Southampton, NY Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

The Town of Southampton's Department of Land Management enforces two separate material bans that apply to fences on unincorporated land outside the incorporated villages. Town Code § 287-10, in the Streets and Sidewalks chapter, prohibits barbed-wire fencing along the property line of any public highway anywhere in the Town; violations of that article carry a fine of up to $1,000 or 15 days' imprisonment, or both, under § 287-11. Separately, the Zoning Code's fence provision, § 330-109D, added by Local Law No. 17-1996, strictly prohibits any fence that delivers an electric shock, charge or current to a person or animal on contact, in every zoning district, unless the Planning Board specifically authorizes it.

The Planning Board waives its own approval only where the premises keeps livestock, including horses, per § 330-109D(1). Even a Planning-Board-authorized or livestock-exempt electrical fence still needs a permit from the Building Inspector before installation, and the property owner must post conspicuous shock warnings so the safety of residents is not put at risk, per § 330-109D(2) and (3). The one carve-out that needs neither approval nor a permit is an underground electrical dog fence, § 330-109D(4), because it delivers no exposed shock hazard to people passing by.

A property owner who ignores § 330-109D and puts up an above-ground electric fence without Planning Board sign-off is in violation of the Zoning Code, and under the general zoning penalty, § 330-186B, a first offense carries a fine of up to $1,000 or up to six months in jail, rising to $500 to $1,500 for a second offense within five years and $1,500 to $2,500 for a third, with each week of continued violation counted as a separate offense.