Fence laws in Plantation, Florida
What the Plantation municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Plantation sets no rule of its own, the Florida rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Plantation, Florida, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Plantation controls the last five feet before a property line rather than the line itself, and the answer turns on what the property line abuts, and whether both owners have applied together. The figure is 20 percent, for most of the surface that may be visually obstructed.
- How tall
- Four feet in a Plantation front street setback area, which runs the full width of the lot on an interior lot and on a corner lot alike, and six feet in the side and rear setback areas, and the answer turns on whether the lot is interior or corner, and which setback area the fence stands in. The figure is 4 feet, for wall or fence in a front street setback area.
- Permits
- A Plantation fence or wall may not be erected or installed before a building permit issues, and no fence may go in a public right of way at all.
- 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
- Plantation has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Plantation measures a privacy wall from an unusual datum. The figure is 2.5 feet, for height a light fixture may sit above the fence without counting.
- Corner lots
- Florida has a state rule about blocking a driver from seeing what is coming, and it is written about signs. It reaches signs next to a state highway, an interstate or a federal aid primary road only.
- 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
- Plantation does not ask which side of a fence is the good side, it asks for two.
- Livestock
- Plantation writes the horse into the rule. The figure is 5 feet, for height required of a fence where horses are kept.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Plantation?
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Plantation answers this, but the answer changes depending on what the property line abuts, and whether both owners have applied together.
Plantation controls the last five feet before a property line rather than the line itself. Where a residential line abuts or comes within a foot of a sidewalk, bikeway or street right of way, only an open weave chain link fence with no slats, an open rail fence, or another fence under twenty percent visually obstructed may stand within five feet of it, and anything else has to sit five feet back with live greenery planted in between. Where the line abuts a golf course, the golf course picks from five named fence types, and the same five foot rule applies to everything else. On a shared line a fence has to be adjacent to the line, not on it, unless both owners apply jointly for the permit.
In residential zoning districts, where walls or fences are located at property lines, they shall be adjacent to them unless the adjoining property owners apply jointly for a permit giving their mutual assent to the erection of the wall or fence on their common property line.
27-296(o)(1)j and (o)(2)d and g
The answer turns on what the property line abuts, and whether both owners have applied together.
- within five feet of a line abutting a sidewalk, bikeway or street
- Open weave chain link, open rail, or anything under twenty percent obstructed. 20%
- within five feet of a line abutting a golf course
- One of five named fence types, chosen by the golf course. 5 ft
- a fence standing on the shared line itself
- Both owners apply jointly and give mutual assent.
Also on fences on the property line in Plantation
- 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 Plantation?
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Plantation answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the lot is interior or corner, and which setback area the fence stands in.
Four feet in a Plantation front street setback area, which runs the full width of the lot on an interior lot and on a corner lot alike, and six feet in the side and rear setback areas. A corner lot may carry six feet everywhere except the front street setback, but in the secondary street setback area six feet is only allowed inside a defined wedge, bounded by a line drawn perpendicular from the front corner of the house out to the secondary street line and then round the rear of the lot. Outside that wedge the secondary street setback drops to four feet. The front street on a corner lot is worked out from how the house faces rather than from the platted front line.
In residential districts, the maximum height for a wall or fence in a front street setback area shall be four (4) feet. The front street setback area extends the full width of the lot for all interior and corner lots.
The answer turns on whether the lot is interior or corner, and which setback area the fence stands in.
- the front street setback area
- Four feet, across the whole width of the lot. 4 ft
- a side or rear setback area on an interior lot
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a secondary street setback area on a corner lot
- Four feet, or six inside the wedge drawn from the front corner of the house. 4 ft
Also on fence height in Plantation
- 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 Plantation?
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Plantation answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Plantation fence or wall may not be erected or installed before a building permit issues, and no fence may go in a public right of way at all. A utility easement is treated the same way, with fences, walls and even landscaping barred until a permit is issued. The city keeps two further levers: the review committee may recommend and the council may require a screening fence at a height and material above the ordinary limits when approving a plat or site plan, and the planning and zoning director may send any non-residential fence to development review.
Fences or walls shall not be erected or installed prior to issuance of a building permit.
Also on permits in Plantation
- 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 Plantation
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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 Plantation 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 Plantation
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Plantation 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 Plantation 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 Plantation
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Plantation answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Plantation measures a privacy wall from an unusual datum. Where a wall or fence is put up to screen a bathroom or bedroom that opens onto an atrium or garden, it may be six feet from the floor elevation of the house rather than from the ground, and it may push no more than a third of the way into the required setback and no further than the width of the home. Lights and landscape supporting ornamental features are left out of the height reading altogether in residential districts not subject to site plan review, provided a light sits no more than two and a half feet above the fence and an ornamental feature no more than eight feet from grade.
They are not higher than six (6) feet from the floor elevation of the house;
2.5 ftheight a light fixture may sit above the fence without counting
Also on how height is measured in Plantation
- 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 Plantation
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Florida answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Florida 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.
This one is Florida law, not Plantation law. All Florida findings
Which is placed on the inside of a curve or in any manner that may prevent persons using the highway from obtaining an unobstructed view of approaching vehicles and which is adjacent to the right-of-way of any highway on the State Highway System, interstate highway system, or federal-aid primary highway system.
Retaining wall rules in Plantation
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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 Plantation 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 Plantation
- 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 Plantation
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Plantation answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Plantation does not ask which side of a fence is the good side, it asks for two. Every surface of a masonry wall or a wood or metal fence has to be finished in the same manner with the same materials on both sides, to an equal or better appearance seen from a neighboring lot or a right of way, with the structural supports facing inward. Razor wire and electrically charged components are prohibited across the city, and barbed wire is prohibited apart from one narrow exception elsewhere in the same section. A masonry wall built on a single family line running along one of the named arterials has to follow a single uniform design: reinforced precast or cast in place panels on reinforced columns, uniform spacing, a continuous decorative cap, and corner columns stopping at the side property line.
All surfaces of masonry walls, wood and metal fences shall be finished in the same manner with the same materials on both sides to have an equal or better quality appearance when seen from adjoining properties or a public right-of-way.
27-296(o)(1)b, h and i, and (o)(2)i
Also on materials in Plantation
- 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 Plantation
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Plantation answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Plantation writes the horse into the rule. On RS-1EP land where horses are kept, a fence or wall has to be built to five feet at the site of the fence, and the code says why in the same sentence: to hinder horses jumping it. The RS-1EP district also has its own opacity rule, because a fence within two thirds of the building setback line along the outer boundary of the parcel may be no more than forty percent visually obstructed, and going past that buys a five foot landscaped strip approved by the city landscape architect. Where any of it falls in a Plantation Acres Improvement District drainage easement, that district has to approve before the city issues a permit.
on RS-1EP zoned property where horses are harbored, such fence or wall shall be erected to a height of five (5) feet at the site of said fence or wall (so as to hinder horses jumping same).
27-296(o)(2)f and the RS-1EP provision
5 ftheight required of a fence where horses are kept
Also on agricultural fencing in Plantation
- set in state lawFlorida 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. Fla. Stat. 588.011Florida · Statute
- 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 Plantation 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 PlantationCode of Ordinances, Chapter 27 Land Development Regulations, Article XI, Section 27-296(o), Fences and walls
- 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 Plantation 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