Fence Installation in Chatham, NJ

“Chatham” is two towns sharing one name and one ZIP code, 07928. Chatham Borough is the compact one — about two and a half square miles around Main Street (Route 124), the NJ Transit station and the Passaic River crossing, with early-1900s Colonials and Victorians on small, tree-lined lots near downtown. Chatham Township wraps around and below it: roughly nine and a half square miles of larger, wooded lots — Rolling Hill, Wickham Woods, Lafayette — running south toward Green Village and the edge of the Great Swamp, where deer are a daily fact of life. The two municipalities have separate governments and separate fence rules — and the Borough’s are among the most specific in Morris County.

Solanos Fence installs vinyl, aluminum, WPC composite, wood, post-and-rail and chain link fencing in Chatham Borough and Chatham Township, NJ. We also sell fence materials for pickup at our Fairfield location. Chatham is part of our Morris County service area.

Chatham’s Fence Rules: § 165-77 (Borough) — and How the Township Differs

Chatham Borough regulates fences in § 165-77, “Fences and sight triangles,” of its Land Development code (Chapter 165). Unlike most towns, the Borough has no single backyard height limit — the allowed height changes with where the fence sits on the lot, and with what sits across the line. The main rules:

Front yards: four feet maximum, and at least 50% open. A fence in the front yard of any lot — or in the exterior side yard of a corner lot, the side facing the street — may not exceed 4 feet and must be at least 50% open(§ 165-77A(1)). A solid privacy panel is not a front-yard fence in the Borough.
Side lines: five feet maximum. Along either side line — and anywhere else in the rear yard — behind the front foundation line of the house, the limit is 5 feet, not six (§ 165-77A(2)).
Six feet is allowed on one line only: a shared rear line. A fence may reach 6 feet only along a rear property line that is also the rear property line of the property behind it(§ 165-77A(3)). If that rear line is the side line of the abutting property, the limit drops back to 5 feet.
A permit is required before any fence is erected(§ 165-77A(8)), and the Construction Official may require a survey showing the fence against the property lines. The Borough’s zoning permit fee for a fence is $50(the Borough application places “Fence” in its $50 tier, and the 2026 Fee Schedule lists “Fence Permit $50.00”), and the application requires a survey no older than 10 years.
Height is measured from the lowest ground under the fence — the lowest point on the undisturbed ground (§ 165-77A(7)). On a slope, the low side sets the measurement.
Finished side faces out, and the fence must be symmetrical — posts at identical distances, a definite pattern or size, and the more finished side facing away from the owner’s property(§ 165-77A(5)).
Some materials are banned outright: no masonry, barbed wire, material harmful to humans or animals, or odd-sized material of varying width, thickness or length(§ 165-77A(6)).
Corner lots and sight triangles. The section is titled “Fences and sight triangles,” and its corner rule treats the street-facing side yard like a front yard (above). Section 165-77B(5) also requires a sight easement at intersections: no grading, planting or structure may be higher than two feet above the edge of the roadway within the triangle bounded by the intersecting street side lines and a straight line connecting sight points 25 feet from the point of street intersection.
Pools follow their own standards at § 165-88, and a pool enclosure must also satisfy the New Jersey Uniform Construction Code’s barrier requirements.

Chatham Township is a different rulebook — confirm which municipality your address is in before planning heights. The Township’s fence rules live in § 30-96.15, “Walls and Fences,” in Chapter 30 (Land Development), Article VII, and they are simpler and more uniform than the Borough’s:

