FENCE RULES – NEW BRAUNFELS (CITY), TEXAS

OVERVIEW

This page applies to residential property within the corporate limits of the City of New Braunfels, a home-rule municipality in Comal and Guadalupe Counties. Municipal boundaries, rather than a mailing address or utility-service area, determine this page’s coverage.

New Braunfels combines an 8-foot ordinary fence maximum with lower front-yard limits and a conditional building-permit exemption. A fence at or below 7 feet can qualify only when no part of the associated property is in a special flood hazard area and the fence is neither a pool barrier nor in a drainage easement. Corner visibility, historic review and Walnut Neighborhood buffering can change the answer. Wood, vinyl/PVC and chain-link have no separate ordinary-yard material listing, while pools and required screening walls have specific construction rules. Updated November 2026.

Quick question	New Braunfels answer
Permit or approval	The building-code exemption covers fences at or below 7 feet only with no special flood hazard area anywhere on the associated property, excluding pool barriers and drainage-easement fences. Separate approvals and Walnut Neighborhood buffering rules can apply.
Typical fence height	Ordinary maximum: 8 feet. Required front yard: 36 inches, or 4½ feet when at least 50% open. Sight triangles remain clear.
Placement & property lines	The zoning fence section gives no universal numeric property-line offset. Street/alley right-of-way, sight triangles and easement rules control particular locations; fences are prohibited in drainage easements.
Common fence materials	Wood: no separate ordinary-yard listing; specific private-pool exception. Vinyl/PVC: not specifically addressed as ordinary fencing. Chain-link: no separate ordinary-yard listing; pool openings and public-pool restrictions apply. Required walls and historic/district conditions have additional standards.
Important local conditions	Fence rules may be further affected by corner and driveway sight areas, pool-barrier use, historic districts, Walnut Neighborhood or approved development-plan conditions, floodplain/floodway and stream hazards, drainage and utility easements, agricultural use and private restrictions.
Official local resource	City of New Braunfels Building Safety provides adopted-code, interpretation and permit 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 Building Safety, Planning Services or the responsible office identified for that issue.

GOVERNANCE

The City Council adopts New Braunfels’s municipal requirements. The New Braunfels Code of Ordinances distributes fence-related rules across Chapter 144 zoning, Chapter 14 building regulation, Chapter 66 historic preservation, Chapter 58 floodplain regulation, Chapters 114 and 118 streets and subdivision standards, and Chapter 143 drainage. Texas Local Government Code Chapters 211 and 214 provide the municipal zoning and building-code framework. Ordinances 2025-73 and 2025-74 amended the local fence-permit provisions on November 24, 2025.

• Building and pool codes: Building Safety and the Building Official administer municipal construction codes and building permits. New Braunfels adopts the 2021 International Residential Code (IRC), International Building Code (IBC) and International Swimming Pool and Spa Code (ISPSC), with local amendments, other adopted 2021 International Codes and the 2020 National Electrical Code. Local amendments govern the fence exemption and private-pool alternatives.

• Zoning and property-specific plans: Planning Services administers Chapter 144. A property’s zoning, special district, special-use permit or approved planned-development conditions can affect its fence. Walnut Neighborhood has the particular buffering rules described below. Approved development plans remain property-specific.

• Historic property: The Historic Preservation Officer and Historic Landmark Commission administer local historic review. The four local historic districts are Sophienburg Hill, Mill Street, Downtown and Stock; designated individual landmarks are also covered. Local designation and boundary status determine the applicable review.

• Engineering and floodplain: The Engineering Division/City Engineer administers drainage, grading and municipal right-of-way functions. The City Engineer or designee is Floodplain Administrator. Streets and Drainage maintains the facilities assigned to the City. The Zoning Board of Adjustment and Access Management Board of Adjustment have separate review responsibilities.

• Utilities and other functions: New Braunfels Utilities and other actual service providers control their facilities and access rights; service territory differs from municipal territory. Neighborhood Services administers public/semipublic pool operation under the local pool amendment. Texas811, the Railroad Commission of Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and Texas Department of Transportation administer their respective notice, pipeline, environmental and state-road functions.

• Extraterritorial subdivision administration: County/City agreements allocate extraterritorial plat-review functions under Local Government Code Chapter 242. This page covers corporate municipal territory; those subdivision arrangements do not establish ordinary municipal fence requirements outside that territory.

PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS

Use the City’s permit and application information for Residential Fence, Pool/Spa, Retaining Wall, Floodplain Development and Historical Property Alteration applications. Section 14-5 covers fence erection, alteration, repair and modification subject to any necessary permit. The specific exemption below determines ordinary building-permit treatment.

• Ordinary fence building-permit exemption: Local IBC §105.2 and IRC §R105.2 exempt a fence only when there is no special flood hazard area anywhere on the associated property and it is not a swimming-pool barrier, not over 7 feet (2134 mm) tall, and not in a drainage easement. Exactly 7 feet satisfies the height part of this exemption. Property containing any special flood hazard area fails the property-wide prerequisite even if the proposed fence itself is outside that mapped area. Exempt work must still comply with zoning and other applicable requirements. Fences over 7 feet and pool barriers fall outside this exemption; drainage-easement fences are separately prohibited.

• Plans and engineering: Section 144-5.3-2(e) requires compliance with applicable permit/plan-review submissions, including an engineered foundation when necessary under adopted codes. Independent floodplain, historic, pool, easement, right-of-way and conditional district requirements remain applicable to their respective projects.

