Fence laws in Coconut Creek, Florida
What the Coconut Creek municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Coconut Creek sets no rule of its own, the Florida rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Coconut Creek, Florida, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Where a Coconut Creek parcel carries a required buffer, a wall or fence in it may not sit closer than fifteen feet to the perimeter or the right of way, and the rule reaches residential and nonresidential land alike. The figure is 15 feet, for distance a fence in a buffer keeps from the perimeter.
- How tall
- Six feet is the limit on a Coconut Creek residential lot, and no fence or wall is allowed in a required front yard at all except in the agricultural district, where one may stand fifteen feet back from the right of way, and the answer turns on the district, the yard, and what the fence encloses. The figure is 6 feet, for fence on a residential lot.
- Permits
- Coconut Creek attaches a signature to the barbed wire allowance rather than a finding.
- Pool barriers
- Florida requires a pool barrier at least four feet high, measured on the outside. The figure is 4 feet, for residential swimming pool barrier, measured on the outside.
- Spite fences
- Coconut Creek has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Florida answers the measuring question outright in its oldest fence section. The figure is 5 feet, for a general fence built with a ditch, measured from the bottom of the ditch to the top of the fence. It reaches a general fence built with a trench or ditch only.
- Corner lots
- The Coconut Creek fence section answers the corner with distance and planting rather than a sight triangle. The figure is 5 feet, for setback for a corner or street side fence.
- Retaining walls
- Florida statute names a wall that holds back earth in one place, and it is about how many permits a town can charge for. It reaches a house, a duplex or a townhouse only.
- Materials
- Barbed wire is expressly prohibited in Coconut Creek, and the three exceptions are all temporary or public: a construction site where the fencing does not block a public easement or right of way, a public utility site, and an essential public service where the risk without it is greater than with it, and the answer turns on what the site is used for.
- Livestock
- Florida sets a legal fence at three feet high, made of barbed or other soft wire, with at least three strands pulled tight on posts, trees or other supports no more than twenty feet apart. The figure is 3 feet, for height of a legal fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Coconut Creek?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Coconut Creek answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Where a Coconut Creek parcel carries a required buffer, a wall or fence in it may not sit closer than fifteen feet to the perimeter or the right of way, and the rule reaches residential and nonresidential land alike. The decorative side of a fence or wall faces the outside limits of the property, so what the street and the neighbors see is the finished face.
For residential and nonresidential parcels the location of walls or fences in required buffers cannot be closer than fifteen (15) feet from the perimeter or right-of-way.
15 ftdistance a fence in a buffer keeps from the perimeter
Also on fences on the property line in Coconut Creek
- no rule, documents checkedFlorida has no law about splitting the cost of a fence on a boundary. Chapter 588 is about legal fences and livestock, and every section in it deals with fence strength, posted land and impounding animals. Chapter 704, which covers easements and rights of entry, says nothing about a boundary fence either. In Florida the split is whatever the two neighbors agree to. Fla. Stat. ch. 588Florida · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Coconut Creek?
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Coconut Creek answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, the yard, and what the fence encloses.
Six feet is the limit on a Coconut Creek residential lot, and no fence or wall is allowed in a required front yard at all except in the agricultural district, where one may stand fifteen feet back from the right of way. Non-residential districts get eight feet, and a fence there may sit in a required buffer yard at the perimeter but not in a required front yard unless the site plan approved it. A fence around an accessory game court, field or paved activity area may reach ten feet, with racquetball and handball courts excepted from that ceiling, and anything over six feet has to meet the setbacks of the main structure and be screened from the neighbors by a continuous planting strip.
Fences on a residential lot shall be limited to six (6) feet in height. Barbed wire and other similar material shall not be permitted on a fence or wall within a residential district. Fences and walls shall not be permitted within a required front yard except as provided herein.
The answer turns on the district, the yard, and what the fence encloses.
- a residential lot
- Six feet, and no fence in the required front yard. 6 ft
- a non-residential district
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- an accessory game court, field or paved activity area
- Ten feet, with main structure setbacks and a planting strip. 10 ft
- a front yard in the agricultural district
- A fence is allowed, fifteen feet from the right of way. 15 ft
Also on fence height in Coconut Creek
- no rule, documents checkedFlorida sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The only height in the fence chapter is the five foot floor that makes a fence a legal fence for holding livestock, which is a minimum for farm land and not a cap for a yard. The permit statute names no height either. Height comes from city and county ordinance. Fla. Stat. ch. 588Florida · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Coconut Creek?
