LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles City Council committee this week asked for a report from city attorneys and administrators about the possibility of imposing restrictions on the installation of low-voltage electric security fences.
According to a motion filed by Councilman Bob Blumenfield, the city’s laws are “silent” on the installation of such fences. Members of the Planning and Land Use Committee asked the City Attorney’s Office and the City Administrative Officer to report on how laws pertaining to low-voltage electric fences could be implemented in Los Angeles.
Blumenfield’s proposal, co-authored by former Councilman Greig Smith, would bar such fences on properties zoned for residences. A permit would be required to install them in other locations, and the fences would have to be surrounded by a non-electrical fence.
A device to shut off the electric fence would have to be placed outside the fenced area.
Committee members approved modifications to the proposal to limit electric fences to manufacturing zones and bar them from locations within 500 feet of sensitive areas.
In 2015, the California Legislature approved SB 852 to allow the construction and use of low-voltage electric security fences under certain conditions, but they must be allowed under local law. The fences also cannot have an impulse repetition rate that exceeds 1 hertz and a warning sign must be visible.
Last year, an amending bill that would have required people to notify local fire departments when an electric fence is installed failed to move past committee.
