FENCE RULES – CELINA (CITY), TEXAS

OVERVIEW

This page covers single-family residential fence projects inside the corporate limits of the City of Celina, a home-rule municipality in Collin and Denton Counties. Celina’s zoning, fence permits, adopted construction codes and applicable property-specific development standards govern the work described here.

Celina requires permits for new fences and many repairs. The general residential maximum is eight feet, while front-yard fences ordinarily stop at 36 inches. Corner setbacks, street-facing cedar construction, open fencing beside creeks and open space, and detailed steel-post and footing standards can change the design. Vinyl and chain-link generally require a Minor Modification; approved existing nonconforming and interior fences have separate treatment. Downtown, estate and agricultural properties, subdivision screening, visibility areas, easements and pool barriers add further conditions. Updated November 2026.

Quick question	Celina answer
Permit or approval	A City fence permit is required for construction, alterations, additions and repairs, subject to the matching-material maintenance exception. Post installation or repairs exceeding 50% of one run cumulatively within 12 months require a permit. Contractor registration and inspections apply.
Typical fence height	Generally eight feet maximum, excluding the stated allowance for ground clearance and decorative caps. Front yards generally allow fences or walls up to 36 inches. Acreage, subdivision screening, Downtown, visibility and pool conditions require separate attention.
Placement & property lines	The fence ordinance specifies installation on property lines without encroachment. Corner fences and retaining walls generally remain 15 feet from curb faces. Fence returns, reverse corners, visibility areas, rights-of-way, easements and subdivision walls have additional rules.
Common fence materials	Wood: recognized, with cedar/white-wood and construction requirements; cedar board-on-board with a decorative cap is required in specified street-facing locations. Vinyl/PVC: vinyl generally requires a Minor Modification. Chain-link: generally requires a Minor Modification. Existing nonconforming and approved interior fences have exceptions.
Important local conditions	Fence rules may be further affected by corner and reverse-corner lots, Downtown review, planned developments, agricultural or estate property, subdivision screening walls, alleys and mews, creeks and open space, easements, floodplain development, swimming pools and private restrictions.
Official local resource	Celina residential permit packets and checklists

The table is for quick reference. Additional requirements appear in the sections below. Before buying materials or starting construction, read the sections that apply to the property, review the linked official sources, and confirm site-specific questions with Building Services, Planning, Engineering Services or the responsible office identified below.

GOVERNANCE

The City Council adopts Celina’s local ordinances. The Celina Code of Ordinances places residential fence rules in Section 14.04.305, alongside separate screening-wall provisions in Sections 14.04.301 through 14.04.304. Chapter 10 subdivision requirements and property-specific planned development standards can also affect residential fencing.

Building Services administers construction permits and inspections. Planning administers zoning, Minor Modifications and Downtown design review. Engineering Services handles engineering standards, drainage-facility crossings, applicable easement approvals and public infrastructure visibility requirements. The City’s floodplain administrator administers the floodplain development ordinance. Animal Control administers the separate livestock-enclosure provisions.

Celina adopted the 2024 International Residential Code and International Swimming Pool and Spa Code with local amendments through Ordinance 2026-003. The June 2026 fence ordinance replaced the prior screening and residential fence provisions. A planned development’s adopted standards, recorded plat and public easements remain important to the design for an individual lot.

PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS

• Fence permit: Section 14.04.305 requires a permit for fence construction, alterations, additions and repairs. It allows matching-material picket replacement or customary maintenance under its repair exception. A permit is expressly required when post installation is involved or cumulative repairs over a 12-month period exceed 50% of any one run. Celina’s adopted residential-code amendments delete the model exemption for fences not over seven feet.

• Application documents: Adequate plans and specifications must accompany the completed application. As required by the Building Official, show materials, easements, location, height, dimensions from property lines, sidewalks and curbs, and gate locations. The current Fence Packet asks for a homeowners association (HOA) approval letter, a survey or plot plan showing existing and proposed fences, and fence height, material and board spacing. Projects are submitted through MyGovernmentOnline (MGO) and receive plan review. Fees follow the City’s fee chart.

• Contractors and inspections: Fence contractors must register with the City; the Fence Packet identifies General Contractor registration. Adding or replacing posts requires a footing inspection. Every fence project requires a final inspection, scheduled by the contractor within five business days of completion under the current packet.

