Fence laws in Lawton, Oklahoma
What the Lawton municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Lawton sets no rule of its own, the Oklahoma rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Lawton, Oklahoma, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Lawton lets a fence cross the property line onto public land in one carefully drawn case, and the answer turns on the width of the street and what the fence would interfere with. The figure is 11.5 feet, for closest a fence may come to the back of curb in the right-of-way.
- How tall
- Lawton keys its fence heights to the building limit line rather than to the yard, and the answer turns on which building limit line the fence passes and which district it is in. The figure is 4 feet, for fence extending beyond the front building limit line.
- Permits
- Lawton requires a building permit for a new fence or wall, and then writes two more triggers that are about the work rather than the fence, and the answer turns on whether the work is new, a repair, or involves digging. The figure is 6 inches, for excavation depth below existing ground that triggers a permit.
- Pool barriers
- An outdoor pool in Oklahoma that is open to the public gets a barrier equal to a 6 foot high woven wire fence. The figure is 6 feet, for barrier height around an outdoor public bathing place open to the general public.
- Spite fences
- Lawton has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Lawton writes the only two-datum measuring rule in this project. The figure is 10 feet, for greatest height above the ground at the base of the fence in any case.
- Corner lots
- Lawton sets the lowest corner ceiling in this project and measures it from the road itself, and the answer turns on the width and classification of the intersecting streets. The figure is 30 inches, for height above the crown of the adjacent roadway.
- Retaining walls
- Lawton leaves retaining walls to the International Residential Code, 2018 edition, as amended and modified by the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission in OAC 748:20-6.
- Materials
- Lawton prohibits barbed, hog and chicken wire and single or multi-strand fences in any yard adjacent to a structure, and sends the rest of the wire question to section 6-182 of the buildings chapter, which is headed barbed wire and electrical fences prohibited, and the answer turns on whether a structure stands in the yard and which district allows the taller fence.
- Livestock
- Oklahoma writes out what a lawful fence for livestock is. The figure is 54 inches, for height of a lawful fence for restraining livestock.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Lawton?
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Lawton answers this, but the answer changes depending on the width of the street and what the fence would interfere with.
Lawton lets a fence cross the property line onto public land in one carefully drawn case. A fence or wall serving a single family or two family dwelling, on a local street with a right-of-way wider than sixty feet, may extend into the setback area and into the public right-of-way, provided it comes no closer than eleven and a half feet to the back of the curb or the edge of the pavement, and never interferes with an existing sidewalk, a sight triangle or a fire hydrant. The ordinance is blunt about what that permission is worth: it gives the owner no legal right or property interest in the right-of-way, and the city is held harmless for any future use of it. Elsewhere, an encroachment on a public easement is prohibited except as the easements chapter allows, and no fence may sit in a sight triangle. On a double frontage lot, the Director of Planning may approve a private fence in the rear and side yards.
Fences or walls used in conjunction with single-family or two-family dwellings, located on local streets as defined by the subdivision regulations or the long range transportation plan and having a right-of-way in excess of sixty (60) feet shall be permitted to extend into the setback area and into the public right-of-way. However, no such fence or wall shall be closer than eleven and one-half (11½) feet in distance from back of the curb or the edge of the pavement.
Section 18-4-1-404.1.A.8.b(2)(j)
The answer turns on the width of the street and what the fence would interfere with.
- a wide local street
- Into the right-of-way, to eleven and a half feet from the curb. 11.5 ft
- a shared side or rear line
- No distance stated. 0 ft
- a public easement
- No encroachment.
- what the permission is worth
- No property interest, and the city is held harmless.
Also on fences on the property line in Lawton
- set in state lawNeighbors in Oklahoma share the job of keeping up the fence and the boundary markers between them, in equal parts. One neighbor can step out of that by leaving the land open, with no fence around it, as a public common. If that neighbor later encloses the land, a fair share of what the other one's fence is worth at that time has to be paid back. 60 O.S. § 70Oklahoma · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Lawton?
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Lawton answers this, but the answer changes depending on which building limit line the fence passes and which district it is in.
