Fence laws in McKinney, Texas
What the McKinney municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where McKinney sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in McKinney, 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 six inches in the rear yard, which is half a foot more than most Texas cities allow, and forty eight inches in the front yard with at least half of it open, and the answer turns on whether the fence stands in the rear yard or the front yard. The figure is 102 inches, for fence in a rear yard.
- Permits
- McKinney settles the permit question with three questions about an existing fence: is the height changing, is the location changing, is the material changing.
- 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
- McKinney has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- McKinney leaves the measuring rule to the governing body of a municipality.
- Corner lots
- McKinney leaves corner clearance to the commissioners court of each county, for intersections on county roads outside city limits.
- Retaining walls
- Every retaining wall in McKinney needs a permit, with no height floor at all, and anything over two feet needs engineered plans as well, and the answer turns on whether the wall is more than two feet high. The figure is 2 feet, for retaining wall height above which engineered plans are required.
- Materials
- Texas only says what a fence has to be made of inside a county or area that has voted to stop animals roaming loose. The figure is 3 strands, for a sufficient barbed wire fence. It reaches counties or areas that have voted to stop animals running at large only.
- 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 McKinney?
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 McKinney 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 McKinney?
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McKinney answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence stands in the rear yard or the front yard.
Eight feet six inches in the rear yard, which is half a foot more than most Texas cities allow, and forty eight inches in the front yard with at least half of it open. The front yard rule is two tests rather than one, so a solid four foot fence fails on openness even though it clears the height.
The maximum height for fences in the rear yard is 8'6". The maximum height for fences in the front yard is 48", and the fence must be at least 50% open.
The answer turns on whether the fence stands in the rear yard or the front yard.
- a rear yard
- Eight feet six inches. 102 in
- a front yard
- Forty eight inches. 48 in
- a front yard, on how much of it has to be open
- At least fifty percent open. 50%
Also on fence height in McKinney
- 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 McKinney?
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McKinney answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
McKinney settles the permit question with three questions about an existing fence: is the height changing, is the location changing, is the material changing. A yes to any one of them is a permit. A no to all three makes the work a repair, and a repair needs nothing. A fence where none stood before always needs one. The fee is thirty dollars and the application wants a site plan showing property lines, the fence location, its height, its material and who is building it.
Will the height be changed? Will the location be changed? Will the fence material change? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, your project requires a permit.
Also on permits in McKinney
- 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 McKinney
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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 McKinney 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 McKinney
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McKinney 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 McKinney 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 McKinney
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McKinney 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 McKinney 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 McKinney
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McKinney 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 McKinney 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.
Retaining wall rules in McKinney
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McKinney answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the wall is more than two feet high.
Every retaining wall in McKinney needs a permit, with no height floor at all, and anything over two feet needs engineered plans as well. That is the tightest retaining wall rule of the Texas cities read for this site, where four feet is the usual trigger, and it means a low garden wall that needs nothing in Plano or Fort Worth is permitted work here.
A permit for any retaining wall is required in the City of McKinney, regardless of height. Retaining walls more than two feet in height require engineered plans.
The answer turns on whether the wall is more than two feet high.
- a retaining wall of any height
- A permit.
- a retaining wall over two feet
- A permit and engineered plans. 2 ft
Also on retaining walls in McKinney
- 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 McKinney
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Texas answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Texas 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.
This one is Texas law, not McKinney law. All Texas findings
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
3 strandsa sufficient barbed wire fence
Livestock and boundary fence law in McKinney
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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 McKinney 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 McKinney
- 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 McKinney 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 McKinney, Development Services, Building InspectionsFence Permits
- 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 McKinney 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