FENCE RULES – HARKER HEIGHTS (CITY), TEXAS

OVERVIEW

This page covers residential fence work within the incorporated boundaries of the City of Harker Heights in Bell County, Texas.

Harker Heights requires a building permit for ordinary residential fence construction and publishes detailed rules for materials, property-line placement and visibility. The general height ceiling is eight feet, with lower limits for specified front yards, street-facing sides, rear setbacks and premises of five acres or more. Cedar, redwood, treated lumber, masonry, chain-link and decorative iron are listed materials; vinyl/PVC requires alternative-material approval. Corner sight areas, utility easements, drainage channels, pools and certain residential districts add requirements. Required screening has its own construction and measurement rules, and the Code contains differing screening-height provisions. Updated November 2026.

Quick question	Harker Heights answer
Permit or approval	A building permit is required for ordinary residential fence construction. Section 150.02(F)(3) deletes the residential code’s fence permit exemption. Limited ranch-fence maintenance and internal animal-control fencing have express exemptions; separate site approvals can apply.
Typical fence height	General maximum: eight feet from finished grade. Specified front-yard, street-side and rear-setback fences are limited to four feet; premises of at least five acres have a five-foot provision. Corner visibility and required screening have separate rules.
Placement & property lines	The Code directs fences onto property lines. Visibility triangles, utility rights, drainage channels, public passage and site-specific conditions still control placement.
Common fence materials	Wood: cedar, redwood and treated lumber are listed; ground-contact wood must be treated. Vinyl/PVC: requires alternative-material approval. Chain-link: listed, with additional design requirements when used for screening or a pool barrier.
Important local conditions	Fence rules may be further affected by corner lots and driveways, large premises, infill and townhouse districts, manufactured-home parks, covered residential dumpster sites, planned developments, Knight’s Way frontage, pools, easements, drainage and floodplain conditions, and private restrictions subject to Texas law.
Official local resource	City of Harker Heights Building Permit Application

The table is for quick reference. The sections below explain the applicable fence rules in detail. Before buying materials or beginning construction, read the sections that apply to the property, review the linked official sources, and confirm site-specific questions with Planning and Development, the Building Official or the responsible office identified below.

GOVERNANCE

The City Council adopts Harker Heights ordinances. Planning and Development and the Building Official administer residential fence permitting and construction requirements. The City of Harker Heights Code of Ordinances distributes fence requirements among Chapter 150, Building Regulations; Chapter 155, Zoning; and related street, drainage, erosion and floodplain provisions. Section 150.30 expressly covers fence construction, alteration, replacement, repair and location within city limits.

Harker Heights operates under a home-rule charter and a council-manager form of government. Municipal residential construction is subject to the Texas municipal residential-code framework and the City’s adopted codes and amendments. Section 150.02 adopts the 2024 International Residential Code, 2024 International Building Code and 2024 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code. The City identifies January 1, 2025 as the effective date for its 2024 code cycle. The current ordinance also adopts the 2026 National Electrical Code, relevant to electrical gate work.

Public Works administers erosion and drainage requirements. The appointed Floodplain Administrator reviews development in special flood-hazard areas. The Planning and Development Director handles specified alternative fence designs, and the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council may impose additional screening in zoning cases. The Zoning Board of Adjustment performs the appeal functions assigned by the Code; its authority is limited by the applicable provision.

Approved planned-development documents and zoning conditions can impose site-specific screening. Section 155.041 also applies the adopted Development District No. 1—Knight’s Way Corridor—Design Goals, Guidelines, and Standards Manual to property fronting Knight’s Way (FM 2410), from US Highway 190 to the eastern city limits. Frontage-specific requirements require separate confirmation with Planning and Development.

PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS

Ordinary residential fence permit: Obtain a building permit before constructing an ordinary residential fence. Section 150.02(F)(2) requires the permit, and Section 150.02(F)(3) deletes item 2, the model IRC fence exemption, from the locally adopted 2024 IRC. The limited ranch-fence exemption below remains separate.