• Walnut Neighborhood buffering projects: Where the Walnut Neighborhood Special District buffering subsection applies to mixed-use or nonresidential development adjoining single-/two-family land, it states that all fences and walls require building permits. That subsection refers to the general fence rules and expressly controls in a conflict. Its special permit condition remains part of the buffering requirements described in the materials section.

• Published fees for required permits: Appendix D lists a $50 residential fence fee and a retaining-wall fee labeled “over 24 inches” of $0.50 per linear foot. The fee labels are separate from the permit-exemption tests. A 3% technology fee applies to review, building, zoning and development permit fees. Accessory permits such as fences incur $250 for each additional review after the second review.

• Permit timing: Required building permits generally expire 180 days from issuance; infrastructure/grading permits have a 365-day period. Before approval, the City describes one 90-day commercial or 180-day residential/floodplain application extension; after approval, one 180-day extension. Particular permit conditions govern the project.

• Fencing contractors and homeowner work: Fencing is a limited-contractor trade requiring City registration, expiring December 31. An owner permanently residing in an existing single-family homestead may do personal work under an approved homestead registration exemption while obtaining necessary permits, paying fees and complying with law. Structural, electrical or plumbing self-work requires the Building Official’s satisfaction that the owner can work competently and safely. Limited fencing contractors must provide $300,000 liability insurance, naming the City as certificate holder.

• Designated historic property: A Certificate of Alteration is required before covered exterior alteration, restoration, reconstruction, new construction, removal or relocation affecting a landmark or local historic-district property’s appearance. It precedes a required building permit and is an additional approval. Ordinary in-kind repair or maintenance that does not change exterior features, historic value or architectural style is exempt from the certificate; the Historic Preservation Officer reviews a required building-permit application to determine whether work is exempt. The City’s historic preservation resources identify the review path and districts.

• Historic alteration application: Provide owner/applicant contact information, a detailed work description, current property and adjacent-property photographs, available elevations, material samples, sign scale when applicable and other needed information. The Commission considers an application within 30 days and decides within 30 days after its meeting; failure to consider within 60 days grants the certificate under the general procedure. Decisions include written findings; an appeal to City Council must be filed within 30 days.

• Downtown historic projects under $50,000: A special majority review by Commission chair, vice-chair and Historic Preservation Officer can apply, with 72-hour public notice and a meeting within 10 working days. Failure to meet does not automatically grant this special-path certificate; appeal is to the full Commission. Approved historic Certificate of Alteration projects receive a building-permit fee waiver except application and inspection fees.

• Development in mapped special flood hazard areas: Obtain the separate Floodplain Development Permit before covered development. Chapter 58 adopts Comal County flood studies/maps effective May 8, 2024 and Guadalupe County studies/maps effective March 27, 2024, with revisions. The City Engineer or designee reviews scaled location, dimension, elevation and alteration drawings and applicable certifications. Topographic survey may be waived for fences or other insignificant development; that is a survey waiver, not a permit waiver. The sealed-drawing exception for residential accessory buildings below 150 square feet or other insignificant development is assessed by the administrator for the actual project. Other governmental approvals and applicable completion/compliance documentation remain required.

• Mass grading and excavation: The Engineering grading application addresses large-acreage mass grading/excavation, including related erosion or tree work. Complete plans and a drainage report demonstrating mitigation are required; the City does not issue temporary or conditional grading permits for that process.

• Variances and administrative appeals: The Zoning Board of Adjustment may grant a variance only upon findings of special land conditions depriving reasonable use, preservation of a substantial property right, no public-health/safety/welfare detriment or injury to area property, no interference with orderly use of other land, undue hardship and harmony with the ordinance. Relief cannot rest on self-created/personal hardship or solely economic gain/loss, grant a privilege unavailable to other district parcels, or create undue hardship on another parcel. The applicant bears the burden; favorable action requires four concurring members, or 75%. The separate Access Management Board of Adjustment applies Chapter 114 criteria: no public harm, property-specific hardship beyond mere inconvenience, and no variation of other City ordinances. Type 1 special-use permits retain ordinary standards; Type 2 permits may approve specified site-plan departures.

• Zoning variance application and notice: Submit deed, applicable homestead evidence/agent authorization, a scaled site plan of existing/proposed improvements with setbacks/elevations, and street-view photographs. The form asks about land hardship, compliance cost over 50% of appraised structure value, development-area loss of at least 25%, conflicting requirements, unreasonable adjacent-property/easement encroachment and nonconforming status. Incomplete applications are not accepted. Nonrefundable fees start at $350 homestead/$700 nonhomestead, plus $50 per additional variance, notice/signage/mailing costs and 3% technology/transaction fee. The guide estimates roughly one month; the ordinance requires hearing within 45 calendar days of filing, mailed notice to owners within 200 feet at least 10 days before hearing and signs posted at least 15 days before the meeting.

• Zoning variance signs and appeals: Place signs at middle frontage within 3 feet of curb/pavement unless Planning prescribes otherwise: one for the first 100 feet, then one per additional 200 feet or fraction, maximum three per roadway; frontage under 200 feet requires one per road. Maintain them through final action; missing timely posting causes rescheduling. Administrative appeals are filed within 45 calendar days of decision, with Board decision within 30 days of receipt. Following denial, related reapplication generally waits 180 calendar days unless changed nearby circumstances qualify for rehearing.

FENCE PLACEMENT RULES

• Property lines and yards: The zoning fence section does not specify a universal numeric fence-to-property-line offset. Legal boundaries, required yards, public rights-of-way and recorded easements are distinct. Deeds, plats, surveys and recorded instruments establish the relevant property information; existing fences, hedges, GIS/tax lines, curbs, ditches and pavement edges are not reliable substitutes for a legal boundary determination. Chapter 118 treats fences and customary yard accessories as compatible with a yard when height and unobstructed-view requirements are met.

