Fence laws in Allen, Texas
What the Allen municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Allen sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Allen, Texas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Allen names five boundaries where a screening wall is not optional, and puts it on the property owner to build and keep it.
- How tall
- Allen does not put a height on a front yard fence because it does not allow one, and the answer turns on whether the barrier is in the front yard, and whether it is planting or built. The figure is 36 inches, for the only fence allowed in a front yard.
- Permits
- Texas has no fence permit rule of its own.
- Pool barriers
- Texas requires a 48 inch fence around some pools, measured from the ground on the outside of the fence. The figure is 48 inches, for pool yard enclosure at a multiunit rental complex or property owners association pool.
- Spite fences
- Allen has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- A subdivision or development entry wall in Allen sits inside a dedicated easement at least five feet wide, at a place the city approves, so the ground it occupies is set aside on the plat rather than taken from a lot. The figure is 5 feet, for minimum width of the easement holding a subdivision entry wall.
- Corner lots
- Allen leaves corner clearance to section 8.05.1 of the Allen Land Development Code. The figure is 42 inches, for minimum height of a required traffic barrier.
- Retaining walls
- Allen leaves retaining walls to the International Residential Code as it existed on May 1, 2012, published by the International Code Council, plus any local amendment a city adopts by ordinance.
- Materials
- A required screening wall in Allen is eight feet of masonry with no more than forty square inches of opening per square foot of surface, which the code itself works out as roughly twenty eight percent. The figure is 8 feet, for height of a required masonry screening wall.
- Livestock
- Texas says what a farm fence has to look like. The figure is 4 feet, for minimum height of a sufficient fence under the stock law. It reaches counties and areas that have adopted the local option stock law under Subchapter B only.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Allen?
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Allen answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Allen names five boundaries where a screening wall is not optional, and puts it on the property owner to build and keep it. Between a single family, two family or attached residential use and any multifamily, mobile home park or nonresidential use. Between multifamily and nonresidential. Along any arterial or collector behind the rear line of residential lots or behind a rear alley serving them. Along the side yard of a residential lot next to an arterial. And around allowed outdoor storage. A dividing street between the two uses removes the requirement.
Along any property line or district boundary between any single-family detached or attached or any two-family use or zoning district and any multifamily, mobile home park, or nonresidential use or zoning district, but not across a dividing street between such uses.
Also on fences on the property line in Allen
- set in state lawTexas sets no statewide rule for splitting the cost of a fence on a boundary. What the Agriculture Code does say is that a joint owner of a dividing fence cannot pull it out without the other owner agreeing, and that a person who wants to detach a fence from a neighbor fence has to give six months of written notice first. The notice goes to the owner of the attached fence or to that person's agent, attorney, or lessee. Agric. Code 143.122Texas · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Allen?
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Allen answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the barrier is in the front yard, and whether it is planting or built.
Allen does not put a height on a front yard fence because it does not allow one. No fence, wall, structure or building stands in a front yard, and the only thing that may is a barrier under thirty six inches forming part of an unenclosed front porch or an uncovered patio. A living plant screen in the front yard may reach four feet. Behind the minimum required front yard line a fence, wall or plant screen may go to eight feet above the adjacent grade.
No fences, walls, structures or buildings shall be allowed in the front yard except fences or walls less than 36 inches in height as part of an unenclosed front porch or uncovered patio and in accordance with section 4.15.1.
The answer turns on whether the barrier is in the front yard, and whether it is planting or built.
- a fence or wall in the front yard
- Not allowed, unless under thirty six inches and part of an unenclosed porch or uncovered patio. 36 in
- a living plant screen in the front yard
- Four feet above adjacent grade. 4 ft
- behind the minimum required front yard line
- Eight feet above adjacent grade. 8 ft
Also on fence height in Allen
- no rule, documents checkedTexas does not limit how tall a fence at a house can be. The only heights in state law are for farm fences, such as the five foot fence required around cropland. For a fence at a house, the city sets the limit. Agric. Code ch. 143Texas · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Allen?
