FENCE RULES – LEON VALLEY (CITY), TEXAS

OVERVIEW

This page covers ordinary residential fences within the incorporated City of Leon Valley, Texas.

Leon Valley requires a permit before a fence is erected and specifies the approved height, length, materials, style and location on that permit. Most listed residential districts use an 8-foot side/rear limit and a 44-inch front-yard limit. A separate six-foot front option serves RE-1 property and qualifying one-acre R-1 lots, with open ornamental upper portions. Front-yard chain-link is prohibited. Corner clearance, utility-easement gates and the prohibition against fencing drainage easements are especially consequential placement rules. Private pools use the adopted 2021 pool code; mapped flood areas and the townhouse overlay add their own conditions. Updated November 2026.

Quick question	Leon Valley answer
Permit or approval	A fence permit is required before erection. The City deletes the 2021 residential code’s fence permit exemption. Fence permit $75; reinspection $75.
Typical fence height	In RE-1, R-1, R-2, R-4, R-6 and R-7: side/rear 8 feet; required front yard 44 inches. All RE-1 property, and R-1 lots of at least 1 acre, have the qualified 6-foot front option.
Placement & property lines	Corner lots have a 25-foot clear triangle. Utility-easement fencing has specific access-gate conditions; drainage-easement fencing needs special City Council permission by ordinance.
Common fence materials	Wood: expressly included in the fence definition. Vinyl/PVC: not specifically listed. Chain-link: prohibited in any front yard; special townhouse patio/balcony prohibitions also apply.
Important local conditions	Fence rules may be further affected by residential zoning district and lot size, corner visibility, utility and drainage easements, nonconforming fences, unapproved or nonconforming plats, pool barriers, flood hazards and the mapped townhouse overlay.
Official local resource	Leon Valley permits and applications

The table above is for quick reference. Additional fence-rule details appear in the corresponding sections below. Before purchasing materials or beginning construction, read the sections that apply to the property, review the linked official sources, and confirm site-specific questions with City of Leon Valley Planning and Zoning Department or the responsible office identified for that issue.

GOVERNANCE

The City Council adopts Leon Valley’s code and zoning regulations. Article 3.05 governs fence permits, dimensions, appearance, variances and nuisance conditions. The Leon Valley Code of Ordinances also supplies separate corner-visibility, utility-easement, drainage, subdivision and overlay standards.

The Planning and Zoning Department administers permits and is the enforcing agency for the adopted pool code; its responsible official is the code official. The Community Development Director or designee is the floodplain administrator. City Council decides fence variances and special drainage-easement permissions. The City Engineer and Planning and Zoning Director have the specified roles in subdivision-related permit authorization.

Section 3.02.052 adopts the 2021 International Residential Code and deletes R105.2 Building item 2, the fence exemption. Article 3.06 adopts the 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code with local administrative amendments.

• A home with a qualifying agricultural operation: Agriculture Code Sections 251.005 and 251.0055 limit city requirements for actual agricultural operations. City requirements do not apply to an operation outside corporate limits. Inside the city, a requirement needs clear and convincing evidence that less restrictive means cannot address a specified imminent danger to residents or people on public property in the immediate vicinity, a qualifying health report, and a governing-body resolution that regulation is necessary to protect public health. The listed dangers include explosion, flooding, vermin or insects, physical injury, an identified contagious disease directly attributable to the operation, removal of lateral or subjacent support, water contamination, radiation, improper toxic-material storage, traffic hazards from crops or vegetation, and weapons discharge subject to its separate legal limits.

• Agricultural review and protected practices: The health officer’s or consultant’s report must identify the hazards, necessity and proposed manner of regulation, address interference with generally accepted agricultural practices, and explain any recommendation to restrict a practice identified as not threatening public health. The city cannot require agricultural tax appraisal as a condition of operation status. Protection of forage vegetation and necessary infestation control, the statutory limits on boundary vegetation-height rules, and the exemption from a city requirement to mow, bale, shred or hoe adjacent public-road right-of-way material remain applicable within their stated conditions. A qualifying written wildlife-management plan may establish operation status; acreage alone does not.

• Agricultural fence improvements: Section 251.006 protects an owner, lessee or occupant of agricultural land from its specified liability, nuisance suits and injunctions for qualifying agricultural improvements, including fences for sheltering, restricting or feeding animal life, when construction is not expressly prohibited by statute or a properly adopted Section 251.005 requirement then in effect. State and federal statutes remain enforceable.

PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS

• Fence construction permit: Section 3.05.003 requires a permit before a fence is erected within the City. The permit specifies approved height, length, materials, style and location. The fence permit fee is $75, and reinspection is $75. Applications, payment, PDF plans, inspection requests and reports use the City’s MyGovernmentOnline route, selecting Leon Valley as the jurisdiction.

• Fence variance: City Council may authorize a variance consistent with the ordinance’s purpose when it finds no detriment to public health, safety or welfare and no injury to other property. It considers the proposed use, surrounding uses and property impacts. The findings and facts must appear in the meeting minutes. Financial hardship alone is insufficient. The application fee is $200.

• Unapproved or nonconforming subdivision property: Section 10.02.151 expressly includes fencing permits in its restrictions where a subdivision plat has not been approved and recorded or subdivision standards remain unmet, unless authorized by the City Engineer and Planning and Zoning Director. The City may issue permits for security fencing or maintenance access. The rule preserves the issuance of permits on lots with a residence existing before July 16, 1968. For existing buildings or property on platted subdivision lots not fully conforming to that section, permits may issue until the cumulative value of permitted work reaches $50,000; the permit prohibition then applies.

• Drainage-easement permission: A fence in, on or across a drainage easement, drain, stream, creek or channel requires special City Council permission evidenced by an ordinance and must strictly follow its terms.

• Pool construction and alteration: Pool and spa work follows the adopted 2021 pool code through the Planning and Zoning Department’s code official. A fence serving as the barrier must meet the pool requirements in Material and Construction Limits as well as applicable fence rules.

• Special flood hazard areas: A floodplain development permit is required for covered development and land alterations in City special flood hazard areas. The code adopts the September 29, 2010 City flood study and accompanying maps, with revisions. Submit the application to the Community Development Director or designee. Plans may include scaled location, dimensions and elevations of landscape changes and existing or proposed structures, plus a description of alterations or relocation of a watercourse or natural drainage. Review considers flood danger, erosion, debris, access and flood behavior.

FENCE PLACEMENT RULES

• Property boundaries and recorded rights: Use the deed, recorded plat and appropriate survey information to establish the proposed location. An existing fence, tax map, GIS line, tree line or mowing line is not a conclusive property boundary. Utility, access, drainage and other easements can restrict fencing or require continued access even where no general fence setback is published. The terms and location of the actual easement or plat condition matter.

• Utility-easement fencing used with a lawn: Section 14.07.001 permits fencing across a utility easement used for lawn purposes only with side-lot-line gates 15 feet wide, formed by two 7½-foot leaves. They must open and close at all times, remain unlocked, and use a center drop rod or similar device that does not obstruct passage. A drop-rod keeper must be flush with ground level; no permanent center pole may occupy the easement. The section separately requires post-and-chain gates at easement ends that can be opened, closed and locked at all times.

• Keeping utility access clear: Owners maintain the utility easement clear of structures, debris and vegetation except regularly mowed and controlled lawn. Boats, vehicles, trailers, garbage cans, boxes and other obstacles to vehicular movement may not remain in it.

• Drainage easements and watercourses: Sections 8.09.002–8.09.003 prohibit fences or other obstacles in, on or across a drainage easement, natural or artificial drain, stream, creek or channel without the City Council ordinance described above. An owner or tenant must keep an improved drainage easement free of flow-obstructing trash, brush, grass, weeds, debris or other physical matter, regardless of origin. This prohibition is separate from the utility-easement gate rule.

• Mapped townhouse overlay: Appendix C’s townhouse standards allow a 3-foot wrought-iron, masonry or cast-stone fence to distinguish private patio space from the sidewalk. The rear alley building setback includes a 5-foot fence setback and an urban tree for each property. The allowed at-grade accessible-unit branch, covering up to 50% of units, requires metal tubing or wrought-iron separation of private space from the public sidewalk.

• Floodplain and floodway work: Maintain the carrying capacity of altered or relocated watercourses. In Zones A1–30 and AE where no regulatory floodway is designated, covered development, including fill, must demonstrate that combined existing, proposed and anticipated development will not raise base-flood water surface elevation by more than 1 foot at any point in the community. The community has a separate 44 CFR 65.12 procedure for the stated exceptions. In an adopted regulatory floodway, encroachment needs standard-engineering hydrologic and hydraulic analysis demonstrating no increase in base-flood levels. The community’s increase exception first requires application to FEMA for a conditional map and floodway revision.

• Pool drainage: A pool may not be emptied in a way that permits any amount of its water to reach a street, alley or public way.

