FENCE RULES – FARMERS BRANCH (CITY), TEXAS

OVERVIEW

This page applies to residential fence work within the incorporated boundaries of the City of Farmers Branch, Texas, in Dallas County.

Farmers Branch requires permits for new fences and sets a general maximum of 8 feet 6 inches in side and rear yards, with front-yard fences generally prohibited. Small repairs have limited exemptions, while corner lots, drainage, easements, gates and pool barriers carry additional conditions. Planned development districts can change the ordinary height, location and materials rules, including along Rawhide Creek, in the Courtyards, Downtown Farmers Branch, Mercer Crossing and Kensington. Maintenance duties also apply to existing fences. Wood and chain-link are recognized for ordinary residential side and rear fences; vinyl/PVC needs particular attention to the applicable district and approved design. Updated November 2026.

Quick question	Farmers Branch answer
Permit or approval	A permit is required for a new fence. Limited repairs under 20 feet have exemptions with different calendar-year and 12-month conditions; confirm the applicable test before relying on one.
Typical fence height	Generally up to 8 feet 6 inches in side and rear yards. Front-yard fences are generally prohibited. Planned development and pool-barrier rules can differ.
Placement & property lines	Use the survey, required yard lines and recorded easements. Corner streets, drainage routes, access gates and district-specific setbacks can restrict placement.
Common fence materials	Wood: recognized, with protective treatment required. Vinyl/PVC: use a product specifically designed for fence construction and approved in the fence-permit review; vinyl/PVC is not a named example, and PD-90 Tract 3 prohibits it. Chain-link: expressly recognized for ordinary residential side and rear lines, with district and pool restrictions.
Important local conditions	Fence rules may be further affected by planned development zoning, creek or park frontage, corner lots, easements, floodplain and drainage conditions, pool barriers, subdivision screening and private restrictions.
Official local resource	Farmers Branch Building Inspections & Permits

The table is for quick reference. The sections below explain the applicable measurements, exceptions and special-property conditions. Before purchasing materials or beginning work, read the sections that apply, review the linked official sources and confirm site-specific requirements with Building Inspections & Permits and the responsible office for each issue.

GOVERNANCE

Residential fence requirements are distributed among the Farmers Branch Code of Ordinances, the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, individual planned development ordinances, permit documents and drainage standards.

• City Council and zoning: The City Council adopts the governing ordinances and acts on the zoning and site-plan matters assigned to it. The Planning & Zoning Division administers zoning and planned development requirements, with the Planning and Zoning Commission reviewing matters assigned to it. The property’s actual zoning, adopted site plan and recorded plat determine which district provisions apply.

• Building permits and inspections: The Building Inspection Division within Community Services administers building and zoning regulations, fence permits and inspections. Farmers Branch’s 2024 International Codes and 2023 National Electrical Code took effect October 1, 2025. The locally amended 2024 International Residential Code and 2024 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code are relevant to ordinary homes and pool barriers.

• Variances and special approvals: The zoning board of adjustment may grant fence-article variances for special conditions causing unnecessary hardship when consistent with the public interest, the ordinance’s spirit and substantial justice. Planned development special exceptions and site-plan modifications follow the applicable district’s separate process.

• Floodplain, drainage and public infrastructure: The city engineer and Public Works administer floodplain development and drainage review. Utility and drainage easement holders retain their own access rights. Valwood Improvement Authority, the local flood-control district serving part of western Farmers Branch and Carrollton, maintains levee, channel and pump infrastructure within its territory. A parcel’s district location and recorded easements must be evaluated with its city requirements.

• Fire access and maintenance: The fire code official administers applicable fire-access requirements, including access to hydrants and fire-protection equipment. Code Enforcement administers the city’s fence and wall maintenance standards. Public code review and enforcement remain separate from private association decisions or boundary disputes.

PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS

• New fences and retaining walls: Section 22-262 requires a permit before constructing any type of fence or retaining wall in the city, as required by the city building code. The fence article defines a fence as a wall or structure more than 12 inches high used to enclose, screen, restrict access to or decorate a lot, parcel, building or structure. Its residential-property definition includes detached one- or two-family dwellings and one-family townhouses no more than three stories high.

• Limited existing-fence repairs: The fence article exempts repairs totaling less than 20 linear feet of the same existing fence during a single calendar year. The locally amended residential code separately exempts existing-fence repairs or replacements under 20 feet in total length when neither height nor location is altered within a 12-month period of the repair. Because those conditions and time periods differ, have the Building Inspection Division confirm the exemption for the proposed work, including prior repairs, height changes and relocation.

