Fence laws in Fort Pierce, Florida
What the Fort Pierce municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Fort Pierce sets no rule of its own, the Florida rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Fort Pierce, Florida, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Every Fort Pierce fence, wall and hedge sits on the applicant’s own land and out of the public right of way, and none may enclose a drainage easement without the city engineer’s written authorization. The figure is 50 percent, for share of a long street fence that has to be landscaped.
- How tall
- A Fort Pierce single family district allows six feet along a property line or in a required yard, cut to four in the required front yard, four in the required building setback from the water on a waterfront lot, and four in the required rear yard of a double frontage lot, and the answer turns on the zoning district, the yard, and whether the lot faces water or a railway. The figure is 6 feet, for fence or wall in a single family district.
- Permits
- Every new or substantially altered fence and wall in Fort Pierce needs a construction permit from the building department, and the code puts the location squarely on the applicant: the application has to establish accurately where the fence goes on the property, and the applicant is responsible for that.
- 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
- Fort Pierce has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Fort Pierce ties every height in its table to the finished grade of the abutting parcel rather than the builder’s own ground, so raising a lot does not raise what may be built on the boundary. The figure is 24 inches, for height measured from the top of the curb in a clear vision area.
- Corner lots
- A Fort Pierce clear vision area is a triangle drawn twenty feet back from where two street rights of way, or a street and a railroad, meet, and ten feet where a street meets a driveway, and the answer turns on what the streets meet, and whether the fence is see-through. The figure is 20 feet, for leg of the clear vision triangle at a street intersection.
- 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
- Fort Pierce requires the side of a fence or wall facing a right of way or a neighbor to be the finished side in both material and treatment, with all support posts and stringers turned inward toward the applicant’s property.
- 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 Fort Pierce?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Fort Pierce answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Every Fort Pierce fence, wall and hedge sits on the applicant’s own land and out of the public right of way, and none may enclose a drainage easement without the city engineer’s written authorization. A utility easement may be fenced subject to the city or utility removing the fence and its landscaping with no cost and no duty to replace, and a gate has to be provided where meters end up inside. Where a fence or wall runs generally parallel to a right of way for a hundred feet or more, at least half its length has to be landscaped with shrubs and a tree for every fifty feet, with single family and duplex fences exempt.
All fences and walls constructed generally parallel to the public right-of-way and having a length of 100 feet or more shall be landscaped along not less than 50 percent of the linear distance.
50%share of a long street fence that has to be landscaped
Also on fences on the property line in Fort Pierce
- 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 Fort Pierce?
Compare fence height across all 50 states
Fort Pierce answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zoning district, the yard, and whether the lot faces water or a railway.
A Fort Pierce single family district allows six feet along a property line or in a required yard, cut to four in the required front yard, four in the required building setback from the water on a waterfront lot, and four in the required rear yard of a double frontage lot. The medium and high density residential and the office and neighborhood commercial districts also run to six feet, with four in a required setback from the yard and four in the front yard of a single family or duplex home in R-4, R-4A or R-5. The general commercial and open space districts get eight feet, planned developments six. A lot backing onto a railway may put eight feet along the rear line only.
Fences or walls may be erected or maintained along property lines or within the required yards, to a maximum height of six feet above finished grade of the abutting parcel, except as follows:
The answer turns on the zoning district, the yard, and whether the lot faces water or a railway.
- a single family district, along a line or in a required yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a required front yard, a waterfront setback, or a double frontage rear yard
- Four feet. 4 ft
- the C-3, C-4 and open space districts
- Eight feet, with emergency vehicle access kept open. 8 ft
- a rear line abutting a railway or railroad right of way
- Eight feet on that line only. 8 ft
Also on fence height in Fort Pierce
- 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 Fort Pierce?
Compare permits across all 50 states
Fort Pierce answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Every new or substantially altered fence and wall in Fort Pierce needs a construction permit from the building department, and the code puts the location squarely on the applicant: the application has to establish accurately where the fence goes on the property, and the applicant is responsible for that. A security fence designed to keep people out of a hazardous facility or protect stored materials may not be built at all unless the director of planning determines it is necessary in the interest of public safety or protecting property and will not harm the general appearance of the area.
All new or substantially altered fences and walls shall require a construction permit issued by the building department. The application for permit shall accurately establish the location of the fence or wall on the property, and the applicant shall be responsible therefor.
Also on permits in Fort Pierce
- 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 Fort Pierce
Compare pool barriers across all 50 states
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 Fort Pierce 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 Fort Pierce
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
Fort Pierce 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 Fort Pierce 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 Fort Pierce
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Fort Pierce answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Fort Pierce ties every height in its table to the finished grade of the abutting parcel rather than the builder’s own ground, so raising a lot does not raise what may be built on the boundary. Inside a clear vision area a different datum applies again, with the twenty four inch limit measured from the top of the curb, or from the established centerline grade where there is no curb.
A clear vision area shall contain no planting, fence or temporary or permanent obstruction exceeding 24 inches in height measured from the top of the curb or, where no curb exists, from the established centerline grade
24 inheight measured from the top of the curb in a clear vision area
Also on how height is measured in Fort Pierce
- 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 Fort Pierce
Compare corner visibility across all 50 states
Fort Pierce answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the streets meet, and whether the fence is see-through.
A Fort Pierce clear vision area is a triangle drawn twenty feet back from where two street rights of way, or a street and a railroad, meet, and ten feet where a street meets a driveway. Inside it nothing may pass twenty four inches above the top of the curb, apart from trees trimmed clear to eight feet and necessary retaining walls. The C-4 zone is exempt from the requirement altogether. The code then names one fence that may still go in: a chain link up to forty eight inches, provided nothing such as slats or planting is added that would block the view.
A clear vision area shall not preclude the installation of a chainlink fence up to 48 inches in height, provided that no obstruction, such as slates or vegetation, be installed that would obstruct vision within the defined area.
The answer turns on what the streets meet, and whether the fence is see-through.
- two streets, or a street and a railroad
- A twenty foot triangle, clear above twenty four inches. 20 ft
- a street and a driveway
- Ten feet. 10 ft
- the C-4 zone
- No clear vision area required.
Also on corner visibility in Fort Pierce
- 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 Fort Pierce
Compare retaining walls across all 50 states
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 Fort Pierce 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 Fort Pierce
- 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 Fort Pierce
Compare materials across all 50 states
Fort Pierce answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Fort Pierce requires the side of a fence or wall facing a right of way or a neighbor to be the finished side in both material and treatment, with all support posts and stringers turned inward toward the applicant’s property. Every exterior face of a block wall has to be finished to professional quality, the code naming stucco, prefinished block, stacked block with struck joints, shadow block and paint, installed in a workmanlike manner. A trellis, arbor or pergola on the property line or in a required yard is held to the same heights as a fence, and falls outside the section entirely if it stands elsewhere.
All exterior faces of block walls shall be finished and of professional quality, such as stucco, prefinished block, stacked block with struck joints, shadow blocks, painted or similar, installed in a workmanlike manner.
Also on materials in Fort Pierce
- 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 Fort Pierce
Compare agricultural fencing across all 50 states
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 Fort Pierce 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 Fort Pierce
- 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
11 documents, of which 2 were published by Fort Pierce 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 Fort PierceCode of Ordinances, Chapter 125 Zoning, Article VII, Section 125-322, 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
- City of Fort PierceCode of Ordinances, Chapter 125 Zoning, Article VII, Section 125-308, Clear vision areas
- 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 Fort Pierce 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