Santee, CA Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Section 13.10.050(G) opens by declaring that "the following provisions regarding fences, walls and hedges shall apply to all residential districts," and item 5 draws a hard line: barbed wire, concertina wire, or similar security devices are banned outright, with no height, setback, or permit path that legalizes them on a residential lot in Santee. The prohibition sits inside a broader fence code that otherwise allows real height and material flexibility: front-yard fences up to three and a half feet solid, or up to six feet if at least 90% of the top two and a half feet is open and non-view-obscuring under subsection (G)(1), and rear or side fences up to six feet under subsection (G)(2), with noise walls allowed up to eight feet. Recreation-court fencing gets its own allowance up to 12 feet under subsection (G)(4). None of those height allowances rescue a barbed-wire or concertina-wire fence: the material itself is off-limits, not just its height or placement on the lot.

The fence chapter also requires a triangular visibility clearance area at driveways, alleys, and street corners under subsection (G)(3), where nothing over three and a half feet may be planted or erected, and it requires walls next to a mobility element street to use decorative, anti-graffiti-ready materials under subsection (G)(6), tying fence design back into Santee's Chapter 7.16 graffiti control program.