FENCE RULES – MELISSA (CITY), TEXAS

OVERVIEW

This page applies to residential fence work within the corporate limits of the City of Melissa, Texas, in Collin County.

Melissa requires a permit for fence construction, with a narrow repair exception for no more than 24 linear feet and no change in location, dimensions or scope. Ordinary front-yard decorative fencing is limited to three feet; side and rear fencing generally reaches eight feet. Corner lots, alleys and driveways have additional visibility rules. Wood is expressly recognized in certain designs, vinyl has a conditional City-authorization provision, and chain-link has location and construction restrictions. Pools require a five-foot local enclosure as well as applicable building-code protection. Retaining walls, drainage, easements, tree rows and required subdivision screens can materially change a project. Updated November 2026.

Quick question	Melissa answer
Permit or approval	Fence permit required. Defined repairs of no more than 24 linear feet are exempt only when scope, location and dimensions stay the same and materials are the same or comparable.
Typical fence height	Ordinary front building-setback area: 3 feet. Side/rear: generally 8 feet. Tennis courts, required screens, corners and pool enclosures have separate conditions.
Placement & property lines	Public property, rights-of-way, easements, reverse-frontage corners, driveway/alley clearances and sight areas restrict placement. A reverse-frontage side-yard branch requires 15 feet from the side property line.
Common fence materials	Wood: recognized for decorative fronts and specified screening. Vinyl/PVC: subject to the City’s express-authorization/privacy-post provision. Chain-link: prohibited in front yards; threaded slats prohibited; other safety and pool conditions apply.
Important local conditions	Fence rules may be further affected by corner and double-frontage lots, pools, retaining walls, required subdivision screens, planned developments, tree preservation, floodplain and erosion-hazard areas, drainage and utility easements, agricultural use and private restrictions.
Official local resource	City of Melissa Residential Permits

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 Melissa Development & Neighborhood Services or the responsible office identified for that issue.

GOVERNANCE

Melissa is a home-rule City with a council-manager form of government. The City Council adopts municipal regulations. Fence requirements appear in Article 3.700 of the Melissa Code of Ordinances, together with zoning, screening, subdivision, floodplain and tree-preservation provisions.

• City responsibilities: Development & Neighborhood Services administers permit applications; the Building Official makes the fence-material determinations specified in the code. Development Services administers zoning. The City Engineer serves as Floodplain Administrator unless otherwise designated by ordinance; the Appeal Board handles the floodplain appeals and variances provided by Article 3.600. Animal Control administers applicable dangerous-dog enclosure requirements.

• Engineering and site standards: Chapter 9 §4.01 provides for engineering standards administered through the City Manager or designee with City Engineer input. The City’s engineering standards and development tools include the Engineering Design Manual. Current Chapter 9 Article IV prevails when it conflicts with that manual.

• Adopted construction codes: Section 3.101 adopts the 2021 International Residential, Building, Fire, Plumbing, Mechanical, Fuel Gas and Energy Conservation Codes, the 2020 National Electrical Code and the 2021 International Property Maintenance Code, with local provisions. Pool enclosures are also governed by §3.706 and zoning §23.5. The adopted 2021 Residential Code’s pool reference is R327.1, which refers to the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code; its referenced edition is 2021.

• Overlapping fence rules: Section 3.711 makes the more restrictive requirement control conflicts between Article 3.700 and City zoning regulations. A conflicting planned-development ordinance prevails under that section. Property-specific zoning and approved-plan conditions can therefore change a fence’s design or location.

• Downtown and other special zoning: The Downtown Overlay includes single-family use in its Transition Mixed Use area under SF-3 base standards. Its parking-screen provisions apply to the parking situations they regulate. The Commercial Corridor Overlay concerns nonresidential zoning. A home’s applicable zoning, recorded plat and approved plan remain important where special conditions attach to the property.

PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS

• Fence and retaining-wall permit: Section 3.702 requires a City permit before constructing any fence, any part of a fence or any retaining wall. The fence definition covers a wall or structure more than 18 inches high used for enclosure, screening, access restriction or decoration. It includes bases, footings, columns, posts, braces, gates and other structural parts.

• Limited repair exemption: No permit is required for a repair meeting §3.701(e): replacement of no more than 24 linear feet, with no change in scope, location or dimensions. Materials must be the same as the original or comparable in composition, color, size, shape and quality. A longer replacement or a changed fence falls outside this repair definition.

