Fence laws in Celina, Texas
What the Celina municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Celina sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Celina, Texas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Celina requires a fence to be installed on the property line rather than merely permitting it there.
- How tall
- Eight feet is the ceiling for a Celina residential fence, and ground clearance and a decorative cap sit outside the figure, and the answer turns on whether the fence is in a front yard, and whether it is a required screening wall. The figure is 8 feet, for residential fence height.
- Permits
- Every fence in Celina needs a permit to build, alter, add to or repair. The figure is 12 months, for period over which small repairs are added together.
- 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
- Celina has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Celina decides which face of a fence shows by reading the ground rather than the street. The figure is 16 feet, for longest span over which a fence may transition from a perimeter wall.
- Corner lots
- On a Celina corner lot a fence, and a retaining wall with it, stays at least fifteen feet back from the face of any curb unless the Director allows otherwise. The figure is 15 feet, for setback from the face of the curb on a corner lot.
- Retaining walls
- Celina 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 Celina residential fence is wood or black tubular steel, meaning powder coated ornamental iron, and chain link, vinyl, split rail and composite come in only as a minor modification.
- 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 Celina?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Celina answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Celina requires a fence to be installed on the property line rather than merely permitting it there. Nothing may go on a public right of way, inside a sight visibility triangle or in a drainage easement without the Director. A fence return facing the primary street stands at least five feet back from the front face of the house, and ten feet on a corner lot. Where a commercial development goes in beside an existing residential fence, the required masonry screening wall replaces that fence rather than standing beside it, because the code forbids a back to back pair or a gap between two walls.
Fences shall be installed on the property lines and shall not encroach upon any property.
Also on fences on the property line in Celina
- 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 Celina?
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Celina answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is in a front yard, and whether it is a required screening wall.
Eight feet is the ceiling for a Celina residential fence, and ground clearance and a decorative cap sit outside the figure. In a front yard the limit is thirty six inches, the fence has to be split rail, wrought iron, picket or a decorative masonry wall, and it should generally be fifty percent open. A lot over an acre is exempt from the front yard rule subject to the Director. A required screening wall runs the other way and has a floor: at least eight feet, between eight and twelve around a substation, a pump station, a tower or a generator plant, and at least six feet for a living screen at the time of planting.
Fences shall not be greater than eight feet in height, excluding an allowance for ground clearance and decorative caps.
14.04.305(b)(1) and 14.04.301(d)
The answer turns on whether the fence is in a front yard, and whether it is a required screening wall.
- a side or rear yard
- Eight feet, plus clearance and a cap. 8 ft
- a front yard on a lot of an acre or less
- Thirty six inches, generally fifty percent open. 36 in
- a required screening wall
- At least eight feet. 8 ft
- screening around a substation, pump station, tower or generator plant
- Generally eight to twelve feet, scaled to the facility. 12 ft
Also on fence height in Celina
- 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 Celina?
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Celina answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Every fence in Celina needs a permit to build, alter, add to or repair. The exemption is narrow and it is watched over time: replacing pickets or doing customary maintenance is free as long as no post is involved and the work is under half of any one run, and a series of such repairs that adds up past half a run inside twelve months brings the permit requirement back. Every fence contractor has to be registered with the city, the registration can be revoked for working without a permit, and a final inspection is scheduled by the contractor when the fence is done.
If the cumulative effect of a series of repairs over a 12 month period exceeds 50% of any one run or involves post installation, a permit is required.
12 monthsperiod over which small repairs are added together
Also on permits in Celina
- 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 Celina
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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 Celina 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 Celina
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Celina 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 Celina 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 Celina
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Celina answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Celina decides which face of a fence shows by reading the ground rather than the street. Where a fence stands on the high side of a significant grade change, the smooth side faces out so that it is the side visible from below. The ordinary rule elsewhere is smooth side out with the posts internal, and a fence between two houses may face either way by agreement. Where a private fence abuts a subdivision perimeter wall it may not stand taller than that wall, and it may only climb to the residential maximum through a smooth transition no longer than sixteen feet.
Fences located on the high side of a significant grade change shall have the smooth side face out, so that the smooth side is visible to the low side.
16 ftlongest span over which a fence may transition from a perimeter wall
Also on how height is measured in Celina
- 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 Celina
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Celina answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
On a Celina corner lot a fence, and a retaining wall with it, stays at least fifteen feet back from the face of any curb unless the Director allows otherwise. The measurement runs from the curb rather than from the property line, so a wide parkway eats into the yard. Nothing may be installed inside a sight visibility triangle at all. On a reverse corner lot the side yard fence either lines up with the neighboring property’s front build line or is open ornamental.
On all corner lots, retaining walls and fences shall not be closer than 15 feet from the face of any curb, unless otherwise approved by the Director.
15 ftsetback from the face of the curb on a corner lot
Also on corner visibility in Celina
- 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 Celina
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Celina 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 Celina 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 Celina
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Celina answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Celina residential fence is wood or black tubular steel, meaning powder coated ornamental iron, and chain link, vinyl, split rail and composite come in only as a minor modification. Wood is cedar or white wood stained a natural brown or earth tone, and bright stains such as blue, orange or pink are named as not allowed. Barbed wire, electric and other injurious material are prohibited across the city unless the land is an agricultural district over an acre with a genuine agricultural need. A fence beside a floodplain, a creek, a utility easement or dedicated open space has to be black tubular steel and at least fifty percent open. On a required screening wall the prohibited list is longer still: chain link, electrified fencing, barbed wire, plain wooden fences, painted or coated concrete, concertina wire, corrugated metal and fiberglass panels.
Barbed wire, electric, and other injurious fence material is prohibited in the City, unless the property is an agricultural district over one acre in size, legitimately needed for agricultural purposes, or otherwise approved by the Director.
Also on materials in Celina
- 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 Celina
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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 Celina 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 Celina
- 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 Celina itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Texas LegislatureTexas Agriculture Code, Chapter 143, Subchapter F, Removal of Adjoining Fences
- City of CelinaCode of Ordinances, Chapter 14 Zoning, Article 14.04 Site Development Standards, Part 3 Screening Walls and Fences
- 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 Celina 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