FENCE RULES – CIBOLO (CITY), TEXAS

OVERVIEW

This page applies to residential fence work within the incorporated boundaries of the City of Cibolo, Texas. Cibolo is a home-rule city with zoning and a Unified Development Code. The applicable zoning district, approved development conditions, recorded plat, and actual property boundary determine which local provisions apply to a particular lot.

Cibolo requires a permit for fence installation and replacement, with specific exemptions for qualifying repairs. Front-yard limits differ by district: SF-3 through SF-5 use a three-foot limit with a decorative-fence exception, while AG, SF-1, and SF-2 have a separate open-fence option near the front property line. Other yards generally have an eight-foot ceiling. Wood is expressly recognized; vinyl/PVC is not specifically named; chain-link has district and construction restrictions. Property-line fencing remains subject to visibility, easements, access, drainage, and floodway controls. A fence enclosing a pool must also satisfy the adopted pool-barrier code. Updated November 2026.

Quick question	Cibolo answer
Permit or approval	A fence permit is required for installation or replacement. Qualifying repairs have express permit exemptions. Pool, floodplain, tree, and other site-specific approvals can apply separately.
Typical fence height	SF-3 through SF-5 front yards: 3 ft, or 4 ft for a decorative fence less than 60% opaque. AG/SF-1/SF-2 within 25 ft of the front property line: 3 ft, or 5 ft if nonopaque. Other yards: generally 8 ft total height.
Placement & property lines	Fences may be built on or along property lines, subject to visibility, easements, rights-of-way, drainage, and access requirements. Corner lots and floodways have additional restrictions.
Common fence materials	Wood: expressly recognized. Vinyl/PVC: not specifically named; alternative materials require review and approval. Chain-link: expressly recognized in some settings, with district restrictions; residential chain-link with slats is prohibited unless required by applicable law.
Important local conditions	Fence rules may be further affected by corner and driveway visibility, utility or drainage easements, floodplain or floodway location, pool-barrier use, subdivision perimeter requirements, mixed-use or planned-development conditions, protected trees, agricultural use, and private restrictions.
Official local resource	Cibolo permit applications and submission information

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 Cibolo Building Permits & Inspections or the responsible office identified for that issue.

GOVERNANCE

The Cibolo City Council adopts the City’s public fence regulations. The Cibolo Code of Ordinances and Unified Development Code distribute the relevant requirements across Appendix A, including fence standards in §8.1, zoning and development conditions, visibility in §18.14, easements in §19.5, drainage and stream provisions in §19.9, and subdivision and plat requirements in Article 20. Chapter 14 addresses building codes and contractor registration; Chapter 30 addresses floodplain development.

• Building Permits & Inspections and Chief Building Official: administer fence permits, applicable construction-code requirements, inspections, and the fence repair provisions. Code Enforcement also administers maintenance and nuisance matters.

• Planning and the Planning and Engineering Director or designee: administer zoning and development requirements and review proposed comparable alternative fence materials. The City Engineer handles engineering matters, drainage and visibility design, and approval of the stated floodway breakaway-fence exception. The City Engineer or designee is also the Floodplain Administrator. For covered tree-removal applications, the City Planner or designee reviews the application and the Parks Department conducts the specified tree inspections.

• Development and access approvals: the Planning and Zoning Commission, Board of Adjustment, and City Council have their respective roles under the Unified Development Code. The City Fire Marshal has approval responsibilities for access-control mechanisms in gated developments. The applicable road authority and utility or easement holder have separate responsibilities where a project affects their facilities or legal corridors.

Cibolo adopted the 2021 International Residential Code and 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, with local amendments, through Ordinance 1475, adopted November 12, 2024. The City’s local fence permit provisions and Unified Development Code apply alongside those adopted codes.

Fencing is generally optional. Section 8.1 lists exceptions for swimming-pool areas, day-care play areas, residential subdivision perimeter fencing, and fencing required elsewhere in the Unified Development Code.

PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS

• Installing or replacing a residential fence: Cibolo requires a fence permit. The City’s published submittal requirements include a Miscellaneous Permit Application, a site plan showing the location of the work, and a copy of the contract if a contractor is hired. If a contractor is hired, the contractor must apply for the permit. The FY2026 fee schedule adopted by Ordinance 1517 lists a $50 fence permit fee for residential and commercial fencing. Required inspections are administered through Building Permits & Inspections.

• Repairs under §8.1.2(A): the City expressly does not require a permit for repairs as defined in that section. Broken, damaged, removed, or missing parts must be replaced with the same material or material comparable in composition, color, size, shape, and quality. The maintenance and notice requirements appear under Material and Construction Limits.

• Legal nonconforming fences, walls, gates, and columns: §8.1.2(B) expressly exempts repair of short sections when repairs are less than two fence panels or a maximum of 16 feet, or replacement that does not exceed 50% of the total fence length. Replacement remains subject to §8.1. Replacement is prohibited if the Chief Building Official, Code Enforcement Officer, or designee determines a public-safety hazard exists, or the City Engineer determines that the structure encroaches into an easement or public right-of-way.

• Contractor registration: Chapter 14 expressly includes fence construction within the limited-contractor category. Permit issuance requires current registration and insurance and no outstanding fees. Registrations expire one year after original registration or renewal. Applicable state licensing and insurance requirements remain relevant; limited contractors without a state-specific insurance requirement must carry at least $300,000 general liability insurance with completed operations.

• Owner-performed work: Chapter 14 exempts qualifying work performed solely by the owner on property owned and occupied as the owner’s homestead from contractor registration and insurance. The work must be performed by the owner; obtaining the permit as an owner and contracting out the work violates this provision.

• Floodplain or floodway work: Chapter 30 establishes a floodplain development permit for development in areas of special flood hazard. Development includes manmade changes to real estate, including construction, excavation, grading, and filling. Applications go to the Floodplain Administrator and may require scaled location, dimension, and elevation plans and a description of changes to watercourses or drainage. Floodway fencing additionally requires the City Engineer’s approval of the specified breakaway type and compliance with Chapter 30’s applicable engineering requirements.

• Pool-barrier work: a fence serving as a regulated pool or spa barrier is subject to the adopted 2021 pool code and the applicable pool/fence permit and inspection process. The code’s cover alternatives and construction-fencing requirements are described below.

• Protected trees and site changes: §17.2 is subject to its effective-date/Master Plan provisions and stated exemptions. Property within the City that is zoned agricultural and actively used for agriculture is exempt from the section’s stated requirements. An owner using a residence on two acres or less as a homestead is expressly exempt from tree-protection and replacement requirements for that residential property. Tree-removal permits are addressed separately in §17.2(E); confirm the applicable exemption and permit treatment with the City Planner or designee before removal. For work covered by §17.2(G), removing a protected or heritage tree, affecting its critical root zone, or removing more than 30% of its canopy requires the applicable tree approval. The section also provides City Planner/designee-determined damaged/diseased/hazardous-tree and limited utility-service-restoration exceptions. Clearing, grading, excavation, drainage alterations, and work governed by an approved development plan can separately require engineering or development approval.

• Private-street and gated developments: development approvals and the approved access arrangements govern common entry fences and gates. The City Fire Marshal approves the type of gate or controlled-access mechanism. Public fire-access and utility-access requirements remain applicable to affected gates.

FENCE PLACEMENT RULES

• Property lines and interior fences: §8.1.1 permits fences on or along property lines in all districts. On residential corner lots beside a public street, placement must preserve the required sight triangle and visual clearance and avoid interference with utility or drainage easements. A fence across another part of the owner’s property cannot be taller than any fence it intersects and cannot exceed 8 feet total height. Fences cannot extend onto another person’s or public property or block access to a fire hydrant or utility meter.

• Boundary and right-of-way location: the legal boundary, recorded easements, public right-of-way, and approved plat conditions are separate site constraints. Existing fences, pavement edges, curbs, ditches, mowing lines, and online mapping are not conclusive property-boundary determinations. Deeds, recorded plats, and surveys are relevant to establishing the proposed fence location.

• Front yards on corner lots: the Unified Development Code defines the front yard as parallel to the street along which the lot has its least dimension. That designation matters when applying the front-yard fence-height rules.