• Retaining-wall permit treatment: The building-code amendment also lists a permit exemption for retaining walls no more than 2 feet high, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, unless supporting a surcharge or impounding Class I, II or IIIA liquids. The same provision pairs “2 feet” with “1219 mm,” which are conflicting measurements; confirm the intended threshold with the Building Inspection Division. Section 22-262 separately addresses permits for retaining walls. Confirm the applicable code and permit treatment before starting a wall or combined fence-and-wall project.

• Application documents: The Fence Permit Application requires a property survey with the proposed fence location marked. Provide the fence or wall description, length, height, material, project cost and existing or new location. Identify corner, creek, floodplain, Mercer Crossing or Branch Crossing conditions, easement or right-of-way encroachment, access and driveway gates, pool or spa, any existing adjacent fence and any active HOA. A motorized gate requires the electrician’s information and state license details; retaining walls require detail/design information and masonry walls require footing design information.

• Masonry engineering: A masonry fence or fence column more than 6 feet high measured from grade requires a foundation designed by a Texas-licensed professional engineer. Submit the signed and sealed foundation plans with the masonry-fence application.

• Submission, payment and inspections: The city’s Fence Permit Process directs applicants to Civic Access or in-person submission, with a survey/site map, proposed height and payment. It identifies five business days for initial plan review and five business days for resubmittals. After approval and final payment, the permit is issued; follow the permit cover sheet for required inspections, correct failed items and obtain final inspection approval. Required permits must be conspicuously posted near the work.

• Application and permit time limits: Under the amended residential code, an application is abandoned after 90 days unless pursued in good faith or a permit is issued. Written extensions may be granted for justified cause in periods no longer than 45 days. An issued permit becomes invalid if work does not begin within 120 days or more than 120 days pass between inspections; justified written extensions may be granted for periods no longer than 120 days each.

• Planned development review: The official planned development district ordinances and approved site plans can prescribe the fence layout or require additional approval. The general PD process requires an approved Detailed Site Plan before development and building permits. Some districts expressly permit administrative waivers for minor fence work, subject to compatibility and compliance conditions; a waiver must come from the authorized official. Downtown PD-86 allows qualifying administrative modifications of street-wall and fence standards up to 10 percent. Special exceptions follow the district process and are not automatic allowances.

• City and utility easements: A fence, brace or post encroaching into a city- or utility-owned easement requires the easement grantee’s prior written consent and delivery to the city of the owner’s hold-harmless agreement for fence repair or replacement costs caused by exercise of easement rights. The grantee generally has no replacement obligation unless agreed in writing or required by law.

• Floodplain approval: A Floodplain Development Permit is required for improvements within the city’s special flood hazard and controlled flood protection areas. Begin with a preapplication conference with Engineering and submit the owner-signed application to the city engineer. The engineer determines the necessary maps, scaled improvement plans, elevations, flood-area relationships, acreage, hydrologic and hydraulic analyses, water profiles, cross sections, erosion/sediment controls and landscape information. Required engineering submittals must be prepared, signed and sealed by a Texas professional engineer. Review the city’s Floodplain & Drainage requirements for the property.

• Floodway and natural-state conditions: Floodway encroachments require a registered professional engineer’s certification demonstrating no increase in base-flood levels, together with the applicable flood-hazard controls. Properties in the 100-year floodplain must remain in a natural state unless the director of public works approves a change. Floodplain variance requests are decided by the City Council under the code’s strict criteria; variances cannot authorize a rise in flood levels within a designated floodway. The city’s floodplain guidance states that variances will not be issued for proposed projects in the FEMA special flood hazard area, so do not plan a fence project around obtaining one.

• Soil disturbance and stormwater: Construction disturbing soil and discharging stormwater into the city storm sewer system requires erosion and sediment controls and appropriate best management practices. City approval of a site-specific Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan and applicable post-construction plan is required for disturbance of at least one acre, or smaller work forming part of a larger common development plan, subject to the applicable TCEQ waiver. The city may also require controls for disturbance below one acre when needed to protect the system or surface waters. These conditions depend on the work and site, including fence excavation or associated grading.

• Historic landmark property: Where a designated historic landmark includes the affected land or feature, demolition, removal, razing or substantial alteration/reconstruction must pass the code’s Planning and Zoning Commission hearing and City Council review before the permit is issued. Apply the designation ordinance to the actual property and proposed work.

• Pool barriers: Fences serving as pool or spa barriers must comply with the locally amended pool code in addition to the ordinary fence provisions. The fence article includes pools, hot tubs and spas containing water more than 24 inches deep and expressly requires barriers for indoor and outdoor installations. Shared, apartment and association pools require the applicable facility classification and any separate state enclosure or public-pool requirements.

