FENCE RULES – SHERMAN (CITY), TEXAS

OVERVIEW

This page focuses on single-family residential fencing within the incorporated City of Sherman, Texas, in Grayson County, and includes the applicable multifamily, manufactured-housing and shared residential pool branches. City zoning, building regulations, recorded development conditions and applicable special-district standards govern this municipal area.

Sherman requires a fence permit, a detailed site plan and City inspection. Ordinary residential front-yard fences are limited to 4 feet and must be decorative and at least half open. Side- and rear-yard screening fences may reach 8 feet and must be solid. Wood is recognized; vinyl/PVC is not specifically named in the ordinary fence standards; chain-link is prohibited in front yards. Gates, street corners, public easements and drainage can change placement. Heritage Row and several planned developments have additional approval, height, design or material rules. Updated November 2026.

Quick question	Sherman answer
Permit or approval	A fence permit, detailed site plan and City inspection are required. Repair without new posts does not require a new fence permit under the City’s handout. Historic, floodplain, easement and development approvals can also apply.
Typical fence height	4 feet in residential front yards, with at least 50% openings; 8 feet for side/rear screening fences. Patio walls, agricultural fencing and adopted development-perimeter standards have separate conditions.
Placement & property lines	The ordinary fence section specifies no general numeric offset from a private property line. Street sight triangles, rights-of-way, recorded easements and special development standards constrain placement. Individual residential vehicle gates have a published 20-foot property-line setback.
Common fence materials	Wood: expressly recognized for residential screening, with yard and development restrictions. Vinyl/PVC: not specifically named in the ordinary residential fence standards. Chain-link: prohibited in front yards; recognized for certain temporary construction, approved easement situations and pool barriers subject to their specific restrictions.
Important local conditions	Fence rules may be further affected by corner visibility, arterial development perimeters, Heritage Row, planned developments, pool-barrier use, public easements, floodplain and drainage conditions, agricultural use, animal containment and underground utilities.
Official local resource	City of Sherman Building Permits & Inspections

The table is a quick reference; the corresponding sections below explain the additional conditions. Before buying materials or beginning construction, read the sections that apply to the property, review the linked official sources and confirm site-specific questions with Development Services or the responsible office identified for the issue.

GOVERNANCE

Sherman is a home-rule city. The City Council adopts the zoning ordinance and building regulations. Development Services administers residential fence review through Building Permits & Inspections and Planning & Zoning. The principal citywide fence provisions are in Section 14.04.004, Fences and Screening Devices.

The City has adopted the 2021 International Residential Code, International Building Code and International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, together with local amendments, and the 2023 National Electrical Code. Its code-adoption provision directs that the more restrictive provision controls when provisions within that chapter or elsewhere in the City Code conflict.

The Engineering Department administers floodplain development review and engineering matters involving visibility, drainage, easement use and public infrastructure. The Historical Preservation Board reviews applicable Heritage Row projects. The Planning & Zoning Commission, Board of Adjustment and City Council have the approval or appeal roles assigned by the applicable ordinance. Fire-access gates and hydrant access involve the fire code official.

Adopted planned-development ordinances can modify base zoning standards for the land within their boundaries. Unmodified City requirements continue to apply. A development’s adopted standards, recorded plat and approved site plan can therefore be as consequential as the ordinary fence section. The City’s municipal fence rules discussed here concern incorporated Sherman; county programs and municipal subdivision authority outside the corporate limits have separate territorial foundations.

PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS

• Fence permit and inspection: Section 14.04.004 requires fences and screening devices to have a building permit, be inspected by the City and comply with the article. A detailed site plan must be submitted to Development Services for review. The published single-family fence permit fee is $75.

• New construction and repairs: The City’s Permits Required handout requires a permit for any new fence construction. Repair of an existing fence does not require a new permit unless new posts are placed. Fence permits for new residential construction are separate from the house building permit. Applications are submitted through the City’s Self Service Portal.

• Application plans: Building-permit applications are accompanied by scaled plans showing the lot’s actual dimensions and shape, existing buildings and the location and dimensions of proposed work. The fence-specific requirement is a detailed site plan. The applicable property lines, street rights-of-way, easements and proposed fence location need to be accurately represented for placement review.

• Contractor registration: Contractors performing work within city limits must register with the City through its online permit system. Electrical contractors must also hold the stated active Texas electrical license. Electrical work associated with powered gates has its own permit and trade requirements.

• Heritage Row: New fencing and modifications to existing fencing require Historical Preservation Board review and a Certificate of Appropriateness before work begins. The code exempts ordinary repair or maintenance that does not change architectural or historical value, style or general design. The current special-called-meeting application requires the application, deed, property survey with legal description signed by a licensed surveyor, site plan, elevations and project narrative. The published Heritage Row application fee is $75; documents are submitted online.

• Planned developments and overlays: Applicable adopted standards may require approval of fence location, materials or alternatives as part of a detailed site plan. The property-specific standards described below retain their own approval conditions.

• Floodplain property: A floodplain development permit is required for proposed development within the special flood hazard area or floodplain. Engineering issues this permit. Application provisions expressly include the locations, dimensions and elevations of proposed landscape changes, including fences, and the relationship to flood-hazard areas. Drainage changes, engineering modeling and any required map-revision approvals are addressed through that process.

• Public easements: The Engineering Design Standards Manual provides for City Engineer review and, for specified improvements, an Easement Use Agreement in addition to a building permit. Brick and stone fences are among the listed improvements requiring the agreement. Wooden or chain-link fences, where otherwise allowed, may be approved by the City Engineer without that agreement. The recorded easement and plat conditions remain relevant.