• Utility and drainage easements: §19.5(A)(9) requires easements to remain free of permanent buildings or structures and bars building permits for improvements on, over, or within them. Section 19.5(A)(10) specifically permits an owner to fence across a utility easement subject to the stated consequences: the owner is presumed to consent to reasonable utility access over other unfenced portions of the property and to indemnify the easement holder for fence damage during normal easement maintenance. Recorded easement and plat restrictions remain material to the proposed location.

• Mixed-use utility easements: §4.7.4.3(N)’s utility standards apply in the Mixed Use Regional Employment Center district and, through their overlay provisions, in Old Town, Town Center, and FM 78. They expressly prohibit fences and substantial landscaping within utility easements. Those easements must be covered with flowers, grass, or groundcover; small shrubs are at the developer’s risk if maintenance is needed. Trees cannot be placed within 15 feet of the centerline of a wet utility.

• Platted access and drainage areas: Article 20’s required plat language addresses public utility, drainage/floodway, fire-lane, and Visibility, Access, and Maintenance easements. Applicable recorded notes can prohibit fences and other obstructions, preserve access and removal rights, and assign maintenance duties. Drainage/floodway notes prohibit fences that obstruct natural stormwater flow. Under the stormwater design criteria, a fence or other obstruction in a drainage easement or right-of-way cannot conflict with drainage flow or maintenance access. For private-street plats using the §20.6 form, the identified Wall and Wall Maintenance Easement has an express allowed-improvements list: fencing, landscaping, underground drainage pipes, and an underground sprinkler system.

• Private-street project entries: §18.2 permits project perimeter fences at entry access points within the public utility and storm-sewer easement only if they do not impede utility or storm-sewer installation, maintenance, repair, or replacement. Approved access must be maintained; the City may remove an access-blocking gate or device at the property owners’ association’s expense under the stated private-street provisions.

• Floodways: §8.1.1(E) prohibits fences in designated floodways except a breakaway fence approved by the City Engineer. Chapter 30 generally prohibits floodway encroachments unless hydrologic and hydraulic analyses demonstrate no increase in base-flood levels, with a separate federal conditional-approval route for increases. Special-flood-hazard-area development is also subject to the City’s no-adverse-impact and compensatory-storage requirements. Required replacement storage must at least equal the encroachment, remain in the same watershed, be within one-half mile, and be inside Cibolo’s corporate limits.

• Drainage, grading, and erosion: §19.9 and the Design and Construction Manual regulate drainage alterations and construction-related discharges. Natural drainage cannot be obstructed or changed to increase burdens on neighboring property. Texas Water Code §11.086 separately prohibits harmful diversion or impoundment of natural surface water that damages another’s property by overflow, subject to its statutory qualifications. Sediment, construction debris, and concrete washout must be managed under the applicable drainage and pollution-control provisions. The published 2013 Part A erosion manual, §2.2, requires an erosion-control plan submitted to Engineering for land-disturbing or construction activity, regardless of whether a City permit is otherwise required, and exempts agricultural production practices. Section 2.7 requires a plan before a residential-lot building permit and implementation before inspections. Section 3.6.2 separately requires erosion-control plans for work other than single-family residential construction that requires a building permit or disturbs more than 5,000 square feet of groundcover. The manual uses differing project categories; the applicable plan and control requirements should be confirmed with the City Engineer before clearing or grading.

