Fence laws in Euless, Texas
What the Euless municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Euless sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Euless, Texas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A Euless fence that runs along a public right of way, an alley, or a drainage, utility or access easement has to carry at least one gate or opening three feet wide so emergency crews can get in. The figure is 3 feet, for minimum width of the required emergency opening.
- How tall
- Eight feet is the ceiling anywhere in a Euless residential district, measured from the ground at the fence line, and the answer turns on whether the fence is in a required front yard, and how large the lot is. The figure is 8 feet, for fence in a residential district.
- Permits
- Any fence of permanent construction in Euless, or any part of one, needs a fence permit from the office of building inspections first, with no height floor.
- Pool barriers
- Euless fences a private pool at a single family house higher than a shared pool at an apartment complex, and the answer turns on whether the pool serves a single family house or a shared development. The figure is 6 feet, for private pool enclosure.
- Spite fences
- Euless has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Euless leaves the measuring rule to the governing body of a municipality.
- Corner lots
- Euless keeps clear vision twenty five feet back from the property corner along both streets. The figure is 25 feet, for clear vision measured back from the property corner along each street.
- Retaining walls
- Euless 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
- Barbed wire fences are prohibited in Euless, and so is topping a wall with broken glass or anything like it. The figure is 6 feet, for minimum height of a security fence that may be topped with barbed wire.
- 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 Euless?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Euless answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Euless fence that runs along a public right of way, an alley, or a drainage, utility or access easement has to carry at least one gate or opening three feet wide so emergency crews can get in. One opening serves each lot, a second is required where the frontage runs past two hundred feet, and two openings on the same property stand at least two hundred feet apart. No part of a fence, including guy wires, braces and posts, may sit on or hang over public land, except on a utility easement, which may be fenced.
In order to allow ingress/egress of emergency personnel and equipment, at least one gate or opening not less than three feet in width shall be required within each fence or wall that is adjacent to or running parallel with a public right-of-way, alley, drainage, utility or access easement.
3 ftminimum width of the required emergency opening
Also on fences on the property line in Euless
- 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 Euless?
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Euless answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is in a required front yard, and how large the lot is.
Eight feet is the ceiling anywhere in a Euless residential district, measured from the ground at the fence line. In a required front yard the figure drops to thirty six inches on any one or two family lot under half an acre. On a lot of an acre or more, or on commercial or multifamily land, a decorative or security fence may rise above thirty six inches in the front yard only if it is no more than twenty five percent solid and stands at least ten feet back from the property line.
No fence in a residential district shall exceed eight feet in height above ground level at the fence line.
The answer turns on whether the fence is in a required front yard, and how large the lot is.
- anywhere in a residential district
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a required front yard on a one or two family lot under half an acre
- Thirty six inches. 36 in
- a required front yard on a lot of an acre or more, or commercial or multifamily land
- Above thirty six inches if no more than twenty five percent solid and set ten feet back. 10 ft
Also on fence height in Euless
- 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 Euless?
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Euless answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Any fence of permanent construction in Euless, or any part of one, needs a fence permit from the office of building inspections first, with no height floor. The application names the applicant, the owner, the address, the type of construction and the height, and carries a plat showing the lot and the adjoining lots with their existing structures and fences, on which the proposed fence is drawn as a dark heavy line.
It shall be unlawful for any individual, partnership, company or corporation to erect or have erected a fence or any part of a fence of permanent construction in the city limits without first obtaining a fence permit from the office of building inspections.
Also on permits in Euless
- 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 Euless
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Euless answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the pool serves a single family house or a shared development.
Euless fences a private pool at a single family house higher than a shared pool at an apartment complex. A private pool is enclosed at six feet in wood or an approved equal. A public pool, meaning one at apartments, a hotel, a motel, condominiums, townhouses or a mobile home park, is enclosed at four feet and chain link is expressly allowed. Both need self closing and self latching gates, and both sit on top of the building code requirements rather than in place of them.
All swimming pools shall be fenced in addition to the requirements of the Uniform Building Code as amended and adopted by the City of Euless.
The answer turns on whether the pool serves a single family house or a shared development.
- a private pool at a single family residence
- Six feet, wood or approved equal. 6 ft
- a public pool at apartments, a hotel, condominiums, townhouses or a mobile home park
- Four feet, wood or chain link. 4 ft
Also on pool barriers in Euless
- set in state lawTexas 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. Health & Safety Code 757.003(b)Texas · Statute
Spite fence laws in Euless
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Euless 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 Euless 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 Euless
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Euless does not set this. It leaves it to the governing body of a municipality.
Texas 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.
This one is Texas law, not Euless law. All Texas findings
The governing body of a municipality may regulate: (1) the height, number of stories, and size of buildings and other structures;
Tex. Loc. Gov't Code 211.003(a)(1)
The code hands this to the governing body of a municipality, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence rules for corner lots in Euless
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Euless answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Euless keeps clear vision twenty five feet back from the property corner along both streets. What counts as a visual barrier is anything over thirty six inches at the property line, fence, wall, hedge or shrubbery alike, with one carve out: a single tree on a single trunk pruned to seven feet clear of the ground is not a barrier. Where a lot backs onto an alley or an access easement instead of a street, the triangle shrinks to ten feet.
At all street, intersections clear vision shall be maintained across the lot for a distance of 25 feet back from the property corner along both streets.
25 ftclear vision measured back from the property corner along each street
Also on corner visibility in Euless
- 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 Euless
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Euless 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 Euless 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 Euless
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Euless answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Barbed wire fences are prohibited in Euless, and so is topping a wall with broken glass or anything like it. The one exception is a security fence of at least six feet on land not zoned residential, which may be topped with barbed wire. No fence may be electrically charged in any form or fashion. Where a taller fence is allowed in a front yard, the material has to be wrought iron, exposed aggregate tilt wall, fired masonry, approved wood rail, or something else the city building official accepts.
Fences constructed of barbed wire and walls topped with broken glass or surfaced with any like material shall be prohibited; provided, however, a security fence not less than six feet in height may be topped with barbed wire that is located on property not zoned for residential purposes.
6 ftminimum height of a security fence that may be topped with barbed wire
Also on materials in Euless
- 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 Euless
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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 Euless 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 Euless
- 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 Euless itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Texas LegislatureTexas Agriculture Code, Chapter 143, Subchapter F, Removal of Adjoining Fences
- City of EulessUnified Development Code, Chapter 84, Article VII, Division 2, Fences, Walls and Obstructions
- 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 Euless 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