Fence laws in Elizabeth, New Jersey
What the Elizabeth municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Elizabeth sets no rule of its own, the New Jersey rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Elizabeth, New Jersey, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Elizabeth states no setback for a fence from a lot line, and the three foot clearance in the same subsection is written for patios, decks, parking and loading areas rather than for fences, and the answer turns on how many street frontages the lot has. The figure is 0 feet, for setback from a lot line.
- How tall
- For a residential use in any Elizabeth district a fence or wall may not exceed six feet in a side or rear yard, and in a front yard it is held to three feet and has to be of a decorative material or obscured by plant material, and the answer turns on the use of the lot and the yard. The figure is 3 feet, for fence in a residential front yard.
- Permits
- Elizabeth runs two permits and a fence needs the zoning one by name, and the answer turns on which permit is in question.
- Pool barriers
- Elizabeth sets no statewide pool barrier rule. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Spite fences
- Elizabeth has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Elizabeth leaves the measuring rule to a municipal zoning ordinance adopted under the Municipal Land Use Law.
- Corner lots
- New Jersey protects the driver view in its highways title, and only for signs that need a state permit. It reaches signs permitted by the Roadside Sign Control and Outdoor Advertising Act along state highways only.
- Retaining walls
- New Jersey writes its own rule for a wall that holds back earth instead of leaving it to the national code. The figure is 4 feet, for retaining wall height at or above which a construction permit is required.
- Materials
- Elizabeth writes the flattest wire ban in this set, and the answer turns on the yard and the district. The figure is 3 feet, for height of solid portions in a commercial front yard.
- Livestock
- New Jersey sets one height for a lawful fence and one job for it to do. The figure is 50 inches, for minimum height of a lawful fence, which the statute states as four feet and two inches.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Elizabeth?
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Elizabeth answers this, but the answer changes depending on how many street frontages the lot has.
Elizabeth states no setback for a fence from a lot line, and the three foot clearance in the same subsection is written for patios, decks, parking and loading areas rather than for fences. What the code does write for a fence is a shape rule on a lot with more than one frontage. A six foot fence may project into one front yard only if the projection is made of two angled segments, running in a straight line from a point on the front yard setback line to a second point inside the front yard and back to a third point on the setback line. That gives a corner lot a usable back yard without letting a tall fence run the full length of the side street. The published text reads pint in place of point twice in that sentence, which is a typographical slip rather than a different rule.
Where a lot has more than one frontage, a height of six (6) feet may project into one front yard, provided that the projection consists of only two (2) angled segments such that the fence extends in a straight line from one pint on the front yard setback line to a second point within the front yard and returns to a third pint on the setback line.
The answer turns on how many street frontages the lot has.
- an ordinary lot line
- No setback stated for a fence. 0 ft
- a corner or double frontage lot
- Six feet may cut into one front yard.
- the shape of that projection
- Two angled segments, out and back.
- a patio or deck
- Three feet off the line, unlike a fence. 3 ft
Also on fences on the property line in Elizabeth
- set in state lawNew Jersey only splits a fence on the line when at least one of the two neighbors is pasturing or keeping animals. Each neighbor who uses the land that way builds and keeps up a fair share. A neighbor who leaves the land empty and open, or who keeps no animals, owes nothing toward it. That is narrower than most states, where both sides share the cost whatever the land is used for. N.J.S.A. 4:20-7New Jersey · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Elizabeth?
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Elizabeth answers this, but the answer changes depending on the use of the lot and the yard.
For a residential use in any Elizabeth district a fence or wall may not exceed six feet in a side or rear yard, and in a front yard it is held to three feet and has to be of a decorative material or obscured by plant material. A commercial district gets eight feet behind the front yard, and in a front yard there the fence again has to be decorative or planted, with the visually solid portions limited to three feet. An industrial district gets twelve feet, which is the tallest limit in this state so far. The pattern is consistent across the three: the number changes with the district and the front yard always comes with a look requirement rather than only a height. Outdoor storage screening in the MRC-1 zone may reach ten feet.
For residential uses in any district, fences or walls may not exceed six (6) feet in height in any side or rear yard. In front yards, fences or walls shall be of a decorative material or obscured by plant material and may not exceed three (3) feet in height.
