Fence laws in Union City, New Jersey
What the Union 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 Union City sets no rule of its own, the New Jersey rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Union City, New Jersey, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- In all districts the finished side of a Union City fence has to face the neighboring property, and the answer turns on what is being placed in the yard. The figure is 0 feet, for setback from a property line.
- How tall
- Union City states one rule and it is short, and the answer turns on the yard. The figure is 4 feet, for fence in a front yard.
- Permits
- New Jersey runs one construction code for the whole state.
- Pool barriers
- Union City sets no statewide pool barrier rule. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Spite fences
- Union City has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Union City 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
- Union City splits its material rule by where the fence can be seen from, and the answer turns on whether the fence faces a public right-of-way.
- 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 Union City?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Union City answers this, but the answer changes depending on what is being placed in the yard.
In all districts the finished side of a Union City fence has to face the neighboring property. No setback from a lot line is stated for a fence anywhere in the chapter, so the fence may sit on the boundary. The yard rules confirm it from the other direction: every part of a required yard has to be open and unobstructed except for a short list, and fences and retaining walls are on that list where specifically permitted by the chapter. Other things on the same list get a distance that a fence does not, since a flagpole, television antenna, radio mast, playground equipment, outdoor fireplace or clothes line has to be set back at least three feet from any property line and kept out of the front yard. A residential heating or cooling unit in a side yard has to be buffered from the neighbors with evergreen planting or a fence.
In all districts the finished side of the fence shall face the neighboring property.
Section 223-12(E)(4), with Section 223-10
The answer turns on what is being placed in the yard.
- a lot line
- No setback stated. 0 ft
- the finished side
- Faces the neighbor.
- a required yard
- A fence is on the list of exceptions.
- a flagpole or play structure
- Three feet off the line, unlike a fence. 3 ft
Also on fences on the property line in Union 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 Union City?
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Union City answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard.
Union City states one rule and it is short. The maximum height of a fence, wall or railing is four feet in front and side yards and six feet in any rear yard. Treating the side yard like the front rather than like the rear is the choice that matters here, because on a narrow city lot the side yard is where most of the fence goes. Railings are named alongside fences and walls, so a deck or stair railing in a side yard is caught by the same four feet. The heights that go higher in the code all belong to something the city is requiring rather than permitting: an off-street parking area has to be screened by a fence or wall of not less than four and not more than six feet, a wireless equipment compound needs a locked security fence of at least seven feet, and a nonresidential use next to a residential one has to be screened by appropriate fences, walls and landscaping.
Height. The maximum height of a fence, wall or railing shall be four feet in front and side yards and six feet in any rear yard.
The answer turns on the yard.
- a front yard
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a side yard
- Also four feet. 4 ft
- a rear yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a required screen
- Four to six feet around parking.
Also on fence height in Union 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 Union City?
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New Jersey answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
New 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.
This one is New Jersey law, not Union City law. All New Jersey findings
The commissioner shall after public hearing pursuant to section 4 of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-4) adopt a State Uniform Construction Code for the purpose of regulating the structural design, construction, maintenance, and use of buildings or structures to be erected
Also on permits in Union City
- no rule, documents checkedThe land development chapter never requires a permit for a fence. It does require one for two things a good deal smaller. A nonresidential property in the C-N and MU districts may have up to two outdoor vending machines, and a zoning permit for them is required, granted when the Zoning Officer decides the most appropriate location has been reached. A used clothing bin in the C-N district needs its own zoning permit on the same terms. A fence gets neither a permit nor an exemption, and the fence rules are written as construction requirements to be met rather than as something to be applied for. Where a fence forms part of a development that goes to the approving authority it is reviewed there, which is how a parking lot screen or a buffer fence gets checked. Section 223-12(E)Union City · Zoning code
Pool fence requirements in Union City
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Union 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 Union 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 Union City
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Union 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 Union 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 Union City
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Union City 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 Union City 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 Union City
- no rule, documents checkedThe fence rule states four feet and six feet and never says what they are measured from. No grade is named, a berm is not addressed, and no allowance is made for a post cap. Retaining walls are named in the yard rules as something permitted where the chapter allows it, but the fence rule never says whether a fence on top of one is measured from the upper or the lower side, which matters in a city built across a hillside. The one nearby rule that fixes a vertical reference belongs to something else entirely, requiring a wireless equipment compound and its fence to stay under twelve feet in overall height. What the code measures carefully for fences is the yard rather than the ground, since the difference between four feet and six turns on whether the yard is a rear one. Section 223-12(E)(1)Union City · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Union City
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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 Union City 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 Union City
- no rule, documents checkedUnion City refers to sight triangles four times and never defines one. An outdoor vending machine has to be located so as not to interfere with sight triangles, a used clothing bin has to meet the same test, and a phone booth, mail box, courier box or newspaper box may not be located in a required sight triangle. Landscaping in a parking area has to be located so as not to obstruct sight distance. No distance from an intersection is given anywhere, no protected band of heights is stated, and the fence section never mentions a corner at all. What does limit a fence at a Union City corner is the height rule, which holds a front yard and a side yard alike to four feet, so the ordinary corner lot fence is already low. Section 223-12(E)Union City · Zoning code
Retaining wall rules in Union City
Compare retaining walls across all 50 states
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 Union 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 Union City
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Union City answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence faces a public right-of-way.
Union City splits its material rule by where the fence can be seen from. A fence, wall or gate adjacent to a public right-of-way has to be built of a durable and decorative material such as decorative aluminum or wrought iron. Every other fence may be of any material or style, which is about as permissive as this set gets. Three things are prohibited outright and in every district: electrified fences, razor wire and barbed wire. Where the city requires a screen it names what will do, allowing a screening hedge or other natural landscaping to substitute for a required parking lot fence if the approving authority agrees, and allowing that screening to be waived entirely where topography makes it unnecessary.
Materials. Fences, walls and gates adjacent to public rights-of-way shall be constructed of a durable and decorative material such as decorative aluminum or wrought iron. Other fences may be of any material or style.
Section 223-12(E)(2) and (E)(3)
The answer turns on whether the fence faces a public right-of-way.
- facing a street
- Decorative aluminum or wrought iron.
- anywhere else
- Any material or style.
- barbed or razor wire
- Prohibited.
- an electrified fence
- Prohibited.
Also on materials in Union 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 Union City
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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 Union 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 Union 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
13 documents, of which 2 were published by Union 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 Union CityCode of Union City, Chapter 223, Land Development, Article III, Development Requirements and Standards, Section 223-12(E), 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
- City of Union CityCode of Union City, Chapter 223, Land Development, Article II, General Regulations, Section 223-10, Yard requirements and exceptions
- 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 Union 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