• Alternative materials and other modifications: Chain-link, vinyl, split-rail and composite generally need a Minor Modification and construction to manufacturer specifications. The ordinance separately recognizes certain front-yard fence types and replacement of existing nonconforming fences in similar material. Interior-fence alternatives and specified estate, agricultural, Downtown, corner and boundary situations have their own approval provisions.

• Downtown Certificate of Appropriateness: Changes to property or structures, including additions, expansion or removal, within the Downtown Code district require a Certificate of Appropriateness under Section 14.01.312. This review is included with applicable building-permit review and can also apply to work that needs no building permit. The City Council may exempt designated noncontributing properties, but the exemption does not cover new construction replacing a noncontributing structure or new construction on a vacant lot. Exterior remodeling of noncontributing properties may be required to resemble contributing buildings.

• Easement work: Engineering Design Standards Section 1.11 requires an Easement Use Agreement for brick or stone fences in easements. Wooden or chain-link fences, where otherwise allowed, may be approved by the City Engineer or designee without that agreement. An agreement is additional to the building permit; its terms address removal at the City’s request and responsibility for improvements. Fencing across a drainage facility also requires the Director of Engineering’s review and approval.

• Floodplain development: Article 3.05 applies to areas of special flood hazard within the City’s jurisdiction as determined by the floodplain administrator. It requires a floodplain development permit for conformance with the article. Its development definition includes excavation, filling, grading and other man-made changes. Have the administrator determine the requirements for proposed posts, walls, grading and other work on an affected site.

• Pool projects: Pool permit documents must identify existing and proposed fences, any fence extension, and compliance with the applicable barrier requirements. Pool excavation sites must remain continuously enclosed so they are reasonably inaccessible to small children or animals. The City requires its completed, notarized pool-protection-device certification before final inspection. Fence approval and pool-barrier compliance are separate parts of the project.

FENCE PLACEMENT RULES

• Property boundary: Section 14.04.305 directs fences to be installed on property lines without encroaching on other property. Establish the legal boundary before setting posts. Existing fences, curbs, pavement, ditches and mapping lines may be in different locations from the boundary, public right-of-way or easement.

• Corner and reverse-corner lots: Fences and retaining walls on corner lots must be at least 15 feet from the face of any curb unless the Director approves otherwise. On reverse-corner lots, the side-yard fence must follow the adjoining property’s front building line or use open ornamental construction.

• Fence returns: Returns facing the primary street must be at least five feet behind the front façade. On corner lots, this distance increases to 10 feet. Estate properties greater than one acre may install decorative driveway entrances. In the single-family estate district, gated-entry driveway gates must stand at least 25 feet from the pavement edge to avoid interfering with traffic.

• Public rights-of-way and easements: Residential fences may not occupy public right-of-way, sight-visibility triangles or drainage easements without the Director’s authorization specified in Section 14.04.305. The separate screening standards prohibit screening walls and fences in public right-of-way or visibility easements. Recorded rights of access and the applicable Engineering approvals also govern easement work.

• Drainage facilities and major creeks: A fence crossing a drainage facility must allow water to flow without creating a dam and requires Engineering approval. Along a major creek, the engineering standards require ornamental metal fencing along the rear and sides of lots, prohibit solid fencing and assign maintenance to the property owner. Fencing adjacent to a floodplain, creek, utility easement or dedicated open space must also meet the residential ordinance’s black tubular steel and openness requirements.

• Alleys and mews: In neighborhood development, the Neighborhood Vision Book specifies an alley fence setback of at least three feet from the back of pavement and describes a seven-foot setback to accommodate planting and utilities. Engineering standards separately require at least seven feet from the back of pavement for mews alleys. The Vision Book permits four-foot decorative metal fencing to encroach slightly into mews common space. Mews alley pavement and the common space have distinct standards; confirm the applicable approved layout with Planning and Engineering. Alley right-of-way must remain free of the prohibited fences, walls and other visibility obstructions.

• Subdivision perimeter walls: A private fence perpendicular to a subdivision screening wall must meet that wall at no greater height than the wall. A smooth height transition toward the residential maximum may extend no more than 16 feet. An intervening public alley or right-of-way means the fence is not adjacent to the wall. The ordinance prohibits adjacent or parallel fences beside a wall and close back-to-back arrangements that create maintenance gaps.

• Wall-maintenance easements: Required screening walls have a maintenance easement at least three feet wide, dedicated at platting to the City and applicable HOA or commercial owner. Buildings, fences, trees, shrubs and other improvements or growth cannot occupy it; City-approved landscaping is an exception. The HOA or commercial owner maintains the wall, while the City retains its stated access and maintenance rights.

