Fence laws in Buffalo, New York
What the Buffalo municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Buffalo sets no rule of its own, the New York rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Buffalo, New York, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A Buffalo fence may stand inside any required yard, on one condition that few codes state: it has to run parallel or radial to the adjacent property line, so a fence set at an angle across a yard is not allowed even where the height is right.
- How tall
- Four feet along a Buffalo front lot line or inside a front yard, and the answer turns on which lot line the fence runs along, and the zone. The figure is 4 feet, for fence along a front lot line.
- Permits
- New York writes one code for the whole state and then hands the permit counter to local government.
- Pool barriers
- New York requires a barrier around a pool at a house, and the height is four feet. The figure is 4 feet, for permanent barrier around a residential swimming pool.
- Spite fences
- New York has a spite fence law with a ten foot trigger. The figure is 10 feet, for height above which a fence blocking light or air can be declared a private nuisance.
- Measured from what
- Buffalo does not read a fence against the highest point or the lowest. The figure is 2 feet, for distance from the base over which ground level is averaged.
- Corner lots
- Buffalo requires corner visibility only in the N-2R, N-3R, N-4-30 and N-4-50 zones, and not along passages or alleys anywhere, and the answer turns on the zone, and whether the intersection is a street rather than a passage or alley. The figure is 20 feet, for leg of the corner visibility triangle.
- Retaining walls
- Buffalo leaves retaining walls to the Residential Code of New York State, published by the International Code Council and incorporated by reference in 19 NYCRR Part 1220.
- Materials
- A Buffalo fence has to be built of permanent, durable material, and the code names brick, stone, concrete, textile block, wood, iron and steel as examples.
- Livestock
- New York prints one build in its fence article, and it is wire. The figure is 4 strands, for minimum number of wire strands in a division fence. It reaches a fence on the line between two neighbors only.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Buffalo?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Buffalo answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Buffalo fence may stand inside any required yard, on one condition that few codes state: it has to run parallel or radial to the adjacent property line, so a fence set at an angle across a yard is not allowed even where the height is right. The exception is the waterfront yard, where no fence or wall may be erected at all. Nothing may cross into a public right of way, conflict with required corner visibility, interfere with a utility line or block a legally required way in or out, and the finished side of the fence faces the neighbor or the street rather than the owner.
A fence or wall may encroach upon any required yard, except for a required waterfront yard, so long as the fence or wall is aligned parallel or radial to the adjacent property line. No fence or wall may be erected in a required waterfront yard.
Also on fences on the property line in Buffalo
- set in state lawNew York Town Law splits a fence on the line between the two neighbors in fair shares, unless they agree on something else. The rule turns on animals. A neighbor who has kept no animals on the land in the five years before the fence was built or fixed owes nothing. A neighbor who does build or fix it can get back twenty percent of the other side's share for each year that land was used for animals. Where a stream forms the line, the fence viewers settle the split. Town Law 300New York · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Buffalo?
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Buffalo answers this, but the answer changes depending on which lot line the fence runs along, and the zone.
Four feet along a Buffalo front lot line or inside a front yard. Along a side lot line, corner or interior, the limit is also four feet, and six is allowed only from the point where the side wall of the house meets its rear wall back to the rear lot line. Along a rear lot line the limit is six. The light and heavy industrial zones get eight feet in all of those positions, and an open fence around a tennis, basketball, pickleball or other recreational court may reach twelve feet regardless of any of it.
Fences and walls along front lot lines or within a front yard must not exceed four feet in height.
The answer turns on which lot line the fence runs along, and the zone.
- a front lot line or front yard
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a side lot line, behind the point where the side wall meets the rear wall
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a rear lot line or rear yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- an open fence around a recreational court
- Twelve feet. 12 ft
Also on fence height in Buffalo
- no rule, documents checkedNew York does not limit how tall a fence at a house can be. The fence article of the Town Law is about who pays for a shared fence and never caps the height. The only height anywhere in New York fence law is the ten feet in the spite fence section, and that is the point where a nuisance claim becomes possible, not a limit. Villages, towns and cities set the height rule. Town Law 300New York · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Buffalo?
