Fence laws in Weston, Florida
What the Weston municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Weston sets no rule of its own, the Florida rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Weston, Florida, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A Weston fence or wall may be built within or abutting any property line, and then two prohibitions take the front of the lot away: nothing may be erected in front of the principal structure, and nothing on the sides may run past the front of that structure on the side it stands on. The figure is 3 feet, for setback from a right of way line.
- How tall
- Weston states its limits in two short subsections, and the answer turns on the zoning of the lot and of what it abuts. The figure is 6 feet, for fence or wall on residentially zoned property.
- Permits
- A Weston building permit application for a fence has to come with a survey and a scale plan showing the lot dimensions, the size of what is being built and the setback lines observed, and the answer turns on whether the property is a single family home and who owned it when the survey was made.
- Pool barriers
- Weston builds on the state pool safety act rather than repeating it. The figure is 60 inches, for height of a perimeter fence used as a pool barrier.
- Spite fences
- Weston 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
- Where a private driveway meets a public right of way in Weston, no sight obstruction is allowed inside a triangle ten feet along the driveway and fifty feet along the right of way, reduced to ten by thirty five with city approval where the road is a local street posted at twenty five miles an hour or less, and the answer turns on the class of road and the posted speed limit. The figure is 50 feet, for right of way leg of the driveway sight 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
- Weston writes its chain link specification into the zoning code rather than leaving it to the building code: black or green vinyl coating, knuckled at the top and the bottom so no wire ends are exposed, and both a top and a bottom rail.
- 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 Weston?
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Weston answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Weston fence or wall may be built within or abutting any property line, and then two prohibitions take the front of the lot away: nothing may be erected in front of the principal structure, and nothing on the sides may run past the front of that structure on the side it stands on. A fence facing a right of way moves three feet back from the line and takes a continuous hedge planted between the road and the fence at the same time the fence goes up, at least four feet tall when planted and kept between four feet and the top of the fence. Nothing may encroach on a drainage, water and sewer, lake access or lake maintenance easement, or impede drainage to or from the neighboring lot.
Fences and walls that abut a Right-Of-Way shall be set back a minimum of three feet from the Right-Of-Way line and shall have a continuous Hedge of a minimum of four feet of Height at the time of planting and shall thereafter be maintained at a minimum Height of four feet and a maximum Height equal to the top of the fence or wall.
3 ftsetback from a right of way line
Also on fences on the property line in Weston
- 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 Weston?
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Weston answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zoning of the lot and of what it abuts.
Weston states its limits in two short subsections. A fence or wall on residentially zoned property may not pass six feet, rising to eight where it abuts nonresidentially zoned property, and on nonresidential property the limit is eight throughout. There is no separate front yard figure, because the code deals with the front of the lot by prohibiting a fence there rather than lowering it.
Fences or walls shall not exceed six feet in Height on residentially zoned property, and eight feet in Height when abutting nonresidentially zoned property.
The answer turns on the zoning of the lot and of what it abuts.
- residentially zoned property
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a residential lot abutting nonresidential zoning
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- nonresidentially zoned property
- Eight feet. 8 ft
Also on fence height in Weston
- 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 Weston?
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Weston answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the property is a single family home and who owned it when the survey was made.
A Weston building permit application for a fence has to come with a survey and a scale plan showing the lot dimensions, the size of what is being built and the setback lines observed. The survey has to be less than a year old and prepared by a Florida Professional Surveyor and Mapper, certified to the Florida Administrative Code standard and showing topography, vegetation, existing paving, existing structures and water bodies. One relief is written in for homeowners: on a single family property the owner may use an older survey provided they owned the land when it was made and swear an affidavit that nothing has changed since.
A survey required by this section shall be dated less than one year from the date of the application for Building permit and prepared by a Florida Professional Surveyor and Mapper
The answer turns on whether the property is a single family home and who owned it when the survey was made.
- any fence permit application
- A survey and a scale plan showing dimensions, size and setbacks.
- a single family home whose owner held it when the survey was made
- An older survey, with an affidavit that nothing has changed.
Also on permits in Weston
- 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 Weston
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Weston answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Weston builds on the state pool safety act rather than repeating it. Where a perimeter yard fence is used as the pool barrier, its top has to be at least sixty inches above grade, well above the four feet the state sets, and the owner also has to provide one of the swimming pool safety features listed in section 515.27 of the Florida Statutes. Every barrier, perimeter fence included, sits on the property the pool is on and may not connect to a barrier or fence on the abutting lot.
All Pool Barriers, including perimeter yard area fences, shall be located on the property on which the swimming pool is located, and may not connect to a Pool Barrier or fence on an abutting property.
60 inheight of a perimeter fence used as a pool barrier
Also on pool barriers in Weston
- set in state lawFlorida 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. Fla. Stat. 515.29(1)(a)Florida · Statute
Spite fence laws in Weston
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Weston 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 Weston 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 Weston
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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 Weston 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 Weston
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Weston answers this, but the answer changes depending on the class of road and the posted speed limit.
Where a private driveway meets a public right of way in Weston, no sight obstruction is allowed inside a triangle ten feet along the driveway and fifty feet along the right of way, reduced to ten by thirty five with city approval where the road is a local street posted at twenty five miles an hour or less. On-site intersections of private drive aisles use ten by twenty five. Inside those areas the clear band runs from twenty four to ninety six inches above the level of the center of the adjacent intersection. The code then reaches further than the triangle itself: any fence, hedge or other object that will cause a sight obstruction within a hundred feet of a driveway or cross street has to be outside the clear sight triangle.
Any fence, Hedge, or other object which will cause a sight visibility obstruction within 100 feet of a driveway or cross Street , must be located outside of the clear sight triangle.
The answer turns on the class of road and the posted speed limit.
- a private driveway meeting a public right of way
- A ten by fifty foot triangle. 50 ft
- a local street posted at twenty five miles an hour or less, with city approval
- Reduced to ten by thirty five. 35 ft
- an on-site intersection of private drive aisles
- Ten by twenty five, measured from the edges of the travel way. 25 ft
Also on corner visibility in Weston
- 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 Weston
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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 Weston 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 Weston
- 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 Weston
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Weston answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Weston writes its chain link specification into the zoning code rather than leaving it to the building code: black or green vinyl coating, knuckled at the top and the bottom so no wire ends are exposed, and both a top and a bottom rail. Barbed wire, electrified fencing and any fence or wall topped with barbed or razor wire are prohibited on every property in the city, with no industrial exception.
Chain link fences shall be black or green vinyl coating, knuckled at the top and bottom and shall have both a top and bottom rail.
Also on materials in Weston
- 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 Weston
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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 Weston 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 Weston
- 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
12 documents, of which 3 were published by Weston 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 WestonCode of Ordinances, Chapter 124 Zoning, Section 124.33, Fences and Walls
- The Florida LegislatureThe 2026 Florida Statutes, Chapter 553, Part IV, Florida Building Code
- City of WestonCode of Ordinances, Chapter 124 Zoning, Section 124.66, Building Permits
- 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 WestonCode of Ordinances, Chapter 125 Land Development, Section 125.56, Sight Distance
- 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 Weston 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