Fence laws in Little Elm, Texas
What the Little Elm municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Little Elm sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Little Elm, Texas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Little Elm does not allow a fence on the boundary at all.
- How tall
- Eight feet is the ceiling for a Little Elm residential fence, and the eight feet is measured generously: up to six inches of ground clearance and a decorative cap sit outside the figure, and the answer turns on whether the fence is in a front yard, and how large the lot is. The figure is 8 feet, for residential fence height.
- Permits
- Little Elm draws the permit line at half the fence. The figure is 50 percent, for share of a fence whose repair needs 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
- Little Elm has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Where a private fence in Little Elm meets a subdivision perimeter wall, it may not stand taller than that wall, and it may only climb to the ordinary eight feet through a smooth transition no longer than sixteen feet. The figure is 16 feet, for longest span over which a fence may step up from a subdivision wall.
- Corner lots
- Little Elm uses a five foot by five foot triangle rather than the twenty five foot triangle most Texas cities draw, and measures it from the edge of the pavement rather than from the property line. The figure is 5 feet, for leg of the sight triangle, measured from the edge of pavement.
- Retaining walls
- Little Elm 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 Little Elm residential fence is wood or black tubular steel, meaning powder coated ornamental iron, and nothing else without the director.
- 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 Little Elm?
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Little Elm answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Little Elm does not allow a fence on the boundary at all. Section 106.06.32 says a fence may not encroach upon any property line, front, side or rear, which means each owner builds inside their own ground rather than sharing one fence with the neighbor. A fence may not go on a public right of way or in a drainage easement without the director, and it may not go on a vacant or undeveloped lot at all. A five foot wide wall maintenance easement is platted wherever a screening wall is required or expected.
Fences shall not encroach upon any property line (front, side, or rear).
Also on fences on the property line in Little Elm
- 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 Little Elm?
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Little Elm answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is in a front yard, and how large the lot is.
Eight feet is the ceiling for a Little Elm residential fence, and the eight feet is measured generously: up to six inches of ground clearance and a decorative cap sit outside the figure. In a front yard the limit drops to thirty inches and the fence has to be split rail, wrought iron, picket or a decorative masonry wall, generally fifty percent open. A lot over an acre is exempt from the front yard rule subject to the director. A subdivision perimeter wall stands at eight feet, and a required screening wall between residential and nonresidential land runs between seven and a half and eight.
Fences shall not be greater than eight feet in height, excluding a maximum six inches allowance for ground clearance and a decorative cap.
The answer turns on whether the fence is in a front yard, and how large the lot is.
- 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 inches, and generally fifty percent open. 30 in
- a required screening wall between residential and nonresidential land
- Seven and a half to eight feet. 8 ft
Also on fence height in Little Elm
- 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 Little Elm?
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Little Elm answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Little Elm draws the permit line at half the fence. Building a fence, or repairing more than fifty percent of its length, needs a permit, while a repair shorter than one full run of the side or back yard may be done without one as long as the material matches. The plan shows exact materials, location, height, distances from property lines, sidewalks and curbs, and where the gates are. Then the town inspects twice: a footing inspection before any concrete is poured, and a final inspection scheduled within five business days of completion. Every fence installer has to be registered with the town.
Fence construction or repair of greater than 50 percent of the length of the fence requires a permit. Repairs with a total length of less than one full length of the fence (side or back yard) may be completed without a permit with materials matching the existing fence.
50%share of a fence whose repair needs a permit
Also on permits in Little Elm
- 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 Little Elm
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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 Little Elm 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 Little Elm
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Little Elm 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 Little Elm 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 Little Elm
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Little Elm answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Where a private fence in Little Elm meets a subdivision perimeter wall, it may not stand taller than that wall, and it may only climb to the ordinary eight feet through a smooth transition no longer than sixteen feet. A fence separated from the wall by an alley or a right of way does not count as adjacent. The rules that decide how the posts go in also change at seven feet: below that, posts sit eight feet apart in footings at least twenty four inches deep, and at seven feet or more they close to six feet apart in footings at least thirty six inches deep.
For fences less than seven feet in height, posts shall be spaced at a maximum of eight feet on center, set in a concrete footing of no less than 24 inches deep. For fences that are seven feet or greater in height, posts shall be spaced at a maximum of six feet on center, set in a concrete footing of no less than 36 inches deep.
16 ftlongest span over which a fence may step up from a subdivision wall
Also on how height is measured in Little Elm
- 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 Little Elm
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Little Elm answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Little Elm uses a five foot by five foot triangle rather than the twenty five foot triangle most Texas cities draw, and measures it from the edge of the pavement rather than from the property line. It applies where two roadways meet and also where a driveway meets an alley or a road, so every driveway on the street is covered rather than only the corner lot. Separately, a fence on a corner lot may come no closer than fifteen feet to the face of any curb unless the director allows otherwise.
The design of the fence must accommodate vision sight lines at the intersections of two roadways and the intersection of a drive with an alley or a roadway with a five-foot by five-foot triangle in these locations, measured from the edge of pavement.
5 ftleg of the sight triangle, measured from the edge of pavement
Also on corner visibility in Little Elm
- 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 Little Elm
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Little Elm 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 Little Elm 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 Little Elm
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Little Elm answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Little Elm residential fence is wood or black tubular steel, meaning powder coated ornamental iron, and nothing else without the director. Chain link, vinyl, split rail and composite are generally prohibited, though an existing nonconforming chain link fence may be replaced with the same thing. Barbed wire, electric and other injurious material are out unless the property is an agricultural district over five acres with a current agricultural tax exemption, or the use is genuinely industrial. Where a fence stands beside a floodplain, a creek or dedicated open space it has to be black tubular steel, so the fence beside the view does not block it. Wood is stained Western Red Cedar, or white wood stained a natural brown or earth tone.
All fences installed adjacent to a floodplain, creek, or dedicated open space shall be black tubular steel.
Also on materials in Little Elm
- 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 Little Elm
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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 Little Elm 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 Little Elm
- 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 Little Elm itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Texas LegislatureTexas Agriculture Code, Chapter 143, Subchapter F, Removal of Adjoining Fences
- Town of Little ElmCode of Ordinances, Chapter 106 Zoning, Article VI Site Development Standards, Division 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 Little Elm 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