• Residential fence application: The City’s Building Permit Application has a separate Fence category. It requires a site plan, accepting a Google aerial view or survey, a description of work on the first page and the proposed fence height. The general instructions require a site or plot plan to scale showing the property and proposed location. Complete the project, owner and applicable contractor information, valuation and signature fields. Incomplete applications are not accepted. Applications may be submitted through MyGovernmentOnline.

• Current fees: The October 2026–September 2027 City fee schedule lists a residential fence fee of $45 plus a $10 technology fee. A retaining wall is listed at $125 plus a $10 technology fee.

• Limited ranch-fence exemption: Section 150.32(A) exempts internal cross-sectioning of qualifying premises for animal control or rotational grazing, and ranch-fence repairs necessary for normal maintenance. Its material and land-use conditions are explained below.

• Alternative materials and corner designs: Materials outside the listed ordinary materials require written Building Official approval. Alternative materials exceeding six feet require written approval from both the Building Official and Planning and Development Director. An alternative corner-lot side-yard design may be submitted to the Director under §150.33(F), with clear sight, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials standards and standard engineering practices.

• Retaining walls: Local IRC amendment R404.6 requires permitting and engineering for walls two feet and over, with site-specific drawings and engineered plans. The permit form likewise requires engineering at 24 inches and taller. Local R105.2 separately retains an exemption for walls not over two feet unless supporting surcharge, leaving overlapping language at exactly two feet. The Building Official should determine permit treatment at that exact height before work begins. The engineering requirement at two feet is expressly published.

• Disturbing soil: Chapter 156 requires erosion-control measures for covered land disturbance and a site-preparation permit for disturbance covering one acre or more, subject to its stated exceptions. The building application more broadly states that a separate Erosion and Sediment Control Permit is required for all land-disturbing activities. Confirm the applicable permit category and disturbance area with Public Works before work begins; the application and ordinance use different scope language.

• Floodplain work: Chapter 153 establishes a Floodplain Development Permit for development in special flood-hazard areas. Its definition includes excavation, grading, filling and other man-made land changes. Applications go to the Floodplain Administrator and may require scaled plans in duplicate showing locations, dimensions, elevations, proposed landscape alterations and their relation to flood-hazard areas, plus a description of any watercourse or drainage alteration. Engineering and floodway conditions depend on the work and location.

• Septic property: The building application requires Bell County Health District approval when the project address is served by septic.

• Paid construction: Chapter 123 requires registration for covered construction operations. Its exemptions include work on property owned or occupied by the person doing it, work for which no building permit is required, solely replacing or repairing a home’s component parts, state-licensed work performed solely within that license, material delivery and professional architectural or engineering services. Registration does not replace a project permit or other required trade approval.

FENCE PLACEMENT RULES

• Private property lines: Section 150.33 directs fences to be built on property lines, including side-yard fences. If owners dispute the boundary location, they are responsible for resolving it without City intervention. A deed or survey boundary, building setback, recorded easement and public right-of-way are separate features. Existing fences, aerial images, curbs and mowing lines do not conclusively establish the legal boundary.

• Utility easements: A fence built in or across a utility easement remains the property owner’s responsibility. If the easement holder lawfully exercises its rights and damages or destroys the fence, repair or replacement is solely the property owner’s responsibility.

• Street-facing side yards: Fences may be placed on the property line, but where the side yard adjoins another property’s front yard, the fence is limited to four feet unless set back to the adjoining property’s front-yard setback line.

• Intersections and driveway access: Fences must respect the visibility triangles described in the next section. Those areas include portions of public right-of-way and corner lots. The same sight-area requirement applies where a driveway or access point intersects the public right-of-way.

• Public sidewalks, roadways and alleys: Sections 96.57 and 96.60 prohibit objects that obstruct public passage across the full sidewalk, roadway or alley width, subject to their lawful-placement exceptions. Section 96.58 prohibits a tree, plant or object within five feet of a fire hydrant. Fence location must preserve hydrant access. State-highway right-of-way is administered separately by the Texas Department of Transportation; the legal corridor, rather than the pavement edge, controls.

