West Des Moines, IA Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

City Code section 5-2-17 makes it unlawful for anyone to use barbed wire within any residential zone of West Des Moines without the City Council's consent, defining barbed wire broadly as any wire or strands of wire with sharp projections or sharp, oblique points. The only built-in exception is land of ten acres or more used for an agricultural purpose; everywhere else in a residential zone, a property owner needs the City Council itself to sign off before installing barbed wire. The Zoning Code's fence chapter, section 9-14-11.A.2.f, separately bars ordinary permanent fence materials and designs from causing pain or injury to humans or animals, carving out only barbed wire and electrical fences 'as provided elsewhere in this Code,' which points back to section 5-2-17 for barbed wire and to the district-specific rules in section 9-14-11.B.3 for electrified fencing.

Under those district rules, woven wire and electrified fencing in the Residential Estate district are allowed only at the property line in side and rear yards, and only to contain livestock or protect crops and plantings; the same limited livestock-and-crop exception applies in Agriculture/Open Space districts. In Industrial districts, barbed wire or another no-climb barrier can be approved through the site plan process, but only if it starts at least 6 feet above the ground. Standard single-family, multi-family and commercial fences elsewhere in the City may not use barbed wire or electrified wire at all.