FENCE RULES – HURST (CITY), TEXAS

OVERVIEW

This page covers residential fence work within the incorporated boundaries of the City of Hurst, Texas. Hurst’s municipal fence, zoning, building and pool requirements govern this publication area.

Hurst requires a fence permit for construction and replacement, and for removal of a required fence. Residential fences generally have an 8-foot maximum, reduced to 3 feet in a required front yard. Corner lots, double-frontage lots and retaining walls have additional rules. Wood and vinyl are expressly recognized in particular provisions; wood-post requirements and like-kind replacement rules affect material choices. Chain-link has specific pool and screening rules. Visibility triangles, street rights-of-way, easements, pools, approved development plans and drainage conditions can change the design or placement. Updated November 2026.

Quick question	Hurst answer
Permit or approval	Fence permit required to erect or replace a fence or remove a required fence. The City’s June 2024 repair guidance excepts repair/replacement of two panels or less. The application identifies location, height and materials.
Typical fence height	8 ft maximum on residential-use or residentially restricted property; 3 ft in a required front yard, subject to the stated site-plan and special-lot provisions.
Placement & property lines	Required yards, corner-lot and double-frontage rules control placement. Property boundaries, visibility areas, public ROW and easements are separate constraints.
Common fence materials	Wood: recognized; new and completely replaced wood fences require metal or concrete posts, subject to the stated exception. Vinyl/PVC: vinyl is expressly recognized in decorative and screening provisions. Chain-link: subject to pool and particular screening rules. Replacement compatibility also applies.
Important local conditions	Fence rules may be further affected by corner and double-frontage lots, retaining walls, pool barriers, development screening, historic designation, floodplain work, drainage and utility easements, and private restrictions.
Official local resource	City of Hurst Building Inspections

The table above provides quick reference; additional 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 Hurst Building Inspections or the responsible office identified for that issue.

GOVERNANCE

Hurst is a home-rule city. The City Council adopts municipal requirements, including Chapter 27 zoning and Chapter 5 building regulations in the Hurst Code of Ordinances. Section 27-21(e) contains the principal fence and wall standards. Section 5-6 addresses fence construction permits and property-corner inspection; Section 5-82 addresses maintenance, replacement materials and appearance.

Building Inspections and the Building Official administer the adopted residential and pool codes and applicable building permits. The zoning enforcing officer receives fence applications under Section 27-21. The City Engineer/Public Works administers floodplain requirements, engineering review, street and easement issues, and the retaining-wall design review assigned by the ordinance. The Building Official and Executive Director of Public Works have additional authority over proposed corner-lot fence locations. The Fire Department administers the adopted fire code, including access to hydrants and fire-protection equipment.

Hurst adopts the 2021 International Residential Code through Section 5-46, with local amendments in Section 5-47, and the 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code through Sections 5-276 and 5-277. Ordinance 2515, adopted September 13, 2022, supplies these current editions and amendments. Texas Local Government Code Chapter 214 separately establishes the municipal residential and pool-code framework and local amendment authority.

Fence requirements also appear in residential district provisions, the R-PS performance-standard district, Town Center, Texas Highway 10 Multiuse and mixed-use development provisions, approved planned-development site plans, historic-landmark controls, Chapter 9 flood-hazard prevention, Chapter 21 subdivision regulations and Chapter 26 stormwater requirements. A property’s zoning and approved development conditions determine which additional standards apply. For conflicts between zoning and other lawfully adopted requirements, Section 27-27 directs application of the more restrictive or higher standard, as determined by the enforcing officer. Section 27-21 specifically gives view-and-passage obstruction requirements priority over conflicting screening requirements.

PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS

• Fence permit: Under Section 27-21(e)(1), a fence permit is required before a fence is erected or replaced, and before a required fence is removed. A written application to the enforcing officer must identify the fence’s location on the lot, height and construction materials. Section 5-6 also requires a permit for erection or construction of a fence or wall within the city.

• Limited repair guidance: The City’s June 7, 2024 home-repair notice states that fence repair or replacement of two panels or less does not need a permit. This published administrative guidance qualifies its general replacement instruction; the ordinance’s fence-permit provisions and separately applicable approvals remain relevant.

• Property corners and inspection: The person erecting the fence must establish its property corners and then notify the city inspection department and request inspection. Section 5-6 provides for permit and reinspection fees set from time to time by the City Manager.

• Residential-code permit provision: Hurst changes IRC Section R105.2 item 2 to fences not over 36 inches high. That residential-code permit exemption operates alongside the separately required municipal fence permit and the zoning standards above.