• Pools: Above-ground and in-ground pools requiring permanent equipment have City permit requirements. The adopted swimming-pool code governs applicable pool barriers and access arrangements. The local amendment states a six-foot barrier at public swimming pools; covered multiunit/association enclosures also require the state-law priority review described below. Private home pools, association pools and multiunit-rental pools have different legal classifications and applicable requirements.

• Shared residential pool classification: Apartment, condominium and manufactured/mobile-home-park common pools, and association pools, can be Class C public pools under Texas rules even when privately owned and restricted to occupants/members and guests. Health and Safety Code Chapter 757 applies to its defined multiunit-rental/association pools and specified rental doors/windows, rather than every backyard pool. Its pool definition covers permanent pools/spas more than 18 inches deep; a multiunit rental complex generally has two or more commonly owned/managed units under the stated land arrangements, excluding ordinary single-family homes and adjacent single-family homes outside a condominium project. A private residential address alone does not establish the applicable pool category.

• Pool construction and safety covers: The adopted 2021 pool code requires at least 4-foot construction fencing around in-ground pool/spa excavation until the permanent barrier is complete. Section 305.1 exempts the area from Sections 305.2–305.7 when a spa/hot tub has a lockable ASTM F1346-compliant safety cover, or a swimming pool has an ASTM F1346-compliant powered safety cover. The applicable cover must satisfy that code standard.

• Retaining walls: A retaining wall 4 feet or higher, measured from the base of the designed structure, must be engineered. The engineered design goes to Engineering before construction; the engineer of record inspects the wall and sends a stamped compliance letter to the Building Official and Engineering Department. Easement-use and development-specific requirements can apply at lower heights.

FENCE PLACEMENT RULES

• Private boundaries: Section 14.04.004 does not specify a general numeric fence setback from a private property line. It expressly addresses side- and rear-yard screening fences in or along the required yard property lines. The legal boundary, a building setback, a public right-of-way and an easement are separate features. Existing fences, curbs, mowing lines and GIS or tax-map lines do not conclusively locate a legal boundary.

• Public passage and gate swing: A fence may not obstruct pedestrian or vehicle travel on a City sidewalk, alley, street or highway. Gates may not swing over any part of a public right-of-way, sidewalk or street.

• Individual residential vehicle gates: The City’s Engineering Design Standards establish a minimum 20-foot setback from the property line for individual gated single-family residences. Gate movement may not encroach onto sidewalks, alleys or streets. The agricultural fence subsection separately sets vehicle-access gates at least 20 feet from the property line.

• Shepherd’s Place multifamily entrance gates: Attachment C, Section E requires guardhouses and entrance gates, when used, to be at least 60 feet from the property line for stacking. Gate controls, card pads and intercoms go in driveway islands far enough from the gate to permit a U-turn without backing into the public street. This multifamily-development provision is distinct from the individual single-family gate standard.

• Recorded public easements: The subdivision ordinance’s owner-dedication certificate prohibits buildings, fences, trees, shrubs and other improvements across the depicted easements, except for approved landscape improvements in landscape easements. The City and public utilities retain the stated removal and access rights; the City is not responsible for replacing improvements affected by easement maintenance or repair. Any permitted use depends on the actual recorded instrument and the applicable City approval.

• Easement Use Agreements: The engineering manual states that the owner must remove an improvement at the City’s request under the described agreement and that the City is not responsible for its maintenance or reconstruction. Its retaining-wall agreement categories distinguish walls less than 3 feet that support a structure and walls greater than 3 feet. Walls less than 3 feet that support no structure and do not infringe visibility triangles may receive City Engineer approval without an agreement. The City Engineer administers the applicable easement-use approval.

• Arterial frontage easements: In applicable development, major and minor arterials typically require at least a 15-foot landscape, sidewalk and/or utility easement alongside the right-of-way. The engineering manual prohibits fences and parking lots within those easements paralleling the arterial.

• Street corners and visibility easements: The zoning triangles and additional engineering visibility areas are detailed in the next section. Recorded Visibility, Access and Maintenance Easements can extend beyond the street right-of-way.

• Floodplain and floodway: The City incorporates the Grayson County flood study and maps dated September 1, 2022, subsequent revisions and identified unmapped flood-hazard areas. Floodway encroachments, including other development, require the ordinance’s licensed-engineer hydrologic and hydraulic demonstration of no increase in base-flood levels, subject to its separate federal-approval procedure. The engineering manual also restricts new construction in floodplain areas and provides conditions for reclamation and floodplain alteration. The actual project, drainage effects and required Engineering approvals govern work there.

• Drainage and disturbed soil: Texas Water Code 11.086 prohibits diverting or impounding natural surface water in a manner that damages another property by overflow, subject to its statutory qualifications. Locally, owners and persons controlling property must prevent soil, mud, rock and debris from washing or moving into streets, alleys, storm drains, utility facilities, easements and receiving waters.

• Fence construction involving land disturbance: Sherman’s construction-stormwater ordinance requires erosion controls. Construction sites under one acre outside the larger-common-plan requirement must provide a limited pollution-prevention plan with erosion/sediment controls and pollution-prevention practices at building-permit application. The published inspection fee is $25 for sites under one acre and $45 for sites of one acre or more. Related borrow, spoil and staging areas are included. Soil must be stabilized within five days of clearing or construction inactivity; stockpiles must be stabilized or covered at the end of each workday. Sediment controls precede clearing, and temporary controls are removed after final occupancy or establishment of permanent ground cover. The ordinance has specific emergency and permitted nursery/agricultural exclusions from its site-development-permit requirement.