• Subdivision development and entrances: Developers must construct perimeter screening with each subdivision phase beside rights-of-way at least 60 feet wide, with required landscaping, irrigation and sidewalks. Walls wrap the sides of entry lots. A perimeter wall must extend to the property line of the last platted lot having partial adjacency, with any necessary adjoining-property easement. Where residential development adjoins undeveloped nonresidential or multifamily land, the residential developer builds the required wall during infrastructure development before vertical construction unless the other property develops first.

• Existing joint or attached fences: Agriculture Code Sections 143.121 through 143.123 restrict removal of a dividing fence in which a person is a joint owner or a fence attached to one owned or controlled by another, subject to mutual consent or the statutory process. Under Section 143.122, a person owning an interest in a fence attached to one owned in whole or part by another may physically withdraw that person’s fence after giving six months‘ written notice of the intended separation to the other fence’s owner, agent, attorney or lessee. Under Section 143.123, an owner whose fence is wholly on that owner’s land may require the attached fence’s owner to disconnect and withdraw it after giving six months‘ written notice to that owner, agent, attorney or lessee. Ownership and attachment determine which procedure applies.

• Surface water and pipeline easements: Water Code Section 11.086 prohibits diversion or impoundment of natural surface flow that damages another property by overflow, subject to its statutory qualifications. Walls, bases and associated grading must preserve lawful drainage. Health and Safety Code Sections 756.121 through 756.123 address defined construction on, across, over or under a pipeline easement or right-of-way, or physically impacting or creating a risk to a pipeline facility. The subchapter generally applies unless a contrary written agreement with the affected pipeline owner or operator governs; its specified municipal-property and navigation-district or port-authority exceptions also apply in their own circumstances. Before covered construction on a pipeline easement or right-of-way, notify the operator and satisfy a statutory alternative: the operator determines there is no increased public or pipeline risk; the constructor pays the reasonable, necessary and documented protective-improvement costs before proceeding when the operator determines risk increases; the work proceeds under an existing written agreement; or a regulated utility must act promptly because of a natural disaster.

• Pipeline excavation tickets and records: Railroad Commission rules separately cover movement of earth near the specified underground pipelines, including manual post-hole digging deeper than 16 inches. The default locate-ticket life is 14 working days, calculated from original notice unless otherwise specified. If work remains when the ticket expires, refresh it for the area still to be excavated. A longer ticket life requires an agreement in writing, signed and dated by both excavator and operator, with copies retained by both. Keep required records, including locate tickets and positive-response notifications, for at least four years unless the rules expressly state otherwise. Follow the applicable valid-ticket, site-check, second-notice, mark-protection and careful-excavation requirements before beginning or continuing work.

• Texas811 before digging: Request a locate before digging post holes, wait the applicable lawful period, follow ticket start instructions, check operator responses and site markings, resolve missing or conflicting information through the ticket process, preserve markings and excavate carefully. Utilities Code Chapter 251 generally covers mechanized excavation, including augers, to 16 inches or more. Notice is ordinarily no earlier than 14 days before work and no later than 48 hours before it, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. With Saturday notification, do not begin before 11:59 a.m. the following Tuesday; if the intervening Monday is a holiday, the statutory start becomes 11:59 a.m. Wednesday. Private irrigation, pool and other customer-owned lines may need separate locating. Utility notification does not replace permits, easement permission or pipeline-construction requirements.

FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES

• Residential maximum: The general maximum is eight feet, excluding the ordinance’s allowance for ground clearance and decorative caps. Decorative gate embellishments may extend no more than two feet above the fence.

• Front yards: Fences and walls are limited to 36 inches and must be split-rail, wrought iron, picket or decorative masonry. Front fences should generally be at least 50% open, except allowed walls. Lots greater than one acre have an exception subject to the Director’s review and approval.

• Street-facing subdivision fences: Chapter 10 requires street-facing wood residential fences to be at least six feet high, with cedar board-on-board construction and a decorative cap. This subdivision screening requirement accompanies the separate front-yard, visibility and residential maximum rules.

• Scenic and open-space edges: Residential fences beside floodplains, creeks, utility easements and dedicated open space must be at least 50% open. The Neighborhood Vision Book requires ornamental open fencing at least six feet high on the side or rear of a lot beside open space, parks, utilities or natural corridors. Its open-fence designs may include a low cheek wall no taller than 36 inches. Engineering standards limit fences beside major creeks to eight feet measured from grade at that location.