• Contractor registration: Section 5-10 generally requires a person or firm performing or causing work in the city to register with the appropriate city department or division. Registration requires the city application and applicable fee. Its exceptions include work requiring no permit or license under other code provisions, uncompensated charitable or nonprofit work, and a homeowner working on the homeowner’s own homestead.

• Retaining walls: Section 27-21(e)(7) requires a Building Inspections permit for a retaining wall over 1 foot high or any retaining wall supporting a structure. Walls 4 feet or higher require professional-engineer design. The separate retaining-wall provision also calls for City Engineer approval of the design.

• Planned developments and R-PS projects: Approved site plans and their adopting ordinances establish property-specific conditions. PD site plans identify the location and height of walls, fences and screening; R-PS development plans also identify fences, landscaping and buffer areas. Changes affecting those approved features must follow the applicable plan-amendment process.

• Historic-landmark property: Alteration of a designated property, exterior features or designated adjacent right-of-way, and placement, construction, expansion or removal of structures on the site, require the applicable certificate of site plan approval. The code’s historic-feature definitions include fences and retaining walls. The certificate precedes a building permit, although reviews may proceed together. The application includes a work description, current photographs, drawings and material samples when appropriate, and other information needed to clarify the project. Committee review, Planning and Zoning Commission recommendation and City Council action follow the designated process. The committee’s recommendation is due within 45 calendar days of a complete application; adjacent owners receive at least 5 days notice of the hearing. Qualifying minor exterior alterations receive staff approval or denial within 5 working days. Fence installation and alteration are listed in the minor-alteration definition; staff determines the applicable review. The definition also covers landscaping/hardscaping comprising less than 25% of the front or side yard and specified rear/accessory changes not visible from a street. An interested person may request the standard committee review of a staff decision in writing. Ordinary maintenance includes in-kind work without changes in design, material, color or outward appearance, as determined by the Director of Development. Applicable designation ordinances and design guidelines remain part of that review.

• Pending historic-landmark zoning: Under Section 27-15.3(h), initiation of a landmark designation or amendment temporarily prevents acceptance of applications to place, construct, alter, demolish or remove a structure on the property. The hold ends on the earliest applicable event: the approved ordinance taking effect; the day after Council denial; the 90th day after a qualifying written hardship request; or the day after approval or conditional approval of a certificate under the proposed guidelines. Initiation occurs on the authorized body’s vote to file the zoning case or, for an owner request, filing with the Historic Preservation Committee.

• Floodplain work: Chapter 9 requires a development permit for covered development affecting a site containing a special flood-hazard area. Its development definition includes filling, grading and excavation. Applications go to the City Engineer or designee as Floodplain Administrator, with the plans, elevations and drainage information applicable to the proposed work. Pools proposed in flood-hazard areas must include the city’s Flood Development Permit with their construction documents under the local pool amendment.

• Pools: Section 27-21(c) requires a building permit before pool construction and a certificate of occupancy before use, with sanitary facilities and water supply meeting applicable health requirements. Before filling, the pool contractor must ensure the enclosure is complete and required gate latches and self-closers operate. A final city inspection is required before actual use.

FENCE PLACEMENT RULES

• Required yards: Section 27-21(b)(3) permits fences and walls in minimum required yards subject to applicable height and visibility restrictions. Ordinary residential building setbacks and the legal property boundary serve different purposes. Establish the boundary and identify recorded easements and the street right-of-way before locating posts, footings or gates.

• Hydrants and fire-protection equipment: Hurst’s fire-code amendment to Section 507.5.4 prohibits posts, fences and other objects near hydrants, fire-department inlet connections or fire-protection control valves when they prevent the equipment from being immediately discernible. Immediate Fire Department access must remain unobstructed.

• Residential corner lots: A fence may be placed on the property line adjacent and parallel to a street under Section 27-21(e)(8), subject to all its conditions: it cannot occupy the visibility triangle or extend in front of the lot’s front building setback; it cannot create a hazard on a curve or restrict roadway visibility; it cannot adversely affect visibility at an adjacent property’s driveway; and it cannot encroach on, interfere with or enclose city-owned right-of-way or street-adjacent easements. The Building Official and Executive Director of Public Works may impose supplementary conditions or disapprove a proposed location for the additional neighborhood and development concerns stated in the ordinance.

• R-1 double-frontage lots: For lots included in an approved plat, the street on which most houses in the plat front determines the front yard. The other exterior yard may be fenced at the property line and is not treated as the front yard for this provision. The remaining fence requirements still apply.

• Retaining-wall boundaries: Section 27-21(e)(7)(a) says no portion of a grade-change retaining wall, from footing to top, may cross a property line, and also says retaining walls may extend lengthwise across a property line. A retaining wall supporting a structure must be on the same lot as that structure. Obtain the City Engineer’s application of these property-line provisions to the proposed wall alignment before construction.