• Watercourse and construction-access work: Regular construction crossings of a wet watercourse require a temporary crossing and City approval; in-channel work must be stabilized before, during and after work. Construction access and waste handling must prevent tracking and polluted runoff. The City’s under-one-acre handout calls for a checklist, short narrative and site sketch showing controls, submitted at building-permit application or at least one day before land disturbance/construction, whichever is earlier.

• Joint or attached fences: Agriculture Code 143.121 restricts removal of a separating fence jointly owned by the person, or one attached to another person’s fence, except by mutual consent or the statutory process. An owner withdrawing an attached fence must give the specified other owner, agent, attorney or lessee six months’ written notice. An owner whose fence is wholly on that owner’s land can require an attached fence’s disconnection with the corresponding six-month written notice. These provisions depend on ownership and attachment.

• Pipeline easements: Health and Safety Code Sections 756.121–.123 cover construction, repair, replacement and maintenance on, across, over or under a pipeline easement or right-of-way, including covered work that physically affects pipeline risk. Give notice to the pipeline operator. Before proceeding, one statutory route must apply: the operator determines there is no increased public or pipeline-damage risk; or, if risk increases, the constructor pays the reasonable, necessary and documented costs of protective fortifications, barriers, conduits or other necessary improvements; or the work proceeds under an existing written agreement; or prompt work by a regulated utility is required because of a natural disaster. An 811 ticket does not supply easement rights or replace this process.

• Pipeline applicability and agreements: Section 756.122 allows a contrary written agreement between the affected pipeline owner/operator and the person placing the construction, including a TxDOT right-of-way agreement. Its exclusions concern municipal construction on municipally owned property unless for private commercial use, and the specified navigation-district/port-authority property. These conditional exclusions do not establish a general homeowner exemption.

• Pool-barrier clear areas: Outside equipment on the same lot, including pool pumps, filters and heaters, must remain at least 36 inches from the barrier’s outside. The inside of a mesh pool fence must be at least 20 inches from the nearest water edge. These are pool-barrier clearances, separate from property-line and street requirements.

• Natural pool barriers: The pool code’s shoreline exception applies only where the pool/spa abuts a natural body of water, public access along the shoreline is neither permitted nor allowed, and the required barriers extend at least 18 inches to and beyond the water’s edge. Natural topography preventing direct access can serve as an approved barrier only with protection at least equivalent to the code’s constructed-barrier provisions.

• Texas811 before post digging: Request a locate before digging, follow the ticket’s lawful-start instructions, check responses and markings, resolve missing or conflicting information through the ticket process, protect marks and excavate carefully. Utilities Code Chapter 251 ordinarily covers powered or mechanized excavation, including augers, to 16 inches or more. Notice ordinarily falls no earlier than the 14th day before excavation and no later than 48 hours before it, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. The special Saturday-notification rule applies to notice given on Saturday before 11:59 a.m.: excavation may begin the following Tuesday at 11:59 a.m., or Wednesday at 11:59 a.m. if the intervening Monday is a holiday. Separate Railroad Commission pipeline rules can cover manual digging deeper than 16 inches and have separate response duties. For pipeline-regulated work, the default ticket life is 14 working days; refresh an expiring ticket for unfinished work unless the operator and excavator have the permitted signed, dated written agreement for longer validity. Required locate-ticket and positive-response records generally must be kept for at least four years. Not every private service line is marked. Locate notice does not replace permits, property permission or easement review.

FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES

• Ordinary residential front yards: No fence, hedge or screening device may exceed 4 feet. A front-yard fence must be decorative and have openings covering at least 50% of its area.

• Ordinary side/rear screening: Screening fences in or along a required side or rear yard property line may not exceed 8 feet. This provision also requires a solid fence without openings.

• Patio screens and walls: Screens or walls serving purposes other than line fencing may exceed 6 feet only within the allowable main-building area defined by the front, side and rear building lines, and may not exceed 10 feet.

• Single-family development beside an arterial: The ordinance requires a minimum 6-foot masonry perimeter fence next to major or minor arterials. It expressly permits that perimeter along the front property line if sight distance at streets, alleys and driveways remains protected. The ordinance separately states the ordinary four-foot residential front-yard rule; arterial development perimeters have their own provision.

• Multifamily and manufactured-housing community perimeters: Section 14.04.004(d)(1) requires at least 6 feet of masonry or wrought iron with masonry columns along public streets, with street-side columns 24 feet on center. The perimeter may extend along the front property line only if it does not affect the specified street, alley and driveway sight distances. It is not required along a property line with a water body, floodplain or similar natural buffer more than 60 feet wide from adjacent property.

• Multifamily beside single-family zoning: Section 14.04.004(d)(2) requires a minimum 6-foot solid screen where an MF-15 or MF-30 development adjoins R-A, R-E, R-12, R-6, R-5, R-4, R-2F or R-TH zoning. The community-perimeter and adjoining-district screening requirements have separate triggers.

• Zoning street-intersection triangles: No fence or screening device may occupy the triangle formed by the intersecting street right-of-way lines and a line connecting points 25 feet from their intersection. Road curvature can lead the City Engineer to require a larger area.

• Zoning street/alley triangles: The corresponding triangular exclusion uses points 10 feet from the intersection along the stated street and alley right-of-way or property lines. Engineering sight-distance variances may consider design speed, traffic control and site conditions.