• Underground utilities before excavation: Use the Texas811 guidance and notification service before digging. For excavation covered by Utilities Code Chapter 251, including mechanized disturbance at least 16 inches deep, notify a notification center no earlier than 14 days and at least 48 hours before work, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays in the statutory timing. A Saturday notification means one delivered before 11:59 a.m. Saturday; that branch permits work at 11:59 a.m. Tuesday, or Wednesday if the intervening Monday is a holiday. Resolve marking questions and protect facilities before digging. Private owner/tenant-only lines on the same property are among the statutory exclusions, and water, slurry and sewer operators may not receive the notice. Separately identify private lines; the Railroad Commission pipeline rules below have their own scope and duties.

• Pipeline excavation and ticket life: Railroad Commission 16 TAC Chapter 18 separately applies to covered movement of earth near underground pipelines carrying flammable, toxic or corrosive gas, hazardous liquid or carbon dioxide, subject to its exemptions. It includes manual digging deeper than 16 inches, such as hand-dug post holes. Give the required notification-center notice and specify how to receive a positive response. A locate ticket normally lasts 14 working days from the original notice. A longer life requires a written agreement signed and dated by both excavator and operator, with both retaining copies. Refresh an expiring ticket if work remains, limiting the refresh to the area yet to be excavated. Unless the rules expressly provide otherwise, retain required records, including locate tickets and positive-response notifications, at least four years; notification-center retention is acceptable for tickets.

• Pipeline markings and second notice: Before covered pipeline excavation, verify the location and markings, check visually for unmarked pipelines and have a valid ticket available through the designated representative, obtainable or producible within one hour of a request. A second notice to the notification center is required before starting if a known pipeline conflicts with an “all clear”/“no conflict” response, clear evidence of an unmarked pipeline conflicts with that response, no positive response exists for the area, or the response is unclear or obviously erroneous. Section 18.4(f) permits excavation if no positive response arrives within four hours after that second notice; the duties to avoid damage, take reasonable protective steps and preserve markings continue. An excavator giving a second notice because an operator failed to respond must report that failure through the Texas Damage Reporting Form process, and must also report an operator’s failure to respond to the second call. This is separate from the Utilities Code timing rule.

• Construction affecting pipeline easements: Health and Safety Code sections 756.121–756.123 separately cover construction, including repair, replacement and maintenance, on, across, over or under a pipeline easement/right-of-way or physically affecting or creating a risk to a covered pipeline. Unless a contrary written agreement or statutory exclusion applies, give the pipeline operator notice and satisfy a statutory branch: the operator determines there is no increased public or pipeline-damage risk; the constructor pays the reasonable, necessary and documented protective-improvement costs before proceeding if risk increases; the work proceeds under an existing written agreement; or a regulated utility must act promptly because of a natural disaster. The statutory exclusions include municipal work on municipally owned property unless for private commercial use, and the specified navigation-district/port-authority property. These provisions establish no universal fence setback from a pipeline.

FENCE PLACEMENT RULES

• Property boundary: Mark the proposed work on the required survey and establish the legal boundary, recorded easements, required yards and any adopted fence layout before placing posts. The general fence article does not establish one numeric setback from every ordinary side or rear property line. District setbacks and easement, drainage and public-access conditions still apply.

• Front and corner yards: The general rule prohibits a fence anywhere in the front yard. The zoning definition extends that yard across the lot from the main building to the front lot or street line. Where a corner street-side yard must match the minimum front setback of lots facing that street on the same block and side, no fence may occupy that required yard. On one- or two-family corner lots platted after February 24, 1969, both street exposures are treated as front yards unless an approved plat establishes a controlling street-side building line of at least 10 feet. A Lot of Record has a 10-foot minimum street-side yard under the zoning provision. Apply these yard classifications with the fence article and any PD exception.

• Front-yard lines and double frontage: Plats and other city ordinances can establish the required front building line. The zoning rules generally use a recorded plat or separate ordinance line; in R-2 through R-6, D-1 and D-2, the least restrictive building line controls the specified conflict. A block divided among zoning districts uses the most restrictive front-yard requirement for its frontage. Double-frontage lots generally have required front yards on both streets unless an accessory-building line on a plat or prior ordinance establishes the stated exception. In R-1 and MF-1 through MF-4, the block-average rule can affect the minimum front yard, capped at 50 feet and no more than 10 feet beyond the adjacent lot’s minimum setback. These provisions establish the relevant yard lines; they do not create permission to fence a prohibited front yard.