• Public improvements and easements: Chapter 21 requires public dedications and utility easements to be shown in subdivision documents. Its new-subdivision requirement for easements at least 10 feet wide in lieu of alleys establishes a platting standard; the recorded instrument establishes an individual property’s easement. Street, utility, drainage and visibility easements may affect fence access and placement independently of the private boundary. Approved plats, public improvements and site plans remain relevant to the property.

• Drainage, floodways and grading: Chapter 9 regulates covered excavation, fill, grading and encroachments in special flood-hazard areas. Regulatory-floodway encroachments require the prescribed hydrologic and hydraulic demonstration of no increase in flood levels, subject to the separate FEMA revision process where applicable. Fill is expressly prohibited in the regulatory floodway. Section 9-68 also addresses no-increase analysis for covered special-flood-hazard-area development, while Section 9-67 requires compensating storage for covered work that reduces flood storage. Section 26-181 requires an owner or lessee whose property contains a watercourse to keep it free of trash, excessive vegetation and other obstacles that pollute or significantly retard flow, and to maintain private structures within or beside it so they do not endanger its function or integrity. Preserve drainage paths and maintenance access. Texas Water Code Section 11.086 prohibits diversion or impoundment of natural surface water that damages another property by overflow, subject to its statutory qualifications.

• Fence posts and stormwater plans: Section 26-172 excludes installation of fence, sign, telephone and electrical poles from its definition of land-disturbance activity. The same definition separately excludes specified minor work disturbing less than 500 square feet. Sections 26-183 and 26-184 establish erosion/sediment and post-construction plan requirements for covered land disturbance uncovering 1 acre or more, with stated emergency and existing nursery/agricultural-use exceptions. Broader grading, excavation, drainage changes and development associated with a fence have their own applicable requirements. Hurst’s adopted iSWM criteria and engineering standards also govern projects within their stated development scope.

• Pools and retaining walls: A pool cannot occupy a required exterior yard under Section 27-21(c), except that an R-1 double-frontage lot may have a pool in a required rear or side exterior yard if every part is at least 10 feet from a property line. The pool-code amendment requires at least 5 feet from the water’s edge to the nearest foundation, footing or retaining wall, with its sealed-engineered-design approval exception. These pool-placement provisions apply separately from ordinary fence placement.

• Existing joint or attached fences: Agriculture Code Sections 143.121–143.123 restrict removal of a jointly owned dividing fence or one attached to a fence owned or controlled by another, except through mutual consent or the statutory process. An owner of an interest in an attached fence may withdraw it after 6 months’ written notice to the specified other owner, agent, attorney or lessee. An owner whose fence is wholly on the owner’s land may require an attached fence’s disconnection after 6 months’ written notice to the attached fence’s owner or that person’s agent, attorney or lessee. These duties depend on ownership and attachment.

• Pipeline easements: Health and Safety Code Sections 756.121–756.126 separately regulate covered construction on, across, over or under a pipeline easement/right-of-way, or work physically affecting pipeline risk. Section 756.122 recognizes a contrary written agreement with the operator and excludes specified municipal-owned-property work, except private commercial use, and navigation-district/port-authority property. For covered work, Section 756.123 requires operator notice and one of four conditions: an operator determination that risk will not increase; payment before construction of reasonable, necessary, documented protective-work costs when the operator finds increased risk; work under an existing written agreement; or prompt regulated-utility work required by a natural disaster. An excavation ticket and a pipeline construction/easement agreement serve separate functions.

• Utility safety before post digging: Request a locate through Texas811 before digging. Utilities Code Chapter 251 covers specified excavation using explosives or powered/mechanized tools, including augering, to 16 inches or deeper. Its emergency and other statutory exceptions apply within their stated terms. Ordinary notice is not earlier than the 14th day before excavation or later than 48 hours before it, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. For notice received on a Saturday before 11:59 a.m., its Saturday-notification branch permits a following Tuesday 11:59 a.m. start, shifted to Wednesday 11:59 a.m. when Monday is a holiday. Follow the lawful start time and current ticket instructions; check responses and markings, resolve missing or conflicting information through the ticket process, protect marks and excavate carefully. Some private facilities and water/sewer lines may not be located through the system. Separate Railroad Commission pipeline rules can cover manual digging deeper than 16 inches; their default ticket life is 14 working days, subject to a signed, dated written longer-life agreement with the operator. Refresh expiring unfinished work for the remaining area and retain required ticket/positive-response records for at least 4 years. Their response and careful-excavation requirements apply within their own scope. Locate notice does not replace property permission, permits or easement obligations.

FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES

• Residential maximum: Walls and fences on property used for or restricted to residential uses are limited to 8 feet, subject to the special conditions below. A wall or fence in a required front yard is limited to 3 feet; security fences may be permitted when shown on approved site plans. Section 27-21(b)(3) also authorizes City Council approval of higher masonry walls in required exterior yards as part of a residential PD site plan, subject to visibility restrictions.

• Measurement and slopes: Height is the vertical distance from the ground to the fence top. Where terrain slopes at 10% or more, construction in 10-foot horizontal stair-step sections is permitted if each section’s average height complies. A fence on top of a retaining wall is measured from the high side of the wall.

• Adjoining corner lots facing parallel streets: Where one lot’s side exterior yard continues the other’s, both may have a wall or fence up to 8 feet above grade to the rear of each side exterior yard, under Section 27-21(e)(5)(f).

• Corner lots with nonparallel frontage: Where one corner lot’s rear interior line adjoins the side interior line of a lot fronting a nonparallel street, the fence/wall along that nonparallel street follows the height treatment that would apply if both lots faced that street.

• Qualifying subdivision road frontage: For subdivisions of at least 100 lots, with two or more lots’ exterior yards beside a road over 31 feet in pavement width including curbs/gutters, or separated from it by an alley/service road, the developer may provide the specified brick or decorative solid masonry wall at the ROW line. Its stated minimum is 2 feet, and it must extend along every lot adjacent to that street. A separate provision requires at least 6-foot developer-provided brick/decorative solid masonry screening where rear yards in R-1, R-1A, R-2, R-3, RPS, RH or AL face such a roadway. These are subdivision frontage provisions.

• Cul-de-sac frontage: Where residential side yards adjoin a dedicated roadway and a cul-de-sac approaches without intersecting it, the developer may provide the specified brick/decorative solid masonry wall at the street ROW line, up to 8 feet.

• Intersection triangles: Section 24-21 includes the street ROW and corner-lot area bounded by adjacent curblines and the diagonal joining points 35 feet back from their intersection, extending curblines if needed. At arterial/nonarterial and arterial/arterial intersections, the additional geometry uses points 60 feet along the arterial-side property line and 10 feet along the intersecting-street property line, with the diagonal extended to the curblines.

• Driveway triangles: Each side of a private driveway opening onto a public street has a right triangle whose right angle is at the curbline and extended driveway-edge intersection. Its legs are 15 feet, one along the curb and one toward the private property/parkway.

• Clear view: Section 24-21 prohibits view obstructions over 2 feet above the adjacent curb within its visibility triangles, with stated exceptions for permanent structures authorized by zoning and authorized traffic signs/signals, street signs and utility poles. It also prohibits any obstruction that obscures traffic devices or creates a traffic hazard. Section 27-22 expressly includes fences and screening walls in its sight-triangle rule and requires clear vision between 30 inches and 9 feet above average curb grade. Residential corner-lot fences are expressly excluded from the visibility triangle by Section 27-21(e)(8).

• Parkway vegetation: Section 24-21 requires vegetation at least 15 feet tall to be trimmed to 14 feet above the ground where it extends into the street. Lower trees/shrubs must be trimmed at least 1 foot back from the curb on the street side. Parkway trees must be at least 25 feet apart. Section 24-21 does not require removal or change of a sign or other structure that complied with the city ordinances when erected.

MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS

• Wood and posts: Wood is expressly recognized. New wood fences and wood fences being completely replaced must use metal or concrete posts, except as otherwise approved by the Building Official for decorative fences such as vinyl or split rail. The separate like-kind replacement and compatibility requirements in Section 5-82 also apply.

• Vinyl/PVC: The ordinance expressly names vinyl in its decorative-fence provision and screening-fence definition. Decorative vinyl is also a listed MU-PD screening option, subject to finish and frame approval. Those context-specific standards and the property’s required screening, replacement and site-plan conditions govern the proposed installation.

• Chain-link: The code establishes specific chain-link rules for pool barriers, temporary tree protection and Texas Highway 10 Multiuse screening, including residential developments approved there through a planned development. For private pool-barrier use, the adopted 2021 ISPSC limits chain-link openings to 1¾ inches, including openings reduced by slats secured at top and bottom. Hurst’s added prohibition concerns public pools built after January 1, 1994. Required decorative or masonry screening has its own material standards.

• Replacement, uniformity and repair: Section 5-82 requires new/replacement fences and walls to match the original materials and finish in like kind and have uniform color and material compatible with adjacent fencing. Unsafe construction or maintenance is prohibited. Deteriorated, rotted, leaning or incomplete fences, and those otherwise detracting from area aesthetics, must be repaired, replaced or removed at owner expense. Section 10-82 also requires structurally sound fencing, protective treatment for exterior wood other than decay-resistant wood, elimination of failing paint, and corrosion protection for susceptible metal; surfaces designed to stabilize through oxidation have the stated exception.