• Engineering visibility areas in applicable development: The manual’s corner distances are 40 feet for major/minor arterials or commercial collectors intersecting the listed arterials, collectors or potentially signalized residential streets; 25 feet where those road classes meet an urban street that will remain unsignalized; 15 feet for residential collector/urban-street intersections; and 10 feet at the listed residential-street/alley intersections. TxDOT roads/frontage roads use the major-arterial specifications. Downtown distances vary as required by the City Engineer, and the same corner dimension applies at all corners of an intersection. These are additional development-design and recorded-area standards alongside the zoning fence exclusions.

• Engineering clear-vision envelope: Within the manual’s corner triangles, vision must remain clear between 30 inches and 9 feet above average gutter elevation. Fences, walls, vegetation and other items may not obstruct the driver’s clear line of sight within corner or sight-line triangles. For landscaping governed by Section 14.04.006, vegetation at a two-street corner may not impede vision between 2 and 8 feet above the intersecting streets’ centerline grades.

• Engineering driveway/sight-line triangles: The manual identifies a 15-foot driver-eye distance from the intersecting curb for driveways, and a 14.5–18-foot departure decision-point location for its specified stop-controlled cases. Geometry accounts for lane width, medians and horizontal curves. Table 2.13 lists two-lane sight distances of 335, 390 and 445 feet at 30, 35 and 40 mph; at 45 mph, it lists 500, 530 and 565 feet for two, four and six lanes. A 150-foot distance requires City Engineer approval under the table note. Tabular distances apply only to major-road grades between minus 3% and plus 3%; other grades require calculation using the prescribed method, with combination-truck time gaps accounting for trucks and trailers. Sight-line areas outside ROW are dedicated as Visibility, Access and Maintenance Easements.

• Private residential pool barriers: Unless a code-compliant exception applies, the adopted pool code requires the barrier top at least 48 inches above outside grade around its entire perimeter, with that height maintained for 3 feet horizontally outside the barrier. Bottom clearance is at most 2 inches over grass, gravel or other nonsolid grade, or 4 inches over solid surfaces, measured on the side away from the pool. Where a barrier mounts on top of a pool/spa structure, the gap above the structure is at most 4 inches. Material, gate, cover and onground-wall branches appear below. Sherman’s separate public-pool amendment states six feet, subject to the state-law limits for covered enclosures described below.

The City’s adopted planned-development standards contain significant additional branches:

• Aspen Park: Except for SF-U and SF-UA rear-yard fencing, fences and walls along public-street frontage or public open space may be no taller than 4 feet and must be open style. Districts or building groups may not be walled, fenced or restricted from general public access; subdivision perimeter fencing along public streets is prohibited. Exterior fences and gates beside public streets, publicly accessible private streets/walkways and publicly accessible open space generally remain behind building façades. A private residential patio or yard can project a fence, railing or low wall beyond the façade at no more than 4 feet measured from ground to top; elevated residential stoops have a 5-foot total limit.

• Bel Air Village and The Village: Fences and walls generally may not exceed 8 feet, apart from the specified urban-center service-area screening exception. Front-yard fences/walls are prohibited except approved ornamental metal up to 5 feet on a corner lot’s street side that does not serve as the dwelling’s main entry. Detailed-site-plan approval governs other materials and locations.

• Heritage Ranch: Fences, hedges and enclosure walls in the Residential Region may not exceed 8 feet. Fence/wall locations, materials and alternatives receive detailed-site-plan approval.

• Hickory Hill: Detached-home privacy fences and perimeter enclosure walls may not exceed 8 feet. Its distinct single-family-condominium perimeter provision requires wood privacy fencing at least 6 feet high along the development boundary next to residential homes. That provision states that fencing is not required when dwelling units face or run parallel to the adjacent right-of-way.

• Pecan Grove Estates: Residential fences and enclosure walls may not exceed 8 feet; detailed-site-plan approval governs location, material and alternatives.

• Shepherd’s Place: The general residential fence/hedge/enclosure-wall maximum is 8 feet; a fence along ROW may not enter the building setback zone. The separate single-family development-perimeter standard requires 6–8 feet, with front-yard perimeter fencing no more than 6 feet and 40% opaque. Those perimeter standards also specify materials, columns and construction, described below.

• Residential-boundary screening in overlays: Screening of nonresidential uses from residential uses has separate requirements. The 75 & 82 overlay uses a 6-foot minimum above the residential property-line grade; Sam Rayburn and College Park use 4 feet in their corresponding screening-height provisions. Extreme grade differences can require adjusted height or materials. Their line-screening provisions also limit the screening device to 4 feet within 25 feet of a front street right-of-way. These are the overlay’s specified screening contexts.

• FM1417, FM691 and SH289 multifamily overlay scope: These overlays expressly apply to commercial and multifamily developments within their stated City-limit corridors and require Planning & Zoning Commission site-plan approval. FM1417 covers 500 feet on either side of its right-of-way; FM691 covers 500 feet south of its right-of-way; SH289 covers 500 feet on either side of its right-of-way. Their requirements are additional development conditions for covered multifamily property.

• Overlay detention and retention screening: FM1417 Section 14.03.002(g)(1) requires an opaque screen 6–8 feet high between stormwater detention/retention facilities and adjacent streets or adjoining/contiguous property, except required access penetrations. FM691 Section 14.03.004(g)(1) and SH289 Section 14.03.005(g)(1) use 4–6 feet. Each permits combinations of retained vegetation, new planting, hedges, fences/walls and earthen berms under its material conditions. FM1417’s subordinate vegetation and berm clauses nevertheless describe a 4-foot target, which conflicts with its stated 6–8-foot opaque-screen requirement. The adopted text contains both; a four-foot alternative should not be treated as automatically satisfying the FM1417 six-foot minimum.