• Street or alley frontage: Hedges, retaining walls, steps and fences must stay on the abutting private property, with no portion in the street/alley right-of-way. The exception is underground wall footings approved by the Public Works Director. Retaining-wall design requires City Engineer approval. Driveway and intersection sight areas also apply.

• Public and utility easements: A fence within a public easement requires approval from the entity responsible for it and a gate or removable panel allowing maintenance access. Chapter 118 reserves City/public-utility rights to remove interfering fences or growth and to enter for system construction, inspection, maintenance, addition or removal without separate owner permission. Recorded instruments define the affected area and maintenance obligations.

• Drainage easements and channels: Fences are prohibited within drainage easements under §144-5.3-2(g). Chapter 143 also prohibits permanent structures, fences and other obstacles hindering safe stormwater transfer. City maintenance guidance calls for removing fences that obstruct earthen-channel flow.

• State highway right-of-way: Texas Department of Transportation controls work and occupancy within its actual state-road right-of-way. Agricultural use of that right-of-way can require a written Agricultural Use Agreement, Form 2047, addressing fencing and other conditions. The legal right-of-way and project type determine the applicable arrangement.

For drainage improvements and development affecting drainage, the City’s Drainage and Erosion Control Design Manual supplies facility-specific requirements. The 2016 manual includes updates effective September 1, 2017 and February 5, 2018; City code governs a conflict.

• Runoff and altered terrain: Terrain changes may not damage public/private property through changed runoff or erosion or impede upstream fully developed runoff. Chapter 143 assigns responsibility for runoff created by development and acceptance of natural/upstream water as specified. Its general landscape/drainage-plan exception for single-family/duplex construction does not waive drainage compliance. Water Code §11.086 prohibits diverting or impounding natural surface flow, or allowing it to continue, so overflow damages another property. Its exceptions address authorized flood-control/irrigation improvements and filling qualifying gullies/sloughs to adjoining river/creek bank height; authorized canals still may not obstruct a well-defined natural drainage.

• Open-channel maintenance corridors: Channel easements contain the 100-year flow plus maintenance access. General adjacent access is 2 feet on one side and 12 feet on the other, or 2 feet each side where parallel to an adjoining road. Maintenance access is at least 12 feet wide, cross slope no more than 2%, ramp no steeper than 6:1, with unobstructed road-access easements at intervals no greater than 1,000 feet. Fills/structures may not reduce hydraulic capacity. Subdivision drainage easements also provide equipment access and clearance from fences and utility poles.

• Preserved natural stream channels: Where erosion-hazard setbacks protect natural channels, no building, fence, wall, deck, swimming pool or other structure may be located, constructed or maintained in the setback unless City Engineer-approved bank stabilization/erosion protection applies. Chapter 143 names the Guadalupe, Comal, Dry Comal, Blieders and Alligator waterways. Manual Table 2-3 measures from stream centerline: 0 feet for 0–1 square mile contributing drainage area; 50 feet for 1–5; 100 feet for 5 or more. The channel and drainage-area classification determine the applicable zone, which can extend beyond mapped floodplain.

• Regulatory floodway development: Encroachments, including fill, new construction, substantial improvements and other development, are prohibited unless standard hydrologic/hydraulic analysis demonstrates no increase in the 25-year and base-flood levels. The no-rise/no-impact certification covers elevations, regulatory floodway elevations and widths at new cross sections and all existing cross sections anywhere in the model, with sufficient upstream/downstream modeling. The Floodplain Administrator reviews it before a development permit. Approved work must comply with other flood-hazard reduction provisions. An increase in base-flood elevation requires completion of the separate federal process in 44 CFR §65.12 before the City may permit the encroachment.

• Property with drainage facilities: Private facility owners/associations maintain their assigned facilities. A correction notice may set a deadline no later than 15 days; immediate emergency action and recovery of City costs are possible. Keep fences and other obstacles from obstructing flow or maintenance access. Approved maintenance plans and recorded obligations govern the facility.

• Soil disturbance and erosion control: Temporary water-quality controls apply where disturbance can cause appreciable erosion and measurable sediment on streets, alleys, waterways or other property. Owners/developers/builders must prevent sediment from leaving the site; silt fences/traps, geonetting and geotextiles are among the controls, while hay bales are not accepted. On a lot requiring a building permit, the approved erosion plan precedes permit approval and implementation precedes inspection. Maintain controls through work; noncompliance normally has a 24-hour cure period, extendable for weather or other factors, followed by possible stop-work, citation and reinspection fee. Remove temporary devices on final occupancy or permanent ground cover. Development/redevelopment in the Edwards Aquifer regulated zones must follow applicable Texas Commission on Environmental Quality requirements. State construction-stormwater coverage is project/common-plan dependent.

• Riverfront public freshwater access: Parks and Wildlife Code §90.008 restricts barriers and obstructions affecting defined protected freshwater public use. Access across private land remains governed by actual property and access rights. Shoreline and stream status are site-specific, including for a pool-barrier natural-water alternative.

• Private gated subdivisions: Common subdivision entrances have separate approved emergency, City, utility and public-service access requirements. Coordinate changes to a common entrance with the responsible association and City; an individual residential driveway gate remains subject to its own applicable gate, visibility and private-restriction requirements.

