Fence laws in Burleson, Texas
What the Burleson municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Burleson sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Burleson, Texas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A Burleson privacy fence may run along the rear lot line of any lot and along the side lot lines of an interior lot back to the required front yard setback, and the answer turns on whether the lot is a corner lot, and whether it backs onto a key lot. The figure is 7 feet, for setback from the side line of a corner lot.
- How tall
- Burleson sets the height by what the fence is for, and the answer turns on whether the fence is a privacy enclosure, a decorative fence or a subdivision wall. The figure is 8 feet, for privacy or security enclosure.
- Permits
- Burleson requires a permit for a fence, and says so in one word.
- 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
- Burleson has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Burleson measures whether a fence is upright rather than judging it. The figure is 15 degrees, for lean at which a fence is out of compliance.
- Corner lots
- Two feet is the ceiling inside a Burleson visibility triangle, and the rule catches any structure, growth or object rather than only a fence. The figure is 2 feet, for tallest anything may stand inside the visibility triangle.
- Retaining walls
- Burleson 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 Burleson privacy or security enclosure has to be built on metal poles, whatever the panels are made of, so a wood fence on wood posts is out from the start. The figure is 75 percent, for most of a frontage a decorative fence may enclose.
- 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 Burleson?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Burleson answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the lot is a corner lot, and whether it backs onto a key lot.
A Burleson privacy fence may run along the rear lot line of any lot and along the side lot lines of an interior lot back to the required front yard setback. On a corner lot it holds seven feet off the side property line, and fifteen feet if that corner lot backs onto a key lot, meaning an interior lot whose side faces the rear of another. A decorative fence may sit on any residential lot line, but once it is over two feet it too keeps seven feet off the front and side lines. Nothing may encroach on a right of way, a drainage or access easement, or a floodway.
Must be set back at least 15 feet from a side property line of corner lots backing up to key lots.
The answer turns on whether the lot is a corner lot, and whether it backs onto a key lot.
- a corner lot that does not back onto a key lot
- Seven feet off the side property line. 7 ft
- a corner lot backing onto a key lot
- Fifteen feet off the side property line. 15 ft
- an interior lot
- Along the rear line, and along the side lines back to the front yard setback.
Also on fences on the property line in Burleson
- 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 Burleson?
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Burleson answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is a privacy enclosure, a decorative fence or a subdivision wall.
Burleson sets the height by what the fence is for. A privacy or security enclosure in a residential district stops at eight feet. A decorative fence stops at four and may be no more than thirty percent solid, which is what lets it stand on the lot line. Inside the visibility triangle nothing goes above two feet, decorative fence included. A residential subdivision enclosure is also capped at eight feet and is only allowed for a subdivision of ten lots or more.
Shall not exceed eight feet in height.
The answer turns on whether the fence is a privacy enclosure, a decorative fence or a subdivision wall.
- a privacy or security enclosure
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a decorative fence
- Four feet, no more than thirty percent solid. 4 ft
- anything inside the visibility triangle
- Two feet. 2 ft
Also on fence height in Burleson
- 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 Burleson?
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Burleson answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Burleson requires a permit for a fence, and says so in one word. The city answer runs to three sentences: yes, eight feet for a privacy fence, and the rest of the rules are in Chapter 36. Chapter 36 itself sets no permit threshold, so the requirement lives in the permit office rather than in the fencing chapter.
Yes, a permit is required. Privacy fences may be no more than eight feet in height. For additional regulations, see Code of Ordinances, Chapter 36.
Frequently Asked Questions, Is a permit required for a fence?
Also on permits in Burleson
- set in state lawTexas 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. Local Gov't Code 214.212(a)Texas · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Burleson
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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 Burleson 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 Burleson
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Burleson 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 Burleson 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 Burleson
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Burleson answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Burleson measures whether a fence is upright rather than judging it. Fifteen degrees out of plumb is the line. Once a code enforcement officer gives notice, broken, damaged, removed or missing parts are replaced within thirty days with the same material, or material of comparable composition, color, size, shape and quality, and an officer inspects the repair before it is accepted. An owner who does not want to repair may instead take the whole fence out inside the same thirty days, unless the fence was ordered by the board of adjustment or the council, required by the zoning ordinance, or encloses a pool or spa.
Fences, screening walls and live screening shall be maintained as described in subsection 34-31(3) of this Code as reasonably plumb and structurally sound. A fence shall not be 15 degrees out of plumb or more.
15 degreeslean at which a fence is out of compliance
Also on how height is measured in Burleson
- 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 Burleson
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Burleson answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Two feet is the ceiling inside a Burleson visibility triangle, and the rule catches any structure, growth or object rather than only a fence. The triangle sits wherever two streets, access easements or alleys cross, in any combination, so a fence beside an alley is judged the same way as one on a street corner. Chapter 36 answers how tall and stops there: the shape and depth of the triangle come from the subdivision ordinance, which is Appendix A of the same code.
An area as defined in the subdivision ordinance [appendix A of this Code] of the city, located at the intersection of two streets, access easements or alleys or any combination thereof where no structure, growth or object shall exceed two feet in height.
2 fttallest anything may stand inside the visibility triangle
Also on corner visibility in Burleson
- 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 Burleson
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Burleson 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 Burleson 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 Burleson
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Burleson answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Burleson privacy or security enclosure has to be built on metal poles, whatever the panels are made of, so a wood fence on wood posts is out from the start. A decorative fence is wood picket, lattice or decorative metal, with or without masonry or stone, and may not be chain link, barbed wire or anything similar. Chain link is prohibited outright along the designated rear lot line of a double frontage lot. And a decorative fence in a front yard has to leave a way through: no more than seventy five percent of the total frontage may be bounded by the fence or its gate.
Shall contain openings for breaks for access when located in front yards, so that no more than 75 percent of the total frontage is bounded by a decorative fence or gate;
75%most of a frontage a decorative fence may enclose
Also on materials in Burleson
- 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 Burleson
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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 Burleson 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 Burleson
- 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
7 documents, of which 2 were published by Burleson itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Texas LegislatureTexas Agriculture Code, Chapter 143, Subchapter F, Removal of Adjoining Fences
- City of BurlesonCode of Ordinances, Chapter 36 Fencing and Screening Regulations
- Texas LegislatureTexas Local Government Code, Chapter 214, Municipal Regulation of Housing and Other Structures
- City of Burleson, Building Permits and InspectionsFrequently Asked Questions, Is a permit required for a fence?
- 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 Burleson 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