• Drainage channels in covered development: In Chapter 156’s provisions for development covering one acre or more, §156.15(B)(8) prohibits a property owner from installing a fence within 15 feet of a ditch, stream, brook or other natural drainage channel. Where a concrete flume or channel is constructed, the abutting owner may fence to its edge, but the City reserves the right to remove the fence for maintenance access. New development next to an existing ditch should provide 15-foot drainage-access easements on each side. This provision accompanies the subchapter’s development scope.

• Recorded drainage and subdivision conditions: Plat easements and drainage facilities must remain compatible with their access and conveyance purposes. Section 154.37 permits subdivision design to use reverse frontage, screening buffers and non-access easements along an arterial. These are plat-specific development conditions. Chapter 158 and Drainage Criteria Manual §1.2.10(D) require designated residential lots graded from front to rear to show detailed grading, swales and any side- or rear-fence modifications needed to remove runoff from the lot.

• Grading and sediment: Chapter 156 requires necessary erosion and sediment barriers before covered land disturbance, continued maintenance, timely removal of temporary devices and permanent stabilization as needed. Sedimentation violations ordinarily must be remediated within 24 hours, unless the administering officer grants a longer period in writing. The one-acre site-preparation permit provision exempts under-one-acre residential-lot preparation, normal lawn/landscape maintenance, existing nursery/agricultural operations and qualifying emergencies. Water Code §11.086 separately prohibits diversion or impoundment of natural surface water that damages another property by overflow, subject to its stated qualifications.

• Floodplains and floodways: Development is subject to Chapter 153’s flood-safety and permit criteria. Regulatory floodway encroachments, including fill and other development, require hydrologic and hydraulic analysis showing no increase in base-flood levels, unless the prescribed federal revision procedure is completed. Chapter 158 and the drainage manual also address local floodplain delineation and engineering certification. A fence or footing must preserve the approved drainage design and any applicable easement.

• Removing a joint or attached fence: Agriculture Code §§143.121–143.123 restrict removal of a dividing fence jointly owned by the person removing it, or a fence attached to one another owns or controls, except by mutual consent or the statutory process. A person who owns an interest in a fence attached to another person’s fence may physically disconnect and withdraw that person’s own fence from the other fence after six months’ written notice to the other fence’s owner or specified representative. An owner whose fence lies wholly on that owner’s land may require an attached fence’s disconnection after six months’ written notice to its owner or specified representative. These rules depend on ownership and attachment.

• Pipeline easement construction: For covered work on, across, over or under a pipeline easement or right-of-way, Health and Safety Code §§756.121–756.123 require operator notice and the applicable risk determination, protective-work payment or written-agreement conditions. The statute has written-agreement and specified public-property exceptions. Any protective work required by the operator must be addressed before proceeding under the applicable branch.

• Utility safety before post digging: Request a locate through Texas811 before digging, wait the applicable lawful period, check ticket responses and site markings, resolve missing or conflicting information through the ticket process, protect marks and excavate carefully. Utilities Code Chapter 251 covers specified mechanized excavation to 16 inches or more; ordinary notice is no earlier than 14 days and no later than 48 hours before excavation, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. A statutory Saturday notification is one provided to the notification center before 11:59 a.m. Saturday; §251.151(b) permits excavation the following Tuesday at 11:59 a.m., or Wednesday at 11:59 a.m. if the intervening Monday is a holiday. Follow the actual ticket start instructions. Separate Railroad Commission pipeline rules can cover manual digging deeper than 16 inches and generally use a 14-working-day ticket life, subject to a longer agreement signed and dated by both excavator and operator. For work subject to those pipeline rules, unfinished work requires refreshing an expired ticket by giving the required notice for only the area yet to be excavated. Unless Chapter 18 expressly states another period, each excavator and operator must retain required records, including locate tickets and positive-response notifications, for at least four years. Locate tickets may be retained at the notification center. Both parties must retain a copy of any longer-ticket-life agreement. Private service lines may require separate locating. Permits, property permission and pipeline-easement duties remain separate obligations.

FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES

• General height: Section 150.34 limits fences to eight feet measured from finished grade, both in areas zoned R and in other zoned areas. The specific location and use conditions below also apply.

• Premises of five acres or more: Section 150.33(C) states a five-foot maximum for fences on such premises.