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Texas answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Texas has no fence permit rule of its own. Instead it made one national code, the International Residential Code as it stood on May 1, 2012, the building code for every city in the state. So the permit rule for a fence comes from that code and not from a Texas statute. Cities can then change it, which is why the answer differs from one city to the next.
This one is Texas law, not Allen law. All Texas findings
To protect the public health, safety, and welfare, the International Residential Code, as it existed on May 1, 2012, is adopted as a municipal residential building code in this state.
Pool fence requirements in Allen
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Texas answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Texas requires a 48 inch fence around some pools, measured from the ground on the outside of the fence. It does not cover most homes. Section 757.002 applies the law only to a pool run by the owner of an apartment complex or by a property owners association. A pool at a single family home is not covered, and the city rule applies there instead.
This one is Texas law, not Allen law. All Texas findings
The height of the pool yard enclosure must be at least 48 inches as measured from the ground on the side away from the pool.
Health & Safety Code 757.003(b)
48 inpool yard enclosure at a multiunit rental complex or property owners association pool
Spite fence laws in Allen
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Allen law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Texas has no law about spite fences. Both chapters that could hold one were read start to finish. The fence chapter of the Agriculture Code covers livestock and farm land. The building chapter of the Local Government Code covers permits. Neither one mentions a fence built to bother a neighbor. That leaves a nuisance lawsuit or a city ordinance.
This one is Texas law, not Allen law. All Texas findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Agric. Code ch. 143Texas Legislature
- Local Gov't Code ch. 214Texas Legislature
How fence height is measured in Allen
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Allen answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A subdivision or development entry wall in Allen sits inside a dedicated easement at least five feet wide, at a place the city approves, so the ground it occupies is set aside on the plat rather than taken from a lot. A wall or entry feature built on public right of way carries a two year maintenance bond held by the developer, and after the city accepts the improvements the mandatory homeowners association takes the maintenance over.
Subdivision or development entry walls shall be located within a dedicated easement of not less than five feet in width at a location approved by the city.
5 ftminimum width of the easement holding a subdivision entry wall
Also on how height is measured in Allen
- left to the townTexas gives two fence heights and never says where to measure from. A farm fence around cropland has to be five feet tall. A farm fence under the stock law has to be four feet. The word ground does not appear anywhere in that chapter. For a fence at a house, Chapter 211 of the Local Government Code lets the city set the height rule, so the city decides how it is measured too. Tex. Loc. Gov't Code 211.003(a)(1)Texas · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Allen
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Allen does not set this. It leaves it to section 8.05.1 of the Allen Land Development Code.
The Allen fence section states the rule and keeps the distances elsewhere. No fence, screen, wall or other visual barrier may block a driver approaching a street or alley intersection, and the clear vision figures are in section 8.05.1 of the same code rather than in the fence section. Allen also requires a traffic barrier of at least forty two inches, approved by the city traffic engineer, where two streets run close together, where an alley meets park land or open space, and where an alley meets a street.
No fence, screen, wall or other visual barrier shall be placed in such a manner as to obstruct the vision of motor vehicle drivers approaching any street or alley intersection. At all intersections, clear vision shall be maintained in accordance with section 8.05.1 of this Code.
42 inminimum height of a required traffic barrier
The code hands this to section 8.05.1 of the Allen Land Development Code, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on corner visibility in Allen
- left to the townTexas has a whole chapter about seeing around corners, and it does not reach fences. Chapter 255 lets a county set the sight distance at an intersection on a county road outside city limits, and ban anything that blocks the view. But that ban covers plants, loose dirt and other items, not a building or structure fixed to the ground. A fence is fixed to the ground, so a county order under this chapter does not apply to it. Inside a city, the city decides. Tex. Transp. Code 255.002Texas · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Allen
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Allen does not set this. It leaves it to the International Residential Code as it existed on May 1, 2012, published by the International Code Council, plus any local amendment a city adopts by ordinance.
