Fence laws in Jersey City, New Jersey
What the Jersey City municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Jersey City sets no rule of its own, the New Jersey rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Jersey City, New Jersey, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Jersey City states no setback from a lot line and instead writes a containment rule and an access rule, and the answer turns on what the fence runs along and what the block already looks like. The figure is 0 feet, for setback from a property line.
- How tall
- Jersey City runs the same three heights in residential and commercial districts: four feet in a front yard, six feet in a side yard and eight feet in a rear yard, and the answer turns on the district, the yard and whether the lot is vacant. The figure is 4 feet, for fence in a front yard.
- Permits
- A fence in Jersey City goes down one of two roads, and the answer turns on whether the fence is part of a board application. The figure is 48 inches, for maximum height of a fence in the public right-of-way.
- Pool barriers
- Jersey City sets no statewide pool barrier rule. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Spite fences
- Jersey City has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Jersey City answers the measuring question and then does something almost no other code in this set does. The figure is 10 percent, for extra height allowed for irregular grade.
- Corner lots
- The fence section sends a corner lot to the sight triangle rules and adds one requirement of its own: the fencing has to have matching heights on both frontages, and the answer turns on how the two streets are classified in the Master Plan. The figure is 40 feet, for sight point distance on a local street.
- 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
- Jersey City bans solid, perforated, corrugated and flat sheet metal as fencing material, bans barbed and razor wire, and adds two prohibitions that read like they came from looking at real streets: single ply vinyl slats inserted diagonally as screening, and mechanical gates with overhead bars, and the answer turns on the yard, the district and whether the fence is in the right-of-way. The figure is 4 inches, for maximum spacing of bars in a right-of-way fence.
- 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 Jersey City?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Jersey City answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the fence runs along and what the block already looks like.
Jersey City states no setback from a lot line and instead writes a containment rule and an access rule. The finished side of every fence has to face out from the property, all the structural supporting members have to face the interior of the lot, and no part of an at-grade fence may extend beyond or across the property line. Then the part worth knowing: no fence may permanently preclude access to abutting properties for their maintenance, and gates or openings have to be placed where adjoining owners may need to reach the rear of their own lots. Very few codes in this set protect a neighbor right of access that way. Gates may not swing outward into the public right-of-way. On a front yard, where the predominant character of the block already has decorative fencing, a fence has to be provided and has to line up with the predominant fence line, with no encroachment beyond it.
A finished side of all fences shall face "out" from the property. All structural supporting members of the fence must face the interior portion of the lot and no portion of any at-grade fence may extend beyond or across the property line.
Section 345-67(B)(2) and (B)(7)
The answer turns on what the fence runs along and what the block already looks like.
- a lot line
- Nothing crosses it. 0 ft
- the finished side
- Faces the neighbor.
- a neighbor rear access
- A gate or opening has to be left.
- a block with front fences
- One is required, on the same line.
Also on fences on the property line in Jersey City
- 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 Jersey City?
Compare fence height across all 50 states
Jersey City answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, the yard and whether the lot is vacant.
Jersey City runs the same three heights in residential and commercial districts: four feet in a front yard, six feet in a side yard and eight feet in a rear yard. The front yard number rises to six feet where the yard holds a parking area of six spaces or more developed under the ordinance. An industrial district gets a single number for every yard, twelve feet, which is the tallest as of right limit in this set. A vacant lot is lifted out of all of it and may carry a six foot chain link fence along the front and side and eight feet along the rear, with every bit of that chain link to come down when the property is developed. On a corner lot the fence height has to match on both frontages, so an owner cannot run eight feet along one street and four along the other.
Front yard. Four feet except for parking areas of six spaces or more developed in accordance with the ordinance, then the maximum height shall be six feet;
The answer turns on the district, the yard and whether the lot is vacant.
- a front yard
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a side yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a rear yard
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- an industrial district
- Twelve feet in any yard. 12 ft
Also on fence height in Jersey City
- 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 Jersey City?
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Jersey City answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is part of a board application.
A fence in Jersey City goes down one of two roads. Where the fence is part of an application already in front of the Planning Board or the Zoning Board of Adjustment, that board reviews it and approves or denies it. Where the threshold for board review is not met, City Planning staff review the application and report their findings to the Office of the Construction Code Official, and a construction permit may then be issued. So the zoning check and the construction permit are separate steps taken in a fixed order, and the second one waits on the first. A fence proposed in the public right-of-way carries its own conditions on top: it has to be iron or steel, painted dark, no taller than forty-eight inches, it may not disturb an existing sidewalk, and the right-of-way inside it has to be landscaped.