• Other premises—front yard: Fences and gates within the 25-foot front building setback, where permitted, may not exceed four feet. They must be chain-link, wrought iron or another semitransparent material approved by the Building Official.

• Street-facing side next to another front yard: Maximum four feet, unless set back to the adjoining property’s front-yard setback line.

• Rear yard with a rear building setback: A rear-yard fence on a lot containing a 25-foot building setback in its rear portion may not exceed four feet.

• Street and driveway visibility triangles: Section 150.33(E) defines the street-intersection triangle using the adjacent curb lines and a diagonal joining points 50 feet back from their intersection; curb lines are extended when needed to find that intersection. The triangle includes affected public right-of-way and corner-lot land. Fences must not encroach into it or obstruct approaching motorists’ views. The same method applies at driveway/access intersections with public right-of-way. The Planning and Development Director may approve an alternative corner-lot side-yard fence design that maintains clear sight and meets the stated engineering standards.

• Additional corner-lot height restriction: Section 155.040(C)(5)(c) prohibits a wall, fence, sign, other structure or plant growth higher than two feet above curb level within 15 feet of intersecting property lines on a corner lot where a front or side yard is required. This property-line measurement is separate from the 50-foot curb-line triangle.

• Hedges and other plants at corners: Section 96.56 limits plants to three feet above the center level of the nearest abutting street in a triangle connecting points 20 feet along the corner property lines. The same height restriction applies between the corner property lines and curb lines for 50 feet back from the curb-line intersection. The additional two-foot zoning restriction above also includes plant growth.

• Required screening between uses: Section 150.35 requires screening at least six feet high where the side, rear or service side of R-3, RM-H, B or M property adjoins R-1, R-2, R-3 or RT-1 property. It is installed as the property develops; that subsection does not require screening adjacent to a street. Section 150.36’s listed alternatives are eight feet high, measured from the average grade at the nearest property line of the adjacent property. These screening provisions publish both the six-foot minimum and eight-foot alternatives; the required project design needs the Building Official’s determination.

• Subdivision perimeter and district-boundary screening: Section 150.39(A) states that perimeter fencing around subdivisions or between zoning districts may be increased to eight feet. Section 155.050(A) retains seven feet for the same category. The Code therefore contains differing provisions for this screening context. Confirm the applicable zoning condition and approved height with Planning and Development before construction.

• Manufactured-home park boundaries: Section 152.37 requires each park boundary to be at least 200 feet from a permanent residential building outside the park, unless natural or artificial screening complying with §150.36 separates them. Parks already existing and operating on March 17, 1971 are excluded from this section’s requirements and treated as nonconforming for that purpose. The referenced screening construction and height standards are described above and below.

• Townhouse street frontage: Section 155.027 requires primary entrances to face the street on street-side structures unless there is a minimum six-foot brick, rock, concrete-panel or masonry wall fence.

• Home-based childcare: An outdoor play area must be fenced to at least four feet; outdoor play equipment may not be placed in the front yard.

• Special accessory parking approval: Under §155.222, a Board-approved accessory passenger-car parking area in the specified residential-district setting must have a suitable hedge, screen, fence, wall or enclosure three to six feet high, conforming to the district’s front-yard rules.

MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS

• Listed ordinary materials: Section 150.32 recognizes masonry, cedar, redwood, treated lumber, chain-link and decorative iron. Ground-contact wooden fence material must be treated against rot, decay and termites. All fences must remain in good order and repair. The fence subchapter’s quality-control role concerns its stated public health, safety and welfare purposes.

• Vinyl/PVC and other alternative materials: Written Building Official approval is required for materials outside the listed categories. The proposal must demonstrate superior craftsmanship, harmony with and enhancement of the streetscape and neighborhood, structural integrity, durability, safety and overall design exceeding §150.36 standards. Above six feet, alternative materials require written approval from both the Building Official and Planning and Development Director.

• Large premises and lawful farm animals: Section 150.32(A) recognizes ranch-style livestock/predator-control fencing on premises of three acres or more, including field/mesh, split-rail and ranch-board forms. Barbed wire is separately recognized where large farm animals are legally kept and maintained. The limited internal-fencing and normal-maintenance permit exemptions are described above. Razor wire and electric fencing are not listed ordinary materials and remain subject to the applicable alternative-material process; the state’s special battery-security-fence protection is limited to qualifying nonresidential property.