• Intersection and curb-cut visibility: Section 6.02.002 limits fences and other obstructions to 30 inches above gutter flow line in a triangle formed by measuring 30 feet along each curb from the intersection and joining the endpoints. It covers public right-of-way intersections and curb cuts, including privately owned land within the triangle. Without curbs, the City Engineer determines the ditch-flow-line measurements; the height reference becomes the adjacent paved or used street level. Trees in this area must have branches and foliage at least eight feet above the gutter flow line.

• Engineering corner triangles: Section 4.07 of the Engineering Design Standards prohibits fences or other objects that interfere with clear sight in corner or sight-line triangles. The corner triangle is measured along intersecting right-of-way lines. Vision must remain clear between 30 inches and nine feet above average gutter elevation. The road classes are P6D, a six-lane divided major thoroughfare; M4D, a four-lane divided minor thoroughfare; C2U, a two-lane undivided collector; and R, a local residential neighborhood street. Table 4.14 requires equal triangle legs of 40 feet where P6D, M4D or C2U thoroughfares meet one another or a residential street that may be signalized; 25 feet where those thoroughfares meet a residential street remaining unsignalized; 10 feet for R-to-R intersections; and 30 feet where an unimproved road meets C2U or R. Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) roads and frontage roads use the P6D specifications. Alley-to-residential-street triangles use 15 feet along street right-of-way and five feet along alley right-of-way.

• Driveway and street sight-line triangles: The engineering sight-line method uses a driver point 15 feet back from the intersecting curb and sight lines offset five feet from the relevant curb or conflicting traffic edge. Table 4.15 gives two-lane sight distances of 280, 335, 390 and 445 feet at design speeds of 25, 30, 35 and 40 mph respectively. At 45 mph, two-, four- and six-lane values are 500, 530 and 565 feet; at 50 mph they are 555, 590 and 625 feet. The 25-mph distance may be reduced to 150 feet with City Engineer or designee approval. Curved-road distances follow the horizontal curve. Sight-line areas outside right-of-way are dedicated as Visibility, Access and Maintenance Easements on the plat.

• Downtown frontages: The Downtown Code and its addendum distinguish frontage types. The Common Yard frontage remains unfenced. The Porch & Fence frontage allows a fence at the frontage line; that frontage form is permitted in The Bricks and Preston Streams, and is not permitted in Patio Commons, The Verandas, Entertainment or Gateway East. Corner building street façades, porches and fences must follow the district setback range for at least 15 feet along the corner frontage. The addendum gives staff Minor Modification authority for private frontages meeting the Downtown vision and states that conflicting fence requirements generally follow base zoning.

• Downtown residential transitions: The Downtown Code calls for a residential-transition screening device between six and eight feet high beside an existing one-unit detached residential building; it is optional for other adjacencies. Required parking screens and other development screens have their own purpose-specific standards.

MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS

• Ordinary materials: Residential fences generally use wood or black tubular steel, described as powder-coated ornamental iron. Only materials listed and regulated in the zoning chapter may be used. Non-injurious Downtown alternatives may receive a Minor Modification, and estate residential, agricultural or larger properties may use alternatives consistent with surrounding development.

• Wood: Residential wood must be cedar or white wood, stained natural brown or an earth tone. Bright stains or finishes, such as blue, orange or pink, are prohibited. Horizontal picket patterns are allowed. All components must be securely fastened and kept in safe condition, free of rot, rust, vandalism and decay.

• Street-facing wood: Side fences on corner and reverse-corner lots, fences backing to public right-of-way, and the street-facing portions between houses require cedar board-on-board construction with a decorative cap and the finished face toward the street. Alley fences need not use enhanced construction but must face smooth side outward. Interior-facing subdivision fences are not required to be board-on-board.

• Steel posts and concrete: Wood-fence posts must be galvanized steel, at least 2⅜ inches in diameter and CS20 (.095) thickness, set in concrete footings at least eight inches in diameter. Below seven feet of fence height, maximum post spacing is eight feet on center and minimum footing depth is 24 inches. At seven feet or taller, maximum spacing is six feet on center and minimum depth is 36 inches. Approved caps must prevent moisture from entering posts.

