Fence laws in Plainfield, New Jersey
What the Plainfield municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Plainfield sets no rule of its own, the New Jersey rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Plainfield, New Jersey, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Plainfield states no setback for a fence from a lot line, so a fence may sit on the boundary, and in a nonresidential front yard it may stand at or behind the front setback line and run to the rear and side lot lines, and the answer turns on what the fence does to water and which way it faces. The figure is 0 feet, for setback from a lot line.
- How tall
- In a Plainfield residential district a front yard fence may be four feet and has to be at least fifty percent nonsolid and open, with board on board and stockade counted as solid, and the answer turns on the district, the yard and whether the part is a post. The figure is 4 feet, for fence in a residential front yard.
- Permits
- Plainfield permits fences and walls in all districts and then says in the same sentence that they are structures requiring an approved development permit before construction, and the answer turns on whether the fence is standalone or part of an approved site plan.
- Pool barriers
- Plainfield sets no statewide pool barrier rule. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Spite fences
- Plainfield has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Plainfield names its datum and repeats it in every height it states. The figure is 6 feet, for side or rear yard height measured from ground level.
- Corner lots
- Plainfield puts its corner rule in the traffic chapter rather than the land use one, and it is a keep low rule rather than a triangle, and the answer turns on how close the fence is to where the curb lines meet. The figure is 25 feet, for distance from the curb lines the rule reaches.
- 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
- Plainfield bans chain link in a front yard in every zone district, and bans it in the side and rear yards of residential properties as well, which together leave almost nowhere for it on a house lot, and the answer turns on the yard, the district and when the fence was built.
- 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 Plainfield?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Plainfield answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the fence does to water and which way it faces.
Plainfield states no setback for a fence from a lot line, so a fence may sit on the boundary, and in a nonresidential front yard it may stand at or behind the front setback line and run to the rear and side lot lines. Two duties attach to that position. The finished side, with no fully exposed structural supporting members, has to face outward away from the property. And a fence or decorative wall has to be built so as to permit the continued flow of natural drainage and may not cause surface water to be blocked or dammed, either on its own lot or on any adjacent one, with the applicant for the development permit made responsible for ensuring that. A wall proposed to be used as a retaining wall may be sent to the City Engineer for review before a permit issues.
Fences and decorative walls shall be constructed in a manner so as to permit the continued flow of natural drainage and shall not cause surface water to be blocked or dammed, either on the property upon which such is located or on any adjacent lot.
The answer turns on what the fence does to water and which way it faces.
- a lot line
- No setback stated. 0 ft
- the finished side
- Faces outward, supports hidden.
- drainage
- Nothing blocked or dammed, either side.
- a retaining wall
- The City Engineer may review it.
Also on fences on the property line in Plainfield
- 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 Plainfield?
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Plainfield answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, the yard and whether the part is a post.
In a Plainfield residential district a front yard fence may be four feet and has to be at least fifty percent nonsolid and open, with board on board and stockade counted as solid. A decorative or retaining wall in a front yard there is held to two and a half feet. In a side or rear yard both solid and nonsolid fences may reach six feet, while a decorative wall is held to four. A nonresidential district gets six feet in every yard, with a front yard fence allowed at or behind the front setback line. Running alongside all of it is a separate allowance for the vertical elements: fence posts, corners, gateways, wall piers and entryways may go a foot higher than the fence in each case, five feet in a residential front yard and seven feet everywhere else. A tennis or racquetball court fence may reach twelve feet.
In residential zone districts, fences shall be permitted to be located in front yards, provided such fences shall not exceed four (4) feet in height, as measured from ground level, and shall be constructed so that at least fifty percent (50%) thereof is nonsolid and open.
The answer turns on the district, the yard and whether the part is a post.
- a residential front yard
- Four feet, half open. 4 ft
- a side or rear yard
- Six feet, solid allowed. 6 ft
- a post or gateway
- A foot above the fence. 7 ft
- a tennis court
- Twelve feet. 12 ft
Also on fence height in Plainfield
- 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 Plainfield?
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Plainfield answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is standalone or part of an approved site plan.
Plainfield permits fences and walls in all districts and then says in the same sentence that they are structures requiring an approved development permit before construction. Adequate surveys, plans and details have to go to the Zoning Officer so a determination can be made about zoning conformance, and the applicant for that permit is the person made responsible for ensuring the drainage rule is met. Two things sit around the permit. A wall proposed to be used as a retaining wall may be required to go to the City Engineer before the permit issues. And a fence or wall that forms a permitted buffer area screen approved as part of a site plan application is excepted from the height and location rules entirely, so the approval route changes the standard rather than only the paperwork.
