Revere, MA Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)
Key Facts
- Banned materials
- Barbed wire, pointed-end fencing
- Districts covered
- RA, RA1, RB, RB1, RC, RC1-3, NB, GB, CB
- Overlay duplicate
- WTODOD repeats the ban, 10-ft height cap
- Where it's written
- Note i to § 17.24.010 dimensional table
Summary
Revere's zoning table bans barbed wire and any fence with pointed ends across eleven of the city's districts, covering every residential zone (RA, RA1, RB, RB1, RC, RC1, RC2, RC3) plus the neighborhood business, general business and central business districts. The Wonderland overlay district repeats an identical ban.
No barbed wire or fences with pointed ends shall be allowed in the RA, RA1, RB, RB1, RC, RC1, RC2, RC3, NB, GB and CB districts.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4804778; v14 updated 2026-05-04).
Full Breakdown
010 flatly prohibits barbed wire or fences with pointed ends in the RA, RA1, RB, RB1, RC, RC1, RC2 and RC3 residential districts, the NB neighborhood business district, and the GB and CB general and central business districts, reaching nearly every zone in the city outside its industrial and planned-development areas. 040(H), which separately caps fence height in that overlay at ten feet, so a WTODOD property owner faces both the citywide material ban and the overlay's height limit. 16; property owners pulling a fence permit should check the Table of Dimensional Controls notes directly, or ask the building inspector, before installing anything with barbed strands or pointed pickets.
The code does not carve out any exception for security fencing around commercial or industrial yards within the listed districts; junkyards, for instance, are separately required elsewhere in the code to use a fence "of the type acceptable to the building inspector," which in practice rules out barbed wire in the districts this note covers.
Violations & Fines
Installing barbed wire or a pointed-picket fence in any of the eleven listed districts violates Revere Municipal Code § 17.24.010's dimensional-table notes and triggers the general zoning violation provision at Section 17.04.030, which automatically voids the property's certificate of occupancy for as long as the noncompliant fence remains. The building inspector can order the fencing removed or replaced, and the owner must reapply for a compliant certificate of occupancy afterward.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I put up a barbed wire fence around my Revere backyard?
Are commercial properties exempt from the barbed wire ban?
Does the Wonderland overlay district have its own fence rule?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Revere
Compare Revere to another location·View the Massachusetts fence regulations overview
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