• Qualifying agricultural operations: Texas Agriculture Code Chapter 251 limits municipal requirements applied to agricultural operations within city limits. Its conditions include clear-and-convincing evidence concerning specified imminent dangers and less restrictive means, a supporting report and City resolution. Certain agricultural fences are covered agricultural improvements under §251.006, which retains state and federal enforcement. Applicability depends on the operation, improvement and statutory conditions.

• Front-yard openness: The four-foot front-yard branch within the 25-foot building setback requires chain-link, wrought iron or another approved semitransparent material.

• Infill districts: In R1-I, masonry fences are prohibited between units less than 12 feet apart measured wall-to-wall; front-facing fences between those units require a gate at least three feet wide. In R2-I, all fences must present a finished face toward abutting streets.

• Required screening: Section 150.36 lists solid masonry/concrete walls, chain-link with redwood slats, and solid wood fencing, using its screening height and measurement method. Sections 150.39 and 155.050 also recognize solid wood panels and galvanized chain-link with interwoven all-weather slats, built on metal posts in concrete footings with bracing. Other listed screening construction includes native stone, brick, decorative-finish precast concrete panels and decorative masonry units, with the finished face outward. No more than 25% of the wall area may use common smooth-faced masonry units. Except for the landscape-buffer alternative, screening fences/walls may have no more than 40 square inches of openings per square foot of surface. Required screening must remain permanently maintained, repaired, neat and orderly by those responsible for the property.

• Dumpster enclosures at covered residential sites: Sections 51.15–51.16 require dumpster collection for residential structures other than single-family and duplex structures constructed after June 9, 2009, and regulate other residential sites required by Chapter 51 to have a dumpster or adequate dumpster-pad area. Under §150.35(B), refuse storage for uses other than R-1, R-2 or RT-1 is screened under Chapter 51. A required dumpster must be fully screened by two side walls, a rear wall and a front gate. Walls and gates must be six to eight feet high.

• Covered dumpster-enclosure materials: An enclosure visible from a public street or right-of-way must use masonry, brick, stone, reinforced concrete or similar masonry materials, matching the principal building’s materials, style, finish and appearance. If not visible from public streets or right-of-way, permitted screening materials are wood, metal, masonry, brick, stone, reinforced concrete or similar masonry materials; metal must be painted to blend with the principal building. Corrugated metal, R-panel and U-panel sheet metal, and fiberglass panels are prohibited screening materials.

• Covered dumpster gates: Gates must be solid metal and screen the dumpster when closed. They must swing outward more than 90 degrees, provide a clear opening at least 12 feet wide, have pins holding them fully open during access, and swing clear of all fire lanes. Gates remain closed except while the dumpster or enclosure is actually being emptied, filled, painted, cleaned, constructed, installed, repaired or otherwise maintained. Each gate’s exterior must display a conspicuous “GATES TO REMAIN CLOSED WHEN NOT IN USE” sign, in contrasting block letters at least three inches high.

• Covered dumpster pads, protection and maintenance: Dumpsters require concrete pads meeting or exceeding Chapter 51 Appendix A drawings; pad and screening construction must follow those drawings, including the applicable layout, gate-support, bracing, finish, stop and collection-access details. Provide at least four protective bollards inside the enclosure—two at the rear and one at each side—unless the Planning and Development Director approves an equally protective alternative in writing. Dumpsters and screening must remain in good order and condition. Corrective action after an unsafe/unsightly-container notice is required within ten days of receipt.

• Existing nonconforming dumpsters: Section 51.20 permits continued nonconforming pad, screening or gate arrangements at structures existing and lawfully using a dumpster before October 12, 1999, until the served property is vacant and unoccupied for one year; a structure is enlarged, reconstructed, altered or moved; a structure suffers damage from fire, explosion, flood, wind, earthquake, another calamity, an act of God or the public enemy to the extent of at least 50% of its reasonable value; or a dumpster becomes a public-safety hazard or public nuisance. After a triggering event, every dumpster serving the property must comply with §51.16.