Fences and walls shall be permitted in all districts, but shall be considered structures requiring an approved development permit prior to construction. Adequate surveys, plans and details are to be submitted to the Zoning Officer in accordance with Article I in order for a determination to be made as to the proposed fence zoning conformance.
Section 17:9-29, with (G) and (H)
The answer turns on whether the fence is standalone or part of an approved site plan.
- any fence
- A development permit first.
- the application
- Surveys, plans and details to the Zoning Officer.
- a retaining wall
- The City Engineer may review it.
- an approved buffer screen
- Outside the height and location rules.
Also on permits in Plainfield
- 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 Plainfield
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Plainfield 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 Plainfield 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 Plainfield
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
Plainfield 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 Plainfield 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 Plainfield
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Plainfield answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Plainfield names its datum and repeats it in every height it states. Fences, decorative walls and the twelve foot court fence are all measured from ground level, and the phrase appears six separate times in the section rather than once at the top, which leaves no argument about which limit it attaches to. Ground level is not further defined, so a raised bed or a berm is unanswered, and a fence on top of a retaining wall is not addressed either, although a wall used to retain earth may be sent to the City Engineer. What the section does settle beyond the datum is the treatment of vertical elements, allowing a post, corner, gateway, wall pier or entryway to rise a foot above the fence beside it. The corner rule in the traffic chapter uses a different reference again, the adjacent sidewalk elevation.
In residential zones, both solid and nonsolid fences shall be permitted to be located in side or rear yards, provided such shall not exceed six (6) feet in height, as measured from the ground level.
6 ftside or rear yard height measured from ground level
Also on how height is measured in Plainfield
- 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 Plainfield
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Plainfield answers this, but the answer changes depending on how close the fence is to where the curb lines meet.
Plainfield puts its corner rule in the traffic chapter rather than the land use one, and it is a keep low rule rather than a triangle. The owner or tenant of a corner lot may not construct or maintain any fence or other structure more than two and a half feet above the adjacent sidewalk elevation within twenty-five feet of the point where the nearer curb lines of the two intersecting streets meet. Brush, hedges and other plant life in the same area are held to the same two and a half feet by the preceding section. The Council may grant a variance by resolution on the recommendation of the Chief of Police where strict application would cause undue hardship. The land use chapter backs this up by barring any fence inside a sight triangle as defined in its own article, or installed so as to constitute a hazard to traffic or public safety.
The owner or tenant of land lying within the City limits and forming a corner lot or property, shall not construct or maintain any fences or other structures within a distance of twenty-five (25) feet of the point of intersection of the nearer curb lines of each of the two intersecting streets, which is more than two and one-half (2 1/2) feet above the adjacent sidewalk elevation.
Section 16:25-2, with Section 17:9-29(F)
The answer turns on how close the fence is to where the curb lines meet.
- within twenty-five feet of the corner
- Two and a half feet. 25 ft
- the datum
- The adjacent sidewalk elevation.
- a hedge
- Held to the same height.
- undue hardship
- The Council may vary it by resolution.
Also on corner visibility in Plainfield
- 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 Plainfield
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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 Plainfield 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 Plainfield
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Plainfield answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, the district and when the fence was built.
Plainfield bans chain link in a front yard in every zone district, and bans it in the side and rear yards of residential properties as well, which together leave almost nowhere for it on a house lot. A chain link fence that already stood in a front yard when the chapter passed may be continued and replaced, but no new one is allowed there. Barbed wire, metal spikes, and tops of concertina or razor wire or broken bottles are prohibited as dangerous to humans or animals. In a residential front yard a fence also has to be at least half nonsolid and open, with board on board and stockade named as solid. Every fence or wall has to be built so the finished side, with no fully exposed structural supporting members, faces outward away from the property it belongs to.
No fence or wall shall be constructed or installed with barbed wire, metal spikes, or topped with concertina or razor wire, broken bottles or similar materials so as to be dangerous to humans or animals. Chain link fences existing in front yards at the date of passage of this chapter may be continued and/or replaced. No new chain link fences are allowed in front yards.
Section 17:9-29(D), with (A)(3) and (B)(3)
The answer turns on the yard, the district and when the fence was built.
- chain link at the front
- Prohibited in every district.
- chain link behind a house
- Also prohibited.
- an existing front yard chain link
- May be kept and replaced.
- barbed wire or spikes
- Prohibited.
Also on materials in Plainfield
- 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 Plainfield
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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 Plainfield 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 Plainfield
- 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
13 documents, of which 2 were published by Plainfield 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 PlainfieldCode of the City of Plainfield, Chapter 17, Land Use, Article IX, Zone Controls, Section 17:9-29, 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
- City of PlainfieldCode of the City of Plainfield, Chapter 16, Vehicles and Traffic, Section 16:25-2, Controlling fences and other obstructions at intersections
- 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 Plainfield 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