• Drainage and surface water: Water Code Section 11.086 prohibits diverting or impounding the natural flow of surface water in a manner that damages another property by overflow. Fence walls, footings, fill and grading need to preserve the drainage rights and restrictions affecting the site. The statute has separate provisions for lawful flood-control and irrigation improvements and specified bank repairs; it establishes no general fence-to-property-line distance.

• Replacing a joint or attached fence: Agriculture Code Sections 143.121–143.123 prohibit removal of a jointly owned separating fence or a fence attached to another person’s fence except by mutual consent or the statutory process. An owner of an interest in an attached fence may withdraw it after 6 months’ written notice to the other fence’s owner or that person’s agent, attorney or lessee. An owner whose fence is wholly on their land may require an attached fence’s disconnection after the same notice to its owner or that person’s agent, attorney or lessee. These rules concern ownership and attachment, rather than every fence replacement.

• Construction affecting a pipeline corridor: Health and Safety Code Sections 756.121–756.123 address construction on, across, over or under a pipeline easement or right-of-way, or physically affecting a pipeline’s risk. Subject to the statute’s contrary-written-agreement exclusion, its exclusion for municipal work on municipally owned land other than private commercial use, and its exclusion for property of qualifying navigation districts or port authorities, give notice to the operator and satisfy the applicable route: an operator determination of no increased risk; payment of reasonable, necessary, documented protective-work costs before proceeding; work under an existing written agreement; or prompt work by a regulated utility because of a natural disaster. This construction process is separate from an 811 locate request.

• Post-hole excavation under the Utilities Code: Utilities Code Chapter 251 covers explosives or powered or mechanized equipment, including augers, that disturbs soil to 16 or more inches. Ordinary notice must be given not earlier than the 14th day before excavation or later than 48 hours before it, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. For a Saturday notice given before 11:59 a.m., the statutory start is the following Tuesday at 11:59 a.m., or Wednesday at 11:59 a.m. if Monday is a holiday. Use the ticket’s lawful start information.

• Limited excavation exceptions: Emergency work may begin immediately when the statutory emergency conditions exist, with reasonable care and notice as promptly as practicably possible. Section 251.156 also has exceptions for activities on private property connected with defined agricultural operations, and for excavation by or for an owner or lessee who operates all underground facilities at the excavation site. Yard ownership alone is not that latter exception. Separate pipeline rules can still apply.

• Digging near covered underground pipelines: Railroad Commission Chapter 18 can cover manual post-hole digging deeper than 16 inches near the covered gas, hazardous-liquid or carbon-dioxide pipelines. Its default locate-ticket life is 14 working days, unless the excavator and operator make a longer written, signed and dated agreement. Refresh unfinished work for the remaining excavation area. Keep the required locate-ticket and positive-response records for at least 4 years. Check the site, ticket and markings and use the required second-notice process for missing, incorrect or inconsistent pipeline responses.

• Utility safety before digging: Request a Texas811 locate before digging fence posts, wait the applicable lawful period, check ticket responses and site markings, resolve missing or conflicting information through the current ticket process, protect the marks and excavate carefully. Private irrigation, pool, outbuilding and other owner-operated lines may need separate locating; an 811 request does not assure that every private service or water and sewer line is marked. Locate compliance does not replace permits, property permission, easement rights or pipeline construction notice.

FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES

• Listed residential districts: In RE-1, R-1, R-2, R-4, R-6 and R-7, residential fences may be no higher than 8 feet in side or rear yards and 44 inches in the required front yard.

• RE-1 and qualifying R-1 front fences: All RE-1 property and R-1 lots of at least 1 acre may use a front fence up to 6 feet. In the required front yard, portions above 44 inches from natural ground must be open ornamental steel or ornamental iron. Masonry pilasters, columns or similar vertical elements may be spaced at regular intervals at least 15 feet apart, with closer vertical elements permitted at pedestrian gates. Chain-link remains prohibited in the front yard.

• Corner-lot vision clearance: Section 15.02.305(d) prohibits fences, walls, other structures and growth in the triangle formed by intersecting street lines and a line joining points 25 feet from the intersection along those lines on a corner lot requiring a front yard. A corner lot requiring front and side yards also may not have a dangerous view obstruction; obstructing topography must be removed.

• Existing nonconforming residential fences: Fences existing before adoption of the applicable section may remain though nonconforming, but may not expand. A replacement or enlargement still needs the applicable City determination and permit.

• Townhouse overlay and pool barriers: The mapped townhouse overlay has the 3-foot private/public separator and largely transparent patio and balcony treatment described below. A pool barrier has its own minimum height and construction rules; the ordinary yard maximum is a separate requirement.

MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS

• Defined fence and masonry materials: Article 3.05 expressly includes ornamental steel, ornamental iron, metal, wood and masonry, singly or in combination. Masonry includes native, cut or cast stone, brick, decorative concrete masonry units and stucco. Stucco is the specified cement plaster applied in a three-step process. Vinyl/PVC is not specifically listed.

• Chain-link and finished side: No chain-link fence of any size is permitted in a front yard. In the listed residential districts, the finished side must face the public viewpoint or public right-of-way. The RE-1/R-1 taller-front option has the additional open ornamental metal and column conditions stated above.

• Townhouse overlay patios and balconies: In the Appendix C townhouse overlay, balcony and patio railings and fences must be largely transparent and made of tempered glass, wrought iron or metal. Masonry columns may be accents on patios. Wood fences or railings and chain-link fencing are prohibited for balconies and patios.

• Fences at an adjoining higher-intensity development: At development or change of use, the R-3, R-3A and R-5 developer and specified office, business, industrial and mixed-use developers abutting residential property have an 8-foot vision-proof screen duty, with a 6-foot branch when separated by a local-access-or-higher street. Across an alley, the screen normally belongs on the developing property line; City Council may allow the residential property line only after a petition signed by all affected residential and business owners, approved as to form by the City Attorney. This identifies the developing owner’s screening responsibility and any screen affecting an existing homeowner boundary.

• Land used as a storage area: Section 3.05.006 requires land used for material or storage-unit storage to have a vision-proof fence tall enough to conceal the stored material or units, while meeting the district’s setback and permitted-storage-percentage rules.

• Fence disrepair: A fence that can reasonably cause injury, damage or harm, or materially interfere with the surrounding community’s property use and enjoyment under Section 3.05.007, is a nuisance. Written notice gives the owner or occupant 30 days to repair, remove or demolish it. After noncompliance, City abatement can be assessed at actual costs plus 25% administrative costs. Unpaid charges after 10 days’ proper notice can be secured by the statutory lien, with 10% annual interest compounded monthly.

For a fence serving as a private residential pool or spa barrier, the adopted 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code adds the following requirements.

• Pool construction fencing: Section 305.1.1 requires construction fencing at least 4 feet high around an in-ground swimming-pool or spa construction site, from the first excavation until the permanent barrier is complete.

• Pool-barrier height and lower openings: The required enclosure is at least 48 inches high. The model measures barrier height from the side away from the water and requires its height to be maintained around the perimeter and for 3 feet horizontally outside it. The lower clearance is at most 2 inches above nonsolid ground or 4 inches above a solid surface. A barrier mounted on the pool structure may have at most a 4-inch gap above the structure. General openings must prevent passage of a 4-inch sphere.

• Climb resistance and horizontal members: Solid barriers may not have climbable handholds or footholds other than normal tolerances and tooled masonry joints. With horizontal-member tops less than 45 inches apart, place those members on the pool side and limit vertical gaps and decorative cutouts to 1¾ inches. With horizontal-member tops at least 45 inches apart, vertical gaps may be up to 4 inches, but decorative cutouts remain limited to 1¾ inches.

• Chain-link, diagonal fencing and outside equipment: Chain-link openings may not exceed 1¾ inches; slats secured at top and bottom may reduce larger openings to that size. Diagonal-member openings also may not exceed 1¾ inches, and the members’ angle may be no more than 45 degrees from vertical. Equipment on the same lot outside the barrier, including pumps, filters and heaters, must be at least 36 inches from it.

• Mesh barriers other than chain-link: Follow the manufacturer’s instructions. The mesh bottom is at most 1 inch above the installed surface; lifting and lower clearance may not create an opening exceeding 4 inches or allow a 4-inch sphere beneath a panel. Secure each section with an attachment device at least 45 inches above grade, use nonconductive deck sleeves, and keep the inside of the mesh fence at least 20 inches from the water’s edge. Mesh fences may not be installed on top of onground residential pools. Hinged gates must meet the barrier-gate requirements.

• Pool gates and latch protection: Pedestrian gates must open away from the pool, self-close and self-latch, and all barrier gates must accommodate a lock. Utility or service gates must stay locked when unused. For double or multiple gates, secure at least one leaf in place and self-latch the adjacent leaf. An outside-accessed, non-self-locking residential latch release is at least 54 inches above the finished surface; a self-locking control is at most 54 inches. A private-pool release accessible only from the pool side is at least 3 inches below the gate top. Openings within 18 inches of an inside release may not exceed ½ inch.