• Application and fee: Supply the City-required form information, fence/wall style, material and design, proposed height, a survey or scalable plot plan of the entire property showing the proposed fence/wall and existing improvements, and approximate project value. Appendix A lists a $90 residential fence-permit fee; current fees remain subject to Council action. Applications use the City’s current online permit process.

• Retaining walls: Article 3.700’s permit requirement covers retaining walls without a minimum-height exception. The manual separately identifies residential walls at least 15 inches, measured from top of footing to top of wall, and requires the entire variable-height wall to be permitted when a portion exceeds that threshold. Engineering requirements are addressed under Material and Construction Limits.

• Fence-row trees and tree removal: A fence proposed within the protected fence-row-tree corridor requires City review and approval of its design and layout. Tree-removal permits and preservation conditions can also apply; the relevant corridor, size and agricultural-fee provisions appear below.

• Floodplain and pond-inundation areas: Article 3.600 requires a Floodplain Development Permit for covered development in special flood-hazard areas and designated areas susceptible to Natural Resources Conservation Service pond breach or inundation. Development includes excavation, filling, grading and other man-made changes. The article expressly exempts tracts lawfully subdivided into parcels smaller than one acre before its August 28, 2007 adoption. Other drainage, easement and safety requirements remain applicable. The City Engineer administers site and elevation information, watercourse changes and flood-risk review.

• Projects involving grading or broader site work: Development work governed by the manual’s erosion-control provisions requires an erosion-control plan and applicable City approval. Where fence work includes grading or other covered land disturbance, comply with the site’s erosion-control and drainage requirements. Larger land-disturbance projects can also require state construction-stormwater coverage under the applicable acreage or common-plan conditions.

• Swimming pools and associated walls: Zoning §23.5 requires a swimming-pool building permit and certificate of occupancy before construction or use. Pool placement and structural clearances, as well as the enclosure, must comply. A barrier that also serves as a yard fence must satisfy its applicable fence rules.

FENCE PLACEMENT RULES

• Property boundaries and public land: Locate the legal boundary, recorded easements and right-of-way before setting posts. Existing fences, landscaping and pavement edges are not a substitute for the property survey. Section 3.703 prohibits fences, guy wires, braces or posts on or protruding over land that the City or public owns, controls or holds under an easement, except utility easements that permit fencing.

• Yard classification: Under Article 3.700, the front yard faces a street and extends across the lot from its front to the principal building. The rear yard extends across the lot between that structure and the rear line. A side yard lies between the building and side line, extending from front to rear yard. A corner lot meets two or more private or dedicated public streets.

• Corner and double-frontage lots: Zoning generally requires front yards along both corner streets unless the final plat specifies otherwise. Double-frontage lots generally have a required front yard along each street, subject to a plat/ordinance accessory-building-line exception. Where one side of a street between intersections has two or more zoning districts, the most restrictive front-yard requirement applies to that frontage. Established plat/ordinance building lines and future right-of-way lines can affect the required front-yard area. The zoning provision generally prevents an established front building line below 20 feet, except approved planned developments.

• Reverse-frontage corner: This is a corner lot whose rear line adjoins another lot’s side line, including across an alley. In the required side yard adjacent to a front-yard area, the fence must remain at least 15 feet from the side property line and no higher than eight feet.

• Corner lot platted with two front yards: Where the house faces one, §3.1400(b)(8)(C) treats the second as a street-adjacent side yard. Its angled-fence rule starts at the front right-of-way line 12 feet from the side right-of-way line and ends at a point on the side lot line. The article supplies no separate endpoint distance. Applicable reverse-frontage and visibility restrictions still apply.

• Driveway and alley clearance: Along a rear line where a driveway connects to an alley, fencing stops at least five feet before the intersection point. Fencing along a driveway or perpendicular to an alley stays out of the five feet next to the rear lot line or alley easement line. Rear/side-entry garage or carport drives also require five-foot visibility clips on both sides, measured both directions from the driveway’s corner with the alley or street.

• Utility and drainage easement access: Chapter 9 recognizes utility access and removal rights for fences or improvements that endanger or interfere with utility or drainage systems. A recorded easement can restrict location and require continuing unobstructed access. The manual’s drainage-maintenance-route provision expressly excepts fences from its structures/equipment exclusion; the easement’s access conditions still apply.