If the fence application is part of any application in front of either Board, the reviewing Board shall review and approve or deny. If the threshold for Board review is not met, the City Planning staff shall review the application and report its findings to the Office of the Construction Code Official, whereupon a construction permit may be issued.
The answer turns on whether the fence is part of a board application.
- part of a board application
- The board decides.
- a fence on its own
- Planning staff, then a construction permit.
- a fence in the right-of-way
- Forty-eight inches and landscaping behind it. 48 in
- a vacant lot fence
- It comes down when the lot is developed.
Also on permits in Jersey City
- 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 Jersey City
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Jersey City 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 Jersey City 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 Jersey City
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
Jersey City 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 Jersey City 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 Jersey City
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Jersey City answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Jersey City answers the measuring question and then does something almost no other code in this set does. Height is measured from finished grade, and up to ten percent more than the maximum may be added to cope with a lot of irregular grade. Writing the allowance as a percentage rather than as a fixed number of inches means it scales: roughly five inches on a four foot front yard fence and about ten on an eight foot rear one. It is an allowance for the ground rather than for the fence, so it does not license a taller fence on level land. For a fence built in the public right-of-way the code fixes a second datum, holding the bars and columns to forty-eight inches measured from finished grade to the top of the bars or columns.
Fence height shall be measured from finished grade. Up to an additional ten percent of height may be added to the maximum permitted fence height in order to accommodate lots with irregular grade.
10%extra height allowed for irregular grade
Also on how height is measured in Jersey City
- left to the townNew 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. N.J.S.A. 40:55D-65 bNew Jersey · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Jersey City
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Jersey City answers this, but the answer changes depending on how the two streets are classified in the Master Plan.
The fence section sends a corner lot to the sight triangle rules and adds one requirement of its own: the fencing has to have matching heights on both frontages. The triangle itself is defined in the zoning definitions and it is sized by the class of street rather than by a single number. The sight point sits on each intersecting street center line, one hundred feet back on a primary or secondary arterial, sixty feet on a major or minor collector, and forty feet on a local street. Where both streets are arterials, both collectors, or one of each, two overlapping triangles are required, formed by connecting those points with a sight point forty feet along the intersecting street. The street classifications come from the city Master Plan, so working out the triangle on a given corner means looking at the plan rather than the code.
Fences on corners shall maintain clear lines of sight for vehicular traffic and shall be subject to the requirements of sight triangles. On corner lots, the fencing shall have matching fence heights on both frontages.
Section 345-67(A)(1)(d), with Section 345-6
The answer turns on how the two streets are classified in the Master Plan.
- a local street
- Forty feet back along the center line. 40 ft
- a collector
- Sixty feet. 60 ft
- an arterial
- A hundred feet. 100 ft
- both frontages of a corner lot
- The heights have to match.
Also on corner visibility in Jersey City
- set in state lawNew 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. N.J.S.A. 27:5-9New Jersey · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Jersey City
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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 Jersey City 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 Jersey City
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Jersey City answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, the district and whether the fence is in the right-of-way.
Jersey City bans solid, perforated, corrugated and flat sheet metal as fencing material, bans barbed and razor wire, and adds two prohibitions that read like they came from looking at real streets: single ply vinyl slats inserted diagonally as screening, and mechanical gates with overhead bars. Chain link is not permitted in a front yard, and where it is permitted in an industrial zone it has to be one inch non climbable vinyl clad. Board on board wooden fencing is recommended for privacy in the rear and side yards but may not stand between the building line and the street line. A fence in the public right-of-way has a shorter list still: wrought iron, mild steel, tubular steel or aluminum, or brick columns combined with steel or iron, painted and maintained in a dark color to hide rust, with bars at least half an inch wide and no more than four inches apart.
Solid or perforated, corrugated, or flat sheet metal is prohibited for use as fencing material.
Section 345-67(B)(11), with (A)(2) and (A)(4)
The answer turns on the yard, the district and whether the fence is in the right-of-way.
- sheet metal
- Prohibited in every form.
- chain link
- Never at the front.
- diagonal vinyl slats
- Not accepted as screening.
- a fence in the right-of-way
- Iron or steel, dark painted. 4 in
Also on materials in Jersey City
- 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 Jersey City
Compare agricultural fencing across all 50 states
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 Jersey City 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 Jersey City
- 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
12 documents, of which 1 was published by Jersey City 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 Jersey CityJersey City Code of Ordinances, Chapter 345, Zoning, Article V, Zoning and Design Standards, Section 345-67, Fences and Walls
- 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
- 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
- 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 Jersey City 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