• Planned developments and zoning cases: Approved plans and conditions can require additional fences, screening and landscaping. Section 155.036 establishes an exterior open-space buffer at least 25 feet wide for planned developments; unapproved structures, equipment pads, parking or other man-made construction are prohibited within that buffer. Screening or landscaping may be required there based on the approved development conditions.

• Retaining-wall construction: Walls separating property elevations must be on the property line or at least six feet away, allowing a drainage swale to prevent runoff inundating adjoining property. Permanent materials such as concrete or decorative concrete block are required; heavy timber is prohibited. Drawings and engineered plans must be site-specific. The published two-foot permit/engineering language is explained above.

• Private residential pools and spas—applicable code: The adopted 2024 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code §305 requires barriers for outdoor pools and spas and indoor swimming pools, subject to its alternatives and exceptions. A qualifying ASTM F1346 lockable safety cover for a spa/hot tub, or powered safety cover for a pool, provides the stated alternative to §§305.2–305.7. Inground pool/spa construction requires fencing at least four feet high from excavation until the permanent barrier is complete.

• Pool-barrier height and openings: The top must be at least 48 inches above outside grade around the entire perimeter, with that height maintained for three feet horizontally outside the barrier. Bottom clearance is at most two inches over nonsolid grade, such as grass/gravel, or four inches above a solid surface. A barrier mounted atop a pool/spa structure may have at most four inches between the structure and barrier. Openings must prevent passage of a four-inch sphere. Solid surfaces cannot have climbing handholds or footholds other than normal construction tolerances and tooled masonry joints.

• Pool-barrier horizontal, chain-link and diagonal construction: Where horizontal-member tops are less than 45 inches apart, place those members on the pool side and limit vertical spacing and decorative cutouts to 1¾ inches. At 45 inches or more, vertical spacing may be up to four inches, with cutouts still limited to 1¾ inches. Chain-link openings may not exceed 1¾ inches, including reduced openings formed by slats fastened at top and bottom. Diagonal-member openings may not exceed 1¾ inches, and members may not angle more than 45 degrees from vertical. Outside equipment on the same lot must remain at least 36 inches from the barrier.

• Pool mesh and screen enclosures: Mesh fencing must meet ASTM F2286 and manufacturer instructions, cannot be installed atop onground residential pools and must stand at least 20 inches from the nearest water edge. Hinged gates must comply with §305.3. A screen enclosure used as a barrier must comply with §305.2 and be designed by a registered design professional; its wall is not a dwelling wall. Barrier mesh must meet the specified ASTM D5034 tensile strength of at least 100 pounds per square foot and ASTM D3787 ball-burst strength of at least 150 pounds per square foot.

• Pool gates and latches: Pedestrian gates/doors open outward, away from the pool, are self-closing and self-latching, accommodate a locking device and may not swing over stairs. Service gates remain locked when unused. Multiple gates require one leaf secured and the adjacent leaf self-latching. For residential pools/spas, an outside-accessed, non-self-locking latch release must be at least 54 inches high; the self-locking mechanism branch permits a height no greater than 54 inches. An inside-only release on a private-pool gate must be at least three inches below the gate top. Where the release is inside, openings within 18 inches of it may not exceed ½ inch in any dimension.

• Dwelling/structure wall used as a pool barrier: Where a dwelling or structure wall is part of the barrier and provides direct pool/spa access, the alarm option requires an audible warning when a relevant door, gate, operable window with a sill below 48 inches, or its screen is opened. The alarm must be listed and labeled as a water-hazard entrance alarm under UL 2017. A listed ASTM F1346 safety cover or another approved equally protective means, such as self-closing/self-latching doors, is an alternative under §305.4. Alarm controls in dwellings not required to be accessible units are at least 54 inches above the floor; in accessible, Type A or Type B units, controls are 48–54 inches. The non-dwelling structure branch also uses 48–54 inches. The selected arrangement must satisfy §305.4.

