Salt Lake County, UT Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

1(W) of the foothills and canyons overlay zone design standards governs every fence built in the mountain and canyon foothills of unincorporated Salt Lake County, the area covering Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons, Emigration Canyon, and the benches above cities such as Sandy, Cottonwood Heights, Draper and Holladay. The rule is written to keep fencing consistent with the natural setting: fences may be erected only to screen service and outdoor areas or to serve as a safety barrier, and screening fences are limited to six approved materials, natural or stained wood, brick, rock, stone, wrought iron, or pre-cast fences or walls textured and colored to imitate those materials.

Six material categories are flatly prohibited: solid board, concrete or concrete block, chain link, plywood, painted materials, and vinyl. The chain link ban carries one narrow carve-out: chain link is allowed around telecommunications facilities, public utility compounds and similar security-sensitive facilities, but only with planning commission approval for conditional uses or zoning administrator approval for permitted uses, and the fence must have a powder or dull coating rather than bare galvanized wire. Vinyl is barred except for rail fences used to contain horses. Beyond materials, fences along property lines or arterial roads and highways are capped at forty-two inches unless a taller fence is needed for security, safety, public health, wildlife management, or protection of private property or livestock, and solid barrier fencing on a front property line facing an arterial road is discouraged even where otherwise allowed. 010.