Fence laws in Pembroke Pines, Florida
What the Pembroke Pines municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Pembroke Pines sets no rule of its own, the Florida rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Pembroke Pines, Florida, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A Pembroke Pines fence turns its finished side to the abutting property or the street when feasible, and the code then puts the burden of proof on the owner: it is the owner’s responsibility to provide evidence as to why the finished side cannot face that way, and the Planning and Economic Development Department director reviews it as part of the building permit.
- How tall
- Six feet in any yard of a Pembroke Pines residential lot, measured from grade, and the same figure applies to a hedge as to a fence or wall, and the answer turns on the yard, what the lot line runs against, and the district. The figure is 6 feet, for fence, wall or hedge on a residential lot line.
- Permits
- Pembroke Pines names four things a fence, wall or hedge may not obstruct: a fire hydrant, a water valve, a water meter and a sewer clean-out, and then catches everything else by saying it may not otherwise prevent the city carrying out utility maintenance.
- 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
- Pembroke Pines 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
- In any Pembroke Pines residential district nothing may stand more than two feet above the nearest street grade inside the front setback, or within twenty five feet of where street lines meet or where those lines would meet if produced. 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
- Pembroke Pines splits barbed wire three ways rather than banning it, and the answer turns on the zoning district the fence stands in.
- 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 Pembroke Pines?
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Pembroke Pines answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Pembroke Pines fence turns its finished side to the abutting property or the street when feasible, and the code then puts the burden of proof on the owner: it is the owner’s responsibility to provide evidence as to why the finished side cannot face that way, and the Planning and Economic Development Department director reviews it as part of the building permit. Most codes either require the orientation flatly or leave the officer to decide unaided; this one names who has to make the case.
It shall be the responsibility of the property owner to provide evidence as to why the finished side cannot face the abutting property, adjacent property or the street.
Also on fences on the property line in Pembroke Pines
- 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 Pembroke Pines?
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Pembroke Pines answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, what the lot line runs against, and the district.
Six feet in any yard of a Pembroke Pines residential lot, measured from grade, and the same figure applies to a hedge as to a fence or wall. Where the lot line runs against a nonresidential use the limit rises to eight feet on that line. In the front setback the answer is not a lower height but no fence at all, except on a corner lot whose front door faces the street side yard, and in the mobile home district where three feet of decorative aluminum or wood at no more than fifty percent opaque is allowed. A nonresidential fence may exceed six feet to screen mechanical equipment or enclose a sport court, and the department director decides how much.
No fence, wall, or hedge shall be erected or maintained along or adjacent to a lot line on residentially zoned property to a height exceeding six feet in any yard; except that where the lot line is adjacent to nonresidential use, there shall be an eight-foot limit on the height of a fence, wall, or hedge along the lot line.
The answer turns on the yard, what the lot line runs against, and the district.
- any residential yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a lot line adjacent to a nonresidential use
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- the front yard setback
- No fence, apart from two named exceptions.
- the front setback of the mobile home district
- Three feet, decorative aluminum or wood, no more than half opaque. 3 ft
Also on fence height in Pembroke Pines
- 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 Pembroke Pines?
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Pembroke Pines answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Pembroke Pines names four things a fence, wall or hedge may not obstruct: a fire hydrant, a water valve, a water meter and a sewer clean-out, and then catches everything else by saying it may not otherwise prevent the city carrying out utility maintenance. Upkeep falls on the owner or whoever is responsible for the property, and the code lists what that means: painting, pressure washing, pruning and repair.
Fences, walls, or hedges shall not obstruct fire hydrants, water valves, water meters, sewer clean-outs and/or otherwise precludes any utility maintenance to be performed by the city.
Also on permits in Pembroke Pines
- 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 Pembroke Pines
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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 Pembroke Pines 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 Pembroke Pines
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Pembroke Pines 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 Pembroke Pines 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 Pembroke Pines
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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 Pembroke Pines 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 Pembroke Pines
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Pembroke Pines answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
In any Pembroke Pines residential district nothing may stand more than two feet above the nearest street grade inside the front setback, or within twenty five feet of where street lines meet or where those lines would meet if produced. A hedge grown to that height is caught as surely as a fence built to it. The section then adds a general rule with no measurement attached: at no time shall the line of sight be obstructed.
In any residential district, no fence, wall, or hedge shall be erected, constructed, maintained, or grown to a height exceeding two feet above the street grade nearest thereto, within the front setback or within 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 Pembroke Pines
- 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 Pembroke Pines
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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 Pembroke Pines 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 Pembroke Pines
- 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 Pembroke Pines
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Pembroke Pines answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zoning district the fence stands in.
Pembroke Pines splits barbed wire three ways rather than banning it. It is out on any residentially zoned or residentially used property except the estate and agricultural districts, out on community facility, recreation and commercial land, and available on industrial land through the development review process. In the mobile home district front setback, chicken wire and any wire-type fence are prohibited outright. Ground covers, shrubs and hedges may not exceed two feet where they sit in the swale.
No barbed wire or barbed wire-topped fences may be erected, placed, or maintained on any residentially zoned or residentially used property, other than R-E or A zoning districts.
155.655(C)(1)(h) and (C)(2)(e) and (f)
The answer turns on the zoning district the fence stands in.
- residential land outside the estate and agricultural districts
- No barbed wire.
- community facility, recreation or commercial districts
- No barbed wire.
- industrial districts
- Barbed wire may be permitted through development review.
Also on materials in Pembroke Pines
- 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 Pembroke Pines
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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 Pembroke Pines 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 Pembroke Pines
- 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 Pembroke Pines 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 Pembroke PinesLand Development Code, Chapter 155, Section 155.655, 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 Pembroke Pines 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