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New York answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
New York writes one code for the whole state and then hands the permit counter to local government. Executive Law section 381 puts running and enforcing the code on every local government, lets a town pass the job to its county, and lets the Secretary of State step in when local enforcement drops below the state minimum. So whether a fence needs a permit is answered by the local code office, not by one statewide line.
This one is New York law, not Buffalo law. All New York findings
every local government shall administer and enforce the uniform fire prevention and building code
Pool fence requirements in Buffalo
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New York answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
New York requires a barrier around a pool at a house, and the height is four feet. The state building standards office publishes the rules in a technical bulletin. The gap between the barrier and the ground stays under two inches, and the barrier cannot go where something next to it can be climbed to get over. While a pool is being built, a temporary barrier of at least 48 inches has to be up.
This one is New York law, not Buffalo law. All New York findings
The top of the barrier must be at least 4 feet (48 inches) high.
4 ftpermanent barrier around a residential swimming pool
Spite fence laws in Buffalo
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New York answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
New York has a spite fence law with a ten foot trigger. A fence, or anything built like a fence, that goes over ten feet and cuts off light or air from a building next door can be declared a private nuisance by the supreme court. The court can then order the owner to stop keeping it up. The section ends by protecting an owner who built in good faith.
This one is New York law, not Buffalo law. All New York findings
Whenever the owner or lessees of land shall erect or shall have erected thereon any fence or structure in the nature of a fence which shall exceed ten feet in height, to exclude the owner or occupant of a structure on adjoining land from the enjoyment of light or air, the owner or occupant who shall thereby be deprived of light or air shall be entitled to maintain an action in the supreme court to have such fence or structure adjudged a private nuisance.
10 ftheight above which a fence blocking light or air can be declared a private nuisance
How fence height is measured in Buffalo
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Buffalo answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Buffalo does not read a fence against the highest point or the lowest. It averages the ground within two feet of the base of the fence, which means a dip or a hump right at the posts is smoothed out rather than setting the number. One extra foot above the limit is then allowed for posts, columns, light fixtures or other decorative detail, so a six foot fence may carry seven foot posts.
The height of all fences and walls is measured from the average ground level within two feet of the base of the fence or wall. An additional one foot of height is allowed, above the maximum permitted height, for posts, columns, light fixtures, or other decorative details.
2 ftdistance from the base over which ground level is averaged
Also on how height is measured in Buffalo
- left to the townNew York sets no fence height for a house, so it never says where a height starts. Town Law 261 lets a town board set the height, number of stories and size of buildings and other structures by local law, and that power covers the part of the town outside any village or city. Both the height limit for a fence and the point the height is counted from are written by the town board. N.Y. Town Law 261New York · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Buffalo
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Buffalo answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone, and whether the intersection is a street rather than a passage or alley.
Buffalo requires corner visibility only in the N-2R, N-3R, N-4-30 and N-4-50 zones, and not along passages or alleys anywhere. Where it applies, the triangle is drawn by projecting the lines of the intersecting curbs, or the paving edges where there is no curb, and joining those lines twenty feet from where they meet. Inside it nothing may stand between three and a half feet and ten feet above the curb, fences and signs included, and no plant foliage may be kept there either.
Corner visibility is defined as the triangular area formed by projecting the lines of intersecting curbs, or of street paving edges where there are no curbs, and a line joining these points 20 feet from their point of intersection.
The answer turns on the zone, and whether the intersection is a street rather than a passage or alley.
- the N-2R, N-3R, N-4-30 and N-4-50 zones
- A twenty foot triangle, clear between three and a half and ten feet above the curb. 20 ft
- every other zone, and any passage or alley
- No corner visibility triangle is required.
Also on corner visibility in Buffalo
- left to the townNew York leaves the corner to the town, village or city. Town Law section 261 lets a town board set the height of structures and the size of yards and open spaces by local law. The highway title was read as well. Highway Law section 319 treats a fence as an obstruction when it stands inside the bounds of the highway, which turns on where the right of way line falls and not on the view across a corner. N.Y. Town Law 261New York · Zoning code
Retaining wall rules in Buffalo
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Buffalo does not set this. It leaves it to the Residential Code of New York State, published by the International Code Council and incorporated by reference in 19 NYCRR Part 1220.
New York runs one code statewide and it prints no rule for a wall that holds back earth. For houses the rule is the Residential Code of New York State, a book published by the International Code Council and taken into Part 1220 by reference. The section listing the changes New York makes to that book was read in full, and it covers snow load, insulation, oil tanks, sewer depth and repair work, never that kind of wall.