• Jointly owned or attached fences: Agriculture Code §§143.121–.123 limit removal of a jointly owned dividing fence or a fence attached to one another owns/controls, absent mutual consent or the statutory process. An owner of an interest in a fence attached to another person’s fence may withdraw that fence after six months’ written notice to the owner of the other fence or that person’s agent, attorney or lessee. Separately, an owner whose fence is wholly on the owner’s land may require an attached-fence owner to disconnect after the same six-month written notice to that owner or representative. Private ownership and cost agreements remain relevant.

• Work affecting a pipeline easement: Health and Safety Code §§756.121–.123 separately govern covered fences, walls, posts and other construction on, across, over, under or physically affecting a pipeline easement/facility. Give the operator construction notice and satisfy an applicable branch: operator determination of no increased public/pipeline risk; payment before proceeding of reasonable, necessary and documented protective fortification/barrier/conduit/improvement costs for increased risk; an existing written agreement; or prompt regulated-utility work required by natural disaster. Contrary written agreements, including qualifying state-road agreements, and specified municipal-owned/navigation-district/port work have statutory exclusions. No universal numeric pipeline fence setback is specified by this framework.

• Underground-utility notice before excavation: Utilities Code Chapter 251 covers explosives or powered/mechanized work, including augers, disturbing soil 16 inches or more. Ordinary notice is no earlier than the 14th day before excavation and no later than 48 hours before it, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. A Saturday notification made before 11:59 a.m. permits a start the following Tuesday at 11:59 a.m., or Wednesday at 11:59 a.m. if Monday is a holiday. Give accurate site/area, excavator/contact, planned start/completion and explosives information. Covered operators mark or give a verifiable no-mark response under applicable deadlines; extraordinary-circumstance rules can affect response timing. Statutory emergency, defined agricultural-operation and own-facility exceptions have their particular conditions. Coverage does not assure marking of every private irrigation, pool-power, outbuilding or water/sewer line; identify private facilities separately.

• Damage to an underground facility: Under Utilities Code §251.159, immediately report damage to the operator; if identity is uncertain, report through a notification center. Only the operator or its authorized person may repair, expeditiously. Delay backfill in the immediate damaged area until damage is reported and a repair schedule mutually agreed. Keep ignition sources away where flammable material makes damage dangerous to life, health or property. These duties are separate from pipeline-specific reporting.

• Excavation near covered pipelines: Railroad Commission Chapter 18 applies separately to covered underground flammable/toxic/corrosive-gas, hazardous-liquid and carbon-dioxide pipelines. Its earth-movement definition includes hand digging; movements not exceeding 16 inches are excluded. Unless otherwise stated, rule periods in days mean working days. Default locate-ticket life is 14 working days; refresh only the remaining unexcavated area if work continues. A longer ticket life requires a signed, dated excavator/operator written agreement, retained by both; required records generally remain at least four years. Verify accessible, valid ticket, correct area/white-lining and operator responses. A second notification is required where an all-clear/no-conflict contradicts known pipeline presence or clear physical evidence, where there is no positive response, or where a response is unclear/obviously erroneous. Only after that prescribed second notice and four hours without a positive response does the rule permit excavation to begin.

• Covered pipeline tolerance zone: Chapter 18 defines tolerance zone as half the nominal diameter of the underground pipeline plus a minimum of 18 inches on either side of the outside edge of the underground pipeline on a horizontal plane. Agreed site protocols must meet the rule’s minimum. Use reasonable care and the applicable hand-digging, soft/vacuum/pneumatic or operator-approved method requirements; hand/noninvasive methods are not required for pavement removal. Site protocols coordinate operator/excavator communications, locating, ticket scope and work.

• Covered pipeline damage: Preserve markings while needed. Notify the operator through the notification center at the earliest practical moment, no later than one hour after damage. Do not cover exposed damaged pipeline without operator approval. Submit the Texas Damage Reporting Form to the Railroad Commission within 30 working days of the incident. A release of flammable, toxic or corrosive gas/liquid endangering life, health or property requires prompt 911 notice. Utilities Code immediate-report, authorized-repair, backfill and ignition precautions also remain applicable when that statute covers the work.

• Before digging fence posts: Request a Texas811 locate; wait the applicable period and follow ticket/start instructions; check responses and site markings, resolve missing or conflicting information through the current process, protect marks and dig carefully. Identify private lines and actual utility providers. Locate notice does not replace building/floodplain approvals, owner permission, easement rights, pipeline construction notice or private review.

FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES

• Ordinary fence and wall maximum: Section 144-5.3-2 sets an 8-foot maximum for one-/two-family, multifamily, nonresidential and park contexts, subject to the particular front-yard, visibility and special-condition rules. The building-permit exemption has a separate 7-foot threshold.

• Required front and side yards: In a required front yard, a fence or wall may be no taller than 36 inches, unless it is at least 50% open, when it may reach 4½ feet. For an existing legally nonconforming building with less than the required front setback, the front yard is measured from the front building line. A fence from a building’s front or rear corners may extend through the side yard at the maximum allowed height, subject to visibility and other applicable conditions.

• Ornamental features and grade: Ornamental features atop a screening fence/wall may obstruct less than 50% of the opening above its top. For sloping grade, post, pillar, column or combined retaining-wall designs, confirm the applicable measurement with the Building Official; the fence section does not prescribe a separate universal combined-height formula.

• Street, alley and driveway intersections: Within the sight triangle, no landscaping, wall or other obstruction is permitted between 2½ and 7 feet above street, alley or driveway elevation. Triangle sides are measured along curb or outer shoulder. An uncontrolled intersection has no yield, stop or traffic signal.

