Fence laws in Amarillo, Texas
What the Amarillo municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Amarillo sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Amarillo, Texas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Amarillo lets a residential fence stand in front of the property line, in the street right of way, and then says exactly how far, and the answer turns on whether there is a sidewalk, a curb, or neither. The figure is 4 feet, for fence between the front property line and the sidewalk.
- How tall
- Eight feet above adjacent grade behind the minimum required front yard line, and four feet inside it, and the answer turns on whether the fence is inside the required front yard, and the shape of the lot. The figure is 8 feet, for fence behind the required front yard line. It reaches a residential district, or within ten feet of the boundary of one only.
- 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
- Amarillo has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Where a screening wall is required, Amarillo does not stop it at the corner of the site. The figure is 150 feet, for distance a required screening wall runs beyond the frontage along each side.
- Corner lots
- Amarillo leaves corner clearance to Amarillo Code of Ordinances Chapter 16-3, Article III.
- Retaining walls
- Amarillo 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 Amarillo is measured by how much of it is hole. The figure is 6 feet, for minimum height of a required screening wall or fence.
- 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 Amarillo?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Amarillo answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether there is a sidewalk, a curb, or neither.
Amarillo lets a residential fence stand in front of the property line, in the street right of way, and then says exactly how far. Between the front property line and the nearest edge of the sidewalk a fence may be four feet, and on a corner lot the side version may be eight. Where there is no sidewalk the fence stays four feet back from the back of curb, and where there is neither sidewalk nor curb it stays twenty feet back from the edge of the paving. A trash receptacle in the right of way needs three feet of walking room behind it. The owner carries every cost if the city ever needs the fence taken down or moved, and none of this applies on an arterial.
If no sidewalk exists such fence may not be erected or maintained within four (4) feet from the back-of-curb, or if neither a sidewalk nor a curb exists, such fence may not be erected or maintained within twenty (20) feet from the edge of street paving.
The answer turns on whether there is a sidewalk, a curb, or neither.
- there is a sidewalk
- Four feet tall between the front property line and the near edge of the sidewalk. 4 ft
- there is a curb but no sidewalk
- Four feet back from the back of curb. 4 ft
- there is neither a sidewalk nor a curb
- Twenty feet back from the edge of the street paving. 20 ft
Also on fences on the property line in Amarillo
- 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 Amarillo?
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Amarillo answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is inside the required front yard, and the shape of the lot.
Eight feet above adjacent grade behind the minimum required front yard line, and four feet inside it. On a corner lot the four foot rule covers the front yard along the shorter property line and the first ten feet of the front yard along the longer one, so the low run wraps the corner rather than stopping at the house. A cul-de-sac lot inside a public improvement district that also sides onto another street keeps eight feet along that side and does not have to step down. Screening for an electrical substation may reach twelve feet, security wire included.
A fence or wall erected on the property line, or within ten (10) feet of the property line and generally parallel thereto, and located to the rear of the minimum required Front Yard line as determined by the provisions of section 4-10-170 shall not exceed eight (8) feet in Height above the adjacent Grade.
The answer turns on whether the fence is inside the required front yard, and the shape of the lot.
- behind the minimum required front yard line
- Eight feet above adjacent grade. 8 ft
- inside the minimum required front yard
- Four feet above adjacent grade. 4 ft
- screening for an electrical substation
- Twelve feet, including any security fencing on top. 12 ft
Also on fence height in Amarillo
- 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 Amarillo?
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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 Amarillo 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 Amarillo
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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 Amarillo 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 Amarillo
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Amarillo 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 Amarillo 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 Amarillo
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Amarillo answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Where a screening wall is required, Amarillo does not stop it at the corner of the site. It runs along every part of the premises abutting a paved public street and then a further one hundred and fifty feet along each side beyond the frontage. A building, structure or natural barrier that already screens that stretch takes its place.
Screening walls or visual barriers shall be placed along all portions of any affected Premises which abut any paved public Street (with or without Curb and gutter) and extend along the first one hundred fifty (150) feet beyond the Frontage of such Premises along any side thereof
150 ftdistance a required screening wall runs beyond the frontage along each side
Also on how height is measured in Amarillo
- 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 Amarillo
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Amarillo does not set this. It leaves it to Amarillo Code of Ordinances Chapter 16-3, Article III.
The Amarillo fence division states the rule and keeps the numbers elsewhere. A screening wall or visual barrier may not sit where it blocks the view of a driver coming out of a driveway toward a street or alley intersection, and the distances that decide that are in Chapter 16-3, Article III, in the traffic title rather than the zoning one.
No screening wall or visual barrier shall be so located or placed to obstruct the vision from a vehicle approaching any Street or Alley intersection from a Driveway. Locational dimensions of a screening wall or visual barrier shall conform to Chapter 16-3, Article III.
The code hands this to Amarillo Code of Ordinances Chapter 16-3, Article III, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on corner visibility in Amarillo
- 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 Amarillo
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Amarillo 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 Amarillo 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 Amarillo
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Amarillo answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A required screening wall in Amarillo is measured by how much of it is hole. No more than forty square inches of opening in each square foot of surface, which is a little over a quarter, and the surface has to read as a visual barrier. It is built of masonry or of permanent, substantial material on a concrete or metal frame, stands at least six feet, and every gate in it matches the wall for height and screening and stays latched outside business hours. A solid hedge of at least six feet can stand in for the wall with the building official’s approval.
Such wall or barrier shall be maintained in good repair and shall not contain openings constituting more than forty (40) square inches in each one (1) square foot of wall or fence surface, and the surface of such wall or fence shall constitute a visual barrier.
6 ftminimum height of a required screening wall or fence
Also on materials in Amarillo
- 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 Amarillo
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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 Amarillo 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 Amarillo
- 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 Amarillo itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Texas LegislatureTexas Agriculture Code, Chapter 143, Subchapter F, Removal of Adjoining Fences
- City of AmarilloCode of Ordinances, Title IV, Chapter 4-10 Zoning, Division 7 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 Amarillo 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