• Overlay line screens versus detention screens: The FM1417, FM691 and SH289 line-screen clauses retain a 4-foot minimum, solid construction, permanent maintenance and a 4-foot maximum within 25 feet of front-street ROW, while referring to screening within an O-1 district. That legacy district reference is present in the current text. These line-screen clauses and detention-screen branches have different stated subjects. Nonresidential-to-residential boundary screening separately uses at least four feet above adjoining residential property-line grade, with extreme-grade adjustment provisions.

MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS

• Wood: Expressly recognized for ordinary side/rear residential screening. Those screening fences must be solid, neat, workmanlike and permanently maintained. Front-yard wood fencing must satisfy the decorative, four-foot and 50%-open requirements. Special developments can prescribe a particular wood construction or prohibit wood along designated streets.

• Vinyl/PVC: The ordinary residential fence standards do not specifically name vinyl or PVC. Their reference to other suitable materials customary in residential landscaping is subject to City review and applicable district standards.

• Chain-link and woven wire: Expressly prohibited as front-yard fencing. Chain-link is recognized for certain temporary construction fencing and, where otherwise allowed, City Engineer-approved easement situations. A solid side/rear screening requirement and a development’s specific material list remain applicable in their respective settings.

• Stone, brick, concrete block and metal panels: Stone, brick and concrete block are expressly recognized for ordinary residential screening. Metal-panel fencing is prohibited in every district. Ornamental-metal and masonry requirements in particular developments have their stated scope.

• Living screening alternatives: An irrigated landscaped strip or earthen berm planted with trees/shrubs, at least 60% non-deciduous and capable of sight/noise obstruction, may substitute as a screening device only with the Planning & Zoning Commission’s special-exception approval.

• Agricultural line fencing: The local category applies to property greater than two acres with active agricultural use. It recognizes customary agricultural landscaping materials but prohibits poultry netting or welded wire on T-posts for line fencing. Genuine agricultural operations also have protections under Texas Agriculture Code Chapter 251; within corporate limits, the statute requires clear and convincing evidence of the listed imminent dangers and that less restrictive means cannot address the purpose, together with a supporting report and governing-body resolution, before the City may impose a covered requirement. The chapter also retains specific prohibitions and exceptions. Acreage alone does not establish agricultural-operation status.

• Electric fencing and animal containment: Electric fences/wires are prohibited along/adjoining public streets, alleys, public grounds and common property lines, including maintenance, re-erection and repair. Development Services Director approval may allow specified farm-animal or small-animal control installations inside a protective fenced enclosure. Separately, the animal ordinance requires secure containment and ordinarily does not accept electric fencing or collars as sufficient restraint. Its exception concerns a fully operational underground invisible fence enclosing a tract five acres or larger. Texas law separately limits municipal restraint requirements for a livestock-protection dog while it is protecting livestock on property controlled by its owner.

• Barbed wire beside public ways: Construction of barbed-wire fencing adjoining a public street, alley or public grounds, including barbed wire atop another fence there, is prohibited. The Code retains a special-permit/approval exception for the stated factory/manufacturing, livestock-husbandry and emergency public-utility/facility purposes. Section 8.02.003 names the Building Inspector and special permit; Section 14.04.004 names the Development Services Director’s approval.

• Heritage Row design: Within the Heritage Row Historical District, fences, walls, wrought iron and related appurtenances must provide the ordinance’s visual compatibility with surrounding buildings. The district extends 100 feet on either side of South Crockett Street ROW between West Cherry and West Hester. New fencing and changes to existing fencing have the approval requirements described above.

• Bel Air Village and The Village materials: Metal fencing must be ornamental metal, tubular steel or similar material, consistently designed and finished black. Masonry must be compatible with adjacent buildings. Wood adjacent to streets must be board-on-board, capped, pre-stained cedar with steel posts; wood along the designated major/minor streets is prohibited. Residential lots abutting or facing parks/open space require ornamental metal on that side unless another material receives detailed-site-plan approval. Masonry walls over 2 feet require footings approved by a structural engineer or other appropriately licensed professional.

• Heritage Ranch materials: Residential privacy fencing must be wood, consistently designed black ornamental metal, or masonry. Its screening provisions recognize opaque wood and ornamental/tubular metal systems; wood must remain in good condition without fallen or rotten components. Materials, locations and otherwise unaddressed alternatives require detailed-site-plan approval.

• Heritage Ranch integrated residential uses: Its screening section states that screening walls or mechanisms are not required where residential uses are incorporated into commercial uses and in multifamily areas. This express exception accompanies the development’s screening requirements; its fence materials, maintenance and detailed-site-plan provisions remain separately stated.

• Hickory Hill materials and orientation: Detached-home privacy fences must be wood, masonry or black wrought iron/steel. Under the separate single-family-condominium perimeter provision, required wood privacy pickets face the neighboring property or public side. For townhomes, attached single-family and multifamily uses, Hickory Hill Section IV.C.4 expressly refers fence and screening devices to its R-2 base zoning district; that adopted reference is distinct from the detached and condominium branches.

• Pecan Grove Estates materials: Residential privacy fencing must be wood, consistently designed black ornamental metal, or masonry. Its screening options include masonry, opaque wood and decorative opaque metal. Fence/wall materials, locations and alternatives are approved through the detailed site plan.