Texas has no rule of its own for a wall that holds back earth. It made the International Residential Code, as that code stood on May 1, 2012, the building code for every city in the state, and it does not print any of that code's text. So whatever that edition says about a retaining wall is what applies in Texas. Cities can change it after a public hearing, which is why the rule differs from one city to the next.
This one is Texas law, not Allen law. All Texas findings
To protect the public health, safety, and welfare, the International Residential Code, as it existed on May 1, 2012, is adopted as a municipal residential building code in this state.
Tex. Loc. Gov't Code 214.212(a)
The code hands this to the International Residential Code as it existed on May 1, 2012, published by the International Code Council, plus any local amendment a city adopts by ordinance, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Allen
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Allen answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A required screening wall in Allen is eight feet of masonry with no more than forty square inches of opening per square foot of surface, which the code itself works out as roughly twenty eight percent. It is built of clay fired brick or stone masonry. Precast concrete panels are allowed only where the wall separates two developments and does not front a public street, and then only if the panels are textured and colored to look like stone or brick. Every wall is finished equally on both sides.
A screening wall must be eight feet in height and composed of masonry material with no openings constituting more than 40 square inches per square foot of surface area (approximate openings equal 28 percent).
8 ftheight of a required masonry screening wall
Also on materials in Allen
- set in state lawTexas only says what a fence has to be made of inside a county or area that has voted to stop animals roaming loose. There a fence works if it keeps out the animals that are still allowed to roam, and the law gives four ways to build one. Barbed wire takes three wires on posts no more than thirty feet apart, with a stay between each pair. Pickets go no more than six inches apart. Boards take three boards. Rails take four. All four have to stand at least four feet tall. Barbed wire is allowed outright, and voters in an area can decide that three barbed wires on their own are enough. Tex. Agric. Code 143.028Texas · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Allen
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Texas answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Texas says what a farm fence has to look like. It has to be at least four feet tall, and there are four ways to build one. Barbed wire takes three wires on posts no more than thirty feet apart, with at least one stay between each pair of posts. Pickets have to be no more than six inches apart. Boards take three boards, each at least five inches wide and one inch thick. Rails take four rails.
This one is Texas law, not Allen law. All Texas findings
In order to be sufficient, a fence must be at least four feet high and comply with the following requirements: (1) a barbed wire fence must consist of three wires on posts no more than 30 feet apart, with one or more stays between every two posts; (2) a picket fence must consist of pickets that are not more than six inches apart;
4 ftminimum height of a sufficient fence under the stock law
Also on agricultural fencing in Allen
- depends, see the pageTexas has no single answer for who has to build the fence. Each county votes on it, and an area inside a county can vote on its own. The vote decides whether the animals it names are allowed to roam loose, and it only applies where the vote was held. Agric. Code 143.024(a)Texas · Statute
- set in state lawIn a county that has not voted, the farmer builds the fence, not the animal owner. Anyone farming or gardening cleared land has to put up a fence at least five feet tall that hogs cannot get through. Agric. Code 143.001Texas · Statute
Documents behind this page
6 documents, of which 1 was published by Allen itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Texas LegislatureTexas Agriculture Code, Chapter 143, Subchapter F, Removal of Adjoining Fences
- City of AllenLand Development Code, Article VII Zoning Development Standards, Section 7.07 Fences and walls
- Texas LegislatureTexas Local Government Code, Chapter 214, Municipal Regulation of Housing and Other Structures
- Texas LegislatureTexas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 757, Pool Yard Enclosures
- Texas LegislatureTexas Local Government Code, Title 7, Chapter 211, Municipal Zoning Authority
- Texas LegislatureTexas Transportation Code, Title 6, Subtitle C, Chapter 255, County Regulation of Sight Distances
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 Allen publishes, plus the Texas rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Texas 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