• Fire-protection access: Fences, posts and other objects must leave hydrants, fire-department inlet connections and fire-protection control valves immediately visible and accessible.

• Established erosion-hazard easements: The manual prohibits a fence, wall, pool, deck or other structure within an established Erosion Hazard Setback Easement. Its standard determination projects a 4H:1V line from the conservatively estimated 100-year erosion toe to natural/proposed ground, then adds 15 feet horizontally away from the stream. For banks flatter than 4H:1V, the rule uses 15 feet from top of bank or the fully developed 100-year floodplain, whichever provides the greater buffer. Qualified documentation of rock or stabilization can support the separate 3H:1V plus 15-foot branch. Maintenance access remains part of the determination; an approved stabilization plan has its own continuing-access conditions.

• Floodway and other covered floodplain work: Floodway encroachments, including development, require the qualifying hydrologic/hydraulic demonstration of no increase in base-flood levels, subject to the separate federal approval procedure. In specified A1–30/AE areas without a designated floodway, the ordinance limits cumulative development effects to a one-foot rise, again subject to the separate federal procedure. Covered new construction/substantial improvements require flood-resistant materials, methods and anchoring. The applicable maps include revisions; a parcel’s flood and pond-inundation status is a site question.

• Drainage and grading: The manual prohibits harmful lot-to-lot drainage and redirection onto private property after runoff reaches a public right-of-way or drainage/floodplain easement. Grading and drainage may not negatively affect surrounding properties. Its lot-grading provisions call for six inches of fall within ten feet of foundation walls or appropriate drains/swales where obstructed, and at least 2% slope away from the building on impervious surfaces within ten feet. A fence or wall must fit the site’s drainage arrangement. Water Code §11.086 separately restricts damaging diversion or impoundment of natural surface water.

• Protected fence-row trees: Section 27-A preserves residential fence-row trees at least six inches in caliper in a 15-foot corridor centered 7½ feet on each side. The printed provision pairs “feet” with an inconsistent inch symbol. Utilities, trenches including irrigation, alley paving and permanent structures are restricted in the corridor. Noninterfering fencing may be approved after City review of design/layout. The stated back-to-back residential-alley access exception permits specified tree removal without replacement.

• Tree preservation on existing home sites: After a single-family, manufactured-home or duplex certificate of occupancy, developmental landscaping provisions cease to apply, but maintenance and tree preservation continue. Trees under three inches caliper are exempt from preservation; §27-A(G) requires removal permits at three inches or more. The code separately mentions six-inch trees in its cutting restriction. No clear-cutting is allowed before the required permit. Nonprotective attachments/wires on trees are prohibited. Grade changes of at least one inch require staff approval and root-protection measures; the specified wall/well remains at least half the normal mature drip-line distance from the trunk.

• Agricultural acreage and tree permits: Agriculture-Open Space zoning or an agricultural tax exemption can support a discretionary no-fee tree-removal permit. Other no-fee grounds include disease, danger, utility conflict or unsafe visibility. The permit process still applies.

• Joint and attached fences: Agriculture Code §§143.121–.123 restrict removal of a jointly owned dividing fence or a fence attached to another person’s fence except by mutual consent or the statutory process. An owner of an interest in a fence attached to another’s fence can withdraw their fence after six months’ written notice to the specified owner, agent, attorney or lessee. An owner whose fence is wholly on their land can require an attached fence to be disconnected after the corresponding six-month written notice. Ownership, attachment and agreements determine the applicable branch; there is no automatic equal-cost rule.

• Pipeline easement construction: Health & Safety Code Chapter 756 separately covers building, repairing, replacing or maintaining construction on/across/over/under pipeline easements or rights-of-way, and construction creating a pipeline risk. Operator notice and the statutory no-increased-risk determination, payment for required protection or existing written agreement are part of that law. Written agreements to the contrary can affect applicability. An 811 ticket does not replace this review.

• Excavation notice and timing: Utilities Code Chapter 251 covers specified mechanized/explosive disturbance to 16 inches or more, including powered augers. Ordinary notice is no earlier than 14 days and no later than 48 hours before excavation, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. “Saturday notification” means notice on Saturday before 11:59 a.m.; the special start time is the following Tuesday at 11:59 a.m., or Wednesday at 11:59 a.m. when Monday is a holiday. Notice includes location, excavator/contact information, planned start/completion and explosives use. Agricultural/private-property and other statutory exceptions have their own conditions.