• Shepherd’s Place materials and perimeter construction: Residential privacy fencing may be wood, ornamental metal with masonry columns, or masonry. For the separate single-family development perimeter, the listed materials are stone, brick or wrought-iron-style metal pickets with brick/stone columns. Metal-picket column spacing may not exceed 40 feet. Walls, fences and columns require structural footings/foundations and level tops. Precast, cast-in-place and tilt-up concrete walls are prohibited under that perimeter construction standard.

• Shepherd’s Place Attachment C multifamily perimeter: Walls/fences used to secure a building site in a multifamily zone must be 5–6 feet high and match the buildings’ materials and finishes. Wrought-iron-style metal pickets are allowed with matching masonry columns or walls interrupting every run of no more than 40 feet. Metal pickets must be powder-coated or otherwise prefinished; field painting is limited to required touch-up. Fencing in the front yard or forward of the front building line may be no more than 40% opaque. Walls and columns require structural footings/foundations and level tops; precast, cast-in-place and tilt-up concrete walls are prohibited regardless of finish. Fencing must be at least 5 feet from sidewalk or 10 feet from back of curb, whichever is greater, along public/private streets, and meet the City Transportation Criteria Manual’s sight triangles.

• Shepherd’s Place integrated uses and residential waste screens: Section K.3 states that screening walls/mechanisms are not required where residential uses are incorporated into commercial uses or multifamily areas. Section K.5 separately requires service/loading/storage screening at least 1 foot above service equipment. Trash/recycling containers must be screened from public view on three sides by a solid wall/fence at least 1 foot above the container and at least 7 feet high; wall faces use brick, stone or burnished concrete masonry units. Gates require metal frames and metal fascia colored to match building material. Trash collection/compaction may not occur within 100 feet of a detached single-family residence.

• Overlay screening materials: In the 75 & 82, Sam Rayburn and College Park screening provisions, privacy fences use wood or masonry. Their stated line-screening materials include wood, stone, brick, concrete block or other suitable customary landscaping material; solid construction and permanent maintenance are required. College Park’s provision additionally prohibits wire, chain-link and corrugated fencing materials. These boundary-screening systems also recognize specified masonry, vegetated berms and evergreen plantings, with berm slopes no steeper than 3:1 and a fully vegetated surface.

• FM1417, FM691 and SH289 screen materials: Their detention-screen fences and masonry walls must have a finished, decorative appearance with decorative vegetation in front under the applicable landscape standards; wood and woven-wire detention screens are prohibited. Vegetation must reasonably form an opaque evergreen screen four feet high within two growing seasons. Detention berms have a maximum 1 vertical to 2 horizontal slope, a minimum 2-foot crown and planting to achieve the stated four-foot total target. FM1417’s higher principal screen requirement remains subject to the conflict described above.

• Other screening methods in these three overlays: Their separate line/boundary screening provisions allow wood or masonry privacy fences; listed line-screen materials include wood, stone, brick, concrete block and other suitable customary residential-landscape materials, installed neatly and solidly with permanent maintenance. Specified masonry, evergreen shrubs and fully vegetated berms with maximum 3:1 slopes may be used, including a combination of two permitted materials to meet the minimum height. Landscaping must avoid hazards. The detention-screen wood prohibition and 2:1 berm rule should not be substituted for these separate clauses, or vice versa.

• Manufactured-housing or multifamily development perimeters: When that development provision applies, public-street perimeters require at least 6 feet of masonry or wrought iron with masonry columns; street-side columns are 24 feet on center. The ordinance has a natural-buffer exception for a water body, floodplain or similar buffer more than 60 feet wide from adjacent property. This is a community-development perimeter condition.

• Multifamily trash enclosures: Section 14.04.004(d)(4) requires MF-15 and MF-30 uses to enclose garbage/trash containers with screening. Enclosures ordinarily belong within the lot’s building area, use masonry or similarly durable material, and conceal containers from streets, highways and major thoroughfares. Required rear/side-yard locations may be permitted when adjoining other multifamily or nonresidential zoning.

• Residential planned-development waste screening: Aspen Park Section 4.3 requires trash-container enclosures for all VMU and C-N uses and separately refers visual trash/machinery screening to its stated City-code provision. Bel Air Village and The Village require solid-waste facilities/compactors to have masonry screens at least 1 foot above the facility, using materials matching the principal building. These are development/use-specific screens.

• Covered multifamily maintenance: Section 3.11.003(9)(I) requires all fences, gates and retaining walls to remain in good repair at multifamily dwelling complexes covered by Article 3.11. Its definition generally concerns five or more commonly owned dwelling units under the stated lot, tract or complex arrangements, including accessory fences, walls and pools. Hotels, motels and congregate residences are excluded. The qualifying governmental-inspection exception applies when at least 50% of units are subject to the specified state/federal habitability regulation and inspection; it limits routine inspections and registration fees but preserves other enforcement. This provision is not a blanket rule for every single-family rental.

• Temporary development/tree-protection fencing: Development-site perimeter construction fencing may be chain-link or orange construction safety fencing, at least 4 feet high and within the applicable zoning fence-height limit. Required preserved-tree protection is placed at the dripline; construction/disturbance within protected dripline areas is prohibited, and the applicable tree-preservation provision requires a three-inch mulch layer.

• Pool-barrier classification and construction: Under the adopted pool code, a residential pool is accessory to a residential setting and available only to the household and its guests. A barrier permanently and completely surrounds the pool/spa and obstructs access; removal, lifting or relocation requires a tool. Subject to the applicable cover and other code exceptions, outdoor pools/spas and indoor swimming pools need the Section 305 barrier system. Openings may not pass a 4-inch sphere. Solid surfaces may not create handholds/footholds, except normal construction tolerances and tooled masonry joints.