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Coconut Creek answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Coconut Creek attaches a signature to the barbed wire allowance rather than a finding. Installing it requires the property owner to execute a hold harmless and indemnification statement provided in the permit application, so the liability shifts before the wire goes up. A non-residential fence in a required front yard is the other thing the code routes through approval, being allowed only where the site plan approved it at the time.
Installation of barbed wire shall require that the property owner execute a hold harmless and indemnification statement provided in the permit application.
Also on permits in Coconut Creek
- set in state lawFlorida runs one building code for the whole state and makes a permit the default for building work. The statute itself says nothing about fences. It does force a local government to skip the permit for work on a single family home worth under $7,500. The fence exemption by height is in the Florida Building Code, not in the statute. Fla. Stat. 553.79(1)(a)Florida · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Coconut Creek
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Florida answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Florida requires a pool barrier at least four feet high, measured on the outside. The same section bars gaps or footholds that let a small child get under, through or over it. The barrier has to ring the pool itself and has to be separate from a yard fence, unless that yard fence runs along the pool and meets the same rules. Gates swing away from the pool and latch on their own.
This one is Florida law, not Coconut Creek law. All Florida findings
The barrier must be at least 4 feet high on the outside.
4 ftresidential swimming pool barrier, measured on the outside
Spite fence laws in Coconut Creek
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Coconut Creek law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Florida has no spite fence law. The fence chapter sets no height that sets anything off and no rule about why a fence went up. Chapter 823, the public nuisance chapter, runs from bonfires to abandoned boats and never reaches a fence built to annoy a neighbor. A claim in Florida rests on common law nuisance instead, which is judge made rather than written by the legislature.
This one is Florida law, not Coconut Creek law. All Florida findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Fla. Stat. ch. 588The Florida Senate
- Fla. Stat. ch. 823The Florida Senate
How fence height is measured in Coconut Creek
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Florida answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Florida answers the measuring question outright in its oldest fence section. A general fence stands at least five feet and keeps its gaps under four inches for the first two feet up from the ground. Where the fence is built with a trench beside it, those five feet run from the bottom of the ditch to the top of the fence. A bottom point and a top point, both named, which is the part most state fence rules leave out. The rule is about holding livestock. A yard fence in a Florida city is sized by local land development rules adopted under section 163.3202, and those rules carry their own way of measuring.
This one is Florida law, not Coconut Creek law. All Florida findings
provided, that when any fence or enclosure shall be made with a trench or a ditch, the same shall be 4 feet wide; and in that case the fence shall be 5 feet high from the bottom of the ditch to the top of the fence.
5 fta general fence built with a ditch, measured from the bottom of the ditch to the top of the fence
Fence rules for corner lots in Coconut Creek
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Coconut Creek answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The Coconut Creek fence section answers the corner with distance and planting rather than a sight triangle. A fence in a residential district on a corner or street side has to sit five feet back from the right of way line or access easement, and where there is a sidewalk, shrubs or hedging at least twenty four inches tall and eighteen inches across go in along the outside of the fence. The section states no triangle and no clear band of its own.
Fences in a residential district on a corner or street side must be set back five (5) feet from the right-of-way line, or access easement. If a sidewalk is present, then shrubs or hedges must be placed along the outside of the fence (minimum twenty-four (24) inches height and eighteen (18) inches spread).
5 ftsetback for a corner or street side fence
Also on corner visibility in Coconut Creek
- set in state lawFlorida has a state rule about blocking a driver from seeing what is coming, and it is written about signs. Chapter 479 bans a sign on the inside of a curve, or placed any way that could keep road users from seeing approaching vehicles, next to a state highway or a federal aid primary road. Section 337.406 adds that using a state road right of way in a way that gets in the way of traffic is unlawful. Neither one draws a triangle on a corner lot. That is left to local land development rules. Fla. Stat. 479.11Florida · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Coconut Creek
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Florida answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Florida statute names a wall that holds back earth in one place, and it is about how many permits a town can charge for. When one wall runs across more than one lot, the local government has to issue a single permit for the whole job and cannot demand one for each lot the wall crosses. The rule is written for houses, duplexes and townhouses. It sets no height and it does not say how the wall has to be built.
This one is Florida law, not Coconut Creek law. All Florida findings
If a retaining wall spans more than one lot or parcel, a local government that issues building permits must issue a permit for a retaining wall for the project as a whole and may not require a building permit for each lot or parcel upon which a retaining wall is installed on the property of a single-family or two-family residential dwelling or a townhouse.
