Richland, WA Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Richland Municipal Code Section 23.38.070(G) bans barbed wire and electrically charged fences throughout the city as the default rule, then carves out only two exceptions. First, both barbed wire and electric fencing may be used on land zoned for agricultural uses for the specific purpose of confining livestock, matching Richland's AG district allowance for keeping farm animals. Second, barbed wire alone, not electric fencing, may be used in the general business C-3 district, in business and industrial zones around outdoor storage areas, and in any zone for security around public facilities such as utility yards or public works sites.

Electric fences have no exception outside the agricultural-livestock case, so an electrified fence around a residential yard, a home business or a commercial storage lot in Richland is unlawful regardless of the zone. Where barbed wire is permitted under either exception, the fence still has to comply with all zoning setbacks that apply to the underlying property, and the code requires it be located at or behind the property line rather than encroaching into a right-of-way or adjoining lot. Development Services, which administers Title 23 zoning, and code enforcement staff who respond to complaints, both draw on this same section when a resident reports razor or barbed wire on a residential fence or an electrified perimeter around a yard.

The rule sits inside the broader fence chapter alongside the height and setback limits of subsections A through F, so a barbed wire fence must also meet those height and placement standards in addition to the material restriction itself.