FENCE RULES – GRANBURY (CITY), TEXAS

OVERVIEW

This page covers ordinary residential fences within the incorporated City of Granbury, Texas.

Granbury requires approval before any fence or wall is built. The permit application calls for a plot plan, and fences over 6 feet require engineered plans. The general maximum is 8 feet measured from the higher adjoining grade, but a fence between a street and the front face of a building in a residential zoning district is limited to 4 feet. Fencing is barred from drainage easements, designated visibility/access easements and sight triangles. Wood and chain-link appear on the application; vinyl/PVC needs a specific material determination. Historic-property status, pool-barrier use, floodplain conditions and private restrictions can add further review. Updated November 2026.

Quick question	Granbury answer
Permit or approval	A fence permit must be approved before construction. Submit a plot plan showing the fence location; fences over 6 feet require engineered plans.
Typical fence height	General maximum: 8 feet, measured from the higher adjoining grade. In residential zoning, between a street and the front face of the building: 4 feet.
Placement & property lines	No fence in a drainage easement, Visibility Access and Maintenance Easement or defined sight triangle. Establish the legal property line and applicable recorded rights.
Common fence materials	Wood: expressly listed on the permit application. Vinyl/PVC: not specifically listed; obtain the city’s determination under the Other category. Chain-link: expressly listed on the application, subject to location and use restrictions.
Important local conditions	Fence rules may be further affected by multiple street frontages, sight triangles, drainage easements, historic-property status, floodplain or floodway conditions, pool barriers, subdivision screening and private restrictions.
Official local resource	Granbury fence permit application

The table above is for quick reference. Additional fence-rule details appear in the corresponding sections below. Before purchasing materials or beginning construction, read the sections that apply to the property, review the linked official sources, and confirm site-specific questions with Granbury Building Inspections or the responsible office identified for that issue.

GOVERNANCE

The Granbury City Council adopts the zoning and construction requirements. The zoning fence and visibility standards are in Sections 11.12 and 11.6. The Chief Building Official approves fence permits, with Building Inspections and zoning review handling the application.

Public Works is the floodplain administrator under Article 3.10. The city’s current pool adoption is the 2024 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code with the 2024 North Central Texas Council of Governments regional amendments, adopted April 21, 2026. Historic-property and private-association questions are separate from ordinary building approval.

PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS

• Fence permit and plot plan: The Chief Building Official must approve a fence permit before any wall or fence is constructed. Submit the application identifying project location, contractor, fence type and height, value, historic-district status and applicable HOA status, with a plot plan showing the proposed fence.

• Engineered plans: The city application requires engineered plans for fences over 6 feet. The 8-foot zoning maximum does not remove this documentation requirement.

• Historic or association review: Identify historic-district status on the application so the city can apply the property’s review requirements. The form also calls for applicable HOA approval. Public review and private association rights remain distinct, including the Texas limits on HOA restrictions described below.

• Floodplain development: Article 3.10 requires a development permit for covered development in a special flood hazard area. Before installing a fence, wall or related fill/excavation there, submit the site and proposed-development information required by Public Works, the Floodplain Administrator.

• Pool construction and alternatives: Use the city’s current pool-code adoption and local enclosure article for a fence serving as a pool barrier. In-ground pool or spa excavation requires construction fencing at least 4 feet high until the permanent barrier is complete. Any proposed alternative or exception must be accepted under the current adopted code and local enclosure rules, not solely an older door or supervised-pool exception.

FENCE PLACEMENT RULES

• Property boundaries and recorded rights: Use the deed, recorded plat and appropriate survey information to establish the proposed location. An existing fence, tax map, GIS line, tree line or mowing line is not a conclusive property boundary. Utility, access, drainage and other easements can restrict fencing or require continued access even where no general fence setback is published. The terms and location of the actual easement or plat condition matter.

• Drainage easements: The permit application expressly prohibits fencing in drainage easements. Keep access and drainage paths open according to the recorded easement and approved site plan.

• Visibility easements and triangles: No wall or fence may be located within a Visibility Access and Maintenance Easement or a defined sight triangle. At a street intersection, the triangle is formed using at least 25 feet along the property lines from the corner in both directions. At a street/alley intersection, use 10 feet along the property lines in both directions.

• Street-facing residential yards: The 4-foot limit applies to fencing between a street and the front face of a building in a residential zoning district. For a corner or multiple-frontage lot, have the approved plot plan identify each affected street-facing segment.

• Drainage and surface water: Water Code Section 11.086 prohibits diverting or impounding the natural flow of surface water in a manner that damages another property by overflow. Fence walls, footings, fill and grading need to preserve the drainage rights and restrictions affecting the site. The statute has separate provisions for lawful flood-control and irrigation improvements and specified bank repairs; it establishes no general fence-to-property-line distance.

• Regulatory floodway: Floodway encroachments, including fill, construction and other development, require certification by a professional registered engineer or architect demonstrating no increase in flood levels during the base flood. The ordinance separately provides a conditional federal process under 44 CFR 65.12. Obtain Public Works’ floodplain determination before locating a fence or wall in the floodway.