• Finished-side orientation: The general rule puts the smooth side outward and posts inward. Fences backing or siding to another residence may face either side inward under Section 14.04.305. On significant grade changes, the high property’s smooth fence face must be visible from the lower side. The City’s fence policy and packet also require posts to remain invisible from the street, including a high fence above a retaining wall and an interior lot where the adjoining lot lacks a return to the house.

• Vinyl/PVC, chain-link, composite and split-rail: Vinyl, chain-link, composite and split-rail are generally prohibited unless approved through a Minor Modification and built to manufacturer specifications. Front-yard split-rail is separately named among the permitted front-yard types. Existing nonconforming fences may be replaced using similar material. These provisions apply together with the applicable location and height rules.

• Interior fences: Dog runs, swimming-pool fences and comparable fences inside a rear-yard perimeter may use alternative materials with the Director’s discretionary approval. Exterior and shared boundaries must comply, and the interior alternative must be no taller than the exterior fence and not visible to the public.

• Open edges: Fences beside a floodplain, creek, utility easement or dedicated open space must be black tubular steel and at least 50% open. The Neighborhood Vision Book describes wrought-iron-appearance open fencing and prohibits chain-link for its development fencing. Utility-corridor rear lot edges require open fencing.

• Downtown materials: Downtown standards recognize non-injurious alternative materials for fences four feet or lower and specify decorative metal or masonry above four feet. The incorporated addendum states that conflicting fencing requirements generally conform to base zoning. Downtown design and Certificate of Appropriateness review remain applicable.

• Injurious and agricultural materials: Section 14.04.305(b)(4) states: “Barbed wire, electric, and other injurious fence material is prohibited in the City, unless the property is an agricultural district over one acre in size, legitimately needed for agricultural purposes, or otherwise approved by the Director.” The Agricultural (AG) zoning district and single-family estate district have additional livestock-fencing provisions. The estate district allows suitable livestock materials but excludes barbed and razor wire. The AG district removes its front-yard-setback fencing restriction for livestock containment, but its overlapping paragraphs both recognize barbed wire on undeveloped land for livestock and separately allow suitable materials other than barbed or razor wire, with an undeveloped-tract exception over three acres for livestock. The AG provisions require barbed wire to be removed at development. Obtain Planning‘s determination of the applicable agricultural provision and any state-law protection before selecting those materials.

• Agricultural operations: Agriculture Code Sections 251.005 and 251.0055 restrict municipal requirements affecting qualifying agricultural operations. Within corporate limits, the City must have clear and convincing evidence that less restrictive means cannot address the requirement’s purpose and that the requirement is necessary to protect people in the immediate vicinity from the specified imminent danger. Listed dangers include explosion, flooding, vermin or insect infestation, physical injury, directly attributable contagious disease, loss of lateral or subjacent support, identified water contamination, radiation, improper toxic-material storage, traffic-hazard vegetation, or covered firearms or weapons discharge. The City Council must make the prescribed public-health finding by resolution after reviewing the required health-officer or consultant report, and the requirement must not otherwise be prohibited by the section. Section 251.006 also addresses qualifying agricultural improvements, including fences, while retaining state and federal enforcement. Acreage alone does not establish those protections.

• Required screening walls: Section 14.04.301 applies its screening specifications to new development and expansions of existing buildings or areas over 30%. Screening walls generally have an eight-foot minimum. Stone, rock and brick are allowed screening materials. In unique circumstances, the Director may approve alternative screening only if surrounding property suffers no adverse impact, the chapter’s spirit and intent are maintained, and financial hardship is not the sole justification for reducing the standard. The Director may require a combination of alternatives. Those alternatives include decorative iron with masonry columns, industrial-grade aluminum or steel, living screens and berms, split-face concrete masonry units, precast concrete, and cedar board-on-board with decorative caps and masonry columns. Living screening must be at least six feet tall when planted.

• Screening-wall construction: A sufficiently high retaining wall may satisfy the masonry screening requirement through a Minor Modification. A project’s proposed retaining wall must be placed along the property line and engineered to accommodate the ultimate screening device for the shared boundary. Engineered concrete foundations with piers are required; walls four feet or taller require a Texas professional engineer’s design and seal, followed by certified record drawings. Walls must be consistently styled and equally finished on all sides. Concrete risers taller than six inches need masonry cladding. Masonry columns occur at corners, transitions and intervals no greater than 80 feet, with lintels, soldier courses, concrete mow strips and decorative caps. Bottom openings are limited to drainage needs under Engineering standards. Precast walls have maximum 14-foot column spacing unless the Director approves otherwise; panels must be at least four inches thick, patterned and colored on both sides, and made of at least 4,000-psi concrete.