• Facility coverage and pipeline tickets: Chapter 251 distinguishes covered facility classes and exempt/private facilities; privately owned irrigation, pool and other service lines may require separate locating. Railroad Commission Chapter 18 is a separate pipeline-damage-prevention regime and can cover hand digging deeper than 16 inches. Its ticket provisions use a default 14-working-day life, qualifying written longer agreements, refresh for remaining work and at least four years of records. Applicable operator responses, marking issues and extraordinary circumstances must be resolved through the relevant process.

• Damage during covered excavation: Immediately report damage to the facility operator, or a notification center if the operator is uncertain. Only the operator or its authorized person makes repairs, which must be performed expeditiously. Delay backfilling in the immediate damaged area until reporting and an agreed repair schedule; keep ignition sources away when flammable material creates danger.

• Before post digging: Request a Texas811 utility locate, wait the applicable period and follow ticket/start instructions. Check responses and site markings, resolve missing or conflicting information, protect marks and dig carefully. Permits, easement rights, pipeline construction conditions and private-line locating remain separate.

FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES

• Ordinary front yard: Article 3.700 limits decorative fencing in the front building-setback area to three feet above finished lot grade. Solid area may not exceed 50%, with solid widths no greater than six inches except corners/posts. Height/location/opacity rules also apply to walls, hedges or landscaping used instead of or with a fence, except where the Code requires otherwise.

• Different front-yard provisions: Section 3.1400(b)(8) states a 48-inch front-yard maximum and a 36-inch berm-plus-fence maximum. Article 3.700 separately uses three feet and prohibits a berm primarily created to elevate fencing. Section 3.711 requires the more restrictive conflicting requirement. The ordinary front-yard answer is therefore three feet; property-specific approved conditions can require separate review.

• Side and rear yards: Article 3.700 generally limits fences in side/rear yards and along those lot lines to eight feet. It separately allows a tennis-court fence up to ten feet. Section 3.1400 also states an eight-foot limit behind the minimum front-yard line, measured above adjacent-property grade; the more restrictive conflicting provision applies.

• Fence on a permitted retaining wall: Article 3.700 measures from the top of the permitted retaining wall to the highest fence point. Without that permitted-wall elevation, it measures grade to the highest point. The separate adjacent-grade zoning provision and conflict rule remain relevant.

• Intersection with required screening: A fence exceeding the height of an intersecting screening wall must transition to the wall’s height over 20 feet. The zoning cul-de-sac branch permits ornamental metal attached to a required screen up to eight feet only on the side adjacent to a street right-of-way at least 60 feet wide, and no higher than the screen. Article 3.700’s more-restrictive conflict provision remains applicable to a front-yard proposal.

• Street corners: Front-corner fencing needs Building Official-approved visibility for at least 30 feet along each street. Zoning also prohibits a hazardous view obstruction above three feet over street grade viewed from a point 30 feet behind the right-of-way corner. The five-foot driveway clips described under placement remain separate.

• Alley/street intersections: No fence or plant taller than 2½ feet may occupy the triangle formed by measuring ten feet along the property lines and joining those points.

• Sight-visibility easements: The manual prohibits fences, walls, screens, landscaping and other objects that obstruct the driver’s sight line within the easement. At thoroughfare intersections, visibility must remain clear between two and seven feet above average gutter elevation. The assumed driver position is 14.5 feet behind the intersecting curb; curved-road distances follow the horizontal curve.

• Manual intersection sight distances: Table 2-2 gives near/far distances in feet for a stopped passenger car, grades of 3% or less and typical City sections: 30 mph/two lanes: 290/335; 35 mph/three or four lanes: 335/415; five lanes: 335/440; 40 mph/four lanes: 385/530; six lanes: 385/560; 45 mph/three lanes: 430/530; six lanes: 430/630. Other conditions use the referenced AASHTO guidance. Corner-clip right-of-way dedications and the full sight easement are distinct site features.

• Swimming-pool enclosure: Zoning §23.5 requires at least five feet for the complete enclosure of the pool area or surrounding yard, with self-enclosing/self-latching entrance gates and no child crawl-through. Applicable model-code barrier details are additional requirements, described below.

MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS

• Wood and decorative fronts: Article 3.700 expressly gives wrought iron, wood and masonry as decorative front-fence examples. Fronts remain subject to the three-foot height, openness and material-sample approval requirements; wire, mesh and chain-link are prohibited there.

• Vinyl/PVC and privacy-fence posts: Section 3.705(e) refers to vinyl expressly authorized by a City ordinance, rule or regulation. Unless that authorization applies, privacy fencing in all zoning districts must use metal posts at least 2⅜ inches, set two feet deep in concrete. The applicable City authorization and approved fence design determine a vinyl proposal.

• Chain-link: Threading slats of any material through chain-link is prohibited. Residential chain-link less than five feet high must have the finished edge at the top. Front-yard chain-link remains prohibited, and pool-barrier opening limits apply when it encloses a pool.

• Restricted materials: Section 3.705(b) restricts rope; string; wire products including chicken wire, hog wire, wire fabric and similar welded/woven fabrics except as otherwise provided in the Article; live bamboo; netting; cut or broken glass; paper; corrugated metal panels; galvanized sheet metal; plywood or fiberglass panels; and other materials not manufactured specifically for fencing, unless intended for agricultural use or livestock restraint.

• Condition, reused materials and temporary fences: Damaged, deteriorated or unsafe materials are prohibited. Used/recycled materials require the Building Official’s determination that they meet Building Code requirements for new materials. Temporary fences are limited to required construction, excavation or life-safety use, except temporary wire garden fences no higher than three feet.

• Electric fences in residential zoning: Charged fencing is prohibited except for restraining livestock where permitted, or a single strand within three feet of ground to restrain small animals. Charged fences require warning signs every 75 feet and low-voltage, UL-approved charging units.

• Livestock and barbed wire: Section 3.705(c) limits barbed wire to livestock restraint or the separate commercial/industrial use with its 6½-foot lowest-strand condition. On residential acreage, the livestock-use branch and other applicable agricultural rules determine the proposal.

• Retaining-wall engineering: Article 3.700 requires a licensed engineer at four feet or more, and below four feet if the wall supports a fence or is close enough to a structure that the angle from foundation top to wall base exceeds 1:1. The manual separately requires Texas professional-engineer design at 24 inches, measured footing-top to wall-top, and for the whole variable-height wall when the threshold is crossed. These are distinct published standards; a short fence-supporting wall can require engineering even below both height thresholds.

• Engineered wall and fence combinations: The manual requires fence-post/pole loads to be included, with a 1.5 factor of safety against sliding and overturning. Perched walls are prohibited on slopes steeper than 8H:1V; walls on slopes or combined wall/slope heights over eight feet require stability analysis. Tiers count as one wall when the upper base is set back less than twice the lower wall’s height. Applicable structural-wall inspections and sealed certification accompany this work.

• Required subdivision screens: Single-family property along or adjacent to collector-or-higher streets uses the required screening system: Type 1 masonry, Type 2 wood with masonry columns, or Type 3 wrought iron with landscaping where the view beyond is a landscaped front yard. Type 1 is at least six feet; Type 2 is six to eight feet; Type 3 is four to six feet, with spires counted and its drawing showing bar spacing no greater than four inches. Required screens remain governed by their approved plans and ownership arrangements.

• Materials and finish for required screens: Type 1 uses natural stone or natural earth-tone kiln-fired brick with finished faces. Type 2 uses decay-resistant wood such as cedar/redwood; the stated wood-appearance composite alternative requires PD/SUP authorization and at least a 25-year warranty. Type 2 stringers are concealed from public rights-of-way/parks; both sides are surfaced when both are visible from a right-of-way, HOA lot or public park. Type 3 includes landscaping. The approved screen’s foundations, columns, mowing strip and drainage details remain part of that screen’s plan.

• Ownership and replacement of required screens: Current Chapter 9 assigns required thoroughfare-screen ownership and maintenance to the HOA, with dues/assessments for upkeep; the City does not undertake ordinary reconstruction responsibility. Individual yard-fence work must respect that ownership and the approved screening plan.