• Dangerous materials and electric fences: Barbed-wire fences are prohibited except livestock fences. Walls topped with broken glass or surfaced with similar material are prohibited. A security fence at least 6 feet high may have barbed-wire topping under the stated exception. Section 5-172 requires an electrically charged fence to use a properly installed controller in good operating condition approved by an approved testing agency.

• Masonry screening: Section 27-21 requires a permanent brick or solid decorative masonry screen at least 6 feet high before a certificate of occupancy for MH or R-3 property abutting R-1, R-1A, R-2, RPS, RH or AL, and MH property abutting R-3. The screen extends along the entire common line on the property required to provide it and is maintained by that owner. The subdivision rear-road screening requirement above also applies in its stated circumstances. Section 27-3 defines a screening fence as a uniform visual barrier at least 6 feet high, of brick, decorative masonry, wood, vinyl or another permanent material. Brick/masonry screens require an engineered concrete footing; masonry/brick columns are expressed at a minimum of 30 feet on center and should typically rise above the wall. Screening faces must use the same finish material and similar appearance. Road-adjacent masonry color must be uniform/compatible on both sides of a thoroughfare between intersecting thoroughfares, including walls built in sections. Development/subdivision entry walls and raised planters must be brick or decorative masonry and meet Chapter 24 visibility requirements. Decorative masonry includes brick, stone, patterned concrete, exposed-aggregate concrete and similar staff-approved materials, excluding stucco and concrete blocks under the general definition.

• Residential parking screening: The residential district parking provisions require an approved 6-foot fence or wall for interior-side-yard parking on unpaved surfaces, screening vehicles from public-street view. Rear-yard parking regardless of surface is conditioned on an approved 6-foot fence or wall. These provisions cover the stated single-family, duplex, triplex and townhouse contexts and appear in the listed residential districts, including RE-1/RE-2. The six-foot requirement applies to those parking-screening conditions. Section 27-3 treats a vehicle behind a qualifying screening fence as screened regardless of vehicle height. The district provisions also gave existing properties lacking the required surface or fence 6 months from their ordinance’s effective date to comply; this is an adoption transition, rather than a new period after each fence project.

• Parking/loading areas with more than 6 spaces or berths: Where no fence is otherwise required, Section 27-20(e)(6) requires a solid wall at least 4 feet high to screen the vehicle area along exposures next to or across a street or alley from residentially restricted property, except necessary driveways. Keep the wall neat and orderly. Texas Highway 10 Multiuse expressly excludes that subsection and has its own screening provisions.

• Junked-vehicle screening: Section 10-123(b)(1) provides a defense to its nuisance offense where a junked vehicle is screened from right-of-way or adjacent property by a solid opaque fence, kept in a building enclosure, or covered with an untorn cover fitted for that vehicle. Other applicable vehicle, parking and fence requirements remain in effect.

• Retaining-wall construction: A wall over 1 foot high, and every retaining wall supporting a structure, must be masonry or concrete. Its height follows accepted engineering principles and City Engineer design approval; the permit and professional-design thresholds appear above.

• R-PS development buffers: Section 27-17 and Table 17-1 establish perimeter buffers by proposed and adjoining use. For Class A single-family detached R-PS, widths against adjacent Classes 1–6 are 15, 20, 25, 40, 50 and 75 feet; a screening structure is required against Classes 2–6. Class B, other than single-family detached, uses 20, 15, 25, 40, 50 and 75 feet, with structures against Classes 1 and 3–6. Class 1 is conventional single-family R-1/R-PS; Class 2 is the listed other residential/PD uses; Class 3 is office/institutional O-1/O-2/U; Class 4 NB/LB; Class 5 GB/OC; Class 6 industrial.

• R-PS buffer construction and planting: The screening structure is a wall, fence or landscaped berm at least 6 feet high; walls are masonry and fences solid wood stockade, also complying with Section 27-21(e). Triplex, quadruplex and multifamily R-PS fences must be entirely masonry. Class A against Class 2 requires 5 trees and 10 shrubs per 100 linear feet; against Classes 3–6, 10 trees and 10 shrubs per 100 feet. Class B against Classes 1 and 3 requires 5 trees per 100 feet, and against Classes 4–6, 10 trees per 100 feet; no planting is required against the class with no structure requirement. Form D specifies eligible trees at least 10 feet tall and 2 inches in diameter: live oak, red oak, cedar elm, pecan, green ash, silver-leaf maple or tree-form crape myrtle. Buffers extend to the site perimeter. Private streets and drives may cross buffers. Drives constructed within buffers must meet the specified 10-foot setback, maximum 20% buffer use and maximum 100 linear feet in one location. Buffers cannot otherwise occupy a street, parking area or drive. Passive recreation retains plants and full buffer width; Council may reduce qualifying Class B buffers by up to one-half beside more intensively zoned developed property.