• Prohibited screening materials: The screening rules prohibit chain-link, electrified fencing, plain wooden fences, surface-painted or coated concrete, concertina wire, corrugated metal and fiberglass panels. Their barbed-wire exception concerns undeveloped land and livestock containment, with removal at development. Screening-material standards apply to the required screening device.

• Subdivision alternatives: For qualifying cul-de-sac bulbs or single-loaded U-shaped streets beside roadways at least 60 feet wide, living screens may accompany open decorative fencing and masonry columns. U-shaped streets or cul-de-sacs opening to the landscape buffer need pedestrian connectivity but no screen wall or fence. A Minor Modification may allow decorative metal or wrought iron for up to 50% of a subdivision’s perimeter wall with berms and landscaping. No perimeter screen is required where collectors or arterials adjoin floodplains or extensive open space. Individual single-family lots in subdivisions built without perimeter walls are exempt from installing masonry and may instead use an eight-foot cedar board-on-board fence with decorative cap and appropriate columns.

• Subdivision roadway alternatives: Chapter 10 describes masonry roadway screening between six and eight feet high; the current zoning screening section specifies an eight-foot minimum. For single-family subdivision land beside perimeter roadways outside the Master Thoroughfare Plan, Chapter 10 specifies a 20-foot landscape buffer and allows six-foot enhanced cedar board-on-board fencing with a decorative cap, inward-facing metal posts, periodic masonry columns and HOA maintenance instead of masonry, with added evergreen shrubs. The approved subdivision screening plan must address the applicable roadway and current zoning requirements.

• Mixed-use and neighboring development: Nonresidential and multifamily development beside single-family districts or uses generally provides masonry screening. Director-approved integrated mixed-use development may have an internal screening exception. When required commercial screening replaces an existing residential fence, the new wall becomes the shared screening device; close parallel fences and maintenance gaps are prohibited. Legal or constructability problems may receive a conditioned Minor Modification. Required screening walls are owned and maintained by the applicable HOA or commercial owner, and repairs must match adjoining sections.

• Development beside existing utility compounds: Section 14.04.304(d)(2) applies to development adjacent to or including existing gas, electric, power or comparable utility areas, stations or compounds. The development must replace existing nonconforming fencing with an eight-foot masonry wall. If replacement is not possible, the eight-foot wall must be installed immediately beside the existing fence to mitigate its appearance. The Director may modify the treatment for access and landscaping. This utility-compound development standard is separate from the residential rule for fencing beside a utility easement.

• Small-livestock enclosures: The livestock chapter generally requires a site of at least two acres and limits adults to one per available acre, excluding the residence and septic areas under its acreage rules. Where livestock are lawfully kept, Section 2.05.003 allows a stable solid wall from ground level to at least four feet or the specified wire fence. Wire must be at least 16 gauge, with hogwire openings no greater than 7½ by 12 inches, continuous from ground to at least 32 inches. The published upper-wire requirement states: “Above this, the wire pattern must be stretched tautly [with] at least two strands of [wire] at least four feet above the ground.” Posts may be no more than 15 feet apart, may not sway more than six inches when tested, and may not be trees. Hinged gates extend from ground level to at least four feet, exclude livestock at their connections, have no opening larger than 7½ by 12 inches, and have a tested latch or chain.

• Large-livestock enclosures: Section 2.05.004 allows a stable four-foot solid wall or a fence with at least four taut strands of 16-gauge wire: one at one foot, one at least four feet high, and two evenly spaced between. The same 15-foot post-spacing, six-inch movement and no-tree-post requirements apply. Hinged gates extend from one foot to at least four feet above ground and must prevent passage and remain latched. Mixed small and large livestock use the small-livestock enclosure standard. Livestock pens and stables have a separate 150-foot separation from human living quarters, whether occupied or unoccupied, measured in a straight line from any direction.

• Fowl enclosures: Section 2.05.008 allows no more than six fowl per enclosure and only one enclosure per residential lot, except for exotic birds not raised, kept or harbored for commercial purposes. Roosters are permitted only on residential lots of at least two acres.