• Access gates: Each residential fence must have at least one gate at least 3 feet wide in the portion adjacent or parallel to a public right-of-way. Provide access for utility-easement owners where an easement lies inside the fenced property. If an easement lies between the fence and a side or rear lot line, provide a gate so the owner can mow and maintain that area. A driveway gate may not swing outward into a street or alley right-of-way or required front setback.

• Drainage routes: A residential fence may not alter natural or planned drainage. Section 86-606 provides for unobstructed drainage swales at least 2 feet wide with a 1-percent slope on the applicable side or rear lot lines, totaling 4 feet where two lots combine. Fences may be permitted there only when water flow remains unobstructed. The city engineer must approve equivalent drainage configurations. Do not obstruct an adjacent property’s natural drainage or redirect or increase the quantity or velocity of water flowing onto neighboring private property.

• Creek maintenance and public access: Recorded drainage, floodway, maintenance, access and slope easements must remain accessible. When the city elects to maintain creeks or drainageways, section 86-607 calls for maintenance easements at least 15 feet wide on each side and parallel to the waterway, above base-flood elevation, with access for vehicles and equipment; street/alley access easements at intervals of 1,200 feet must also be at least 15 feet wide. The recorded easement and approved plans determine the affected area on a particular lot. Keep hydrants, fire department connections and fire-protection controls immediately visible and accessible.

• Branch Crossing, PD-79: Fences must stand at least 10 feet behind the home’s front elevation unless required to screen mechanical equipment; a required equipment screen must sit as far back as possible without interfering with equipment operation or maintenance. Fences must also be at least 5 feet from public walks. Along Rawhide Creek or a public park and the adjoining 20 feet of lateral fencing, the special steel-fence provisions apply. That steel-material condition excludes homes that already had the qualifying creek/park fence on October 5, 1998. Security fencing for pools or spas on Creek Lots must be at least 20 feet back from the creek/park property line.

• The Courtyards, PD-82: Individual residential fences must be at least 5 feet behind the home’s front elevation unless needed to screen mechanical equipment. An equipment-screen fence must be placed as far behind that elevation as possible without interfering with operation or maintenance. The adopted plan controls the perimeter screening walls and individual side fences.

• Mercer Crossing West and Kensington, PD-99 and PD-100: Fences and walls must remain outside the public right-of-way and within a maintenance easement maintained by the association or individual owner. Front-yard fencing is generally prohibited, but approved ornamental iron or board-on-board wood up to 8 feet high may occupy a corner lot’s secondary street frontage that does not serve the dwelling’s main entrance. Fences within 5 feet of an alley may be ornamental iron or board-on-board wood up to 8 feet. A residential side facing or abutting a park/open space requires ornamental iron unless another material is approved through the Detailed Site Plan.

• Downtown Farmers Branch, PD-86: The regulating plan identifies Type A and Type B street frontages and the Required Building Line, or RBL. Required street walls along unbuilt Type A frontage generally must be within 8 inches behind the RBL. Privacy fences may occupy qualifying common lot lines and alleys more than 10 feet from the RBL; Local sites require a privacy fence along a common lot line not occupied by a building. Local dooryards may have a fence or garden wall along the front and common lot lines under the separate 20-to-40-inch rule. The Local-site layout also requires a 10-foot gap with a gate or street wall between adjacent Local frontage buildings. Legally existing single-family residences receive the code’s stated existing-residence protection.

• Mercer Crossing, PD-88: Where the applicable Urban Center building-envelope standards require street walls along unbuilt RBL frontage, place them no more than 8 inches behind that line. Privacy fencing is limited to the qualifying alley and common-lot-line area more than 10 feet from the RBL. The West Major branch requires a 6-foot privacy fence along an otherwise unbuilt common lot line adjoining a district other than West Major. An approved site plan can establish additional property-specific treatment.

• Other site-specific placements: PD-94’s adopted plan permits a 4-foot decorative metal fence on the eastern side of its two lots, encroaching into the 40-foot building setback as shown on the plan. PD-81 sets lakefront fence placement through site-plan approval and floodplain criteria. PD-96’s fencing table lists no setback for its permitted development and park/open-space fencing, subject to approved plans and other applicable site requirements. PD-21 includes a front-yard fence approval for 14802 Enterprise Drive; its property-specific ordinance and site plan govern that approval.

• Existing fence ownership and attachment: A permit does not determine ownership or authorize removing another person’s fence. Agriculture Code section 143.121 generally bars removal of a jointly owned dividing fence or a fence attached to another person’s fence except under the statute or by mutual consent. Section 143.122 allows an owner of an interest in a fence attached to another person’s fence to withdraw the withdrawing owner’s fence after six months’ written notice to the owner of the fence to which it is attached, or that owner’s agent, attorney or lessee. Section 143.123 allows the owner of a fence wholly on that owner’s land to require the owner of a fence attached to it to disconnect and withdraw the attached fence after six months’ written notice to the attached-fence owner or that owner’s agent, attorney or lessee. These are ownership/attachment rules, not a general cost-sharing rule for neighbors.

FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES

• General side and rear maximum: The ordinary maximum is 8 feet 6 inches in a rear yard, on a rear lot line, in a side yard or on a side lot line. Height is measured from interior adjacent finished grade to the highest part of the fence. Where the fence sits on or with a retaining wall, measurement starts at the wall top only if the interior finished yard grade is level with that top.

• Intersection visibility: No fence may obstruct drivers approaching a street or alley intersection. In PD-82, where an alley meets a street, fencing or screening above 30 inches is prohibited in the triangle formed by measuring 10 feet along each property line from their intersection and joining those points. PD-81 defines its intersection sight triangle using points 25 feet from the intersection of the property lines; nothing may be erected, placed, planted or grown there so as to limit motorists’ sight distance.

• Branch Crossing, PD-79: The general PD-79 fence maximum is 8 feet after Ordinance 3308. The special creek/park steel fence remains 6 feet high. Creek-Lot pool/spa privacy screens other than live landscaping are limited to 6 feet above existing grade and 30 feet in length parallel to the creek or park property line. Creek-Lot pool/spa security fencing may not exceed 6 feet.

• The Courtyards, PD-82: The maximum fence height is 8 feet. Pool/spa privacy screening other than live landscaping may not exceed 8 feet above existing grade. A wood fence screening pool/spa equipment may be no higher than 4 feet and must be concealed from public view.

• Mercer Crossing West and Kensington, PD-99 and PD-100: Fences and walls are limited to 8 feet, including their permitted secondary-frontage and alley branches. PD-99 separately excepts screening of commerce and multifamily service areas from its general 8-foot limit. Major-street masonry walls may be no higher than 8 feet; similarly high decorative metal inserts may occur no more often than every 150 feet unless an alternate design is approved in the Detailed Site Plan.

• Downtown, PD-86: For Shopfront, General and Local sites, the Type A street-wall maximum is 5 feet with landscaping on its street side; the applicable frontage rule identifies the unbuilt frontage requiring the wall. Type B surface parking generally requires a 3-foot screen. The Light Assembly branch permits Type A street walls 3 to 6 feet high or the specified vegetative alternative. Street-wall height is measured from the adjacent public sidewalk or, without one, the completed adjacent ground elevation. The Local-site diagram shows privacy fencing between 6 and 9 feet; the Light Assembly provision allows privacy fencing no higher than 9 feet. Local dooryard fences/garden walls may be 20 to 40 inches. Service-area screens must be at least as high as the equipment screened. Use the particular frontage and approved plan.

• Mercer Crossing, PD-88: The Urban Center and Urban Center Reserve street-wall branches specify 6 to 18 feet, measured from the adjacent sidewalk or completed ground where no sidewalk exists. The definition allows qualifying privacy fences up to 9 feet above adjacent ground. The West Major common-lot-line screen is 6 feet. These specialized form-based walls and fences follow their district and frontage requirements.

• Other adopted development limits: PD-96 limits metal or wrought-iron fencing to 6 feet 6 inches, with masonry columns or screen walls up to 6 feet 9 inches. PD-105 requires a capped board-on-board cedar fence at least 8 feet tall along its north and west boundaries; PD-106 requires that treatment along its west, south and east boundaries as shown on their adopted plans. PD-108 requires decorative metal dog-park fencing at least 5 feet high and private yardette fencing at least 3½ feet high. The PD-107 Lenox Alpha conceptual landscape plan shows privacy fencing between 4 and 8 feet at the designated boundaries.

• Required development screening: A screening or buffer fence in a multifamily, office, retail, commercial or industrial district can exceed 8 feet when approved by City Council site plan or authorized by its PD regulations. Particular adopted boundaries include PD-9’s 8-foot masonry screening against single-family areas and the PD-74 warehouse project under Ordinance 3931, with a masonry screen at least 10 feet high along its eastern R-4 boundary. Ordinance 3937 separately permits wood screening at least 8 feet high on its northern R-4 boundary. These requirements apply to the specified development sites and boundaries.

• Pool-barrier minimum and gaps: The adopted pool code generally requires a barrier at least 48 inches high on the side away from the pool, maintained around the full perimeter and for 3 feet horizontally outside it. Bottom clearance may not exceed 2 inches over grass/gravel or other nonsolid grade and 4 inches over a solid surface. If mounted on a pool/spa structure, the bottom gap above that structure may not exceed 4 inches. Openings may not pass a 4-inch sphere. The safety-cover, wall, onground-pool and natural-barrier alternatives below have their own conditions.

MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS

• Recognized ordinary materials: Residential side and rear fencing from the front building setback line toward the rear property or easement line must use products specifically designed for fence construction. Express examples are chain-link, wood boards and planks, masonry as defined by the building code, and wrought iron or ornamental metal. Vinyl/PVC is not expressly named in those examples; the proposed product requires approval under the governing materials and district rules. PD-90 Tract 3 expressly prohibits vinyl and plastic fence material.

• Prohibited materials and security treatments: The general fence article prohibits rope, string, wire and wire products including barbed wire, razor ribbon wire, chicken wire, wire fabric and welded-wire fabric; chain, netting, cut/broken glass, paper, corrugated metal panels, plywood and wood/metal/plastic products designed for non-fence uses. Its separate residential material provision expressly names chain-link. Electrically charged fencing is prohibited, whether powered by a battery, transformer or another source. Fence angle arms are allowed only in industrial districts and may not project beyond the property line.

• Uniform construction, new material and finishes: Maintain the same material pattern and construction method for each section from corner post to corner post. Secondhand materials may not be used for residential construction or repairs. Wood must be stained, pressure-treated, painted or adequately sealed against decay; corrosion-prone metal must have a protective coating. Masonry fences and columns over 6 feet require the engineered foundation described above.

• Ongoing fence and wall condition: All fences and walls, including older installations, must remain structurally sound. Repair or replace broken, bent, loose, missing or removed parts and keep them free of rot, rust, termite damage, deteriorated finishes and cracked or broken masonry. Replacement parts must match the existing material, size, shape, color and design. Maintain and restore matching protective paint or stain. Fences may not lean in any direction; straighten and secure them rather than bracing them with an external post, pole or other object. If ownership cannot be determined, section 56-81 exempts only its structural-soundness, deterioration and weatherproofing subsections (a), (b) and (e).

• Subdivision screening appearance: A qualifying subdivision fence runs with substantially continuous material and design across at least four adjacent lots beside a public right-of-way, subject to the defined breaks. It must maintain a uniform appearance along the full length even where ownership is divided. If owners do not agree on uniform materials or paint color within 15 days after written notice, the enforcement authority selects the required color. When the entire subdivision fence or wall is replaced, its finished side must face the public right-of-way.

• Branch Crossing construction: PD-79 permits wood, steel or masonry and requires the finished side toward public view when only one side is finished. Chain-link, diagonal and horizontal fencing are prohibited. Slope fencing must step down in consistent panel sections. Creek/park boundary fencing uses the specified steel treatment: steel, brick or masonry columns may not exceed 16 inches in width or depth; steel may connect to masonry or brick columns but not wood fencing. Where steel ends beside wood, terminate it with a 3-inch square post within 2 inches of the wood post. No screening, wire mesh or similar material may attach to the steel fence; scrollwork and ornate latches are prohibited. Creek/park pedestrian gates may be no wider than 4 feet, and double gates are prohibited. The dated steel-material exception described under placement remains limited to its stated subsection.

• The Courtyards construction: PD-82 specifies brick screening along Valley View Lane and Marsh Lane, precast stone perimeter walls along the alleys and precast stone individual side-yard fencing, as depicted in the adopted plan. Its authorized fence materials are wrought iron, masonry or stucco, equally finished on both sides; other fence types are prohibited unless specified in the ordinance and adopted exhibits. Pool/spa screening visible to the public must be compatible masonry, wrought iron or landscaping; equipment and pool-related items must be concealed from public view.

• Mercer Crossing West and Kensington construction: PD-99 and PD-100 specify consistent black ornamental iron, tubular steel or similar metal; masonry compatible with adjacent buildings; and, except at interior-lot side/rear lines, capped board-on-board pre-stained cedar with steel posts in the approved color. Retain the approved major-street, alley and park-facing treatments and the maintenance easement. Other material/location combinations require the district’s special-exception approval through the Detailed Site Plan.

• Downtown street and garden walls: PD-86 defines street and garden walls as masonry and privacy fencing as opaque wood or masonry, excluding chain-link and other rolled fencing. Its architectural standards encourage regional/native or equivalent imitation stone, wrought iron, welded steel/aluminum, brick, stucco on concrete block or poured concrete with brick/stone coping, and combinations of those materials. Coping must project ½ to 4 inches from the wall face. Where clearly visible from street-space, use the applicable frontage and architectural standards. Those standards describe an opaque vehicle gate up to 30 feet wide, while the specific Shopfront, General and Light Assembly frontage provisions cap vehicle entry gates at 24 feet; pedestrian entries are capped at 6 feet. Confirm the controlling frontage approval before choosing a vehicle-gate width.

