Fence laws in Galveston, Texas
What the Galveston municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Galveston sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Galveston, Texas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Texas sets no statewide rule for splitting the cost of a fence on a boundary.
- How tall
- Eight feet for any residential use in Galveston, apartments included, and the answer turns on whether the fence is in a front yard, how transparent it is, and what kind of housing it fronts. The figure is 8 feet, for fence or freestanding wall for a residential use.
- Permits
- Texas has no fence permit rule of its own.
- Pool barriers
- Galveston leaves pool barriers to the City Code of Ordinances and Section 757.001 et seq. of the Texas Health and Safety Code.
- Spite fences
- Galveston has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Galveston leaves the measuring rule to the governing body of a municipality.
- Corner lots
- Galveston leaves corner clearance to the commissioners court of each county, for intersections on county roads outside city limits.
- Retaining walls
- A Galveston retaining wall is capped at four feet of exposed height, meaning the vertical distance from the lower soil grade to the finish grade at the top, so the buried part does not count and the neighbor’s view sets the number. The figure is 4 feet, for maximum exposed height of a retaining wall.
- Materials
- Galveston bans fence materials only where the fence can be seen from a public street, and only outside the residential districts, and the answer turns on whether the fence is in a nonresidential district and whether it can be seen from a public street.
- 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 Galveston?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Texas answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Texas 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.
This one is Texas law, not Galveston law. All Texas findings
A person who owns an interest in a fence attached to a fence owned in whole or in part by another person is entitled to withdraw his or her fence from the other fence after giving six months' notice of the intended separation.
How tall can a fence be in Galveston?
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Galveston answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is in a front yard, how transparent it is, and what kind of housing it fronts.
Eight feet for any residential use in Galveston, apartments included. In a front yard a solid fence stops at four feet, and sixty percent transparency lifts it to five. In front of a single-family attached dwelling or a multifamily building the same sixty percent lifts it to six rather than five, so the denser the housing the taller the see-through fence may be. A tennis court fence gets twelve feet in any district, residential or not.
4 feet for any solid fence or wall within a front yard of any residential use or 5 feet if the fence or wall is at least 60 percent transparent;
The answer turns on whether the fence is in a front yard, how transparent it is, and what kind of housing it fronts.
- anywhere other than a front yard
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a front yard, solid
- Four feet. 4 ft
- a front yard, at least sixty percent transparent
- Five feet, or six in front of attached or multifamily housing. 5 ft
- around a tennis court
- Twelve feet. 12 ft
Also on fence height in Galveston
- 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 Galveston?
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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 Galveston 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 Galveston
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Galveston does not set this. It leaves it to the City Code of Ordinances and Section 757.001 et seq. of the Texas Health and Safety Code.
The Galveston Land Development Regulations set no pool barrier dimension. Section 2.402 hands the question to the city building code and to the state pool yard enclosure statute, so the height, the gaps and the gate hardware come from Chapter 757 of the Texas Health and Safety Code rather than from the zoning appendix.
Pool yards shall be enclosed as required by the City Code of Ordinances or Section 757.001, et seq., Texas Health and Safety Code.
The code hands this to the City Code of Ordinances and Section 757.001 et seq. of the Texas Health and Safety Code, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on pool barriers in Galveston
- 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 Galveston
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Galveston 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 Galveston 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 Galveston
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Galveston 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 Galveston 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 Galveston
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Galveston does not set this. It leaves it to the commissioners court of each county, for intersections on county roads outside city limits.
Texas 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.
This one is Texas law, not Galveston law. All Texas findings
The commissioners court may: (1) define the appropriate sight distance; (2) prohibit an obstruction of the sight distance by any vegetation, loose earth, or other item except a building or other structure affixed to the ground, if the obstruction is a traffic hazard; and (3) provide for the removal and disposition of an obstruction maintained in violation of an order adopted under this section.
The code hands this to the commissioners court of each county, for intersections on county roads outside city limits, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on corner visibility in Galveston
- no rule, documents checkedThe Galveston Land Development Regulations draw no sight triangle for a fence. Article 2, which holds the fence, wall and retaining wall sections, and Article 3, which holds the yard, lot and setback standards, were both read in full, and neither states a distance back from a corner, a height band above the road, or any other clear vision rule for a fence on a corner lot. The word visibility appears in Article 2 only about equipment on heavy vehicles and about screening at the entrance to a travel trailer park. Nearly every other Texas city read for this site puts a triangle of twenty to thirty feet in its fence section. Article 2 in full, searched for a sight triangleGalveston · Zoning code
Retaining wall rules in Galveston
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Galveston answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Galveston retaining wall is capped at four feet of exposed height, meaning the vertical distance from the lower soil grade to the finish grade at the top, so the buried part does not count and the neighbor’s view sets the number. A wall is a retaining wall once it raises the grade more than thirty two inches. Walls that existed before March 2009 are left alone until one of three things happens, and the third is the striking one: a change of ownership of the property. A non-decorative wall is screened from the street with a two foot landscape strip of shrubs at thirty six inches on center, and a fill permit has to be in hand before a retaining wall permit is approved.
Retaining walls shall not exceed a maximum height of four (4) feet. Any increase to the maximum allowable height must be reviewed and approved by the Development Services Director.
4 ftmaximum exposed height of a retaining wall
Also on retaining walls in Galveston
- left to the townTexas 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. Tex. Loc. Gov't Code 214.212(a)Texas · Statute
Fence materials allowed in Galveston
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Galveston answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is in a nonresidential district and whether it can be seen from a public street.
Galveston bans fence materials only where the fence can be seen from a public street, and only outside the residential districts. Scrap lumber, plywood, sheet metal, corrugated metal, plastic and fiberglass sheets are out, and so are barbed and razor wire, welded wire, chicken wire, and glass, spikes or nails along the top or sides. Barbed and razor wire come back on a fence enclosing a public utility building, a protective care facility, a prison, industrial property or an agricultural use, or wherever state or federal law calls for it. The residential fence section states heights and nothing else, so it names no material at all.
When a fence or wall is visible from a public street, the following materials shall not be used:
The answer turns on whether the fence is in a nonresidential district and whether it can be seen from a public street.
- a nonresidential or mixed-use district, visible from a public street
- Scrap lumber, plywood, sheet metal, corrugated metal, plastic, fiberglass, barbed or razor wire, welded or chicken wire, and sharp points are all prohibited.
- a fence enclosing a utility building, care facility, prison, industrial or agricultural use
- Barbed or razor wire is allowed on top.
Also on materials in Galveston
- 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 Galveston
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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 Galveston 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 Galveston
- 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 Galveston itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Texas LegislatureTexas Agriculture Code, Chapter 143, Subchapter F, Removal of Adjoining Fences
- Texas LegislatureTexas Local Government Code, Chapter 214, Municipal Regulation of Housing and Other Structures
- City of GalvestonLand Development Regulations of 2015, Appendix A, Article 2 Uses and Supplemental Standards
- 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
- City of GalvestonLand Development Regulations of 2015, Appendix A, Article 3 District Yard, Lot, and Setback Standards
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 Galveston 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