• Pool barriers: Celina’s amended Section 305.2 requires barriers around all outdoor aquatic vessels and indoor swimming pools, complying with Sections 305.2.1 through 305.7; public pools also follow the referenced Texas enclosure requirements. In one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses, amended Section 305.1 exempts the areas containing qualifying spas, hot tubs or pools from Sections 305.2 through 305.7 where spas or hot tubs have an ASTM F1346-compliant lockable safety cover and swimming pools have an ASTM F1346-compliant powered safety cover. Where a wall of a one- or two-family dwelling, townhouse or its accessory structure forms part of the barrier and a door or window gives direct access, amended Section 305.4 requires one of its applicable protection alternatives. The natural-water-edge exception in amended Section 305.6 is limited to one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses: the pool or spa area must abut a lake or other natural water body, public shoreline access must not be permitted or allowed, and required barriers must extend to and beyond the water’s edge by at least 18 inches. Only the barrier between that shoreline and the pool or spa is excused by that exception. Amended Section 305.2.8.1 prohibits chain-link as a barrier for public pools built after January 1, 1994. Ordinary residential fence requirements also apply to a pool-barrier fence.

• Owner maintenance: Owners must continually maintain, repair or replace fences. Optional fences may instead be removed. Leaning, fallen or unstable fencing, fences causing damage, supports other than proper posts, missing or loose pickets, broken parts and decayed members can result in a citation. Required screening walls must remain functional and in good repair; the City retains the stated ability to arrange repairs at the responsible owner’s expense.

PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS

HOA documents, deed restrictions, architectural rules, recorded private easements and written boundary or maintenance agreements can impose separate requirements within Texas law. City approval does not determine private fence ownership, authorize entry onto neighboring land or settle cost sharing. Review the property’s recorded documents and the association’s required approval process before construction.

• Security fences and gates: Property Code Section 202.023 protects security measures, including perimeter fences, while allowing covered associations to regulate fence type and prohibit obstructions of defined license areas, public or community sidewalks, drainage easements and drainage areas. An association may require a driveway gate to be at least 10 feet from the right-of-way where a driveway meets a laned roadway. If a restrictive covenant provides, an association may prohibit new fencing in front of the dwelling’s front-most building line.

• Existing fences and enhanced security: Owners may maintain perimeter or front-building-line fencing installed or constructed before September 1, 2025, notwithstanding the retained controls in Section 202.023(c). The front-building-line prohibition cannot be applied to qualifying owners whose residential addresses are exempt from public disclosure or who provide law-enforcement documentation of a need for enhanced security. Section 202.023 excludes the specified condominium and master mixed-use associations.

• Protected pool enclosures: Property Code Section 202.022 limits association restrictions on qualifying nonclimbable pool or water-feature enclosures made of transparent mesh or clear panels in metal frames, no more than six feet high, and conforming to state or local safety requirements. Appearance and color controls remain subject to the statute’s protection for black transparent mesh in metal frames.

Private agreements may allocate installation, removal, repairs, access and expenses. Put agreed responsibilities in writing, including how an existing shared fence will be handled and how future maintenance will be performed.

REVIEW AND ENFORCEMENT CONTEXT

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

• Building Services review of fence permits, plans, contractor registration and inspections.

• Planning review of height, materials, location, Minor Modifications, Downtown design and agricultural conditions.

• Engineering Services and floodplain-administrator review of visibility, rights-of-way, easements, drainage facilities and affected floodplain work.

• Compliance with the established pool-barrier, utility-location, pipeline, animal-enclosure and owner-maintenance requirements.

Private association review and disputes about ownership, attachment, access or cost sharing remain separate from City permit and enforcement review.

USING THIS INFORMATION

This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within the City of Celina, Texas. Updated November 2026.

In addition to local fence rules, certain Texas laws apply statewide. See Statewide Fence Laws in Texas.

It is not legal advice and does not replace official statutes, ordinances, orders, permits, certificates, development approvals, applicable building-code requirements, surveys, recorded documents or professional guidance. Rules and interpretations may change, and application may vary with municipal or unincorporated location, applicable extraterritorial authority, zoning or special-area status, code adoption and amendments, site conditions, subdivision or plat conditions, easements, rights-of-way, drainage and floodplain requirements, historic or design districts, pool use, agricultural operations and stock laws, fence ownership or attachment, coastal or public-access conditions, utility and pipeline excavation requirements, and private restrictions subject to Texas law. Before purchasing materials or beginning construction, confirm current requirements and site-specific limitations with Building 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.