• Downtown parking and service screens: For PD-86 Shopfront, General and Local sites, the specified Type B parking screen may use the main building material, masonry or approved shrubs forming an opaque screen at maturity; service-area walls/screens use those alternatives at least as high as the equipment. Light Assembly allows its specified masonry or vegetative screening: Type A plants must reach at least 3 feet at maturity and be spaced no more than 5 feet on center, with the stated Type B treatment. Existing single-family residences retain the district’s legal-existing status.

• Mercer Crossing street and garden walls: PD-88’s visible street/garden wall standards permit native/regional or equivalent imitation stone, black electrostatically plated wrought iron/welded steel/aluminum, brick, stucco on concrete block or poured concrete with brick/stone coping, and combinations. Coping projects ½ to 4 inches. Street-wall gates may be opaque vehicle entries up to 18 feet wide or pedestrian entries up to 6 feet; the defined garden-wall vehicle gate is limited to 12 feet. Qualifying privacy fences are opaque wood or masonry, excluding chain-link and other rolled fencing.

• Other residential development materials: PD-95 permits only decorative metal fencing. PD-96 uses metal or wrought iron, with masonry columns/screens under its separate height limit; the amended Royal Lane site requires decorative metal, masonry columns and an evergreen hedge for the specified parking screen. PD-108’s dog parks and yardettes use commercial-grade decorative wrought iron or architectural steel and access gates as required by the adopted plan. The PD-88 Royal Hospitality Lot 2 plan specifies 5-foot black painted steel dog-park fencing and gates. These site-specific designs apply where the governing ordinance and plan require them.

• Equipment and storage screens: Under the general residential zoning provision, pool/spa and similar mechanical equipment in the front half of a lot or in a corner lot’s street-side yard must be screened by a fence, wall or shrubbery. PD-79 requires public-view screening for mechanical equipment, with its October 5, 1998 existing-home exception and later-addition condition. Screening can also supply a defense to the city’s outside-storage prohibition. The current vehicle rule provides a screening route for the stated unimproved-surface side/rear corner-yard parking conditions: a solid opaque fence or wall at least 6 feet high, evergreen screening from ground to at least 6 feet, a combination or another approved compatible screen. Its rear-yard and pre-February 19, 1990 driveway defenses have separate conditions. The broader vehicle prohibitions added in section 56-75 become enforceable September 1, 2027.

• Mercer Crossing pattern-book and service screening: PD-99 requires substantial conformity with its Texas Tudor pattern book; where that book and the ordinance conflict, the higher or more restrictive standard applies unless the adopting Detailed Site Plan resolution provides otherwise. Its pattern-book fencing plan identifies a 6-foot stone/masonry partition at residential/commercial edges and major-street residential screening, with retaining walls clad to match the design theme. For commerce and multifamily solid-waste facilities, the ordinance requires masonry at least 1 foot above the facility or compactor, using the main building material or another city-approved material, with a metal gate/door as high as the wall and closed except during access. Ground-level residential mechanical equipment must be concealed from clearly visible public-space locations, and rooftop equipment screened.

• Pool construction enclosure and covers: Inground pool/spa construction sites require fencing at least 4 feet high from the start of excavation until the permanent barrier is complete. For one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses only, a spa/hot tub with a lockable ASTM F1346 safety cover or a pool with an ASTM F1346 powered safety cover receives the locally amended exemption from sections 305.2 through 305.7. Other installations must follow the applicable barrier provisions.

• Pool-barrier construction: Solid barriers may not provide climbing handholds or footholds, apart from normal tolerances and tooled masonry joints. If horizontal-member tops are less than 45 inches apart, place those members on the pool side and limit vertical-member and decorative-cutout spacing to 1¾ inches. At horizontal spacing of 45 inches or more, vertical gaps may be up to 4 inches, but cutouts remain limited to 1¾ inches. Chain-link openings may not exceed 1¾ inches, including openings reduced by slats fastened top and bottom. The local chain-link ban is specifically for public pools built after January 1, 1994. Diagonal barriers have a 1¾-inch maximum opening and diagonal members no more than 45 degrees from vertical. Under section 305.2.10, equipment on the same lot and outside the pool barrier, including pumps, filters and heaters, must be at least 36 inches from the outside of the barrier.