This one is New York law, not Buffalo law. All New York findings
2020 RCNYS. The publication entitled 2020 Residential Code of New York State (publication date: November 2019), published by the International Code Council, Inc. The 2020 RCNYS is incorporated by reference in Part 1220 of this Title.
The code hands this to the Residential Code of New York State, published by the International Code Council and incorporated by reference in 19 NYCRR Part 1220, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Buffalo
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Buffalo answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Buffalo fence has to be built of permanent, durable material, and the code names brick, stone, concrete, textile block, wood, iron and steel as examples. Vinyl and chain link are barred outright from six named zones. The prohibited list is longer than most and reaches past wire: barbed, concertina, razor and electrically charged wire, railroad ties, standard, fluted and split face concrete masonry units, scrap metal, tarps, and anything else the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services judges detrimental to public health, safety and welfare.
No fence or wall may be constructed of barbed wire, concertina wire, razor wire, electrically charged wire, railroad ties; standard, fluted, or split face concrete masonry units (CMU); scrap metal, tarps, or any other material determined by the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services to be detrimental to the public health, safety, and welfare.
Also on materials in Buffalo
- set in state lawNew York names barbed wire in its town fence law and allows it in a fence on the line as long as the fence is built a set way. It carries at least four strands, the posts stand no more than fourteen feet apart, and the town fence viewers set the spacing of the posts and supports. The owner has to fix the fence as soon as it becomes unsafe. The section does not let railroad companies string barbed wire along their lines where the railroad law bars it. N.Y. Town Law 309New York · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Buffalo
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New York answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
New York prints one build in its fence article, and it is wire. A fence on the line made of barbed or other wire carries at least four strands. The town fence viewers set how far apart the posts and supports go, and the posts may never stand more than fourteen feet apart. Past that, the fence has to be built solidly and hold the kind of animals usually pastured on either side. A town cannot ban a wire fence that meets this section.
This one is New York law, not Buffalo law. All New York findings
The fence shall be of at least four strands of wire with the posts and supports of such fence, at such distances apart, as the fence viewers of the town may prescribe, but the posts thereof shall be no further apart than fourteen feet
4 strandsminimum number of wire strands in a division fence
Also on agricultural fencing in Buffalo
- left to the townNew York sets no statewide standard for what makes a shared fence good enough. The voters of each town make that rule for their own town. Once a town has one, a neighbor whose fence falls short loses the right to collect for damage done by an animal that was lawfully kept next door and came through the bad fence. Where nobody raises the question, a fence is taken as good enough until someone proves otherwise. Town Law 307New York · Statute
- set in state lawNew York lets two neighbors turn the fence rule off between them. Each one normally builds and keeps up a fair share of the fence on the line, but both may agree to let the land lie open instead. While that agreement holds, neither can sue the other for damage done by animals that were lawfully on the other's land. Either one can end it with written notice, and then both go back to building their shares. Town Law 301New York · Statute
Documents behind this page
10 documents, of which 1 was published by Buffalo itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- New York State SenateNew York Town Law, Article 18, Fences and Fence Viewers
- City of BuffaloChapter 496, Unified Development Ordinance (Buffalo Green Code), current through Supplement 18, February 2025
- New York State SenateNew York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law, Article 8
- New York State SenateNew York Executive Law, Article 18
- New York State Department of State, Division of Building Standards and CodesTechnical Bulletin, Uniform Code Swimming Pool and Spa Requirements Summary
- New York State SenateNew York Consolidated Laws, Town Law, Article 16, Zoning and Planning
- New York State Department of StateOfficial Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York, Title 19, Chapter XXXIII, Subchapter A, Part 1219, Section 1219.2 Definitions
- New York State LegislatureLaws of New York, Town Law, Article 18, Fences, Strays and Pounds, Section 309, Use of barbed or other wire for division fence
- New York State LegislatureNew York Town Law, Article 18, Fences, Strays and Pounds, Section 307, Damages for insufficient fence
- New York State LegislatureNew York Town Law, Article 18, Fences, Strays and Pounds, Section 301, Lands lying open
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 Buffalo publishes, plus the New York rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in New York 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