Section 17.36.110(C)(5)(c) to (e)
The answer turns on the use of the lot and the yard.
- a house front yard
- Three feet, and decorative. 3 ft
- a house side or rear yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a commercial district
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- an industrial district
- Twelve feet. 12 ft
Also on fence height in Elizabeth
- no rule, documents checkedNew Jersey does not limit how tall a fence at a house can be. State law gives that job to the towns, which may set the size, height and shape of fences between neighboring lots. Height is a town rule in every New Jersey town. R.S. 40:48-1(29)New Jersey · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Elizabeth?
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Elizabeth answers this, but the answer changes depending on which permit is in question.
Elizabeth runs two permits and a fence needs the zoning one by name. A zoning permit has to be obtained before the erection, reconstruction, alteration, conversion or installation of any structure, confirming that the work complies with the zoning ordinance, and the list of what needs one includes accessory uses at a one or two-family house such as driveways, patios, sidewalks, porches, fences, decks, sheds, pools and garages. The same list names fences again for alterations to multi-family and nonresidential structures. Separately, no person may erect, alter or convert any structure until a building permit has been issued by the building inspector, and applications go in duplicate with two sets of plans. The zoning officer may revoke a zoning permit where the actual construction does not match the plans and conditions it was issued on.
A zoning permit shall be obtained prior to the commencement of any use or the erection, reconstruction, alteration, conversion or installation of any structure or building, confirming that such uses, structures, or building complies with the city zoning ordinance.
Section 17.08.065, with Section 17.08.010
The answer turns on which permit is in question.
- a fence at a house
- A zoning permit, fences named in the list.
- any structure
- A building permit from the inspector.
- the application
- In duplicate, with two sets of plans.
- building off the plans
- The permit can be revoked.
Also on permits in Elizabeth
- set in state lawNew Jersey runs one construction code for the whole state. The Commissioner of Community Affairs adopts it after a public hearing, and it covers building work everywhere in the state. The list of work that needs a permit, and the list of work that does not, sit inside that code at N.J.A.C. 5:23 and not in the statute. N.J.S.A. 52:27D-123New Jersey · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Elizabeth
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Elizabeth law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
New Jersey does have a pool barrier rule. It sits in the state construction code at N.J.A.C. 5:23-3.21, which takes in the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code and then changes parts of it. The Department of Community Affairs publishes that rule only as a PDF and its text could not be read, so no height is claimed here. The numbers live in the national code rather than in New Jersey text.
This one is New Jersey law, not Elizabeth law. All New Jersey findings
Documents read before writing that:
- N.J.A.C. 5:23-3.21New Jersey Department of Community Affairs
- N.J.S.A. 52:27D-123New Jersey Legislature
Spite fence laws in Elizabeth
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Elizabeth law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
New Jersey has no statewide spite fence law. A spite fence is one built to bother a neighbor rather than to do a job. Title 4, Chapter 20 covers fences on the line and says nothing about spite. State law instead lets each town set the size and height of fences between neighbors, so the answer is a town rule.
This one is New Jersey law, not Elizabeth law. All New Jersey findings
Documents read before writing that:
- N.J.S.A. 4:20-7New Jersey Legislature
- R.S. 40:48-1(29)New Jersey Legislature
How fence height is measured in Elizabeth
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Elizabeth does not set this. It leaves it to a municipal zoning ordinance adopted under the Municipal Land Use Law.
New Jersey states a fence number and never says where to measure it from. The state construction code says no permit is needed for a fence six feet or less in height, and it never says six feet above what. The Municipal Land Use Law fills the gap by handing the bulk, height, number of stories, direction and size of buildings and other structures to a town zoning rule. The town decides where the measuring starts.