Lawton keys its fence heights to the building limit line rather than to the yard. A fence extending beyond the front building limit line may not exceed four feet. Beyond a side or rear building limit line the figure is eight feet, with a ceiling of ten explained in the measuring rule. One set of districts gets six feet at the front instead, and it comes with conditions: the public facilities district, any industrial district, or a public facility on Lawton Public Schools land may run six feet provided the fence is decorative open wrought iron, aluminum or similar, that a vinyl-coated chain link fence will satisfy that if the planning director approves, and that everything above four feet is one hundred percent non-opaque so it does not block the view from the street. Masonry posts up to eighteen square inches and six feet tall may support it, spaced at least six feet apart. Above the stated heights, the planning commission may allow more where security or privacy requires it.
The fence or wall extending beyond the front building limit line shall not exceed four (4) feet in height, except when located in the P-F Public Facilities District, any of the Industrial Districts, or when located with a public facility located on property owned by Lawton Public Schools
Section 18-4-1-404.1.A.8.b(2)(e)
The answer turns on which building limit line the fence passes and which district it is in.
- past the front building line
- Four feet. 4 ft
- past a side or rear building line
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a school or industrial front fence
- Six feet, entirely see-through above four. 100%
- security or privacy
- The planning commission may allow more.
Also on fence height in Lawton
- no rule, documents checkedOklahoma sets no statewide limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The property title on boundary fences deals with shared upkeep and not with size. The building code statute hands the choice of a code to a state commission and lets cities and counties go stricter, and it names no fence height. The one height in Oklahoma fence law is the 54 inch lawful fence, which describes a fence built to hold stock rather than a cap on a yard fence. Cities and counties set the limit at a house. 60 O.S. § 70Oklahoma · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Lawton?
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Lawton answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the work is new, a repair, or involves digging.
Lawton requires a building permit for a new fence or wall, and then writes two more triggers that are about the work rather than the fence. A permit is needed to modify or reconstruct an existing fence where that involves adding posts, replacing existing posts anywhere other than in the same location, or any new excavation deeper than six inches below the existing ground surface. And one is needed for any modification or reconstruction of a fence inside a drainage easement or crossing a drainage facility. Except in those cases, replacing portions of an existing fence needs no permit, so patching is free and re-digging is not. Permits have to be obtained before any construction activity. The section also warns the owner in the ordinance text that plat restrictions, covenants, deed restrictions and platted setback lines are privately enforced and may be stricter than the code.
A building permit shall be required for the following: (i) construction of a new fence or wall; (ii) modification or reconstruction of an existing fence or wall wherein such modification or reconstruction will include the placement of additional posts, the replacement of existing posts other than in the same location, or the performance of any new excavation greater than six (6) inches below the existing ground surface; or (iii) modification or reconstruction of an existing fence or wall located within a drainage easement or crossing any drainage facility.
Section 18-4-1-404.1.A.8.b(2)(a)
The answer turns on whether the work is new, a repair, or involves digging.
- a new fence
- A building permit.
- digging deeper than six inches
- A permit. 6 in
- replacing panels in place
- No permit.
- a drainage easement
- A permit for any change.
Also on permits in Lawton
- set in state lawOne state body picks the building code for all of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission reviews and adopts the codes for homes and commercial buildings, and what it adopts is the least a build has to meet anywhere in the state. Cities, counties and state agencies work from those minimums and may write stricter rules of their own. The statute itself names no fence and no permit exemption. 59 O.S. § 1000.23Oklahoma · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Lawton
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Oklahoma answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
An outdoor pool in Oklahoma that is open to the public gets a barrier equal to a 6 foot high woven wire fence. An outdoor pool that is not open to the general public gets a barrier at least 4 feet tall, entered only through gates that close and latch on their own, and it cannot block a clear view of the water. A decorative barrier can have no opening wider than 4 inches, and no barrier may be built in a way that turns it into a ladder. The rules come from the State Department of Health and cover public bathing places.
This one is Oklahoma law, not Lawton law. All Oklahoma findings
Outdoor pools open to general public such as municipal pools and pools used by organizations (YWCA, YMCA, etc.), shall be enclosed by a suitable barrier equal to a six (6) foot high woven wire fence.
6 ftbarrier height around an outdoor public bathing place open to the general public
Spite fence laws in Lawton
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Lawton law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Oklahoma has no spite fence law. The property title that covers boundary fences says nothing about a fence built to annoy a neighbor and sets no height at all. The nuisance title has no fence rule either. A claim about a spite fence in Oklahoma runs on the general nuisance law and on court rulings.