• A required separating screen next to a home: Section 3.1400 generally places the six-to-eight-foot separating-screen obligation on the less restrictive multifamily/nonresidential property. Required screens use the specified permanent materials, equal-screening gates and finished sides; the City can approve the stated living-screen alternative. An adjacent owner’s required screen and an individual homeowner’s yard fence are separate structures and responsibilities.

• Screening-wall drainage: The manual specifies a uniform two-inch drainage opening between columns for screening walls. Pool-barrier openings must also satisfy the applicable pool conditions.

• Pool, spa and hot-tub barriers: Section 3.706 requires compliance with adopted building codes. Swimming pools also have the local five-foot complete-enclosure rule. The referenced 2021 pool code includes cover, dwelling-wall, onground-pool and natural-barrier arrangements; the local provision does not expressly reconcile all of those alternatives with its wall/fence enclosure requirement. The approved barrier arrangement must satisfy the applicable local and adopted-code requirements.

• Model-code covers and construction barriers: The 2021 pool code’s §305.1 exempts qualifying locations from §§305.2–305.7 when a spa/hot tub has an ASTM F1346 lockable safety cover or a pool has an ASTM F1346 powered safety cover. Its construction-site fencing is at least four feet from excavation until the permanent barrier is completed. Melissa’s separate five-foot swimming-pool enclosure remains applicable.

• Pool-barrier height, ground clearance and surfaces: The model barrier minimum is 48 inches measured from the outside, maintained around the perimeter and for three feet horizontally outside it; Melissa’s pool enclosure minimum is five feet. Model bottom clearance is at most two inches over nonsolid ground or four inches over solid surfaces. A pool-top-mounted barrier has at most a four-inch gap above the pool structure. Openings must reject a four-inch sphere; solid barriers cannot form handholds/footholds except normal tolerances and tooled masonry joints.

• Mesh used as an approved pool barrier: The 2021 provisions require manufacturer installation, bottom clearance no greater than one inch, and lifting/under-panel limits that prevent passage of a four-inch sphere and clearance over four inches. Section attachments are at least 45 inches above grade; hinged gates comply with the gate rules; deck sleeves are nonconductive. Mesh cannot be mounted on an onground residential pool. Its inside is at least 20 inches from the water edge. Applicable local material and front-yard restrictions still apply.

• Pool-barrier rails, pickets and equipment: With horizontal-member tops less than 45 inches apart, horizontals face the pool and vertical/cutout openings are at most 1¾ inches. With tops at least 45 inches apart, vertical openings are at most four inches and decorative cutouts at most 1¾ inches. Chain-link openings are at most 1¾ inches; diagonal openings at most 1¾ inches with diagonals no more than 45 degrees from vertical. Outside pool equipment is at least 36 inches from the barrier. Local chain-link slat restrictions remain.

• Pool doors and gates: Pedestrian gates open away from the pool and are self-closing/self-latching, with provision for locking. Nonpedestrian utility/service gates remain locked when unused. Multiple-leaf gates have at least one leaf secured and the adjacent leaf self-latching. For residential outside-access releases, non-self-locking mechanisms are at least 54 inches high; self-locking controls/releases are no higher than 54 inches. An inside-only private-pool release is at least three inches below the gate top; openings within 18 inches of an inside latch are no greater than ½ inch.

• Dwelling wall as part of an approved barrier: Direct-access doors/gates and operable windows with sills below 48 inches use the specified UL2017 water-hazard alarm arrangement, unless the qualifying listed safety-cover or approved equivalent-protection alternative applies. Alarm-deactivation controls are at least 54 inches above finished floor in ordinary dwellings; in required Accessible/Type A/Type B units they are 48–54 inches. The local complete-enclosure provision remains part of approval.

• Onground pool-wall arrangements: The model-code arrangement requires a wall on grade, at least 48 inches high around the entire perimeter, compliant construction and manufacturer permission, or a compliant top-mounted combination achieving that height. Access ladders/steps must be secured, locked or removed unless enclosed by a compliant barrier; resulting openings must reject a four-inch sphere. Top-mounted barriers follow manufacturer instructions. Melissa’s five-foot swimming-pool enclosure is a separate requirement.

• Natural pool-barrier arrangements: The model water-edge alternative requires no public shoreline access and barriers extending at least 18 inches beyond the water edge. Natural topography requires governing-body approval and equivalent protection. These model alternatives and the separate local complete-enclosure provision need an approved site-specific arrangement. Association/multiunit and public pools have different classifications and additional requirements.

