Woodbury, MN Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Section 6-145, adopted in 2007, states the prohibition in a single sentence: barbed wire and electric fencing are prohibited in platted areas. That flat ban applies wherever land has been platted, which covers essentially all of Woodbury's residential and most developed commercial neighborhoods, and it works alongside the height article's own security-arm allowance: section 6-140(b) permits barbed wire only as a security arm atop an eight-foot fence in business and industrial districts, and only with a special use permit, so even that narrow allowance cannot be used on a platted residential lot.

Section 6-147 layers on a separate materials standard for commercial, office, business park, and city center zoning districts, requiring that fence materials in those districts be high-quality vinyl-coated chain link of at least nine-gauge thickness with a required top rail support, brick, stone, wrought iron, decorative metal, or another material specifically approved by the city, which forecloses lower-grade uncoated chain link or improvised fencing in those commercial settings. Section 6-142 adds a separate, use-neutral restriction that applies regardless of material: no fence may be constructed in a manner that blocks the view of vehicular traffic or restricts snow plowing of streets, which functions as Woodbury's corner-visibility and sightline safeguard.

Section 6-138 requires every fence, whatever its material, to be properly maintained for both appearance and safety on an ongoing basis, not just at installation.