Fence laws in Davie, Florida
What the Davie municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Davie sets no rule of its own, the Florida rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Davie, Florida, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Where Davie business or industrial land directly abuts residential zoning, the separation is a required wall rather than an option, and the code controls where it may sit: no closer to a street than the yard depth or width required on the business side.
- How tall
- Six feet along a Davie residential plot line, rising to eight where that line runs against nonresidentially zoned property, and eight is also the limit on a nonresidential plot line facing housing, and the answer turns on the zoning of the lot, what the plot line runs against, and whether the land is rural or industrial. The figure is 6 feet, for fence or wall along a residential plot line.
- Permits
- In the E district a Davie lakefront owner whose lot is larger than the minimum and holds excess area counted as open space may be permitted to fence it, on terms.
- 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
- Davie has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Davie states its datum in a single sentence and ties it to one side of the fence: height is measured from the finished grade of the property the fence is installed on.
- Corner lots
- Inside twenty five feet of where street lines meet, or where they would meet if produced, nothing opaque may stand more than two feet above the nearest street grade in a Davie residential district. The figure is 25 feet, for distance from the intersection of street lines.
- 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
- Every masonry screen wall in Davie is finished on both sides with two coats of cement stucco, or built of precast concrete, and painted on both sides. The figure is 6 feet, for height of the buffer wall between business and residential land.
- 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 Davie?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Davie answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Where Davie business or industrial land directly abuts residential zoning, the separation is a required wall rather than an option, and the code controls where it may sit: no closer to a street than the yard depth or width required on the business side. The obligation is also switched off while nothing is there, because the wall is not needed for as long as the business or industrial property stays vacant land, which puts the cost on the development rather than on the empty lot.
Walls shall not extend closer to a street than the required depth or width of yard on the business or industrially zoned property. Such wall or fence shall not be necessary during such time as the business or industrial property is vacant land.
Also on fences on the property line in Davie
- 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 Davie?
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Davie answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zoning of the lot, what the plot line runs against, and whether the land is rural or industrial.
Six feet along a Davie residential plot line, rising to eight where that line runs against nonresidentially zoned property, and eight is also the limit on a nonresidential plot line facing housing. The rural districts are handled elsewhere: the height limits do not reach the RR, AG and A-1 districts at all, and in AG, A-1 and R-1 fences are governed by sections 12-287 and 12-288 instead. A storage yard in an industrial area is a separate case again, needing a continuous masonry or precast wall of at least eight feet and no more than ten.
no fence or wall shall be erected or maintained along or adjacent to a plot line for residentially zoned property to a height exceeding six (6) feet, except that where the plot line is adjacent to a nonresidentially zoned property, there shall be an eight-foot limit on the height of a fence or wall along such plot line.
The answer turns on the zoning of the lot, what the plot line runs against, and whether the land is rural or industrial.
- a residential plot line
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a plot line where residential meets nonresidential
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a storage yard in an industrial area
- A continuous masonry or precast wall, eight to ten feet. 10 ft
- the RR, AG and A-1 districts
- Outside these limits, and governed by sections 12-287 and 12-288.
Also on fence height in Davie
- 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 Davie?
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Davie answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
In the E district a Davie lakefront owner whose lot is larger than the minimum and holds excess area counted as open space may be permitted to fence it, on terms. The fence has to carry unlocked latch gated access through the lot on two sides so other residents can still reach the open space, the homeowners association has to approve the application, and nothing permitted may fence, encroach on or block a recreation trail, an equestrian trail or any other trail or path. The same arrangement applies in Long Lakes Estates to a lot touching the bridle path or a canal. The code adds that none of this reduces the owner’s duty under chapter 515 of the Florida Statutes, the pool safety act.
However, a lot owner is not entitled to build a fence which in any way fences, encroaches upon or blocks any recreation trail and/or equestrian trail and/or other trail and/or path.
Also on permits in Davie
- 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 Davie
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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 Davie 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 Davie
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Davie 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 Davie 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 Davie
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Davie answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Davie states its datum in a single sentence and ties it to one side of the fence: height is measured from the finished grade of the property the fence is installed on. Where the two lots sit at different levels that fixes the reading to the builder’s own ground rather than the neighbor’s, and it uses finished grade rather than natural grade, so a lot legally filled to flood elevation is measured from the new level.
Fence height shall be measured from the finished grade of the property upon which the fence is to be installed.
Also on how height is measured in Davie
- set in state lawFlorida 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. Fla. Stat. 588.01Florida · Statute
Fence rules for corner lots in Davie
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Davie answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Inside twenty five feet of where street lines meet, or where they would meet if produced, nothing opaque may stand more than two feet above the nearest street grade in a Davie residential district. The word opaque is doing the work: a picket fence or an open rail that a driver can see through is not caught by the rule, while a solid panel or a grown hedge is.
In any residential district no opaque fence, wall or hedge shall be erected, constructed, maintained or grown to a height exceeding two (2) feet above the street grade nearest thereto, within twenty-five (25) feet of the intersection of any street lines or of the street lines produced.
25 ftdistance from the intersection of street lines
Also on corner visibility in Davie
- 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 Davie
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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 Davie 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 Davie
- 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 Davie
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Davie answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Every masonry screen wall in Davie is finished on both sides with two coats of cement stucco, or built of precast concrete, and painted on both sides. The rule leaves no unfinished face for a neighbor to look at, and it is repeated for the buffer wall a business or industrial property has to build where it directly abuts residential land or land the Land Use Plan marks residential: six feet, continuous and unpierced, stuccoed both sides and painted to match the buildings. Required buffer planting goes on the outboard side of that wall.
All masonry screen walls erected in the town shall be finished on both sides with two (2) coats of cement stucco or be constructed of pre-cast concrete, and painted on both sides.
6 ftheight of the buffer wall between business and residential land
Also on materials in Davie
- 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 Davie
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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 Davie 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 Davie
- 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 Davie 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
- Town of DavieCode of Ordinances, Chapter 12 Land Development Code, Article III, Section 12-33(O), Fences, Walls and Hedges
- 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 Davie 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