• Cultivated acreage and stock-law fences: Agriculture Code §143.001 generally calls for a hog-resistant fence at least five feet around cleared cultivated land, subject to local-option stock-law treatment. More than three miles of fence around such land running in the same general direction requires an unlocked gate at least ten feet wide. These are agricultural conditions, separate from ordinary residential maximum heights.

• Where the applicable stock-law branch governs: Section 143.028 says a person need not fence against animals prohibited from running at large. Its sufficient-fence branch uses at least four feet and the listed construction alternatives: three barbed wires with posts no more than 30 feet apart and stays; pickets no more than six inches apart; three boards at least five inches wide and one inch thick; or four rails. Election provisions and the separate animal-class test in §143.077 affect applicability. The governing area/species instrument determines which branch applies to acreage. Under the separate highway branch, owners/controllers of the listed livestock may not knowingly let them roam unattended on a U.S. or state highway right-of-way; that highway definition excludes numbered farm-to-market roads.

• Qualifying agricultural operations at a residence: Agriculture Code Chapter 251 and the Texas constitutional agricultural protection can affect restrictions on qualifying operations and fence improvements. The operation, dates and actual agricultural use matter; state/federal requirements and statutory limitations remain. Agricultural zoning or a tax exemption alone does not settle every fence requirement.

• Dangerous-dog enclosure: A secure enclosure must be locked, prevent public/child entry and dog escape, display the dangerous-dog warning and satisfy Animal Control requirements. Confirm the applicable enclosure requirements with Animal Control.

• Safe condition: Maintain all fences, including existing fences, in safe and presentable condition. Replace broken/defective parts and correct visible or unsafe lean. The fence notice provision provides 30 days after receipt for compliance.

• Legally nonconforming structures: Where a fence is treated as a lawful nonconforming structure under zoning§30, status depends on lawful establishment. Total destruction requires conforming reconstruction; partial destruction not exceeding 51% of appraised value permits reconstruction without expanded function/area. Relocation must comply with setback/screening requirements. Existing-fence maintenance duties continue.

PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS

Recorded covenants, HOA architectural requirements, private easements and boundary/maintenance/cost agreements can independently affect a fence. Section 3.707 recognizes more restrictive neighborhood covenants, subject to Texas statutory limits. A City permit does not settle ownership, cost sharing or a private easement dispute.

• HOA security/perimeter fencing: Texas Property Code Chapter 202 generally protects security measures including perimeter fences under§202.023, with exclusions for defined condominiums and Chapter 215 master mixed-use associations. Associations can regulate fence type and prohibit obstruction of license areas, public/community sidewalks and drainage easements/areas. They can require a driveway gate at least ten feet from the right-of-way where the driveway intersects the defined laned roadway, and a covenant can prohibit fencing ahead of the front-most building line.

• September 2025 HOA protections: Section 202.023 protects maintenance of perimeter/front-building-line fencing installed or constructed before September 1, 2025. The front-building-line prohibition is also limited when the owner’s residential address is legally exempt from public disclosure or the owner supplies law-enforcement documentation of the need for enhanced security. The other statutory type/obstruction controls remain relevant.

• HOA pool-enclosure protection: Section 202.022 protects a conforming, nonclimbable water-feature enclosure made of transparent mesh or clear panels in metal frames, no higher than six feet, that meets applicable state/local safety requirements. Appearance/color controls remain, but cannot prohibit the protected black transparent-mesh/metal-frame form. Six feet is the statutory protection definition, not Melissa’s general yard-fence maximum.

REVIEW AND ENFORCEMENT CONTEXT

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

• Permit and repair classification: proposed construction, the defined repair exception, plot information, materials and retaining-wall engineering.

• Location and visibility: front/side/rear classification, reverse-frontage corners, driveway/alley clips, sight easements, public property and utility access.

• Site and safety conditions: drainage, floodplain/erosion easements, protected trees, required subdivision screens, pool barriers and applicable animal containment.

• State and private obligations: utility/pipeline work, agricultural conditions and joint/attached-fence removal can raise separate issues. HOA review and ownership/private-agreement disputes remain distinct from City code enforcement.

USING THIS INFORMATION

This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within the City of Melissa, 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 Melissa Development & Neighborhood Services 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.