Six feet is the cap everywhere. No architectural wall or fence may exceed 6 feet above ground level (§ 30-96.15c.1(a)), with height measured from the highest part of the fence to the ground directly below it. The Township section has no separate front-yard height limit and no openness requirement — the rule the Borough steps down by location is a single six-foot cap here.
Two exceptions go taller, both in the R and AH Districts: tennis-court enclosures may reach 12 feet, set back at least 10 feet from every property line, and deer-protection fencing of mesh or netting may reach 8 feet where it is used to prevent deer damage — when that use ends, it must be reduced to six feet or removed (§ 30-96.15c.1(b)–(c)). A taller deer fence in the Township is an allowance written into the code, not an exception to apply for.
No fence or wall in a public right-of-way or a sight triangle easement(§ 30-96.15b), and a fence used to contain livestock must sit at least 10 feet from a property line or street right-of-way.
Barbed wire is prohibited, and any fence or wall facing a street or property line must present its finished (front) surface to that street or line.
A Township zoning permit is required for a fence. The Township’s zoning permit application (Form Z01) lists “Fence” as an application type and requires a certified scalable survey; the codified zoning permit fee is $100(Ordinance 2026-02, amending § 30-17.1(a) — the printed form still shows the older $75).
Retaining walls have their own standards in the same section: landscape retaining walls must sit back from a property line at least twice their height (five feet minimum where grade is raised), and structural retaining walls need a permit from the Township Engineer — $250 application fee, signed and sealed professional plans — and cap at six feet in residential districts.
Township pools: under Township Code Chapter 13, § 13-1.8, every private pool (except temporary pools erected on the ground) must be completely enclosed by a permanent fence with gates, no less than four feet high, with no aperture in the fence or any gate more than three inches wide, designed and maintained to prevent access by children.

Borough reference: Borough of Chatham Code, Chapter 165 — Land Development (eCode360), § 165-77, Fences and sight triangles. Township references: Chatham Township Code (eCode360), Chapter 30, § 30-96.15 — Walls and Fences and Chapter 13, § 13-1.8 — Swimming Pools.

Fencing Chatham Properties

The Borough’s stepped heights reward planning a fence as three different fences. The run across the back of the lot — if it truly is a rear-to-rear line — can be a full six feet. The side runs behind the house cap at five feet. Anything forward of the front foundation line, or along the street side of a corner lot, drops to four feet and must be at least half open. On the Borough’s small in-town lots, the enclosure is usually designed backwards from the rear line: six feet where the code allows it, stepping down to five on the sides, with an open picket style doing the front and corner work. And because height is measured from the lowest undisturbed ground under the fence, a yard that falls away toward the river or down from Fairmount Avenue can lose effective height on the downhill side — we measure each run against its own low point.

On the Township side, lots are larger and wooded, lines are longer, and the pressure is deer moving between yards and the Great Swamp landscape to the south — which is exactly what the Township’s eight-foot mesh-or-netting allowance in the R and AH Districts is written for, so a taller deer fence there is a defined standard we can plan and price, not an exception to plead for. Pools are common on the Township’s bigger lots, planned around Chapter 13’s four-foot, three-inch-aperture enclosure and the state barrier requirements. In both municipalities the most useful document is a current survey: the Borough can require one with the permit, the Township’s zoning application requires a certified one, and on long Township lines a survey is what keeps a fence on your side of the line. During a free estimate we walk the lot with you, work out which municipality — and in the Borough, which line-by-line height — applies, and sort out the permit each one requires before anything is priced.

Fence Styles for Chatham Homes

Black Aluminum Fencing

Black aluminum fencing is the style the Borough’s front-yard rule points to: its open picket profile is built to satisfy the Borough’s at-least-50%-open requirement — the exact openness depends on the panel’s picket spacing, which we confirm for the style you choose — making it the natural fit for a four-foot front-yard or corner-lot fence, and it keeps sight lines open at corners. In the backyard, our 54-inch black aluminum pool-barrier style is the standard choice around pools in both municipalities. In the Township it clears Chapter 13’s four-foot minimum height, and as a complete installed barrier — the panel’s clear openings inside the Township’s three-inch aperture limit, plus compliant self-closing, self-latching gate hardware — it is built to satisfy § 13-1.8 and the state barrier requirements; the panel alone is not the compliance, the finished barrier is. Aluminum panels also rack cleanly on sloped lots.

White Vinyl Privacy Fencing

White vinyl privacy fencing needs an honest note in the Borough: our standard panels are six feet high by eight feet wide with 2-inch by 7-inch rails, and in the Borough six feet is legal on one line only — a rear line shared with the rear line behind it. On Borough side lines the cap is five feet, so a Borough vinyl project is planned line by line: six-foot privacy across a qualifying rear line, five feet on the sides, no solid vinyl in the front yard. In Chatham Township, where six feet is the general maximum, the same fence works as a conventional full backyard enclosure. Vinyl is finished the same on both sides, satisfying the Borough’s finished-side rule automatically, and on sloped runs we step or rack panels so each section stays within its limit measured from the lowest ground below it.