• Replacing a joint or attached fence: Agriculture Code Sections 143.121–143.123 prohibit removal of a jointly owned separating fence or a fence attached to another person’s fence except by 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 other fence’s owner or that person’s agent, attorney or lessee. An owner whose fence is wholly on their land may require an attached fence’s disconnection after the same notice to its owner or that person’s agent, attorney or lessee. These rules concern ownership and attachment, rather than every fence replacement.

• Construction affecting a pipeline corridor: Health and Safety Code Sections 756.121–756.123 address construction on, across, over or under a pipeline easement or right-of-way, or physically affecting a pipeline’s risk. Subject to the statute’s contrary-written-agreement exclusion, its exclusion for municipal work on municipally owned land other than private commercial use, and its exclusion for property of qualifying navigation districts or port authorities, give notice to the operator and satisfy the applicable route: an operator determination of no increased risk; payment of reasonable, necessary, documented protective-work costs before proceeding; work under an existing written agreement; or prompt work by a regulated utility because of a natural disaster. This construction process is separate from an 811 locate request.

• Post-hole excavation under the Utilities Code: Utilities Code Chapter 251 covers explosives or powered or mechanized equipment, including augers, that disturbs soil to 16 or more inches. Ordinary notice must be given not earlier than the 14th day before excavation or later than 48 hours before it, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. For a Saturday notice given before 11:59 a.m., the statutory start is the following Tuesday at 11:59 a.m., or Wednesday at 11:59 a.m. if Monday is a holiday. Use the ticket’s lawful start information.

• Limited excavation exceptions: Emergency work may begin immediately when the statutory emergency conditions exist, with reasonable care and notice as promptly as practicably possible. Section 251.156 also has exceptions for activities on private property connected with defined agricultural operations, and for excavation by or for an owner or lessee who operates all underground facilities at the excavation site. Yard ownership alone is not that latter exception. Separate pipeline rules can still apply.

• Digging near covered underground pipelines: Railroad Commission Chapter 18 can cover manual post-hole digging deeper than 16 inches near the covered gas, hazardous-liquid or carbon-dioxide pipelines. Its default locate-ticket life is 14 working days, unless the excavator and operator make a longer written, signed and dated agreement. Refresh unfinished work for the remaining excavation area. Keep the required locate-ticket and positive-response records for at least 4 years. Check the site, ticket and markings and use the required second-notice process for missing, incorrect or inconsistent pipeline responses.

• Utility safety before digging: Request a Texas811 locate before digging fence posts, wait the applicable lawful period, check ticket responses and site markings, resolve missing or conflicting information through the current ticket process, protect the marks and excavate carefully. Private irrigation, pool, outbuilding and other owner-operated lines may need separate locating; an 811 request does not assure that every private service or water and sewer line is marked. Locate compliance does not replace permits, property permission, easement rights or pipeline construction notice.

FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES

• General height and measurement: No wall or fence may exceed 8 feet, measured from the higher of the adjoining grades on the two sides.

• Residential street-facing fence: Between a street and the front face of a building in a residential district, the maximum is 4 feet.

• Sight-area clearance: Section 11.6 protects vision between 2 and 11 feet above the top of the nearest curb within the defined triangle. Section 11.12 separately prohibits fences in that triangle altogether; a fence below 2 feet is not an exception to that prohibition.

• Screening between nonresidential and residential property: Where the required nonresidential boundary-screening rule applies, the nonresidential owner must provide a solid 6- to 8-foot screen measured from that property’s grade. The rule applies to the specified neighboring-use context and does not set every homeowner’s yard-fence minimum.

MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS

• Wood, chain-link and other application categories: The permit application expressly lists wood, masonry, chain-link, ornamental and Other. Wood and chain-link therefore have a recognized application route, subject to the proposed use, location and all substantive rules. Vinyl/PVC is not specifically listed; obtain the city’s determination for the proposed product.

• Electric fences and masonry finish: Electric fences are prohibited in all zoning districts. Masonry screening walls and columns must be equally finished on both sides or around the column.

• Required nonresidential boundary screening: Where Section 11.12C requires a neighboring nonresidential owner to screen residential property, it generally calls for treated wooden privacy fencing with stone or brick columns no more than 25 feet on center and at least 2 feet in diameter. Both sides of the wood screen must be decorative/smooth. Gates must match the required height and screening, chain-link and barbed wire are prohibited for that required screen, and the nonresidential owner must maintain it. Those restrictions govern the required nonresidential screen, not every residential lot fence.

• Local permanent-pool enclosure: The local article covers permanent swimming structures capable of holding water more than 24 inches deep. It requires a complete enclosure at least 4 feet high, openings that prevent a 4-inch sphere, firm permanent anchoring and suitable materials, excluding barbed wire. Its older definition excludes spas/hot tubs, while the current adopted model separately regulates them.