• Mesh fences and screen enclosures: Non-chain-link mesh pool fencing must comply with ASTM F2286 and the manufacturer’s instructions, have compliant hinged gates, stand at least 20 inches from its inside face to the nearest water edge and may not be installed atop an onground residential pool. A screen enclosure used as a barrier must comply with section 305.2 and be designed by a registered design professional; its walls are not dwelling walls. Its barrier mesh must meet the specified tensile strength of at least 100 pounds per square foot under ASTM D5034 and ball-burst strength of at least 150 pounds per square foot under ASTM D3787.

• Pool gates and latch protection: Barrier doors/gates must accommodate a lock. Pedestrian doors/gates must swing away from the pool, self-close and self-latch, and may not swing over stairs. Service/utility gates stay locked when unused. Double/multiple gates need at least one secured leaf and an adjacent self-latching leaf. At residential pools, an outside non-self-locking latch release must be at least 54 inches above the finished ground/floor; self-locking controls and releases may be no higher than 54 inches. If the only private-pool gate release is on the pool side, it must be at least 3 inches below the top. Openings within 18 inches of an inside latch must be no larger than ½ inch in any dimension.

• Dwelling-wall barrier alternatives: For the locally specified one-/two-family or townhouse dwelling or accessory-structure wall giving direct pool access through doors or windows, the code provides alarm, listed safety-cover or approved equivalent-protection alternatives. Alarm protection includes operable windows with sills below 48 inches above the indoor finished floor and doors/gates, using listed/labeled UL 2017 water-hazard entrance alarms that sound an audible warning when the relevant window, door or their screens open. Measure alarm-deactivation control heights above the finished floor: at least 54 inches in dwellings not required to be Accessible, Type A or Type B units; 48 to 54 inches in dwellings required to have those accessible-unit features; and 48 to 54 inches in structures other than dwellings, including applicable accessory structures. The listed/labeled ASTM F1346 safety-cover alternative or an approved means such as self-closing, self-latching doors must satisfy the applicable alternative; approved equivalent means must provide protection no less than that afforded by item 1 or 2 of section 305.4.

• Onground pools and natural barriers: An onground pool wall alone may serve as the barrier only when its bottom is on grade, it is at least 48 inches high around the entire perimeter, it complies with section 305.2 and the manufacturer allows that use. A barrier mounted on the wall must reach at least 48 inches above grade and comply with the wall, barrier and manufacturer requirements. Secure, lock, remove or separately enclose access steps/ladders; resulting openings may not pass a 4-inch sphere. The local shoreline exception is limited to one-/two-family dwellings or townhouses with no public shoreline access and barriers extending at least 18 inches beyond the water edge. Approved natural topography must provide protection equivalent to the code barrier.

PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS

Recorded covenants, deed restrictions, association architectural rules, maintenance obligations and private agreements can add requirements for the particular property. Review those documents and obtain any required association approval separately from the city permit. Their enforcement is subject to Texas law.

• Pool-enclosure protection: Property Code section 202.022 protects a qualifying enclosure on the owner’s property that complies with applicable state/local safety rules. The statutory enclosure surrounds a water feature, uses transparent mesh or clear panels in metal frames, is no more than 6 feet high and is designed not to be climbable. An association may regulate appearance, but may not prohibit qualifying black transparent mesh in metal frames. The statute does not waive city permits or pool-barrier requirements.

• Security fencing and 2025 conditions: Property Code section 202.023 generally limits covenants preventing security measures, including perimeter fencing, while allowing associations to regulate fence type; prevent obstruction of license areas, community/public sidewalks and drainage easements/areas; require a driveway gate at least 10 feet from the right-of-way when it meets a laned roadway; and prohibit fencing in front of the dwelling’s front-most building line when the covenant provides that restriction. Owners may maintain the specified perimeter/front fencing installed before September 1, 2025. The front-line prohibition cannot be used against qualifying owners whose home address is legally exempt from disclosure or who provide law-enforcement documentation of a need for enhanced security. This section excludes condominiums and Chapter 215 master mixed-use associations, and its protections do not override public fence laws.

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 scope: Whether new work or prior repairs require a permit, complete drawings, engineering, an inspection or a district-specific approval.

• Location and design: Front/corner yards, district setbacks, creek or park frontage, height measurement, materials, gates and intersection visibility.

• Access and water: Easement consent and maintenance access, fire-protection access, unobstructed drainage, floodplain development and soil-disturbance controls.

• Pool protection: The correct pool classification, construction enclosure, permanent barrier, gate/latch design and any qualifying alternative.

• Condition and private rights: Leaning or deteriorated fences, subdivision screening, ownership or attachment issues and separate private association review.

USING THIS INFORMATION

This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within the incorporated boundaries of the City of Farmers Branch, 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 the Building Inspection Division 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.