• Dwelling walls and onground pool structures: When a house wall provides direct access to the pool, use the required water-hazard entrance alarms, a qualifying listed safety cover or an approved equivalent protective system. The alarm rule covers doors, gates and operable windows with sills below 48 inches above the indoor finished floor; alarm deactivation controls are at least 54 inches high in dwellings not required to be accessible, and 48–54 inches in the specified accessible dwellings. An onground pool wall may serve as a barrier only where the manufacturer allows it and the wall, any mounted barrier and the entire perimeter meet the applicable barrier standard. Secure, lock or remove access ladders or steps unless separately enclosed, and prevent a 4-inch sphere from passing through resulting openings.

• Covers and natural-barrier exceptions: The model allows a qualifying lockable ASTM F1346 cover for a spa or hot tub, or a qualifying powered ASTM F1346 cover for a pool, to replace the specified barrier provisions. A shoreline exception requires no public shoreline access and barriers extending at least 18 inches beyond the water’s edge. A natural-topography alternative requires governing-body approval and equivalent protection. Obtain the city’s determination for an exception where a separate local enclosure provision also applies.

PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS

Deed restrictions, homeowners association rules, architectural-review requirements, private easements, and agreements about fence ownership, maintenance or costs can impose separate obligations, subject to Texas law. Public approval does not decide those private rights. Review the actual recorded documents and applicable association procedures before construction.

• HOA security and perimeter fencing: Under Property Code Section 202.023, an association generally cannot adopt or enforce a covenant preventing an owner from installing security measures, including perimeter fencing. The section excludes condominiums governed by Chapters 81 or 82 and master mixed-use associations subject to Chapter 215.

• Controls an HOA may retain: An association may regulate fence type and prohibit fencing that obstructs a license area, a public or community sidewalk, or a drainage easement or drainage area. It may require a driveway gate to be set back at least 10 feet from the right-of-way where the driveway intersects a laned roadway. If a restrictive covenant provides for it, the association may prohibit fencing in front of the dwelling’s front-most building line. The gate provision is an association power, not a general city fence setback.

• Existing fences and enhanced security: Notwithstanding those retained controls, owners may maintain perimeter or front-building-line fencing installed or constructed before September 1, 2025. The front-building-line prohibition also does not apply when the owner’s residential address is exempt from public disclosure under state or federal law, or the owner provides the association with law-enforcement documentation of a need for enhanced security measures.

• Protected pool enclosures: Property Code Section 202.022 protects a nonclimbable fence surrounding a water feature that consists of transparent mesh or clear panels in metal frames, is no more than 6 feet high, and conforms to applicable state or local safety requirements. An association may regulate appearance and color but cannot prohibit the protected black transparent-mesh enclosure in metal frames. The 6-foot figure defines this HOA protection; it is not a general pool-barrier minimum or ordinary fence-height limit.

REVIEW AND ENFORCEMENT CONTEXT

Fence issues are typically reviewed during permit or approval review when required, and through complaint-based code enforcement. Examples include:

• Permits, variances and subdivision conditions: The approved permit dimensions and design, any Council variance and applicable subdivision permit restrictions.

• Height and location: District and acreage front-height branches, corner visibility, required easement gates and special drainage permission.

• Materials, maintenance and pool enclosure: Front chain-link restrictions, finished-side orientation, mapped townhouse standards, fence disrepair and adopted pool-barrier requirements.

• Flood and excavation conditions: Applicable floodplain development and watercourse requirements, utility locates and separate pipeline procedures.

• Private and shared-fence matters: Association review, boundary disputes and ownership or cost agreements are separate from city approval. The joint or attached fence-removal conditions described above can affect replacement work.

USING THIS INFORMATION

This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within the City of Leon Valley, Texas. Updated November 2026.

In addition to local fence rules, certain Texas laws apply statewide. See Statewide Fence Laws in Texas.

It is not legal advice and does not replace official statutes, ordinances, orders, permits, certificates, development approvals, applicable building-code requirements, surveys, recorded documents or professional guidance. Rules and interpretations may change, and application may vary with municipal or unincorporated location, applicable extraterritorial authority, zoning or special-area status, code adoption and amendments, site conditions, subdivision or plat conditions, easements, rights-of-way, drainage and floodplain requirements, historic or design districts, pool use, agricultural operations and stock laws, fence ownership or attachment, coastal or public-access conditions, utility and pipeline excavation requirements, and private restrictions subject to Texas law. Before purchasing materials or beginning construction, confirm current requirements and site-specific limitations with City of Leon Valley Planning and Zoning Department and the responsible office for each applicable issue, and review applicable private agreements. If this page conflicts with controlling law, adopted regulations or official requirements, the controlling authorities govern. For legal advice or legal interpretation, consult a licensed attorney.