• Pool-barrier clearances and climb resistance: Under the adopted 2024 model, the 48-inch height is measured outside the barrier around its perimeter and for 3 feet horizontally outside it. Bottom clearance is at most 2 inches over nonsolid ground or 4 inches over a solid surface. Solid barriers cannot form climbable handholds or footholds beyond normal tolerances and masonry joints. With horizontal-member tops less than 45 inches apart, place them pool-side and limit vertical gaps and decorative cutouts to 1¾ inches; with at least 45 inches between them, vertical gaps may be 4 inches but cutouts remain limited to 1¾ inches.

• Pool mesh, chain-link and diagonal designs: A non-chain-link mesh barrier must comply with ASTM F2286 and the manufacturer’s instructions, stay at least 20 inches from the water’s edge and not sit atop an onground residential pool. Chain-link openings may not exceed 1¾ inches, including where secured slats reduce them. Diagonal openings have the same limit, with members no more than 45 degrees from vertical. Pool equipment outside the barrier must be at least 36 inches away. The regional public-pool chain-link ban is a separate public-pool condition, not an ordinary private-backyard ban.

• Pool gates and latches: Pedestrian gates must open away from the pool, self-close and self-latch, accommodate a lock and not swing over stairs. Unused service gates remain locked; multiple gates need a secured leaf and a self-latching adjacent leaf. The local article places latches inside the upper quarter of the gate. The current model’s outside-accessed non-self-locking residential release is at least 54 inches high; a self-locking control is at most 54 inches. An inside-only release is at least 3 inches below the gate top, with openings within 18 inches no larger than ½ inch. Have Building Inspections approve the complete arrangement under both local and current model requirements.

• House walls, covers and pool-wall barriers: For one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses, direct access through a dwelling wall requires the specified alarms, a qualifying safety cover or an approved protective equivalent. The alarm rule includes operable windows with sills below 48 inches above the indoor finished floor; normal residential alarm controls are at least 54 inches high, with the specified accessible-dwelling range of 48–54 inches. The regional cover exception is limited to one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses and uses the prescribed ASTM F1346 covers. An onground pool wall used as the barrier needs manufacturer approval, compliant perimeter height and secured, removed or separately protected access steps/ladders. Obtain city approval for any natural-barrier or older local enclosure exception, including a dwelling door, equipment-room access or supervised-pool arrangement.

• Alternative pool protection: The local appeals board may allow an individual modification or alternative only without reducing protection. Before using a screen enclosure or another nonstandard barrier, have Building Inspections confirm the applicable engineered design and current code requirements.

PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS

Deed restrictions, homeowners association rules, architectural-review requirements, private easements, and agreements about fence ownership, maintenance or costs can impose separate obligations, subject to Texas law. Public approval does not decide those private rights. Review the actual recorded documents and applicable association procedures before construction.

• HOA security and perimeter fencing: Under Property Code Section 202.023, an association generally cannot adopt or enforce a covenant preventing an owner from installing security measures, including perimeter fencing. The section excludes condominiums governed by Chapters 81 or 82 and master mixed-use associations subject to Chapter 215.

• Controls an HOA may retain: An association may regulate fence type and prohibit fencing that obstructs a license area, a public or community sidewalk, or a drainage easement or drainage area. It may require a driveway gate to be set back at least 10 feet from the right-of-way where the driveway intersects a laned roadway. If a restrictive covenant provides for it, the association may prohibit fencing in front of the dwelling’s front-most building line. The gate provision is an association power, not a general county fence setback.

• Existing fences and enhanced security: Notwithstanding those retained controls, owners may maintain perimeter or front-building-line fencing installed or constructed before September 1, 2025. The front-building-line prohibition also does not apply when the owner’s residential address is exempt from public disclosure under state or federal law, or the owner provides the association with law-enforcement documentation of a need for enhanced security measures.

• Protected pool enclosures: Property Code Section 202.022 protects a nonclimbable fence surrounding a water feature that consists of transparent mesh or clear panels in metal frames, is no more than 6 feet high, and conforms to applicable state or local safety requirements. An association may regulate appearance and color but cannot prohibit the protected black transparent-mesh enclosure in metal frames. The 6-foot figure defines this HOA protection; it is not a general pool-barrier minimum or ordinary fence-height limit.

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 plans: Whether the approved application, plot plan and required engineered plans are complete and accurately show the fence.

• Height and visibility: Whether the fence uses the correct grade and street-facing height rule and remains outside drainage and visibility easements and sight triangles.

• Materials and adjacent uses: Whether electric-fence, masonry-finish and any specifically applicable nonresidential screening conditions are met.

• Floodplain and pool review: Whether applicable floodplain or floodway approval and the current local/model pool-barrier design requirements are satisfied.

• Excavation: Whether the required utility and pipeline procedures have been completed.

• Private and shared-fence matters: Association review, boundary disputes and ownership or cost agreements are separate from city approval. The joint or attached fence-removal conditions described above can affect replacement work.

USING THIS INFORMATION

This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within the City of Granbury, 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 Granbury 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.