• Development subject to stream-preservation requirements: §19.9 establishes protected stream systems and vegetative buffers, subject to its applicability and existing-development exemptions. Development without a stream system is exempt. The section also exempts activities initiated before the UDC effective date that meet one of its listed criteria: a valid unexpired development permit; a current executed public-works agreement; a valid unexpired building permit; a complete unexpired plat application; an approved unexpired Master Plan; or platted property. Third-order and higher stream systems require preservation and buffering. First- and second-order systems require protection when they contain an environmentally sensitive area, mapped wetlands or waters of the United States, or qualifying trees at least 8 inches in diameter at breast height in the channel or potential buffer, excluding the listed undesirable trees, unless the conservation-plan requirements are satisfied. Protected first- and second-order streams use a 50-foot buffer on each side from the ordinary high-water mark. Third-order streams also start at 50 feet per side, with 25 additional feet per stream order, capped at 100 feet. An approved redistribution must preserve total buffer area and at least 25 feet on each side. The inner 25 feet is restricted to approved roads, utility crossings, stormwater facilities, and recreational facilities; the remaining buffer is restricted to utility rights-of-way, designated hiking/biking paths, stormwater facilities, and City-approved recreational facilities. Clearing vegetation, disturbing soil, filling or dumping, and herbicide use are restricted. Existing ponds used for stormwater management require the stated conservation plan and a 20-foot buffer. During construction, signs at 100-foot intervals on orange construction-border fencing identify the buffer and prohibit construction-material storage there. Permanent boundary signs require Planning and Engineering Director approval. A waiver requires a written request to the Planning and Engineering Director or designee explaining the hardship. The City Council, consulting the City Engineer, may grant it for practical difficulty or a public need with no feasible alternative, following the stated recommendation process. These protected areas must be considered when locating fence work within an affected development.

• Tree protection for projects subject to §17.2: subject to the exemptions described above, tree-protection fencing must be installed before site work and maintained during construction. Section 17.2 requires chain-link mesh or orange mesh at least 5 feet high around the critical root zone of trees within construction limits. The critical root zone extends 1 foot from the trunk for each inch of trunk diameter. The section also requires a 6-inch mulch layer where that zone is disturbed, prohibits vehicles, construction materials, debris, and harmful liquids in the protected area, and requires tree wells or retaining walls when proposed grades change the natural critical-root-zone grade by more than 6 inches.

• Joint or attached fence removal: Agriculture Code §143.121 prohibits removal of a jointly owned dividing fence or a fence attached to another person’s fence except by mutual consent or the statutory process. A person with an ownership interest in an attached fence may withdraw it after six months’ written notice to the owner of the other fence or that person’s agent, attorney, or lessee. An owner whose fence is wholly on that owner’s land may likewise require an attached fence’s disconnection after six months’ written notice to its owner or that owner’s agent, attorney, or lessee.

• Pipeline easement construction: Health and Safety Code §§756.121–.126 establish a separate process for covered construction on, across, over, or under a gas, oil, or oil/gas-products pipeline easement or right-of-way, or construction physically affecting pipeline risk. Unless an applicable written agreement or other statutory exception governs, notice must be given to the pipeline operator and one of §756.123’s conditions must be satisfied: the operator determines that the work will not increase risk; the constructor pays the reasonable, necessary, documented cost of additional protective work before proceeding if risk increases; the work follows an existing written agreement; or the stated regulated-utility natural-disaster branch applies. A utility-locate request does not replace that process, easement rights, or applicable project approvals.

• Texas811 before post digging: request a locate through Texas811’s excavation and locate guidance, wait the applicable period, follow the ticket’s start instructions, check responses and site markings, resolve missing or conflicting information through the current process, protect markings, and dig carefully. Utilities Code Chapter 251 covers specified explosive or powered/mechanized excavation disturbing soil to 16 inches or more. Its ordinary notice window is not earlier than the 14th day before work and not later than the 48th hour before work, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. Its Saturday-before-11:59-a.m. notice branch permits a Tuesday 11:59-a.m. start, or Wednesday at that time if Monday is a holiday. Separate Railroad Commission pipeline rules can cover manual digging beyond 16 inches; their default ticket life is 14 working days from the original notification, subject to a qualifying written longer agreement signed and dated by the excavator and operator, and unfinished work requires the applicable refresh. Required pipeline locate-ticket and positive-response records generally must be kept at least four years. Private or exempt facilities are not universally included in utility marking. Permits, property permission, easement restrictions, and pipeline construction duties remain separate.

FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES

• SF-3 through SF-5 front yards: §8.1.3(A) limits fences to 3 feet. A decorative front-yard fence may be 4 feet if it is less than 60% opaque.