• Pool fences with horizontal members: If the horizontal-member tops are less than 45 inches apart, the horizontal members must face the pool/spa and vertical gaps may not exceed 1¾ inches. At 45 inches or more between horizontal-member tops, vertical gaps may be at most 4 inches. Decorative cutouts remain limited to 1¾ inches in either branch.

• Chain-link or diagonal pool barriers: Chain-link openings may not exceed 1¾ inches; any reducing slats must fasten at both top and bottom. Diagonal-member openings also have a 1¾-inch maximum, and the members’ angle may not exceed 45 degrees from vertical. Other applicable City yard and development-material restrictions still govern location and fence choice.

• Mesh pool barriers: Install to manufacturer instructions. The bottom is no more than 1 inch above the deck/surface/grade; lifting may not create more than 4 inches of clearance, and no mesh panel may admit a four-inch sphere underneath. Section attachments must be at least 45 inches above grade with the specified secure attachment performance. Hinged gates follow the pool-gate rules; deck sleeves must be nonconductive. Mesh fencing may not be installed atop an onground residential pool.

• Pool doors and gates: Provide for a locking device. Pedestrian doors/gates open away from the pool/spa and must self-close and self-latch. Utility/service openings remain locked when unused. Double/multiple gates require at least one secured leaf and a self-latching adjacent leaf.

• Residential pool latches: An outside-accessed, non-self-locking release must be at least 54 inches above the finished floor/ground. For a self-locking key, electronic or combination mechanism, the residential lock control and release are no higher than 54 inches. At a private pool where the only self-latching release is on the pool side, it is at least 3 inches below the gate top. When a release is inside the barrier, openings within 18 inches of it may be no larger than ½ inch in any dimension.

• Public-pool base-code latches and egress: In 2021 ISPSC Section 305.3.3, an outside-accessed public-pool latch release that is not self-locking is 52–54 inches above finished floor/ground; self-locking public-pool controls/releases use 34–48 inches. Section 305.8 requires outdoor public-pool egress under IBC Chapter 10. Applicable Texas enclosure laws can prescribe a different controlling gate system, including Chapter 757’s covered-pool rules below; these base-code ranges are not a substitute for classifying the pool.

• Chapter 757 enclosures and gates: Covered pools must have complete enclosures at least 48 inches above outside grade, with no passage of a 4-inch sphere underneath. At least 45 inches between horizontal-member tops permits four-inch openings; closer spacing limits openings to 1¾ inches. Decorative openings are at most 1¾ inches. New enclosures constructed after January 1, 1994 may not use chain-link, or diagonal members below 49 inches. Equipment/structures may not make the enclosure readily climbable. Gates self-close, self-latch, accommodate a lock and open outward. The usual latch minimum is 60 inches; a lower pool-side-only latch must be at least 3 inches below the gate top with no opening over ½ inch within 18 inches. A gate requiring key, card or combination on both sides may have a latch at 42 inches or higher.

• Existing Chapter 757 enclosures and upkeep: For pre-January 1, 1994 enclosures without an applicable municipal ordinance at construction/modification, Section 757.005 permits chain-link openings not passing a 2¼-inch sphere, and a 36-inch horizontal-member spacing branch with four-inch openings. An enclosure built/modified before that date and complying with applicable municipal standards existing January 1, 1994 has the statute’s specified exemption from Section 757.003, the outward-swing requirement and the ordinary latch-height rule. Owners/associations must use ordinary and reasonable care to inspect, maintain and repair required devices and inspect enclosures, gates and self-closing/latching devices at least every 31 days. Tenant notice triggers the specified window/sliding-door-device repair duties; the statutory duties cannot be waived.

• State priority and Sherman’s public-pool height: Local Government Code Sections 214.101 and 214.103 require consistency with applicable state enclosure law and preserve state-law/rule priority in the specified enclosure conflicts. Chapter 757 Section 757.010 generally protects conforming enclosures from different local construction demands, subject to its exceptions and authorized state rules. A municipality may continue greater overall heights under Section 757.010(c) only when those requirements existed in its ordinances on January 1, 1994. Sherman Section 3.03.010 states six feet for public pools, but that statement alone does not establish this historical condition for every Chapter 757 enclosure. Apply the covered-pool statute, applicable state rules and documented municipal history together; do not assume either an unconditional six-foot requirement or an exemption from all City review for apartment/association pools.

• Other Class C pool enclosures: Under 25 TAC 265.192, Class C pools subject to Chapter 757 follow that chapter. Other Class C/day-camp pools use the separate 48-inch enclosure branch with four-inch openings. Enclosures constructed/replaced from January 1, 2021 may not have a horizontal midrail and a 48-inch fence has at least 45 inches between horizontal members. Chain-link is prohibited at Class C pools constructed from October 1, 1999, and when replacing a chain-link fence at an older Class C pool. Operable windows must be above required enclosure height and have at most a four-inch opening or a nonremovable screen. Building doors/gates are limited to the specified adjacent service rooms with no opening outside the enclosure, or compliant indoor-pool arrangements.

• State shared-pool gates, clear zones and indoor access: Other Class C/day-camp gates self-close/self-latch, open outward, remain secure when unused and lock when the pool is closed, including hazard/repair closures. For post-January 1, 2021 construction, the rule specifies hand hardware at least 3½ feet above the walkway or the pool-side three-inch-below-top arrangement, with ½-inch maximum openings within 18 inches; two-sided key/card/combination operation has the 42-inch latch alternative. General state enclosure rules keep planters, poles and furnishings at least 36 inches outside and require interior items/tree limbs not to make climbing possible. Entry/exit gates must lead to a public area or user-accessible walkway. Gates may not be propped open except during the specified attended work. Service-only gates can lack self-closing/latching devices but must remain locked and cannot serve users. Indoor pools retain their class-specific door rules; elevator doors cannot be pool-yard entry/exit. A door between compliant indoor/outdoor pool areas can swing inward only under the rule’s no-exit exception.

