Fence laws in Wellington, Florida
What the Wellington municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Wellington sets no rule of its own, the Florida rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Wellington, Florida, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Wellington keeps a planted strip between the fence and the public. The figure is 6 inches, for clearance a hedge keeps from a right of way.
- How tall
- Wellington sets out a grid of fence, wall and hedge heights, and the answer turns on the lot size, the yard, and whether the frontage is a major thoroughfare. The figure is 6 feet, for fence at the side or rear of a small residential lot.
- Permits
- A gate opening wider than four feet in Wellington takes the approval of the Wellington Engineer, who weighs any limited access easement on the plat, where the gate sits in relation to traffic and pedestrian movement, and what vegetation, irrigation and sidewalk are in the way, and the answer turns on the width of the gate opening. The figure is 4 feet, for gate width above which engineer approval is needed.
- 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
- Wellington has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Where the ground along a Wellington property line varies, the height is taken from the average grade, and the code prints the arithmetic in brackets rather than leaving it to argument: the lowest plus the highest divided by two, and the answer turns on whether the frontage is a major thoroughfare.
- Corner lots
- Wellington states the requirement inside the fence rules and keeps the geometry elsewhere.
- 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
- Wellington turns the finished side of every fence and wall toward the street or the neighbor, and hands the palette to the architectural review board, which adopts a schedule of approved fence designs, materials and colors and has to approve any departure in height, material or color.
- 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 Wellington?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Wellington answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Wellington keeps a planted strip between the fence and the public. A fence or wall next to a sidewalk or a right of way stands at least three feet back from the property line or the right of way easement, and the hedge that goes in front of it is planted inside the line, at least two feet back, or further where the plant needs it. The hedge may never reach into a right of way or over a sidewalk, has to stay at least six inches clear of a right of way, and anything extending past that line is a violation. Nothing may sit closer than five feet back from the front plane on either side of the house unless the planning and zoning director allows it for equipment, windows or vegetation that cannot be moved.
All fences and walls shall be setback a minimum of three feet from the property line or from the right-of-way easement, where applicable, when adjacent to a sidewalk or a right-of-way to accommodate the required landscaping.
6 inclearance a hedge keeps from a right of way
Also on fences on the property line in Wellington
- 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 Wellington?
Compare fence height across all 50 states
Wellington answers this, but the answer changes depending on the lot size, the yard, and whether the frontage is a major thoroughfare.
Wellington sets out a grid of fence, wall and hedge heights. A residential lot under an acre gets six feet of fence at the side and rear, three feet inside the front setback, six feet of wall and eight of hedge. Common areas, residential lots of an acre or more and non-residential land get six feet of fence on the acre-plus residential lots and eight elsewhere, with eight feet of wall and ten of hedge. Along a major thoroughfare everything comes back down, to six feet of fence, six of wall and eight of hedge. The three foot front setback limit lifts to six feet for a lot of an acre or more inside the Equestrian Preserve Area or with a residential A or B future land use.
Fences, walls, or hedges in residential districts or pods shall not be installed within the front building setback unless the proposed fence, wall, or hedge is installed and maintained at a maximum height of three feet.
The answer turns on the lot size, the yard, and whether the frontage is a major thoroughfare.
- a residential lot under an acre, side or rear
- Six feet of fence, eight of hedge. 6 ft
- a residential front building setback
- Three feet. 3 ft
- a non-residential property or a residential common area
- Eight feet of fence and wall, ten of hedge. 8 ft
- the part of a property along a major thoroughfare
- Six feet of fence or wall, eight of hedge. 6 ft
Also on fence height in Wellington
- 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 Wellington?
Compare permits across all 50 states
Wellington answers this, but the answer changes depending on the width of the gate opening.
A gate opening wider than four feet in Wellington takes the approval of the Wellington Engineer, who weighs any limited access easement on the plat, where the gate sits in relation to traffic and pedestrian movement, and what vegetation, irrigation and sidewalk are in the way. Past six feet the approval comes with construction: a stabilized access drive at least as wide as the gate, in concrete or paver blocks, running from the road to the opening, with alternatives such as asphalt or gravel available from the engineer only if they do not clash with the look of the neighborhood. Any sidewalk crossed has to be rebuilt in six inch, three thousand psi concrete for the length of the drive, and so does the apron.
Gate openings larger than six feet wide shall only be permitted when there is an approved access drive, equal to or greater than the width of the proposed gate opening, consisting of a stabilized surface from the adjacent roadway to the gate opening.
The answer turns on the width of the gate opening.
- a gate opening over four feet
- Approval from the Wellington Engineer. 4 ft
- a gate opening over six feet
- A stabilized access drive and a rebuilt sidewalk. 6 ft
Also on permits in Wellington
- 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 Wellington
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 Wellington 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 Wellington
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
Wellington 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 Wellington 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 Wellington
Compare how height is measured across all 50 states
Wellington answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the frontage is a major thoroughfare.
Where the ground along a Wellington property line varies, the height is taken from the average grade, and the code prints the arithmetic in brackets rather than leaving it to argument: the lowest plus the highest divided by two. Along a major thoroughfare the rule relaxes in the owner’s favor, allowing the measurement from the higher point of that average, and the code defines a major thoroughfare as any road shown as a collector or minor arterial on Wellington’s functional road classification figure.
Fences, walls, or hedges shall be measured from the average grade [lowest plus highest divided by two] of the property line on which the fence, wall, or hedge is located when the elevation at the property varies.
The answer turns on whether the frontage is a major thoroughfare.
- an ordinary property line with varying elevation
- The average of the lowest and highest grade.
- a frontage on a major thoroughfare
- The higher point of the average grade may be used.
Also on how height is measured in Wellington
- 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 Wellington
Compare corner visibility across all 50 states
Wellington answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Wellington states the requirement inside the fence rules and keeps the geometry elsewhere. A fence, wall or hedge near an intersection, a driveway or an access way, public or private, has to comply with the safe sight triangle provisions of Article 6, so the dimensions are read out of the general zoning article rather than the fence section. The rule reaches private driveways and access ways as well as public street corners.
Fences, walls, and hedges in proximity to intersections, driveways, or access ways, public or private, shall comply with the safe sight triangle provisions of Article 6 in the LDR.
Also on corner visibility in Wellington
- 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 Wellington
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 Wellington 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 Wellington
- 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 Wellington
Compare materials across all 50 states
Wellington answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Wellington turns the finished side of every fence and wall toward the street or the neighbor, and hands the palette to the architectural review board, which adopts a schedule of approved fence designs, materials and colors and has to approve any departure in height, material or color. The code then settles a classification question in advance: metal, composite or any other material except PVC and vinyl made to look like wood is treated as wood fencing. A wall is masonry, concrete or brick, smooth coated on both sides, painted in a non-glossy finish on the sides facing out, matched to any existing wall in the subdivision or to the board’s color chart.
For the purpose of these standards, metal, composite, or other material, excluding PVC/vinyl, fencing designed to look like wood fencing shall be considered wood fencing.
Also on materials in Wellington
- 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 Wellington
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 Wellington 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 Wellington
- 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 Wellington 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
- Village of WellingtonUnified Land Development Code, Article 6 Zoning Districts, Chapter 6, Section 6.6.4, 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 Wellington 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