• AG, SF-1, and SF-2 front yards: within 25 feet of a front property line, the baseline maximum is 3 feet. A fence may reach 5 feet if it is not opaque; decorative wrought iron and chain-link are the code’s examples.

• Other yards and interior cross-fences: §8.1.3(E) limits fences in all other yards to 8 feet total height. An interior cross-fence is also limited by the height of an intersecting fence under §8.1.1(B).

• Public-street intersection triangles: §18.14 requires sight-triangle legs of at least 30 feet at intersections of two public streets, regardless of street classification. Measure each leg away from the intersection of extended curb-line or asphalt-edge lines, using whichever edge is closer to the property. Sight lines must remain unobstructed between 3 and 8 feet above the street-centerline elevation. The section applies the more stringent of its geometry and applicable American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials standards.

• Intersection exceptions: utility poles, traffic-control or public-safety signs, and trees no more than 18 inches wide may qualify as point obstructions when devoid of branches and spaced to minimize obstruction. Utility cabinets over 3 feet above street centerline are prohibited in the triangle. With City Engineer approval, a traffic-signal cabinet may occupy the triangle only when no other location is feasible for physical or fiscal reasons and its traffic-facing side is less than 18 inches wide.

• Additional clear-sight nuisance provision: §8.1.2(A)(2) declares vegetation, fences, and other structures more than 24 inches above the roadway within a clear sight triangle a public nuisance and traffic hazard. The City may remedy an uncorrected condition and recover the stated expenses after 10 days following notice. This provision and §18.14 use different heights and reference elevations; the proposed visibility layout should be confirmed with the City Engineer and Building Permits & Inspections.

• Required landscaping in visibility areas: §17.1(C)(6) limits landscaping within required street-intersection and site-access-driveway sight areas to 2 feet high.

• Driveway and transportation design: the adopted Transportation Design Criteria Manual requires a 5-foot fence corner clip beside driveways. For intersection design, its minimum near-side/far-side sight distances are 290/335 feet at 30 mph, 335/390 feet at 35 mph, 385/445 feet at 40 mph, and 430/500 feet at 45 mph. These use design speed and passenger-car turns from a stop; truck, multilane, and other configurations have additional design considerations. Its sight lines must be clear between 2 and 9 feet above the nearest gutter elevation, except public utility and signal poles. The manual is available through the Cibolo development codes and design manuals. These transportation design standards apply in their street, driveway, and approved-development context.

• Residentially based day-care play areas: §6.3 requires a 6-foot solid, opaque fence around outdoor play areas for day-care centers, group day-care homes, and nurseries that abut or are within a residential zoning district. When the adjoining residentially zoned property is used as a school, church, or park, a fence is still required, but the applicant may choose a predominantly open or solid fence. Outdoor play space is prohibited in the front yard of a day-care facility in a residential zoning district.

• Mixed-use development parking screens: where a residential property forms part of an applicable mixed-use development, required screening of surface parking from street views reaches at least 42 inches above street elevation. Masonry walls or ornamental fences used instead of plantings have the same minimum. The approved mixed-use concept plan governs the development’s screening and transitions.

• Old Town and Town Center open-storage screening: where the overlay standards permit accessory open storage or refuse-disposal containers, these cannot be located in front of the main building and must be screened from public view with a 6- to 8-foot fence or wall plus shrubs, trees, or other landscaping approved by the Building Official. Stored items cannot extend above the screen. Outdoor storage also requires the stated Dust Control Plan. These are the overlays’ open-storage standards.

• Required landscape buffer walls: §17.1(L)’s nonresidential and multifamily buffer-wall standards use a 6-foot minimum and 8-foot maximum. A fence atop a berm is measured from the berm’s grade, and the stated height restriction excludes decorative architectural elements such as pilasters and caps. These standards govern the required development buffer wall. Conservation developments beside or directly facing single-family zoning also have a 20-foot landscape-buffer requirement under §17.2(H), with applicable approved screening conditions.

• Pool and spa barriers: under the adopted 2021 pool code, the barrier top must be at least 48 inches above grade on the side away from the water, around the entire perimeter and for 3 feet horizontally outside the barrier. Bottom clearance is at most 2 inches above nonsolid ground or 4 inches above a solid surface. A barrier mounted on a pool or spa structure has at most a 4-inch gap above that structure. Openings cannot pass a 4-inch-diameter sphere. Specific mesh, gate, ladder, and alternative-barrier conditions appear below.

MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS

• General materials: §8.1.4 lists wood, metal, brick, and masonry. Masonry requires a decorative finish, such as stucco or split-faced block. A fence may use no more than two materials. The code states that wood fences should be rot resistant.

• Vinyl/PVC and alternatives: vinyl and PVC are not specifically named in §8.1.4. Composite fencing such as TREX and comparable proposed alternative materials are subject to review and approval by the Planning and Engineering Director or designee.

• Chain-link by district: chain-link is expressly recognized by the nonopaque front-fence provision for AG, SF-1, and SF-2. It is prohibited in C-1, C-2, C-3, and Mixed-Use districts. Section 8.1.4 permits chain-link in C-4, I-1, and I-2 only along property lines that do not border or face residential districts or institutional uses. Section 8.1.3(C) also applies buffer requirements where C-4 or industrial districts adjoin or face those uses; in those C-4/industrial settings, chain-link along public right-of-way facing a lower-intensity district is prohibited unless behind an opaque landscape hedge or berm. In residential zoning districts, chain-link with slats is prohibited unless required by applicable law or regulation.

• Barbed, electric, razor, and sharp-edged fencing: residential zoning districts prohibit barbed wire, electrically charged wire, razor wire, and other sharp-edged fence surfaces unless required by applicable law or regulation. Section 8.1.3 separately permits wire fencing, including barbed wire, in AG, while prohibiting barbed wire in single-family districts. Agricultural-operation protections under Texas law depend on the actual operation and statutory conditions. Section 14.2 describes AG as a very low-density residential district. The express AG barbed-wire permission and the residential-material restriction should be addressed with Planning for an affected proposal.

• Orientation: §8.1.4(E) states, “Finished sides of fence posts must face opposite private or public property.” The wording does not clearly describe every fence assembly. The required orientation should be confirmed with Building Permits & Inspections for the proposed design.

• Required development screening walls: §17.1(L) calls for high-quality materials such as decorative block, brick, stone, decorative concrete or woodcrete, faux stone, wrought iron, and comparable materials. Chain-link with or without slats, sheet metal, railroad ties, and like materials cannot serve as the screening wall or fence. Walls and fences cannot occupy a required sight triangle. Openings may provide pedestrian connections or maintenance access. A seasonal landscaping deferral is unavailable for a required screening fence or wall. The section permits a qualifying evergreen planting/berm alternative: an immediately opaque screen at least 6 feet high at planting, with berm slopes no steeper than 1 vertical to 3 horizontal and dense evergreen coverage. Screening mesh, shade cloth, and other acceptable techniques may also be considered in that development-screening context.

• Residential subdivision perimeter fences: §8.1.5 applies to qualifying subdivision-perimeter fencing beside a collector or arterial street, including the specified subdivision-plat application and platted multiple-lot residential subdivision settings. Every 50 linear feet of wooden-board fence must include at least one of these treatments: an offset or column extending at least 12 inches vertically and 6 inches horizontally; at least 33% masonry from ground elevation at the proposed fence line; or climbing vines, shrubs, or trees along the street-facing base, with grass or other low groundcover between fence and property line. All required plants must be living, irrigated, and maintained. The homeowners’ association maintains the perimeter fence; if none exists or it is inactive, maintenance falls to the individual property owner.

• Fence condition and repair: owners must maintain fence integrity and the space between fence and property line. A fence cannot lean more than 1 inch from vertical per foot of height, measured from the top. Broken, damaged, removed, or missing parts must be replaced within 10 days after notice from the Chief Building Official, Code Enforcement Officer, or designee, using the matching or comparable materials described above. A written request explaining unusual circumstances and providing a written scope, materials, and completion schedule may support an extension; §8.1.2(A)(5) prohibits extending the replacement time longer than 30 days.

