Fence laws in West Palm Beach, Florida
What the West Palm Beach municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where West Palm Beach sets no rule of its own, the Florida rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in West Palm Beach, Florida, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- West Palm Beach writes one street into the fence rules by name. The figure is 3 feet, for clearance kept around a fire hydrant or other emergency apparatus.
- How tall
- Six feet in a West Palm Beach residential side or rear setback and forty eight inches in the front setback, with a hedge allowed ten feet in any setback, and the answer turns on the district, the setback, whether the lot is a corner or through lot, and what it abuts. The figure is 6 feet, for fence or wall in a residential side or rear setback.
- Permits
- Every West Palm Beach fence, wall and hedge outside the exempt list goes through zoning clearance and building permit procedures, and the code attaches a consequence most cities leave out: an occupancy permit is withheld until any required fence, wall or screening hedge is actually in place.
- 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
- West Palm Beach 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
- West Palm Beach keeps a twenty foot triangle clear at every road intersection, running twenty feet along the front property line from the corner, twenty feet along the side line, and a diagonal joining the two, and it names the band that has to stay open as eighteen inches to eight feet. The figure is 20 feet, for length of each leg of the visibility triangle.
- 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
- Barbed wire, electrical elements and other hazardous materials are out of a West Palm Beach residential district completely, and the code repeats the ban in its own subsection to be sure of it, and the answer turns on whether the district is residential or non-residential. The figure is 3 strands, for most barbed wire allowed at the top of a fence.
- Livestock
- An agricultural fence in the recreation and open space or water district falls outside the West Palm Beach fence section altogether, and so does a temporary fence or wall put up at a construction site for security or protection.
Who owns the fence between two properties in West Palm Beach?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
West Palm Beach answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
West Palm Beach writes one street into the fence rules by name. Where a residential parcel borders Flagler Drive with the principal residence on the west side, and the same holding includes a separate piece of land on the east side, no fence, hedge or wall is allowed on that eastern piece at all. Gating or fencing on a dock east of the seawall is left available with the right permits. A second location rule applies citywide: nothing may be built or maintained within three feet of a fire hydrant, water connection or other emergency apparatus placed for fire protection.
For residential parcels bordering Flagler Drive where the principal residence is (or should be if the lot is empty) to the west of Flagler and the parcel includes non-contiguous residential property east of Flagler Drive, fencing, hedges or walls shall be prohibited east of Flagler Drive.
3 ftclearance kept around a fire hydrant or other emergency apparatus
Also on fences on the property line in West Palm Beach
- 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 West Palm Beach?
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West Palm Beach answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, the setback, whether the lot is a corner or through lot, and what it abuts.
Six feet in a West Palm Beach residential side or rear setback and forty eight inches in the front setback, with a hedge allowed ten feet in any setback. Two exceptions lift the front figure: a corner lot or through lot alongside a collector or arterial right of way designated by the city engineer may carry six feet of fence and ten feet of hedge in that front setback, and a residential lot directly abutting a commercial or industrial district may carry eight feet in the side or rear setback where it touches that district. A non-residential lot gets eight feet in the side and rear setbacks and the same forty eight inches in front, and there the eight feet covers a hedge as well.
In residential districts, no fence or wall shall exceed six feet in height within required side and rear setbacks. Fences or walls shall not be in excess of 48 inches in height within the required front setback. Hedges shall not exceed ten feet in height in any required setback.
The answer turns on the district, the setback, whether the lot is a corner or through lot, and what it abuts.
- a residential side or rear setback
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a residential front setback
- Forty eight inches. 48 in
- a residential lot directly abutting commercial or industrial zoning
- Eight feet in the side or rear setback where it abuts. 8 ft
- a non-residential side or rear setback
- Eight feet, hedge included. 8 ft
Also on fence height in West Palm Beach
- 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 West Palm Beach?
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West Palm Beach answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Every West Palm Beach fence, wall and hedge outside the exempt list goes through zoning clearance and building permit procedures, and the code attaches a consequence most cities leave out: an occupancy permit is withheld until any required fence, wall or screening hedge is actually in place. Upkeep afterwards falls on the owner, and the building and zoning department decides whether a fence or wall counts as safe and nonhazardous.
All fences, walls, or hedges, except those exempted in subsection (a)(5) of this section, shall comply with appropriate zoning clearance and building permit procedures. An occupancy permit shall not be issued until all required fences, walls, or screening hedges are erected, constructed, or installed.
Also on permits in West Palm Beach
- 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 West Palm Beach
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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 West Palm Beach 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 West Palm Beach
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West Palm Beach 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 West Palm Beach 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 West Palm Beach
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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 West Palm Beach 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 West Palm Beach
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West Palm Beach answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
West Palm Beach keeps a twenty foot triangle clear at every road intersection, running twenty feet along the front property line from the corner, twenty feet along the side line, and a diagonal joining the two, and it names the band that has to stay open as eighteen inches to eight feet. A rounded corner is measured from where the property lines would have met. Finding the rule is the hard part: the fence section points at subsection 94-305(c), which holds additional setback requirements, and elsewhere at subsection 33-112(e), the number the rule carried in the 1979 code. It now sits at 94-305(e).
At any road intersections, visibility shall not be obscured by the construction, placement, or maintenance of a structure wall, sign, fence, berm, plant material, shrubs, or any similar item between 18 inches or eight feet in height within a triangle beginning at the point where property lines meet at the corner, then 20 feet along the front property line, thence diagonally to a point along the side property line 20 feet from the point of beginning, and thence to the point of beginning.
20 ftlength of each leg of the visibility triangle
Also on corner visibility in West Palm Beach
- 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 West Palm Beach
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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 West Palm Beach 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 West Palm Beach
- 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 West Palm Beach
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West Palm Beach answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the district is residential or non-residential.
Barbed wire, electrical elements and other hazardous materials are out of a West Palm Beach residential district completely, and the code repeats the ban in its own subsection to be sure of it. Chain link and cyclone fencing are allowed but the top surface has to be crimped so no sharp edge is left exposed. On non-residential land barbed wire is permitted at up to three strands, set at least six feet above grade or mounted vertically or angled back into the property, and never projecting past the property line.
No more than three strands of barbed wire may be used at the top of a fence or wall. The strands must be located at least six feet above grade or mounted vertically or at an angle projecting interior to the property and must not encroach beyond the property line.
94-302(a)(2), (b)(3) and (c)(2)
The answer turns on whether the district is residential or non-residential.
- a residential district
- No barbed wire, no electrical elements, no other hazardous material.
- a non-residential district
- Up to three strands of barbed wire, six feet above grade or angled inward. 3 strands
- any chain link or cyclone fence
- The top surface is crimped so no sharp edge is exposed.
Also on materials in West Palm Beach
- 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 West Palm Beach
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West Palm Beach answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
An agricultural fence in the recreation and open space or water district falls outside the West Palm Beach fence section altogether, and so does a temporary fence or wall put up at a construction site for security or protection. The exemption is not total: both still have to meet the visibility requirements at an intersection, and a construction fence also has to meet the separate temporary fencing rules at 94-450(e).
All agricultural fences in the ROS or W districts and temporary fences or walls used at a construction site for the purpose of security or protection shall be exempt from the provisions of this section.
Also on agricultural fencing in West Palm Beach
- 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
11 documents, of which 2 were published by West Palm Beach 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 West Palm BeachCode of Ordinances, Chapter 94, Article X, Division 1, Section 94-302, Fences, hedges 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
- City of West Palm BeachCode of Ordinances, Chapter 94, Article X, Division 1, Section 94-305, Setbacks
- 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 West Palm Beach 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