• Sight-triangle dimensions: The published sides are 25 feet for an uncontrolled street with two or fewer through lanes in one direction; 15 feet for a controlled street with two or fewer through lanes in one direction, driveways and alleys; and 40 feet for an uncontrolled street with more than three lanes in one direction. Non-90-degree intersections require dimensions with a similar effect. For a street configuration not expressly listed, obtain the City Engineer’s applicable geometry; the City Engineer also determines adequate sight distance for a passenger vehicle turning left or right out of a driveway.

• Park property adjoining homes: Park front/side/rear yard walls or fences are limited to 36 inches unless at least 50% open. Solid walls existing March 24, 2014 may be reconstructed within 12 months of damage/removal. The clause permits solid screening along a shared line of land used/zoned for single-/two-family residences when that residential property is within 175 feet of an arterial. The general park maximum remains 8 feet.

• Open-channel safety fencing: Manual §8.1(G) requires fencing adjacent to channels where vertical wall heights exceed 30 inches and where channel side slopes exceed 2:1 and depth is greater than 30 inches. Required fencing is at least 42 inches high, provides maintenance access and leaves traffic sight distance clear; the design engineer determines type and location. Flow-hazard warnings and safety treatment must preserve drainage capacity.

• Detention facilities with unrestricted access: Earthen banks are generally 3:1 or flatter; ponding depths over 6 feet require benches at least 4 feet wide every 3 vertical feet. The slope criteria may be waived with an accepted security barrier at least 48 inches high. Barriers may be chain-link, masonry, wood, vegetation or another accepted material, without restricting hydraulic capacity. A vegetative barrier must be at least as wide as the greatest interior embankment height/depth and dense enough to restrict access.

MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS

• Wood, vinyl/PVC and chain-link in ordinary yards: Section 144-5.3-2 does not publish a separate general ordinary-yard material list or material-specific ban for wood, vinyl/PVC or chain-link. Vinyl/PVC is not specifically addressed as ordinary fencing. Applicable height, openness, historic/district, required-buffer and private restrictions remain. The private-pool wood exception and chain-link opening limits below apply to pool barriers. The ordinary fence section also does not prescribe a finished-side orientation, a separate barbed/razor-wire or electric/high-tensile residential standard, or a universal fence-plus-retaining-wall combined-height formula.

• Residential adjacency to five-unit-or-larger multifamily or nonresidential development: The developing commercial/multifamily owner must install and maintain a solid residential buffer wall 6–8 feet high adjoining land used or zoned only for single-family, duplex, triplex or quadplex development. Allowed materials are brick, stone, cast stone, rock, marble, granite, split-face concrete block, poured-in-place concrete and precast concrete. Fiber-cement products are excluded. A new wall must be consistent with an existing wall while meeting this material list.

• Residential buffer-wall objections and maintenance: Protected adjoining owners may submit written objection to Planning and Community Development for an exemption along the affected property line. Where multiple single-/two-family properties share one linear boundary, all adjoining owners must be notified and written opposition must represent at least two-thirds of the shared length for administrative waiver. Before a subsequent commercial/multifamily Certificate of Occupancy, a prior waiver is void and must be reevaluated. The commercial/multifamily owner/developer maintains any fence/wall erected by that development regardless of material.

• Walnut Neighborhood Special District buffering: The district follows the west side of Walnut Avenue between Katy Street and approximately 250 feet south of Coll Street, excluding approximately 188 feet north and south of West San Antonio Street, with Commercial and Mixed Use subdistricts. When mixed-use or nonresidential development adjoins single-/two-family use or zoning, a side/rear line mirroring the district boundary requires a 6-foot solid masonry rear-yard fence/wall, such as precast concrete or rock, complementing the main building. Along common lines where both lots are within the district, “no masonry wall or fencing is allowed”; instead provide a landscape buffer at least 5 feet wide. It requires a native tree at least 2 inches in diameter per 20 linear feet, 60 square feet of pervious area per tree, and a native bush/shrub at least 24 inches high per 5 linear feet, with clustering allowed. Shade trees apply except near utility lines, where ornamental trees apply. This buffering subsection requires permits for all fences/walls and takes priority in a conflict with the general fence section.

• Designated historic landmarks and districts: Covered work is evaluated for minimal alteration, preservation of original features and craftsmanship, respect for later historically significant changes, and avoidance of false historical appearance. Repair is preferred to replacement. Replacement should match composition, design, color and texture and rely on historical evidence rather than conjecture. Use gentle cleaning without damaging sandblasting, protect archaeological resources, make contemporary work compatible and preserve the ability to remove additions without impairing essential historic character. Applicable adopted guidelines and the Certificate of Alteration review govern the actual fence design.

• Other development next to residences: Adjoining drive-through facilities, schools and mobile-home communities have separate screening/buffer obligations. Confirm the applicable boundary-screen arrangement with Planning before altering a shared screen.

• Retaining walls: The local retaining-wall permit exemption requires no special flood hazard area on the associated property and a wall not over 4 feet measured from bottom of footing to top, unless it supports a surcharge. The IBC clause also excludes walls impounding Class I, II or IIIA liquids. Engineered retaining walls over 3 feet require drainage design preventing freefall of stormwater from natural/sheet-flow drainage. These are separate building-permit and drainage-design thresholds.

• Construction near preserved protected or heritage trees: Before construction/land development, install a 4-foot safety fence around the protected root zone. Radius is one-half foot per inch of trunk measured 4½ feet above ground, with the specified branching-point measurement alternative. The zone may be noncircular and overlap another, need not exceed 1,000 square feet, and must prevent disturbance closer than half its radius or 5 feet from the tree, whichever is less. No nonprotective attachments/wires may attach to protected trees; no equipment cleaning or waste disposal under the canopy/drip line during work. Grading/fill under the drip line needs Planning Director and City Engineer approval. If within 5 feet of a preserved protected/heritage tree, provide a rock, brick, landscape-timber or approved-material wall/tree well no closer than the drip line, with top at new grade.