• Town Center required screening: Section 27-15.2 generally uses a 6–8-foot required screen, maintained by the property owner. Its listed options are decorative masonry; decorative wrought-iron-appearance metal with living landscaping; or combined masonry/metal/landscaping. Masonry uses native stone, brick or prestressed concrete panels with decorative masonry units, finished compatibly on both sides; common smooth-faced masonry is excluded. Wrought-iron-appearance panels may be hollow steel or solid-stock aluminum, with decorative masonry columns. The living screen must become opaque and reach 6 feet within 3 years, remain healthy and use automatic underground irrigation.

• Town Center site-specific screens: Where a nonresidential use adjoins single- or multifamily dwellings, Section 27-15.2 requires a decorative masonry wall at least 6 feet high along the full common line unless the residential development previously supplied that wall or another acceptable screen. Refuse facilities require a decorative masonry enclosure at least 8 feet high with a solid wood or metal access gate; the 25-foot separation from residential property excludes containers serving the dwellings. Storage tanks, pad-mounted utilities, meters, transformers, ventilation, air-conditioning and maintenance facilities are screened from public-street view. For head-in parking beside a public street or shining headlights toward residences, a continuous 3-foot screen extends the parking row: decorative masonry; wrought iron with masonry columns and shrubs; a berm with shrubs/groundcover; or a combination. It may occupy the street landscape buffer. Headlight plantings must reach 3 feet within 1 year; screening hedges must become a continuous 6-foot screen within 3 years. Shrubs begin at least 2 feet high, except dwarf species of customary container height. Traffic visibility takes priority over landscaping. Approved PD ordinances can establish differing development conditions; lawful existing nonconforming development has the continuation limits in Section 27-15.2(g).

• Town Center street landscape easements: Section 27-15.2 requires a landscaped buffer at least 10 feet behind the right-of-way line, plus the curb-to-ROW parkway, along State Highway 183, Precinct Line Road, Harwood Road, Campus Drive, Thousand Oaks Road and Hurst Town Center Drive, excluding approved driveways. The buffer is dedicated as a sidewalk and landscape easement. On new development along Hurst Town Center Drive between Thousand Oaks Drive and Harwood Road, the buffer includes the 10-foot building-setback area. Easement use, required landscaping, visibility and the approved development plan affect proposed fence placement there.

• MU-PD required screening: Section 27-15.4 uses 6–8-foot screening where required and favors walls/fences between buildings rather than beyond building fronts. Its options include decorative-finished native stone, brick or prestressed/decorative masonry with equal-quality faces; suitably finished ribbed metal on a sound metal frame; wrought iron or combinations with masonry/landscaping; suitably finished decorative vinyl on an acceptable sound frame; and approved vegetative screening. Common smooth-faced masonry is prohibited. Within an MU project, existing wood screening between commercial and residential property must be replaced if at least 10 years old or in the defined disrepair condition, including faded/cracked/peeling material, damaged/missing/rotten planks or wood posts. Younger screening in reasonably good repair must be replaced within 5 years of project approval.

• Texas Highway 10 Multiuse residential developments: Section 27-15.1 permits multifamily residences through planned-development approval. Where screening is required in that district, its ordinary range is 6–8 feet, maintained by the property owner. Listed options are native stone, brick, decorative-finished prestressed concrete or decorative concrete masonry with the finished side outward and common smooth-faced units limited to 25% of fence area; suitably finished ribbed metal on a sound metal frame; or opaque galvanized chain-link with metal slats. The chain-link option uses metal posts in concrete footings and metal bracing between posts at the top, middle and bottom. All district uses adjoining single- or multifamily zoning require a masonry screen at least 6 feet high along the entire common line unless the residential development already constructed it. Screened storage-area gates must screen the activity when closed and cannot swing into a front or side street yard. Refuse storage requires at least a 6-foot masonry screen and 25 feet separation from residential zoning; refuse containers visible from a public street have the additional 8-foot solid-masonry enclosure and solid wood/metal access-gate rule. Site-plan and PD conditions also apply.

• Tree-protection fencing during covered construction: Section 27-21(l) requires protective fencing approximately 4 feet high at the dripline of trees to be preserved, using snow fencing, orange vinyl construction fencing, chain-link or similar fencing. Approved construction can alter its location as specified. Install it before clearing, grubbing or grading, completely surround the tree/group and maintain protection throughout construction. Where constraints place fencing less than 4 feet from the trunk, strapped planking protects the trunk to 8 feet or the lower branches. Before approved grading, protective fencing moves 2 feet behind the grade-change area. Nonprotective wires or other attachments cannot be fastened to protected trees. Where a grade decrease affects a protected tree, the prescribed retaining walls are outside its dripline. These are construction protections for regulated trees; the section separately exempts specified tree removal on an existing single-family home’s lot.