• Whole-fence maintenance and noncompliant materials: §8.1.2 requires a sound fence as a whole or complete removal, including posts. Supports, gates, structural members, and exterior surfaces must be regularly painted to prevent rusting, peeling, and blistering. Repairs must extend at least from support post to support post. If the official determines repairs to a fence with noncompliant materials exceed 50% of the total fence during a rolling 12-month period, the entire fence must be replaced with approved material. Required pool or subdivision barriers and the statutory joint/attached-fence removal restrictions remain applicable. Chapter 14 also expressly includes fences in its substandard-structure provisions.

• Pool construction and safety-cover alternatives: 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code §305 requires construction fencing at least 4 feet high around an in-ground pool or spa site from excavation until the permanent barrier is complete. Section 305.1 provides a barrier alternative for a spa or hot tub with a lockable ASTM F1346 safety cover, or a swimming pool with an ASTM F1346 powered safety cover. The applicable cover and approval conditions must be satisfied.

• Pool barriers with solid, horizontal, or diagonal members: solid surfaces cannot provide climbable handholds or footholds, apart from normal construction tolerances and tooled masonry joints. If horizontal-member tops are less than 45 inches apart, horizontal members belong on the pool side and vertical openings cannot exceed 1¾ inches. At spacing of 45 inches or more, vertical openings may be at most 4 inches. Decorative cutouts are limited to 1¾ inches in both branches. Diagonal-member openings are at most 1¾ inches, with members angled no more than 45 degrees from vertical.

• Chain-link and mesh pool barriers: the pool code limits chain-link openings to 1¾ inches and describes a secured-slat method for reducing openings. Cibolo prohibits chain-link with slats in residential districts unless required by applicable law or regulation; the pool-barrier assembly must also satisfy that local material restriction. Other mesh barriers must follow manufacturer instructions; the bottom is at most 1 inch above the surface or grade. The fence cannot be lifted more than 4 inches; no 4-inch-diameter sphere may pass under any panel, and the maximum gap above a solid surface is 4 inches. An attachment device must attach each section at least 45 inches above grade under §305.2.4(4). The code describes common attachment devices as including those providing security equal to or greater than a hook-and-eye latch with a spring-actuated retaining lever, such as a safety gate hook. Hinged mesh gates must comply with §305.3, including the applicable door/gate, closing, latching, and locking provisions below. Deck sleeves must be nonconductive. Mesh barriers cannot be installed atop onground residential pools. Their inside face must be at least 20 inches from the nearest water edge.

• Pool gates and latches: pedestrian doors and gates must open outward, away from the pool or spa, be self-closing and self-latching, and accommodate a locking device. Service or utility gates remain locked when unused. Double or multiple gates require at least one secured leaf and an adjacent self-latching leaf. At residential pools, an outside-accessed release that is not self-locking must be at least 54 inches high; a self-locking control/release has a 54-inch maximum. For a private-pool gate with its only release on the pool side, that release is at least 3 inches below the gate top. With an inside release, openings within 18 inches of the latch cannot exceed ½ inch in any dimension.

• Dwelling walls forming pool barriers: §305.4 provides alarm, safety-cover, and approved equivalent-protection alternatives where a building wall has direct pool access. The alarm method covers access doors and gates and operable windows with indoor sills below 48 inches. It requires an audible warning when the protected window, door, or its screen opens, using an alarm listed and labeled as a water-hazard entrance alarm under UL 2017. Alarm-deactivation controls in dwellings without Accessible, Type A, or Type B units are at least 54 inches high; in those accessible-unit categories, and in structures other than dwellings, the control range is 48–54 inches. Other options include a safety cover listed and labeled under ASTM F1346 or an approved means such as self-closing, self-latching doors providing the required equivalent protection.

• Onground pools and other barrier alternatives: a pool wall alone can serve as the barrier only with its bottom on grade, a top at least 48 inches above grade around the entire perimeter, compliance with the applicable barrier provisions, and manufacturer approval. A wall-mounted barrier must provide the same overall 48-inch height and comply with the manufacturer’s instructions. Access ladders or steps must be secured, locked, or removed unless enclosed by a compliant barrier; resulting openings cannot pass a 4-inch sphere. Equipment on the same lot as the pool or spa, including pumps, filters, and heaters, that is outside its protective barrier must be at least 36 inches from the outside of the barrier under §305.2.9. The natural-water-edge exception requires no permitted public shoreline access and barrier ends extending at least 18 inches beyond the water’s edge. Natural topography is acceptable only with governing-body approval and equivalent protection.

