Whitfield County, GA Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Section 5A-4-3(c) of the Unified Zoning Ordinance's Urban PUD Design Standards (Appendix A, Article 5A) bans four specific fencing materials outright on new house-scaled residential lots inside a U-PUD zoning district: barbed wire, plastic slats, plastic vinyl screening fabric, and chain link fences. Unlike the district's numeric height limits, which allow modification through Administrative Relief, the material ban is not framed as a numeric standard, so it is not eligible for the 10 percent variance the Unified Board of Zoning Appeals can otherwise grant under Section 5A-5 for other design requirements in the same article.

The same subsection also restricts placement: Section 5A-4-3(d) bars any front-yard fence from extending past the front facade of the primary structure, reinforcing the pedestrian-scaled street presentation the U-PUD design standards are built around. Together with the height caps in Section 5A-4-3(a) and (b), these rules mean a U-PUD homeowner needs a fence that is wood, masonry, wrought iron, vinyl privacy panel, or another material not on the banned list, kept within the 72-inch side and rear or 48-inch front-yard height figures, and set no farther forward than the front of the house itself.

Because these standards apply only to U-PUD-zoned development under Section 5A-2, standard residential zoning districts such as R-1 through R-7 are not bound by this particular material ban.