prohibited. The ban is not limited to residential lots: the words within any zoning district reach commercial, visitor serving and every other district the code sets up.

There are two exits. One is approval by the director. The other is a requirement imposed by any law or regulation of the city, State, or any agency thereof, so a fence that a city, State or State agency rule requires is not caught by the ban. A property owner who wants barbed wire or razor wire for a particular site has to ask the director; nothing in the section sets a fee, a form or a standard for that approval.

The section also names the materials the code treats as ordinary fencing. Subsection B(1) lists wood, wrought iron, chain link and similar fences and concrete, concrete block, brick and other masonry walls. Those lists sit in the permit exemption rather than the material rule, but they show what the city expects a fence to be made of.

This page quotes the 1998 Zoning Code only. The Pismo Beach Municipal Code prints a second zoning code under Title 17, the 1983 Zoning Ordinance, and that text does not use the terms barbed wire, razor wire or electrified fence, so no 1983 number or rule is blended into this page.

Material is only one part of the section. Subsection C limits hedges within a front yard setback to a height of forty-two inches, and subsection G says fences or walls may be required between different land uses.

Pismo Beach uses two adopted zoning codes. The city's Zoning and Land Use page states that properties inside the Coastal Zone are regulated by the 1983 Zoning Code, and properties outside the Coastal Zone are regulated by the 1998 Zoning Code.