(A) General provisions.
(1) Fences, walls, and hedges located in a yard adjacent to a public street and on property zoned R-1 or U-1 shall be no more than 42 inches in height, provided the top rail is not between two and six feet above the roadway surface or other ground level sight obstructions and the smooth, finished, nonstructural, or dressed side of a fence, if any, shall be directed toward the neighboring properties.
(2) Fences, walls and hedges shall not exceed six feet in height, except trimmed tree trunks and poles in any side or rear yard, and the smooth, finished, nonstructural, or dressed side of the fence, if any, shall be directed toward neighboring properties.
(3) All fences, walls, or hedges may be placed up to the property line, except in cases of a corner lot or reversed corner lot, where they shall not be placed within the triangular area formed by the right-of-way lines and a line connecting them at a point 25 feet from the intersection of the right-of-way lines, or in the case of a rounded corner from the intersection of the right-of-way lines extended.
(4) Fences up to ten feet in height shall be permitted in any I District.
(5) (a) All refuse and/or discard areas for all commercial, industrial, and multi-family residential uses shall be screened on a minimum of three sides by a six-foot solid or tight board fence.
(b) All refuse and/or discard areas for all commercial and industrial uses which do not conform to all applicable provisions of this section shall be made to conform within three years from the effective date of this chapter. The Administrative Officer, or his or her designee, shall make the determination if it is an unreasonable hardship to require existing refuse and/or discard to be screened on a case-by-case basis.
(6) Snow fencing shall only be used on a temporary basis by public jurisdictions for public safety purposes or in Agricultural Districts, or as a permitted use for temporary festival/event enclosure purposes.
(7) Fencing shall not be allowed in floodways.
(8) Swimming pool fencing requirements are outlined in the County Building Code.
(B) Optional.
(1) Barbed wire fences shall be permitted only in Agricultural or Suburban Estate-1 Districts, and on review by the Zoning Board of Appeals in Industrial Districts, and the bottom strand shall be a minimum of eight feet above grade.
(2) Electric fences shall be permitted only in Agricultural, or Suburban Estate-1 Districts, and only for the enclosure of livestock. Electric fences shall not carry a charge greater than 25 milliamperes nor a pulsating current lower than one-tenth second in a one-second cycle. All electric fence charges shall carry the seal of an approved testing laboratory.
(3) Barbed wire and electric fences shall be prohibited within five feet of a public sidewalk or within four feet of the street right-of-way line where a public sidewalk does not exist. In the latter case, however, either fence may be installed or constructed along the right-of-way line if the property owner agrees to move the fence back the required distance within two months after the installation of a public sidewalk.
(Ord. passed 5-16-2023)