• Irrigation beside fences: New sprinkler heads must be at least 4 inches from hardscape including a fence, with spray directed away. Irrigation may not spray across walls, fences or other impervious surfaces.

• New Braunfels Utilities facilities: Fences and other foreign objects may not be attached to or installed on New Braunfels Utilities poles, property or equipment. The utility may remove them without notice or liability, with applicable fees/penalties.

• Construction hours: Construction work/noise is prohibited 9 p.m.–6 a.m. Exceptions cover restoring safe conditions after public calamity, public utilities and protection against imminent danger. Other outside-hours situations require a Building Official variance application within 48 hours after the work, with normally required permits obtained within a reasonable time.

• Screening, signs and fence condition: The residential outside-storage ban excepts items screened from public and adjacent-property view by a permanent fence at least 6 feet high, and traditional construction storage under a valid construction permit. Other height/location rules continue to apply. Fence signs are prohibited except banners and the named athletic, entertainment and public-gathering contexts, subject to separate sign rules. Visible unauthorized graffiti is a nuisance; a removal notice must allow at least 15 days and follow a City offer of free removal and owner refusal. A mailed offer unanswered for 10 days is deemed refused.

• Animal containment on residential property: Animal restraint can be a substantial fence strong/high enough to prevent escape, indoor containment or lawful leash. Housing must be structurally sound, maintained in good repair, safely contain the animal and provide adequate space; applicable shelter/weather/tether rules also apply. The tethered-animal eight-foot public-property reach condition concerns tether use rather than a fence-line offset.

• Dangerous or classified aggressive dogs: A dangerous-dog secure enclosure must be locked, exclude the public including children, prevent escape/release and meet Animal Welfare requirements; inspection/approval precedes registration. Level 1 and 3 aggressive-dog enclosures and level 2 secure enclosures must preserve the public’s lawful access. A level 3 warning must remain on the secure enclosure. Classification-specific registration and handling duties accompany these containment requirements.

• Urban hens on lots under 40,000 square feet: For a single-/two-family principal use, register and keep no more than four hens and no rooster. Hens must remain in a covered rear-yard enclosure within a securely built perimeter fence separating other animals. The covered coop must be at least 10 feet from an adjacent property line and 30 feet from an adjacent residence; with two primary residences on one lot, the 30-foot residential separation also applies on that lot. Adjacent parcels separated by street or waterway are excluded from this adjacency definition. Enclosures/feed must resist rodent harboring/access.

• Rabbits on lots under 40,000 square feet: Registration and a covered rear enclosure inside a secure perimeter apply; a fenced yard alone is not a qualifying pen, coop, den or hutch. Covered enclosure separation is 10 feet from adjacent property lines and 30 feet from adjacent residences, also same-lot residences where two primary residences share the lot; street/waterway-separated parcels are excluded from adjacency. The text refers both to four rabbits and one litter and to a total four-animal limit; confirm the applicable count with Animal Welfare. The enclosure/feed must prevent rodent harboring/access. Existing animals at annexation can provide the stated number/distance defense.

• Livestock and other fowl within the City: The ordinary City branch requires at least 40,000 square feet, permitting up to 50 fowl or one livestock head per 40,000 square feet without fractional credit. Animals may not roam, graze or be housed within 100 feet of an adjacent residence or 500 feet of a food-service/processing establishment. Hogs are prohibited in the City. The code contains specified establishment exceptions and an annexation-date defense for number/distance violations; protected agricultural operations have the separate statutory limits below.

Pool and spa barriers: The City’s amended 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code covers outdoor pools/spas and indoor swimming pools. A barrier is a permanent fence, wall, building wall or combination completely surrounding the pool/spa and obstructing access; removal, lifting or relocation of a permanent barrier requires a tool. The code’s residential scope includes detached one-/two-family dwellings and townhouses up to three stories. Residential pools serve the household and guests; other uses have separate public-pool classification and state requirements.

• Pool construction and completion: A protective barrier is required from construction commencement. In-ground pool/spa excavation requires site fencing at least 4 feet high until the permanent barrier is complete. The permanent barrier must comply before final inspection; City final inspection and signed pool permit card complete the project.

• Pool barrier height, bottom clearance and openings: Barrier top must be at least 48 inches above outside grade for its perimeter and for 3 feet horizontally outside the required barrier. Bottom clearance is at most 2 inches over grass/gravel or another nonsolid surface, and 4 inches over solid surface. A barrier atop an above-grade pool/spa structure may have at most a 4-inch gap above the structure. Openings must not pass a 4-inch sphere, with narrower material/hardware rules where applicable. Solid barriers may not form hand/footholds except normal construction tolerances and tooled masonry joints.

• Pool barrier members and wood-privacy exception: Where horizontal-member tops are less than 45 inches apart, members must be pool-side, with vertical/decorative openings no wider than 1¾ inches. New Braunfels’s one-/two-family outdoor-pool exception permits horizontal members on either side of a wood privacy fence at least 6 feet high, with no more than three horizontal members and all access gates complying with §305.3. Where member tops are at least 45 inches apart, vertical spaces are at most 4 inches and decorative cutouts at most 1¾ inches wide. Diagonal-member openings are at most 1¾ inches, with angle no more than 45 degrees from vertical.