• A house or structure wall forming the pool barrier: Direct-access doors/gates and operable windows with sills below 48 inches above the indoor finished floor need the code’s listed UL 2017 water-hazard alarm arrangement, an ASTM F1346-listed/labeled safety cover, or an approved protective alternative such as self-closing/self-latching doors providing the prescribed equivalent protection. Alarm deactivation controls in dwellings not required to be Accessible, Type A or Type B units are at least 54 inches high; in those accessible dwelling classifications, and in structures other than dwellings, the stated range is 48–54 inches.

• Chapter 757 building-wall access: For covered multiunit/association pool yards, Sections 757.006–.008 have separate dated door/window rules. Direct-opening doors, sliding doors and French doors are prohibited when initial building/pool electrical service is from January 1, 1994. For earlier service, an ordinary nonsliding door needs an automatic latch, closer and keyless bolt 36–48 inches above the inside floor. French doors require an automatically engaging latch on one leaf and the statutory top/bottom bolt arrangement on the other, including the ¾-inch throw in that bolt alternative. Sliding glass doors need the specified handle latch or security bar plus a pin lock, each no higher than 48 inches. The qualifying pre-September 1, 1993 hardware may be up to 54 inches; later specified dead bolts need a one-inch throw. The nonresident-use room with no outside-yard access has its stated exception. Pre-1994 wall windows need latches and secured existing screens; later wall ground-floor windows must remain permanently closed. Buildings within the pool yard retain these requirements. These covered-pool provisions cannot be replaced by the private-home alarm/cover alternative.

• Onground pool walls as barriers: Where only the wall serves as the barrier, its bottom rests on grade, its top is at least 48 inches above grade around the entire perimeter, it meets the Section 305.2 requirements and the manufacturer allows that use. A wall with a top-mounted barrier must provide the same 48-inch overall protection and satisfy the wall/barrier requirements. Access steps/ladders must lock, secure or be removable unless enclosed by a compliant barrier; any resulting openings may not pass a 4-inch sphere. Top-mounted barriers follow manufacturer instructions.

• Required fire-access gates and hydrants: Fences must leave hydrants and fire-protection equipment immediately visible and accessible. Gates on required fire-apparatus access roads must meet the approved access-road width and the stated 14-foot vertical clearance. Applicable gate standards allow horizontal swing, horizontal slide, vertical lift or vertical pivot designs, require manual operation by one person and continuing maintenance, and subject locks and emergency opening devices to fire-code approval. Electric gates require the specified Knox key switch; electric operators must comply with UL 325 and automatically operated gates with ASTM F2200.

PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS

Private deed restrictions, homeowners’ association covenants, architectural rules, private easements and boundary or maintenance agreements can impose independent obligations within Texas statutory limits. Public approval does not determine title, fence ownership, access rights or an adjoining owner’s contribution to costs. A fence on a boundary does not automatically establish equal ownership or a 50/50 payment obligation.

• HOA security fencing: Property Code 202.023 generally protects security measures including perimeter fencing, subject to express retained association controls. Associations may regulate fence type and prohibit obstructions of license areas, public/community sidewalks, drainage easements and drainage areas. They may require a driveway gate to be set back at least 10 feet from ROW where the driveway intersects the defined laned roadway. A restrictive covenant may prohibit fencing in front of the dwelling’s front-most building line.

• Existing and enhanced-security fences: Section 202.023 protects maintenance of perimeter/front-building-line fencing installed or constructed before September 1, 2025, notwithstanding its retained-control subsection. Its front-building-line prohibition has an exception where the owner’s residential address is protected from public disclosure or the association receives law-enforcement documentation of the need for enhanced security. The section excludes the specified condominiums and master mixed-use associations.

• Protected water-feature enclosures: Section 202.022 protects qualifying safety-compliant enclosures made of transparent mesh or clear panels in metal frames, designed to be nonclimbable and no more than 6 feet high. Associations retain appearance/color controls within the statute, including protection for the specified black transparent-mesh form. Public pool-safety rules still govern the actual barrier.

• Private agreements and public development conditions: Review the actual recorded instruments for maintenance, access, material and cost obligations. Public plat dedications, City easement-use approvals and adopted development-perimeter requirements remain separate from private association review. Statutory removal duties for joint or attached fences are described in Fence Placement Rules.

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 plan review: fence construction, repair involving new posts, site-plan accuracy, required inspection and applicable development approvals.

• Yard and visibility review: front-yard openness, side/rear screening, arterial perimeter requirements, street/alley sight areas, driveway visibility and gate placement.

• Special-property review: Heritage Row compatibility and approval, planned-development material and height branches, public easements, rights-of-way, drainage, floodplain and construction erosion controls.

• Construction and safety: prohibited materials, screening maintenance, retaining-wall engineering, applicable pool barriers, fire-access gates, hydrants and animal containment.

• Separate statutory/private issues: utility and pipeline excavation, pipeline-easement construction, agricultural-operation protections, ownership or attachment conditions for fence removal, and private covenants subject to Texas law. Private association disputes and ownership/cost questions have their own enforcement paths.

USING THIS INFORMATION

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