• Fences used to contain animals: §10-51 requires dogs, cats, and other animals, including household pets and livestock, to remain restrained or confined and prohibits roaming at large. The code’s restraint definition recognizes a substantial fence of sufficient height and strength to prevent escape, alongside other restraint methods. Female dogs and cats in heat must be confined in a building or secure enclosure preventing contact with other animals except planned breeding. For an agricultural operation, Agriculture Code §251.0055(e) exempts a livestock-protection dog from a City dog-restraint requirement while it is being used to protect livestock on property controlled by the property owner.

• Association or public pools: shared and association pools can have additional requirements under Health and Safety Code Chapter 757 and applicable public-pool rules. Chapter 757’s multiunit-rental and property-owners-association pool provisions have their own coverage and exceptions; they are separate from the private backyard pool provisions above.

PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS

Recorded covenants, deed restrictions, homeowners’ association rules, architectural approvals, private easements, and boundary or maintenance agreements can independently affect fence location, appearance, replacement, and costs. Public permits do not determine title, fence ownership, shared expenses, or compliance with private agreements. Texas law limits association restrictions in several specific ways.

• Perimeter security fencing: Texas Property Code security-fence and pool-enclosure protections limit association restrictions, subject to the statute’s retained controls. Section 202.023 excludes condominiums under Chapters 81 or 82 and master mixed-use associations governed by Chapter 215. Covered associations may regulate fence type and prohibit obstructions of defined license areas, public or community sidewalks, and drainage easements or areas.

• Driveway gates and front fencing: a covered association may require a driveway gate to be at least 10 feet from the right-of-way where the driveway intersects a statutorily defined laned roadway. It may prohibit fencing in front of the dwelling’s front-most building line if a restrictive covenant provides for that prohibition. The statute’s gate provision describes a permitted association requirement.

• Existing fencing and enhanced-security cases: notwithstanding those retained controls, an owner may maintain perimeter fencing or front-building-line fencing installed or constructed before September 1, 2025. The front-building-line prohibition also cannot bar the protected fencing where the owner’s residential address is legally exempt from disclosure or the owner supplies law-enforcement documentation of a need for enhanced security. The maintenance protection is stated in the statute; replacement, expansion, and other changes remain subject to applicable requirements.

• Defined pool enclosures: §202.022 protects a nonclimbable enclosure of transparent mesh or clear panels in metal frames, no more than 6 feet high, that meets applicable state and local safety requirements. An association may regulate appearance and colors within the statute, but cannot prohibit the protected black transparent-mesh enclosure in metal frames. This protection applies to the defined enclosure; the public pool-barrier requirements still govern its safety performance.

REVIEW AND ENFORCEMENT CONTEXT

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

• Fence permits and repairs: application documents, contractor registration or qualifying owner-performed work, approved materials, repair exemptions, nonconforming fences, and maintenance notices.

• Zoning and visibility: district-specific front-yard heights, decorative or nonopaque fence conditions, interior fence limits, intersection triangles, driveway corner clips, and the City’s distinct visibility provisions.

• Site and access conditions: public rights-of-way, utility or drainage easements, recorded plat restrictions, development screening, subdivision perimeter fences, private-street access, and protected trees.

• Floodplain and drainage: floodplain permits, floodway fence approval, hydraulic effects, compensatory storage, erosion controls, and protected stream buffers where applicable.

• Pool barriers and excavation: construction fencing, barrier dimensions and assemblies, gates and alternatives, utility locates, pipeline requirements, and separate pipeline-easement construction duties.

• Private matters: association review, covenants, ownership, and cost or maintenance agreements operate separately from public code administration. Joint or attached fence removal also has the statutory requirements described above.

USING THIS INFORMATION

This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within Cibolo (City), 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 Cibolo Building Permits & Inspections 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.