• Private pool enclosure: The adopted ISPSC treats a pool as residential when it is accessory to a residential setting and available only to the household and guests; other pools are public for that code. Its scope covers permanent or temporary pools/spas designed and manufactured for connection to a circulation system and intended for swimming, bathing or wading. Section 5-5 requires a complete fence, wall or barrier at least 4 feet high, with no opening admitting a 4-inch sphere. Section 27-21(c) likewise requires a complete pool-area or surrounding-yard enclosure and self-latching entrances. Under Section 5-5, direct-entry gates are self-closing/self-latching, securely closed except during actual use, with the gate handle at least 42 inches above grade. It exempts doors providing access into buildings from that subsection’s self-closing/self-latching requirement; structure-wall access also follows the adopted pool-code protection requirements below. The local transition required gates lawfully existing before March 31, 1989 to meet the self-closing/self-latching requirements before January 31, 1991. The adopted pool code separately permits continued safe use and maintenance of lawful existing installations under their original design; additions, alterations and repairs follow the applicable new-work provisions without requiring unchanged systems to be reconstructed. Required safeguards remain maintained under their installation edition.

• Adopted pool-barrier height and openings: The 2021 ISPSC requires a barrier at least 48 inches above exterior grade, with that height maintained around the perimeter and for 3 feet horizontally outside. Bottom clearance is at most 2 inches above nonsolid grade or 4 inches above a solid surface. A barrier mounted on a pool/spa structure has at most 4 inches between structure top and barrier bottom. Openings cannot pass a 4-inch sphere. Solid barriers cannot provide handholds/footholds except normal tolerances and tooled masonry joints. For in-ground pool/spa construction, temporary site fencing at least 4 feet high is required from excavation until permanent-barrier completion.

• Pool-barrier construction patterns: Horizontal rails less than 45 inches apart at their tops belong on the pool side, with vertical gaps and decorative cutouts no wider than 1¾ inches. With rails at least 45 inches apart, vertical gaps may be up to 4 inches, while decorative openings remain at most 1¾ inches. Diagonal-member openings are at most 1¾ inches, and diagonals are at most 45 degrees from vertical. Equipment on the same lot as a pool or spa and located outside its protective barrier, including pool pumps, filters and heaters, must be at least 36 inches from the outside of the barrier.

• Mesh pool barriers: Follow manufacturer instructions and the adopted mesh provisions: bottom at most 1 inch above deck/surface/grade; lifting/under-panel clearance at most 4 inches without passage of a four-inch sphere; section attachments at least 45 inches above grade; compliant hinged gates; and nonconductive patio-deck post sleeves. Mesh cannot be installed atop an onground residential pool. Its inside face must be at least 20 inches from the water’s edge.

• Pool gates and releases: Pedestrian doors/gates open away from the pool, self-close/self-latch and accommodate a lock. Utility/service gates remain locked when unused; double/multiple gates secure at least one leaf and self-latch the adjacent leaf. At residential pools, an outside-accessed non-self-locking release is at least 54 inches above finished floor/ground; a self-locking control/release follows the separate maximum 54-inch rule. A private-pool release located only on the pool side is at least 3 inches below the gate top. Openings within 18 inches of an inside release are at most ½ inch.

• Dwelling walls and pool access: Hurst’s amended Section 305.4 governs one-/two-family dwellings, townhouses and their accessory structures where doors/windows give direct pool/spa access through a barrier wall. The retained provisions include listed UL 2017 water-hazard alarms for doors and qualifying operable windows with sills below 48 inches, the applicable alarm-control heights, and approved equivalent protection such as self-closing/self-latching doors. Alarm controls in dwellings without the specified accessibility-unit requirements are at least 54 inches above the floor; for the specified accessible units and structures other than dwellings they are 48–54 inches. Hurst deletes item 5, the safety-cover option within that structure-wall provision.

• Pool covers and alternative barriers: The adopted 2021 ISPSC separately contains Section 305.1 safety-cover treatment for lockable ASTM F1346 spa/hot-tub safety covers and powered swimming-pool covers, while Hurst’s local Sections 5-5 and 27-21(c) require complete enclosures and the structure-wall amendment deletes its cover option. A project relying on a cover in place of an enclosure requires the Building Official’s determination under these overlapping requirements. Under Section 305.5, an onground pool wall alone can serve as a barrier when its bottom is on grade, its top is at least 48 inches above grade around the entire perimeter, it meets Section 305.2 and the manufacturer permits that use. A wall with a barrier mounted on top must provide the same overall minimum height and Section 305.2 protection, with the mounted barrier installed to manufacturer instructions. Access steps/ladders must be capable of being secured, locked or removed, or enclosed by a compliant barrier; openings resulting from securing, locking or removal cannot pass a 4-inch sphere.