This one is Oklahoma law, not Lawton law. All Oklahoma findings
Documents read before writing that:
- 60 O.S. §§ 69 to 78Oklahoma Legislature
- 50 O.S. §§ 1 to 44Oklahoma Legislature
How fence height is measured in Lawton
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Lawton answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Lawton writes the only two-datum measuring rule in this project. A fence beyond a side or rear building limit line may be eight feet above the elevation of the ground at the base of the fence, or eight feet above the ground elevation at the base of the house, whichever is higher. So an owner whose house sits above a sloping back yard measures from the house, which lets the fence keep a useful height where the ground falls away. The rule then stops the trick from running away with itself: in no case may the fence stand more than ten feet above the ground measured at its own base. Between them the two sentences give a sliding allowance of eight to ten feet depending on how much the ground drops between the house and the boundary, and no other city in this project ties a fence height to the elevation of the dwelling.
No fence extending beyond any side or rear building limit line of any structure may be more than eight (8) feet in height above the elevation of the ground at the base of the fence or eight (8) feet above the ground elevation at the base of the house, whichever is higher. In no case may the fence be more than ten (10) feet above the elevation of the ground measured at the base of the fence.
Section 18-4-1-404.1.A.8.b(2)(h)
10 ftgreatest height above the ground at the base of the fence in any case
Also on how height is measured in Lawton
- set in state lawOklahoma names the ground in its fence statute, and only for the bottom of the fence. Section 154 puts the lowest rail, wire or board between sixteen and twenty inches from the ground, then sets the whole fence at fifty four inches in height without saying fifty four inches from what. That rule describes a lawful fence built to hold stock. For a fence at a house, the city ordinance written under title 11 sets both the height and the point it is counted from. 4 O.S. 4-154Oklahoma · Statute
Fence rules for corner lots in Lawton
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Lawton answers this, but the answer changes depending on the width and classification of the intersecting streets.
Lawton sets the lowest corner ceiling in this project and measures it from the road itself. On any corner lot no wall, fence, sign, structure or plant growth may obstruct sight lines higher than two feet six inches above any portion of the crown of the adjacent roadway. The triangle is then sized by the width of the street. Where the right-of-way is fifty feet or less, it runs twenty five feet along the front or rear and side lot lines from where they meet. Where the right-of-way is wider than fifty feet on a minor street, it runs forty five feet along the driving surface or curb line instead, so both the origin and the length change. Where a wide street meets a non-minor street, the traffic engineer decides which standard, or what combination, applies. No car may be parked inside the triangle or on the street side of it, and no curb cut may be made there.
On any corner lot no wall, fence, sign, structure or any plant growth which obstructs sight lines at elevations higher than two feet six inches (2′6″) above any portion of the crown of the adjacent roadway shall be permitted or maintained in the sight triangle.
The answer turns on the width and classification of the intersecting streets.
- the ceiling inside it
- Two feet six inches above the crown. 30 in
- a street fifty feet or less
- Twenty five feet from the lot lines. 25 ft
- a wider minor street
- Forty five feet from the curb line. 45 ft
- a non-minor street
- The traffic engineer picks the standard.
Also on corner visibility in Lawton
- left to the townOklahoma has no state rule for the clear view at a corner. Title 11 lets a city government control the height and size of buildings and other structures and the size of yards and open spaces, so a corner triangle can only come from a city ordinance written under that power. Title 69, the roads and bridges title, uses the words sight distance only in the part describing how a turnpike is designed, which is about the road and not about what stands on a corner lot. 11 O.S. 43-101Oklahoma · Zoning code
Retaining wall rules in Lawton
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Lawton does not set this. It leaves it to the International Residential Code, 2018 edition, as amended and modified by the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission in OAC 748:20-6.
Oklahoma writes no retaining wall rule of its own. The Uniform Building Code Commission adopted the 2018 International Residential Code as the statewide minimum for one and two family homes and townhouses, and took in chapter 1 of that book, which holds the list of work that needs no permit. So the test for a wall that holds back earth comes from the adopted book, and a city or county may set a stricter rule on top of it.