This one is New Jersey law, not Elizabeth law. All New Jersey findings
Regulate the bulk, height, number of stories, orientation, and size of buildings and the other structures; the percentage of lot or development area that may be occupied by structures; lot sizes and dimensions
The code hands this to a municipal zoning ordinance adopted under the Municipal Land Use Law, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on how height is measured in Elizabeth
- no rule, documents checkedThe yard dimensions section states three feet, six feet, eight feet, ten feet and twelve feet for fences and never says what any of them is measured from. No grade is named, a berm is not mentioned, a fence on top of a retaining wall is not mentioned, and no allowance is made for a post or a cap. The same subsection shows the code fixing a reference when it cares about one, holding an accessory patio or deck so that its floor rises no higher than the ground floor elevation and capping any cover over it at a vertical height of ten feet at any point. Where the fence rules do measure something precisely it is horizontal rather than vertical: the two angled segments of a corner lot projection are described by the points they run between on the front yard setback line. Section 17.36.110(C)(5)Elizabeth · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Elizabeth
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New Jersey answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
New Jersey protects the driver view in its highways title, and only for signs that need a state permit. Section 27:5-9 sets the conditions on that permit, and one of them is that the sign may not block a clear view of the road ahead or of official signs and signals. Nothing there reaches a fence at a house. A town gets the power to draw a corner sight triangle, the clear space kept open where two streets meet, from the Municipal Land Use Law.
This one is New Jersey law, not Elizabeth law. All New Jersey findings
A sign may not interfere or be likely to interfere with the ability of the operator of a motor vehicle to have a clear and unobstructed view of the highway ahead or of official signs, signals or traffic control devices.
Also on corner visibility in Elizabeth
- no rule, documents checkedElizabeth draws no sight triangle that reaches a fence. The design standards chapter deals with corners by shaping the road rather than the lot, requiring street intersections to be as near a right angle as possible and never less than sixty degrees, and requiring the block corners at an intersection to be rounded at the curbline on a radius of at least twenty feet. The only clear sight triangles named anywhere in the title belong to the billboard rules, where a billboard has to stand outside triangles to be established in accordance with master plan principles and standards, and even there no distance is given. What limits a fence at an Elizabeth corner instead is the height rule, which holds a residential front yard fence to three feet and only lets six feet into one front yard as two angled segments. Section 17.32.040Elizabeth · Zoning code
Retaining wall rules in Elizabeth
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New Jersey answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
New Jersey writes its own rule for a wall that holds back earth instead of leaving it to the national code. A construction permit is needed to build, enlarge, change, rebuild or tear down such a wall four feet or taller, and also a shorter one that hurts a foundation. The four feet counts every wall on the same slope added together, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall. Walls the town already reviewed in subdivision and site plan work, and walls a county engineer or the state transportation department reviews, are left out.
This one is New Jersey law, not Elizabeth law. All New Jersey findings
No person shall construct, enlarge, alter, reconstruct, or demolish a retaining wall or series of retaining walls having a total height four feet or greater, or a retaining wall less than four feet having a negative impact on a foundation, without first obtaining a construction permit.
4 ftretaining wall height at or above which a construction permit is required
Fence materials allowed in Elizabeth
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Elizabeth answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard and the district.
Elizabeth writes the flattest wire ban in this set. No barbed or razor wire fences are permitted anywhere within the city boundaries, with no industrial exception, no angled arm allowance and no height above which it becomes acceptable. The residential rule says the same thing a second time, barring barbed and razor wire as part of a fence or wall or as fencing material in any residential zone. Beyond the wire the code regulates appearance rather than product. A front yard fence in a residential district has to be of a decorative material or obscured by plant material, and in a commercial district the same applies with the visually solid portions capped at three feet. Screening for outdoor storage has to be a fence or wall adequate to conceal the facility and its contents from adjacent property.
No barbed or razor wire fences shall be permitted anywhere within the city boundaries.
The answer turns on the yard and the district.
- barbed or razor wire
- Banned everywhere in the city.
- a residential front yard
- Decorative material or planting.
- a commercial front yard
- Solid parts capped at three feet. 3 ft
- outdoor storage
- A fence that conceals the contents.
Also on materials in Elizabeth
- set in state lawNew Jersey calls an electric security fence a perimeter fence intrusion protection system, and it sets nine things such a fence has to do. It ties into an alarm somebody watches. It cannot go on land a town has set aside for homes only. It runs off a storage battery of no more than 12 volts and meets the international standard for the charger. It stands behind a fence or wall with no current in it at least five feet tall, stops at ten feet, carries warning signs no more than 40 feet apart, and is put in by somebody trained or certified to install it. N.J.S.A. 45:5A-54New Jersey · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Elizabeth
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New Jersey answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
New Jersey sets one height for a lawful fence and one job for it to do. It stands four feet and two inches from the surface of the ground, and it has to be close, strong and tight enough that horses and cattle cannot get through or under. Where the fence sits on the line and either neighbor works the land, it also has to be tight enough to stop sheep. Low meadow along a stream or river that floods is left out of that last part.