• Natural pool boundaries: For one-/two-family dwellings and townhouses abutting a lake or other natural body of water, Hurst’s amended Section 305.6 requires no barrier between the shoreline and pool/spa when public access along the shore is prohibited and the remaining required barriers extend to and at least 18 inches beyond the water’s edge. Sections 5-5 and 27-21(c) also state complete-enclosure requirements; the Building Official applies these overlapping provisions to the shoreline design. Under Section 305.7, natural topography preventing direct access can serve as a barrier when approved by the governing body and providing protection at least equivalent to Sections 305.2–305.5. Pool lighting must be shielded/directed away from neighboring residences; an enclosing wall or fence may supply the required screening of direct light.

• Animal enclosures: Section 4-40 requires covered animals to be confined by a suitable, substantial fence sufficient to prevent escape or another authorized restraint; cats have the section’s running-at-large exception. A fenced yard does not substitute for the pen, coop or hutch required for outdoor companion animals, hens or reptiles under Section 4-46; those enclosures are at least 50 feet from other residences. Livestock pens/enclosures are at least 100 feet from other residences and provide at least 600 square feet per animal; nighttime confinement uses a sufficient pen, corral or barn. Residential livestock keeping also has the stated 1-acre minimum/one-head-per-acre limit. Section 4-57 also requires unattended tethered animals to be inside a fenced enclosure. Section 4-59 requires animal pens, coops, kennels and fenced areas to remain sanitary, with waste removed to prevent odors, insects and vermin. Dangerous-dog secure enclosures must be locked, prevent entry/escape, have secure sides/top and a solid or tunnel-resistant bottom, be marked, provide humane shelter and meet the local enclosure standards. A dwelling or similar habitation is not a secure enclosure when an open window, penetrable screen or animal-accessible entrance leaves the escape conditions listed in Section 4-2. Qualifying agricultural operations have separate protections under Texas Constitution Article I, Section 36 and Agriculture Code Chapter 251; their application depends on actual operation status and statutory conditions.

PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS

Recorded HOA/deed covenants, architectural requirements, private easements and boundary, maintenance or cost-sharing agreements can impose independent conditions. Public permits do not settle ownership or private obligations. Applicable Texas law limits particular association restrictions.

Under Property Code Section 202.023, qualifying associations generally cannot prevent security measures including perimeter fences, subject to retained powers to regulate fence type; prohibit obstruction of license areas, public/community sidewalks and drainage easements/areas; require a driveway gate at least 10 feet from ROW where it meets the defined laned roadway; and enforce a covenant prohibiting fencing ahead of the dwelling’s front-most building line. This section excludes condominiums under Chapters 81/82 and Chapter 215 master mixed-use associations.

The section protects maintenance of perimeter/front-building-line fencing installed before September 1, 2025. Its enhanced-security exception limits the front-building-line prohibition where the owner’s address is legally confidential or the owner supplies law-enforcement documentation of the need for enhanced security. The driveway-gate distance is a requirement an association may impose under this statute.

Section 202.022 separately protects conforming, nonclimbable water-feature enclosures made of transparent mesh or clear panels in metal frames, no more than 6 feet high. Associations may regulate appearance and colors within the statute, but cannot prohibit the protected black transparent-mesh/metal-frame form. Actual state/local pool-safety requirements continue to govern installation.

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 inspection: Fence application information, established property corners, retaining-wall permits and required inspections.

• Location and visibility: Front yards, corner and double-frontage lots, driveway/intersection triangles, public ROW and easements.

• Design, construction and maintenance: Height, wood posts, replacement compatibility, unsafe materials, retaining walls, deteriorated fencing and applicable development screening.

• Special conditions: Historic certificates, approved development plans, floodplain/drainage work, regulated-tree protection, pool barriers and animal enclosures.

• Separate public and private obligations: Utility/pipeline excavation duties and statutory joint/attached-fence removal conditions operate alongside municipal requirements. Private association review and ownership/cost disputes remain separate from city permit enforcement.

USING THIS INFORMATION

This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within the City of Hurst, 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 Hurst Building Inspections and the responsible office for each applicable issue, and review applicable private agreements. If this page conflicts with controlling law, adopted regulations or official requirements, the controlling authorities govern. For legal advice or legal interpretation, consult a licensed attorney.