• Chain-link pool barriers: Openings may be no larger than 1¾ inches. Slats fastened at both top and bottom may reduce openings to that size. New Braunfels prohibits chain-link as a public-pool barrier on or after October 1, 1999.

• Mesh pool fences other than chain-link: Follow manufacturer installation instructions. Mesh bottom must be no more than 1 inch above deck/surface/grade; it cannot lift more than 4 inches, and no 4-inch sphere may pass underneath, with the stated maximum 4-inch vertical clearance. Each section’s attachment device must be at least 45 inches above grade and provide security at least equivalent to a hook-and-eye latch with a spring-actuated retaining lever, such as a safety gate hook. Hinged gates comply with §305.3. Patio post sleeves must be nonconductive; mesh fences may not mount atop onground residential pools. Inside of mesh must be at least 20 inches from nearest pool/spa water edge.

• Pool equipment and maintenance: Same-lot pumps, filters, heaters and other pool equipment outside the barrier must be at least 36 inches from its outside. Pools may not adversely affect lot drainage and must retain operable filtration, sanitary/functional condition and relative water clarity.

• Pool access doors and gates: Provide for a locking device. Pedestrian gates open away from the pool and self-close/self-latch. The City’s compliance statement also requires other gates to self-latch. Nonpedestrian utility/service gates stay locked when unused. A double/multiple gate has at least one secured leaf and an adjacent self-latching leaf.

• Private-pool gate latch alternatives: An exterior-accessed latch that is not self-locking must be at least 54 inches above finished floor/ground. The distinct self-locking key/electronic/integral-combination branch specifies release/control height not greater than 54 inches for residential pools. When the private-pool gate’s only release is pool-side, it must be at least 3 inches below gate top; openings in the gate/barrier within 18 inches of an inside latch may be no larger than ½ inch. The City’s compliance statement summarizes the default 54-inch latch or protected pool-side alternative.

• One-/two-family safety-cover alternative: A hot tub/spa with a lockable ASTM F1346 safety cover, or a pool with a powered ASTM F1346 safety cover, is exempt from §§305.2–305.7 under the local §305.1 exception. Required product compliance and the actual cover type govern this alternative.

• Building wall used as a pool barrier: For a one-/two-family dwelling or accessory wall with direct pool access, the local alternatives include UL 2017 listed/labeled water-hazard entrance alarms at doors/gates and operable windows with indoor sill below 48 inches; a listed/labeled ASTM F1346 safety cover; or an approved equally protective means such as self-closing/self-latching doors, providing at least the protection of local item 1 or 2. Alarm-deactivation switches are at least 54 inches in dwellings not required to have Accessible/Type A/Type B units, and 48–54 inches in those required units and in structures other than dwellings.

• Onground residential pool wall alternative: A wall used alone as barrier must have its bottom on grade, top at least 48 inches around the entire perimeter, comply with §305.2 and be permitted by the manufacturer. For wall plus barrier, combined top is at least 48 inches and both parts comply with §305.2; install a top-mounted barrier to manufacturer instructions. Secure, lock or remove access ladders/steps unless surrounded by a compliant barrier; the resulting opening must not pass a 4-inch sphere.

• Natural water and topography alternatives: For a one-/two-family pool/spa abutting a lake or natural water body, the local shoreline exception requires that public shoreline access is not permitted or allowed and that required barriers extend at least 18 inches beyond the water’s edge. Only that shoreline portion is excepted. Natural topography such as a mountain or rock formation may substitute where it prevents direct access, the governing body approves, and protection is at least equivalent to §§305.2–305.5.

• Multiunit, association and public pools: Use determines the governing classification. State public-pool rules distinguish residential pools serving no more than two resident families and guests from public classes; a privately owned association/common pool may be Class C. Health and Safety Code Chapter 757 applies to defined multiunit-rental/property-owners-association pools and covered dwelling access, with a pool-depth predicate over 18 inches; ordinary single-family homes/adjacent homes outside condominium projects are excluded from its covered residential definition.

• Automatic vehicular gates: New Braunfels expressly adopts 2021 IRC Appendix AO, Automatic Vehicular Gates. Powered gates must meet applicable adopted gate and electrical safety requirements, independently of ordinary fence height treatment.

• Cultivated land and applicable stock-law branches: Agriculture Code §143.001 generally requires gardeners/farmers to enclose cleared cultivated land with a sufficient fence at least 5 feet high and hog-resistant, subject to adopted local-option treatment. For an applicable adopted §143.028 branch, a sufficient fence is at least 4 feet: barbed wire has three wires, posts no more than 30 feet apart and stays between posts; pickets no more than 6 inches apart; board fence three boards at least 5 inches wide and 1 inch thick; rail fence four rails. The statute permits a separate election on three barbed wires without a board. Species and actual county/area election territory determine stock-law duties. More than three lineal miles of same-direction fence around cleared cultivated land requires an unlocked gate at least 10 feet wide under §143.002.

