Southfield, MI Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Southfield's fence ordinance, City Code § 5.37-1, defines a fence broadly (posts, boards, wire, vinyl, or gates) and sets separate rules for residential (R-A, R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4, R-E) and nonresidential lots. For residential yards, § 5.37-1(C)(1)(g) lists the approved palette: wood, wrought iron, tubular aluminum, vinyl-coated chain link, aluminum, quality vinyl, and other approved quality materials, with wood required to be pressure-treated, painted, or stained. Subsection (C)(1)(i) then draws the line on what is off-limits: stockade fencing, uncoated chain link, vinyl or aluminum slats woven into chain-link or cyclone fencing, and any fence carrying barbed wire, razor wire, or electric current.

The only relief valve is for farms inside the single-family residential districts, and even then the Zoning Board of Appeals must approve the fencing before it goes up. Nonresidential and multifamily lots are treated differently under § 5.37-1(C)(2): chain link there must be vinyl coated, and barbed wire is allowed only in industrially zoned districts, and only when it sits more than seven feet above grade with any spike or projection turned back onto the fence owner's own property. The ordinance also requires the finished side of any fence to face outward toward adjacent residential lots and public rights-of-way, and fences must be built on their own posts and rails rather than nailed to trees or other structures.

The Building Department reviews residential fence applications, and dog runs, electronic pet fencing under Ordinance No. 1576, and pool enclosures each have their own cross-referenced standards layered on top of the material rules.