This one is Oklahoma law, not Lawton law. All Oklahoma findings
the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission (the "OUBCC") hereby adopts the International Residential Code®, 2018 Edition (IRC® 2018) as amended and modified in this subchapter to be the statewide minimum code for residential construction within the State of Oklahoma for one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses
The code hands this to the International Residential Code, 2018 edition, as amended and modified by the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission in OAC 748:20-6, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Lawton
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Lawton answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether a structure stands in the yard and which district allows the taller fence.
Lawton prohibits barbed, hog and chicken wire and single or multi-strand fences in any yard adjacent to a structure, and sends the rest of the wire question to section 6-182 of the buildings chapter, which is headed barbed wire and electrical fences prohibited. The test is the presence of a building rather than the zoning district, so a strand fence around an empty field is treated differently from the same fence beside a house. Where the code allows six feet past the front building line in the public facilities, industrial and school cases, it specifies the material closely: decorative open wrought iron, aluminum or similar, with vinyl-coated chain link acceptable if the planning director approves, and masonry, brick or other solid posts no more than eighteen square inches in section. A fence or wall, with or without a hedge or similar planting beside it, may not cause a view obstruction for any private driveway.
Barbed, hog or chicken wire, or single or multi-strand fences shall not be allowed in any yard adjacent to a structure, except as provided in Section 6-182 of Chapter 6 of this code.
Section 18-4-1-404.1.A.8.b(2)(g)
The answer turns on whether a structure stands in the yard and which district allows the taller fence.
- wire beside a building
- Not allowed.
- a six foot front fence where allowed
- Open wrought iron or aluminum.
- coated chain link there
- Allowed if the director approves.
- a hedge beside the fence
- It may not block a driveway view.
Also on materials in Lawton
- set in state lawBarb wire is a legal way to build a fence in Oklahoma, and the statute says how. A barb wire lawful fence takes three barb wires, or four wires with two of them barbed. Posts go no more than two rods apart when two stays are used between them, or one rod apart with no stays, and a rod is sixteen and a half feet. The top wire sits fifty four to fifty eight inches up and the bottom wire sixteen to twenty inches off the ground. The same section sets a separate standard for a rail or board fence. 4 O.S. 154Oklahoma · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Lawton
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Oklahoma answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Oklahoma writes out what a lawful fence for livestock is. A rail or board fence stands 54 inches tall, with the bottom rail no more than 20 and no less than 16 inches off the ground. A barbed wire fence may run three barbed wires, or four wires with two of them barbed, and the top wire sits 54 to 58 inches up. Fence viewers may accept any other fence they judge equal to that. An owner who leaves land open as a common does not pay toward a fence on the line until the land is enclosed or put to some other use.
This one is Oklahoma law, not Lawton law. All Oklahoma findings
Provided, that the lowest or bottom rail, wire or board shall not be more than twenty (20) or less than sixteen (16) inches from the ground, and that such fence shall be fifty-four (54) inches in height, except that a barb wire fence may consist of three barb wires, or four wires, two of which shall be barbed
54 inheight of a lawful fence for restraining livestock
Documents behind this page
8 documents, of which 1 was published by Lawton itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Oklahoma LegislatureOklahoma Statutes, Title 60, Property, Section 70
- City of LawtonLawton Code of Ordinances, Chapter 18, Planning and Zoning, Article 18-4, General Rules, Division 18-4-1, Section 18-4-1-404.1
- Oklahoma LegislatureOklahoma Statutes, Title 59, Professions and Occupations, Sections 1000.20 to 1000.29, Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission Act
- Oklahoma State Department of HealthOklahoma Administrative Code Title 310, Chapter 315, Public Bathing Place Facility Standards, permanent final adoption
- Oklahoma LegislatureOklahoma Statutes, Title 50, Nuisances, Sections 1 to 44
- Oklahoma LegislatureOklahoma Statutes, Title 4, Animals
- Oklahoma LegislatureOklahoma Statutes, Title 11, Cities and Towns, Article 43, Municipal Planning and Zoning
- Oklahoma Uniform Building Code CommissionOklahoma Administrative Code, Title 748, Chapter 20, Subchapter 6, IRC 2018, Permanent Rule effective September 14, 2022
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 Lawton publishes, plus the Oklahoma rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Oklahoma 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