• Protected agricultural operations: Agriculture Code §251.0055 limits municipal requirements within corporate boundaries. It requires clear-and-convincing evidence of necessity and inadequate less restrictive means, an official health/consultant report and Council resolution for the specified imminent dangers, including explosion, flooding, vermin/insects, injury, identified contagious disease, support removal, water contamination, radiation, toxic storage, traffic-hazard vegetation and firearm/other-weapon discharge subject to Local Government Code §229.002. The report addresses hazards, needed regulation, accepted practices and any restriction of practices identified as not threatening public health. The statute separately limits agricultural-practice/feed/forage and pest-control restrictions, tax-designation requirements and compulsory mowing/baling/shredding/hoeing of adjacent public-road right-of-way. An agricultural vegetation-height rule must be at least 12 inches and apply only within 10 feet of the specified adjoining public frontage or inhabited property. A livestock-protection dog is excepted from City restraint requirements while used for that purpose on owner-controlled land; qualifying wildlife management can be documented by the specified written plan. Under §251.006, an owner, lessee or occupant of agricultural land has the stated protection from construction/maintenance liability to the state, a governmental unit or owners/lessees/occupants of other agricultural land for a qualifying agricultural improvement, including a fence designed for sheltering, restricting or feeding animal/aquatic life or the specified storage/equipment functions. The construction must not be expressly prohibited by statute or a governmental requirement adopted under §251.005 in effect when constructed. The qualifying improvement is not a nuisance and is not otherwise subject to suit or injunction; enforcement of state/federal statutes remains. Section 251.009 supplies the specified declaratory/injunctive remedy, with prevailing-party court costs and reasonable attorney fees. Actual agricultural status and statutory conditions govern these protections.

• Livestock incidents and agricultural-land fence damage: Civil Practice and Remedies Code §75.006(b) limits a landowner/lessee’s livestock-incident damages, on or off the property, caused by a firefighter/peace officer entering with or without permission, a trespasser, an unpermitted third party entering and damaging a fence/gate, or wildlife/act of God. Subsection (c) separately protects an agricultural-land owner, lessee or occupant against damage/injury on or off that land arising from peace/federal-officer entry or caused entry with or without permission, trespasser entry, unpermitted third-party entry and fence/gate damage, or wildlife/act of God. Subsection (d) protects the agricultural-land owner, lessee or occupant against damage/injury from an individual’s unpermitted entry or caused entry because of its listed officer, trespasser, unpermitted-third-party fence/gate-damage or wildlife/act-of-God events. The agricultural owner/lessee/occupant’s wilful or wanton act or gross negligence remains excepted; following a listed event, the owner or lessee of the affected land must cure resulting defects within a reasonable time.

• Trespassers and highly dangerous artificial conditions: Under Civil Practice and Remedies Code §75.007, a trespasser enters without a legal right, express or implied. The general no-duty rule retains a duty to refrain from wilful, wanton or grossly negligent injury. Liability for a child’s injury from a highly dangerous artificial condition requires all five conditions: the owner/lessee/occupant knew or reasonably should know children were likely to trespass there; knew or reasonably should know of the condition and realize its unreasonable risk of death/serious bodily harm; the child’s youth prevented discovery/appreciation of risk; utility of maintaining it and burden of removal were slight relative to risk; and reasonable care was not used to eliminate danger or protect the child. No fixed under-16 cutoff appears in that rule. The statute does not affect §§75.001–.004 and creates or increases no person’s liability. Pool barriers and other applicable safety duties remain.

PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS

• Recorded agreements and ownership: Recorded deed, subdivision, homeowners-association, architectural, conservation, private-easement and maintenance agreements may impose independent requirements, subject to Texas statutory limits. Review fence ownership, access, maintenance and cost provisions separately from public approval. A public permit does not allocate ownership or establish an automatic equal-cost obligation between neighbors.

• Association perimeter/security fencing: Property Code §202.023 generally prevents a property owners’ association from prohibiting security measures including perimeter fencing, but excludes Chapter 81/82 condominiums and Chapter 215 master mixed-use associations. Associations retain authority to regulate fence type and prohibit obstruction of licensed areas, public/community sidewalks and drainage easements/areas. They may require a driveway gate at least 10 feet from right-of-way where the driveway intersects a defined laned roadway and, if a restrictive covenant provides, prohibit installation forward of the dwelling’s front-most building line.

• Pre-September 2025 fencing and enhanced security: Notwithstanding the subsection (c) exceptions, an owner may maintain perimeter/front-building-line fencing installed or constructed before September 1, 2025. Separately, notwithstanding only the front-building-line prohibition, an association may not prohibit qualifying fencing when the owner’s residential address is legally exempt from disclosure or law-enforcement documentation establishes enhanced-security need. Other statutory and public requirements remain.

• Association review of protected pool enclosures: Property Code §202.022 protects a compliant nonclimbable pool/spa/water-feature enclosure made of transparent mesh or clear panels in metal frames, not higher than 6 feet, satisfying applicable state/local safety requirements. The association may regulate appearance and colors but cannot prohibit qualifying black transparent mesh in metal frames.

• Solar devices in fenced yards: Property Code §202.010 permits the specified association restriction of a solar device in an owner-maintained fenced yard/patio when the device rises above the fence line, with that statute’s other approval and exception conditions. Any fence alteration remains subject to its own applicable requirements.

REVIEW AND ENFORCEMENT CONTEXT

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

• Required approvals: Whether the building exemption applies and whether floodplain, historic, pool, district or right-of-way review is independently required.

• Height and placement: Required-front-yard openness/height, side-yard construction, sight triangles, property boundaries and easement access.

• Drainage and sensitive sites: Blocked flow, prohibited drainage-easement fences, stream erosion-hazard placement, floodway effects and construction erosion controls.

• Construction and special conditions: Pool barrier/gate/cover compliance, protected-tree work, residential buffer walls and applicable animal-containment conditions.

• Utilities and agricultural work: Locate/ticket response, pipeline construction/damage duties, actual agricultural-operation conditions and joint/attached-fence removal.

• Private disputes: Association review and recorded ownership/maintenance/cost issues remain separate from City code enforcement and public approvals.

USING THIS INFORMATION

This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within the City of New Braunfels, 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 Building Safety 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.