WPC Composite, Wood, Post-and-Rail and Chain Link

WPC composite fencing in black, teak or gray follows the same line-by-line Borough heights as vinyl. Wood is a traditional fit for the Borough’s older streetscapes and the Township’s wooded lots, built symmetrical with the finished side out as § 165-77 requires. Post-and-rail suits the Township’s larger, open lots toward Green Village, often with welded wire where dogs or deer are the concern — and in the Township’s R and AH Districts, mesh or netting deer fencing is expressly permitted up to eight feet under § 30-96.15. Chain link remains practical for Township boundaries, dog runs and pool areas; the Borough bans barbed wire outright and reserves its six-foot chain link allowance for its M industrial districts, so residential chain link follows the same 4/5/6-foot stepped limits. We price these styles after reviewing your footage, gates and terrain.

Fence Installation Prices in Chatham

Current installation specials start at $23 per linear foot for six-foot white vinyl privacy fencing and $28 per linear foot for 54-inch black aluminum pool-barrier fencing. Both offers require a 150-linear-foot minimum project and are subject to service-area restrictions. Gates and removal of existing fencing are priced separately. Five-foot Borough layouts, four-foot open front-yard aluminum, specialty styles and sloped or wooded Township lots are priced by individual estimate.

See our fence installation deals for current terms.

Fence Materials for Chatham DIY Projects

Installing it yourself? Our Fairfield shop stocks white vinyl panels and posts, black aluminum panels and posts, and WPC packages. Bring your measurements or a copy of your survey — the Borough’s fence application will ask for a survey no older than 10 years anyway — and we can help build a materials list, including the five-foot and four-foot heights the Borough requires on side and front lines. Call ahead to confirm stock and pickup.

Browse fence materials for sale.

Frequently Asked Questions About Fences in Chatham

Why can’t I just put up a six-foot fence around my whole yard in Chatham Borough?

Because § 165-77 steps the height by location. Six feet is allowed only along a rear property line that is also the rear property line of the property behind you. Side lines — and the rest of the rear yard — cap at five feet, and front yards (plus the street side of a corner lot) cap at four feet and at least 50% open. A standard Borough plan is six feet across a qualifying rear line, five feet on the sides, an open four-foot style in front. In Chatham Township, six feet is simply the general maximum.

Do I need a permit for a fence in Chatham?

Yes — in both, but the paperwork differs. In Chatham Borough, § 165-77A(8) requires a construction permit before any fence is erected, the Construction Official may require a survey showing the fence against your property lines, and the Borough’s fence permit fee is $50, with a survey no older than 10 years. In Chatham Township, a zoning permit is required for a fence as well: the Township’s application (Form Z01) lists “Fence” as an application type, requires a certified scalable survey, and the codified zoning permit fee is $100. The heights differ too — the Borough steps them by line (4/5/6 feet), while the Township caps fences at six feet under § 30-96.15. Not sure which municipality your 07928 address sits in? We confirm it at the estimate — it changes both the heights and the paperwork.

What fence can I put in my front yard — and around a pool?

In the Borough’s front yard (and on the street side of a corner lot), the fence must be four feet or less and at least 50% open — an open picket style like black aluminum fits; a solid privacy panel does not. The Township’s fence section, § 30-96.15, sets no front-yard openness rule and no separate front-yard height limit — its six-foot cap applies in every yard. For pools: Township Chapter 13, § 13-1.8 requires every private pool to be completely enclosed by a permanent fence with gates, at least four feet high with no aperture in the fence or any gate wider than three inches, designed to keep children out; Borough pools follow § 165-88, and in both municipalities the enclosure must also satisfy the state pool-barrier requirements. Our 54-inch aluminum pool-barrier style is the panel we build that enclosure around — compliance turns on the complete installed barrier, including the panel’s clear openings against the three-inch limit, ground clearance, and self-closing, self-latching gate hardware, all of which we verify for the style you choose.

Request a Free Fence Estimate in Chatham, NJ

Call 973-220-7638 or contact Solanos Fence online. Tell us your approximate footage, whether your address is in the Borough or the Township, and whether your lot slopes, sits on a corner or backs up to woods or a pool — we’ll plan the next steps around your property and the right Chatham’s rules.

Solanos Fence, LLC| 1275 Bloomfield Ave, Building 3, Suite 51, Fairfield, NJ 07004 | NJ Home Improvement Contractor Lic. #13VH06388200