Also on retaining walls in Coconut Creek
- left to the townThe height at which a wall that holds back earth needs a permit is not in Florida statute. It is in the Florida Building Code, which the Florida Building Commission rewrites every three years from the newest International Building Code and International Residential Code. Once the commission adopts it, that code applies across the state with no vote by any city or county, and a local government may only make it stricter. Fla. Stat. 553.73(7)(a)Florida · Statute
Fence materials allowed in Coconut Creek
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Coconut Creek answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the site is used for.
Barbed wire is expressly prohibited in Coconut Creek, and the three exceptions are all temporary or public: a construction site where the fencing does not block a public easement or right of way, a public utility site, and an essential public service where the risk without it is greater than with it. Barbed wire and similar material are separately barred from any fence or wall in a residential district. Wherever it is allowed the owner is responsible for keeping it rust-free and taut, so the allowance carries an ongoing condition rather than ending at installation.
It shall be the responsibility of the property owner to ensure that barbed wire fencing is maintained in a rust-free and taut condition.
The answer turns on what the site is used for.
- an ordinary lot
- Barbed wire is expressly prohibited.
- a construction site, public utility site or essential public service
- Barbed wire is allowed, kept rust-free and taut.
Also on materials in Coconut Creek
- set in state lawFlorida describes its legal fence by the wire it uses. The fence stands at least three feet tall with three or more strands of barbed or other soft wire on supports no more than twenty feet apart. Battens let the supports stand farther apart, and an electric fence built with high tensile wire gets the widest spacing of all. Fla. Stat. 588.011Florida · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Coconut Creek
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Florida answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Florida sets a legal fence at three feet high, made of barbed or other soft wire, with at least three strands pulled tight on posts, trees or other supports no more than twenty feet apart. With battens the supports may stand up to sixty feet apart for a plain fence and one hundred fifty feet for an electric one built with high tensile wire. Any other material that meets about the same specs counts, and gates are built to the same standard.
This one is Florida law, not Coconut Creek law. All Florida findings
Any fence or enclosure at least 3 feet in height made of barbed or other soft wire consisting of not less than three strands of wire stretched securely on posts, trees, or other supports, standing not more than 20 feet apart
3 ftheight of a legal fence
Also on agricultural fencing in Coconut Creek
- set in state lawFlorida runs one livestock law over the whole state, and holding the animals in is the owner's job. An owner who lets livestock run loose or stray onto a public road pays for all the injury and property damage that follows. Section 588.25 leaves county laws in place where they already require livestock to be penned, and fills the gap where they do not. Fla. Stat. 588.15Florida · Statute
Documents behind this page
10 documents, of which 1 was published by Coconut Creek itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- The Florida Senate2026 Florida Statutes, Chapter 588, Legal Fences and Livestock at Large
- The Florida Senate2026 Florida Statutes, Chapter 704, Easements
- City of Coconut CreekCode of Ordinances, Chapter 13 Land Development Code, Article III, Division 4, Section 13-379, Fences, walls and enclosures
- The Florida LegislatureThe 2026 Florida Statutes, Chapter 553, Part IV, Florida Building Code
- The Florida LegislatureThe 2026 Florida Statutes, Chapter 515, Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act
- The Florida Senate2026 Florida Statutes, Chapter 823, Public Nuisances
- The Florida Senate2026 Florida Statutes, Chapter 479, Outdoor Advertising, Section 479.11, Specified signs prohibited
- The Florida LegislatureThe 2026 Florida Statutes, Chapter 553, Part IV, Florida Building Code
- The Florida LegislatureThe 2026 Florida Statutes, Chapter 553, Part IV, Florida Building Code
- Florida LegislatureThe 2025 Florida Statutes, Title XLV, Chapter 588, Legal Fences and Livestock at Large
What this page does not cover
A city ordinance is not the only rule that reaches a fence. The zoning district a parcel sits in can change the height allowed on it, and so can an overlay district, a recorded easement, a fire hazard severity zone or a coastal zone. A homeowner association can be stricter than the city and nothing in the municipal code will say so. None of those appear here.
The rules above are the ones Coconut Creek publishes, plus the Florida rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Florida has the state layer in full.
This is general information drawn from published government documents. It is not legal advice, ordinances are amended, and the date beside each finding is the date the document was read. How findings are made · What the terms mean