This one is New Jersey law, not Elizabeth law. All New Jersey findings
if four feet and two inches high measuring from the level or surface of the earth, and close, strong and sufficient to prevent horses and cattle from going through or under it.
50 inminimum height of a lawful fence, which the statute states as four feet and two inches
Also on agricultural fencing in Elizabeth
- set in state lawNew Jersey ties the damage claim to the fence. When horses, cattle or sheep get over, push through or break down a fence the chapter calls lawful, the owner of the animals pays the hurt neighbor for all of it. Two neutral people from the neighborhood set the amount, one picked by each side, and each has to own the same sort of property that was damaged. If the animal owner will not pick, the hurt neighbor picks both. If the two cannot agree, they bring in a third. N.J.S.A. 4:20-22New Jersey · Statute
- set in state lawNew Jersey bans barbed wire between neighbors unless the neighbor agrees to it. A fence on the line made of barbed wire, or of wire with barbs or points strung on it, is not a lawful fence without the next door owner's consent, and the statute forbids it outright without that consent. Most farm states treat barbed wire as the normal build. New Jersey does the opposite. N.J.S.A. 4:20-3New Jersey · Statute
Documents behind this page
14 documents, of which 3 were published by Elizabeth itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- New Jersey LegislatureNew Jersey Statutes (Unannotated), Title 4, Section 4:20-7, Duty to make and maintain portion of partition fence
- City of ElizabethElizabeth Code of Ordinances, Title 17, Chapter 17.36, Zoning Districts Generally, Section 17.36.110, Yard dimensions
- New Jersey LegislatureAssembly Bill A697 (2022 session), reproducing R.S.40:48-1 paragraph 29, Fences
- New Jersey LegislatureNew Jersey Statutes (Unannotated), Title 52, Section 52:27D-123, State Uniform Construction Code; adoption
- City of ElizabethElizabeth Code of Ordinances, Title 17, Chapter 17.08, Building Permits and Certificates of Occupancy
- New Jersey Department of Community AffairsN.J.A.C. 5:23-3, Uniform Construction Code subcodes (PDF, could not be read)
- New Jersey Business Action Center, Department of StateMunicipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.
- New Jersey LegislatureNew Jersey Statutes, Title 27, Highways, Chapter 5, Roadside Sign Control and Outdoor Advertising
- City of ElizabethElizabeth Code of Ordinances, Title 17, Chapter 17.32, Design Standards
- New Jersey Department of Community AffairsNew Jersey Administrative Code, Title 5, Chapter 23, Uniform Construction Code, Subchapter 2, Administration and Enforcement
- New Jersey LegislatureP.L.2021, Chapter 2, An Act concerning perimeter fence intrusion protection systems and other alarm systems
- New Jersey LegislatureNew Jersey Statutes (Unannotated), Title 4, Agriculture and Domestic Animals, Section 4:20-1, Sufficiency of fences in general
- New Jersey LegislatureNew Jersey Statutes (Unannotated), Title 4, Agriculture and Domestic Animals, Section 4:20-22, Damages by animals breaking through lawful fences
- New Jersey LegislatureNew Jersey Statutes (Unannotated), Title 4, Agriculture and Domestic Animals, Section 4:20-3, Partition fences of barbed wire
What this page does not cover
A city ordinance is not the only rule that reaches a fence. The zoning district a parcel sits in can change the height allowed on it, and so can an overlay district, a recorded easement, a fire hazard severity zone or a coastal zone. A homeowner association can be stricter than the city and nothing in the municipal code will say so. None of those appear here.
The rules above are the ones Elizabeth publishes, plus the New Jersey rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in New Jersey has the state layer in full.
This is general information drawn from published government documents. It is not legal advice, ordinances are amended, and the date beside each finding is the date the document was read. How findings are made · What the terms mean