Santa Fe, NM Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

5 of the Santa Fe City Code, part of Chapter XXIII's general street regulations, targets two categories of fencing. First, no one may put up a barbed-wire fence enclosing a lot or parcel that fronts on any city street unless the public works department signs off in advance; the department will approve barbed wire only when it is used in conjunction with security fencing, and even then the wire must sit at least six feet above the ground so it cannot snag a pedestrian or animal at eye or hand level.

Second, the section separately bans any fence design, barbed wire or not, that is dangerous to life and limb because of projecting prongs, barbs or tines, whether the hazard is to people or to animals. 5), it applies citywide regardless of zoning district or whether a lot sits inside a historic overlay. Anyone who installs a barbed-wire fence without public works' permission is treated under subsection B as instituting a nuisance. If the owner does not abate that nuisance after receiving reasonable notice from the city, they become subject to the general nuisance-enforcement provisions of Section 1-4 of the code, which authorizes the city to compel removal.

The rule traces back to Code 1953 Section 24-8 and has carried forward unchanged through the 1973 and 1981 recompilations into the current SFCC 1987 numbering.