• Onground pool walls and natural barriers: A manufacturer-approved pool wall alone may serve as the barrier when its bottom is on grade, its top is at least 48 inches above grade throughout the perimeter and it meets §305.2. A barrier atop the wall must achieve the same total height, meet §305.2 with the wall and follow manufacturer instructions. Access ladders/steps must be secured, locked, removed or surrounded by a compliant barrier; remaining openings may not pass a four-inch sphere. At a qualifying natural-water shoreline without public access, side barriers must extend at least 18 inches beyond the water’s edge. Approved natural topography must provide protection at least equivalent to §§305.2–305.5.

• Association, multiunit and public pools: Common-use pools have separate classification and safety requirements, including Health and Safety Code Chapter 757 and applicable public-pool rules. Their use classification differs from an ordinary private single-family pool.

• Dangerous-dog secure enclosures: The City definition requires secure sides and a protective top, sides embedded at least two feet unless the bottom is adequately secured to them, an enclosure at least five by ten feet, and at least six feet high. State secure-enclosure requirements include locking, prevention of unauthorized entry and escape, and dangerous-dog identification. These requirements apply to the defined animal-control context.

• Gates across fire apparatus access roads: The local Fire Code amendment to D103.5 requires a single access-road gate at least 24 feet wide, or at least 12 feet where the fire apparatus road consists of a divided roadway. Other applicable Fire Code gate criteria remain part of that access-road requirement.

• High-profile wind-energy systems: Section 159.04(F) requires a barrier fence/wall six feet high and at least six feet from the tower base, no openings passing a four-inch sphere, a securely locked self-closing/self-latching gate, and no exterior-accessible handholds, footholds or horizontal members. Sections 150.30–150.38 apply except where they conflict with that specific enclosure rule. The high-profile system’s conditional-use and building-permit application must include the required fencing.

PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS

HOA and deed restrictions, private architectural requirements, recorded private easements and boundary, cost or maintenance agreements can impose independent obligations within Texas law. City approval does not determine fence ownership, a disputed boundary or each neighbor’s share of costs. Public plat conditions, public easements and statutory removal duties remain separate from private agreements.

Texas Property Code §§202.022–202.023 limits certain association restrictions. Section 202.022 protects a safety-law-compliant pool enclosure consisting of transparent mesh or clear panels in metal frames, no more than six feet high and designed to be nonclimbable. Associations may regulate appearance and color within the statute, but may not prohibit its protected black transparent-mesh form in metal frames.

Section 202.023 protects security measures, including perimeter fencing, subject to retained association controls. An association may regulate fence type, prohibit fencing that obstructs defined license areas, public/community sidewalks or drainage easements/areas, and require a driveway gate at least ten feet from right-of-way where the driveway intersects a statutorily defined laned roadway. If a restrictive covenant provides, the association may prohibit fencing ahead of the dwelling’s front-most building line.

Owners may maintain perimeter or front-building-line fencing installed or constructed before September 1, 2025, notwithstanding those retained controls. The front-building-line prohibition has exceptions for an address protected from public disclosure or law-enforcement documentation of a need for enhanced security. Section 202.023 excludes condominiums under Chapters 81/82 and Chapter 215 master mixed-use associations. The driveway-gate provision describes an association’s permitted requirement; public street, drainage and easement controls also apply.

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 design review: Fence location, proposed height, application plans, alternative materials, retaining-wall engineering and corner-lot alternative designs.

• Height and visibility: Yard-specific and large-premises limits, driveway/intersection sight areas, corner planting restrictions and required screening.

• Access and drainage: Public passage, hydrants, utility and drainage easements, plat conditions, erosion controls, floodplain/floodway work and runoff-compatible fencing.

• Special property conditions: Infill districts, townhouse frontage, manufactured-home park screening, covered dumpster enclosures, planned developments, Knight’s Way frontage, home childcare, pool barriers and the specified animal/equipment enclosures.

• Ongoing responsibilities: Repair and maintenance, safe utility excavation, pipeline construction conditions and statutory joint/attached-fence removal requirements. Private association review and private ownership or cost disputes follow their separate rules.

USING THIS INFORMATION

This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within the City of Harker Heights, 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 Planning and Development and the Building Official 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.