Fence laws in Lewisville, Texas
What the Lewisville municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Lewisville sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Lewisville, Texas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A public drainage easement in Lewisville may not be fenced or blocked at all where the drainage runs above ground.
- How tall
- Eight feet is the outer limit for any fence in Lewisville, measured from the finished grade of the lot it stands on, and the answer turns on how far the fence stands from the front property line. The figure is 3.5 feet, for fence within ten feet of the front property line. It reaches single-family detached, single-family attached and duplex dwellings only.
- Permits
- Lewisville requires a permit to put up, enlarge, alter, repair or replace any fence, and the only way out is a finding by the building official that the work is minor repair of up to ten percent of the fence, or painting. The figure is 10 percent, for share of a fence that can be replaced as minor repair without a permit.
- 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
- Lewisville has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Lewisville leaves the measuring rule to the governing body of a municipality.
- Corner lots
- Lewisville publishes a clear vision table with three rows, and the measuring point changes between them, and the answer turns on whether the intersection is street to street, alley to street, or a driveway. The figure is 45 feet, for each leg of the clear vision area where two streets meet.
- Retaining walls
- Lewisville 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
- On a Lewisville house lot chain link is allowed in the rear and side yards and nowhere that faces a street, an alley or any part of the front yard.
- 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 Lewisville?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Lewisville answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A public drainage easement in Lewisville may not be fenced or blocked at all where the drainage runs above ground. A private drainage easement may be fenced, but only in chain link, tubular steel or board on board with open slat spacing, and the fence has to be built so it does not dam the water back. A fence also stays two feet off any public sidewalk, walkway or trail, and no fence goes up on vacant land unless the land is zoned agricultural and farmed.
No public drainage easement shall be fenced or obstructed in any manner if the drainage is above ground. Fences shall be allowed to be erected within private drainage easements provided that the materials used are chain link, tubular steel or board on board with open slat spacing.
Also on fences on the property line in Lewisville
- 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 Lewisville?
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Lewisville answers this, but the answer changes depending on how far the fence stands from the front property line.
Eight feet is the outer limit for any fence in Lewisville, measured from the finished grade of the lot it stands on. In front of a house the rule steps down twice. Within ten feet of the front property line a fence stops at three and a half feet and has to be at least fifty percent open, meaning half the elevation is free of material so air and light pass through. Between that strip and the front face of the house the limit is six feet, still at least half open. Split rail, ornamental metal and picket are given as examples that qualify.
In the area of the front yard between the closest elevation of the building to the property line and the property line, but no less than ten (10) feet from the property line, as shown in Exhibit VIII.6.4-1, a fence shall not exceed three and one-half (3.5) feet in height and shall be a minimum of 50 percent open
The answer turns on how far the fence stands from the front property line.
- within ten feet of the front property line
- Three and a half feet, at least fifty percent open. 3.5 ft
- between that strip and the front face of the house
- Six feet, at least fifty percent open. 6 ft
- anywhere else on the lot
- Eight feet. 8 ft
Also on fence height in Lewisville
- 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 Lewisville?
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Lewisville answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Lewisville requires a permit to put up, enlarge, alter, repair or replace any fence, and the only way out is a finding by the building official that the work is minor repair of up to ten percent of the fence, or painting. That is the tightest repair exemption of the Texas cities read for this site, where twenty five and fifty percent are the usual figures. The permit expires if work has not started within a hundred and eighty days, and a final inspection is required.
A fence permit shall not be required if it is determined by the Building Official that only minor repair up to replacement of ten percent (10%) of the fence or painting is necessary.
10%share of a fence that can be replaced as minor repair without a permit
Also on permits in Lewisville
- 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 Lewisville
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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 Lewisville 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 Lewisville
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Lewisville 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 Lewisville 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 Lewisville
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Lewisville 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 Lewisville 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 Lewisville
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Lewisville answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the intersection is street to street, alley to street, or a driveway.
Lewisville publishes a clear vision table with three rows, and the measuring point changes between them. A street meeting a street is forty five feet by forty five, measured back of curb to back of curb. An alley meeting a street is fifteen by fifteen, measured property line to property line. A driveway meeting an alley or a street is seven and a half by seven and a half, also property line to property line. A clear zone also has to be kept for driveways on neighboring lots, and the city engineer can ask for more.
Public/Private Street to Public/Private Street 45 ft by 45 ft Back of curb to back of curb
The answer turns on whether the intersection is street to street, alley to street, or a driveway.
- a street meeting a street
- Forty five feet by forty five, back of curb to back of curb. 45 ft
- an alley meeting a street
- Fifteen feet by fifteen, property line to property line. 15 ft
- a driveway meeting an alley or a street
- Seven and a half feet by seven and a half, property line to property line. 7.5 ft
Also on corner visibility in Lewisville
- 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 Lewisville
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Lewisville 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 Lewisville 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 Lewisville
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Lewisville answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
On a Lewisville house lot chain link is allowed in the rear and side yards and nowhere that faces a street, an alley or any part of the front yard. Wood, metal tubing, wrought iron, masonry and vinyl or fiberglass composite are allowed if they were made for fencing. Rope, string, wire products, chain, netting, broken glass, paper, metal and corrugated metal panels, galvanized sheet metal, plywood and plastic panels are all out, and nothing may be woven through a chain link fence as slats.
Chain link in rear and side yards but not along any public or private street, alley, or any portion of the front yard.
Also on materials in Lewisville
- 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 Lewisville
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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 Lewisville 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 Lewisville
- 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 Lewisville itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Texas LegislatureTexas Agriculture Code, Chapter 143, Subchapter F, Removal of Adjoining Fences
- City of LewisvilleUnified Development Code, Subpart 3, Article VIII, Chapter VIII.6 Fencing
- 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 Lewisville 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