Fence laws in Longview, Texas
What the Longview municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Longview sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Longview, Texas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A Longview fence is exempt from the setbacks that hold buildings back, with one distance written in its place: screening or fencing stays at least ten feet from the edge of any private street pavement, or from the property line, whichever puts it further away. The figure is 10 feet, for minimum distance from the edge of a private street.
- How tall
- Eight feet is the ceiling for any fence or wall in a Longview single family or two family district, and the answer turns on whether the fence is in front of the house, and whether it is decorative. The figure is 8 feet, for maximum fence or wall height. It reaches single family and two family districts or uses only.
- Permits
- The Longview fencing standards reach three situations: new construction, replacement of fifty percent or more of an existing screen, fence or wall, and any time a higher intensity use has to screen itself from a lower intensity one next door. The figure is 50 percent, for share of a fence whose replacement brings the current standards back into play.
- 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
- Longview has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Longview leaves the measuring rule to the governing body of a municipality.
- Corner lots
- Longview leaves corner clearance to the Intersection Visibility Triangle standards at Section 1.05 of the Longview Unified Development Code.
- Retaining walls
- Longview 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 Longview residential fence is wood, chain link, masonry, reinforced concrete, wrought iron or simulated wrought iron, or vinyl made to look like wood or masonry.
- 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 Longview?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Longview answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Longview fence is exempt from the setbacks that hold buildings back, with one distance written in its place: screening or fencing stays at least ten feet from the edge of any private street pavement, or from the property line, whichever puts it further away. Vehicle access gates are held to the International Fire Code as the city has adopted it.
Screening or fencing shall not be located closer than ten (10) feet from the edge of any private street pavement or to the property line, whichever is greater.
4.04, Proximity to Private Streets
10 ftminimum distance from the edge of a private street
Also on fences on the property line in Longview
- 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 Longview?
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Longview answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is in front of the house, and whether it is decorative.
Eight feet is the ceiling for any fence or wall in a Longview single family or two family district. In front of the house the starting point is a prohibition: no fence or wall in front of a single family or duplex structure at all. Two things come back. A decorative or chain link fence up to six feet is allowed in the front yard setback, with woven wire mesh expressly not counting as decorative. And behind the minimum front yard setback, masonry, wrought iron, wood, chain link, precast concrete made to look like wood, stucco, stone or brick, or matching vinyl may go to eight feet.
Decorative or chain link fences not exceeding six (6) feet in height are permitted in the front yard setback. Woven wire mesh or similar materials are not considered decorative fencing.
4.04, Fencing Standards for Residential
The answer turns on whether the fence is in front of the house, and whether it is decorative.
- anywhere on a single family or two family lot
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a decorative or chain link fence in the front yard setback
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a subdivision fence backing onto a collector or arterial road
- At least six feet, in wrought iron, masonry, wood or a mixture. 6 ft
Also on fence height in Longview
- 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 Longview?
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Longview answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
The Longview fencing standards reach three situations: new construction, replacement of fifty percent or more of an existing screen, fence or wall, and any time a higher intensity use has to screen itself from a lower intensity one next door. So an old fence can be patched indefinitely and stays as it is, and the moment half of it comes down the current rules apply to the whole thing.
These regulations shall be applicable to all new construction, where fifty (50) percent or more of an existing screening, fence, or wall requires replacement, or any time that a higher intensity use is required to screen adjacent to a lower intensity use.
50%share of a fence whose replacement brings the current standards back into play
Also on permits in Longview
- 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 Longview
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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 Longview 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 Longview
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Longview 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 Longview 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 Longview
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Longview 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 Longview 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 Longview
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Longview does not set this. It leaves it to the Intersection Visibility Triangle standards at Section 1.05 of the Longview Unified Development Code.
Longview frees a fence from every setback in the code and then names the one thing it cannot cross: the intersection visibility triangle. The dimensions of that triangle are set in Article D, Section 1.05, in the engineering standards rather than in the fence rules, so the figure that decides how close a corner fence may come to the intersection is not printed with the heights.
Fences are exempt from all setback requirements unless otherwise specified in this ordinance.
4.04, Fencing Standards for Residential, items 6 and 7
The code hands this to the Intersection Visibility Triangle standards at Section 1.05 of the Longview Unified Development Code, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on corner visibility in Longview
- 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 Longview
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Longview 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 Longview 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 Longview
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Longview answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Longview residential fence is wood, chain link, masonry, reinforced concrete, wrought iron or simulated wrought iron, or vinyl made to look like wood or masonry. Plywood, railroad ties, barbed wire and corrugated steel sheets are named as unacceptable. On the nonresidential side a required screening wall has to be fully opaque wood, masonry, or precast concrete made to resemble wood, stucco, stone or brick, and concrete masonry unit is expressly excluded. Every required screening wall is finished equally on both sides.
Residential fences shall be constructed of wood, chain link, masonry, reinforced concrete , wrought iron or simulated wrought iron, or vinyl material that simulates wood or masonry.
4.04, Fencing Standards for Residential, Materials
Also on materials in Longview
- 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 Longview
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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 Longview 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 Longview
- 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 Longview itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Texas LegislatureTexas Agriculture Code, Chapter 143, Subchapter F, Removal of Adjoining Fences
- City of LongviewLongview Unified Development Code, Article B Zoning Regulations, Section 4.04 Fencing and Screening, revised 23 March 2023
- 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 Longview 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