Fence laws in Mesquite, Texas
What the Mesquite municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Mesquite sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Mesquite, Texas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A Mesquite fence may not have a gate opening onto an unimproved alley, a drainage or utility easement, or any other unimproved land, unless the city authorizes it for maintenance or emergency access, and a maintenance gate may be no more than five feet wide. The figure is 5 feet, for maximum width of a gate allowed for maintenance access.
- How tall
- Eight feet along a Mesquite rear yard or alley line and eight along a side yard line up to the building line of the house, and the answer turns on which yard the fence is in, and whether the lot is zoned agricultural. The figure is 8 feet, for fence along a rear yard or alley line.
- Permits
- Mesquite lists five separate things that need a fence permit, and only the first is about height, and the answer turns on the height of the fence, how much of it is being replaced, whether the material changes, and whether it is being moved. The figure is 2 feet, for height above which a new fence 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
- Mesquite has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Mesquite leaves the measuring rule to the governing body of a municipality.
- Corner lots
- On a Mesquite corner lot whose rear line runs against the side line of the lot behind it, a fence over three and a half feet has to stand ten feet back from the exterior side property line. The figure is 10 feet, for setback from the exterior side property line on a corner lot.
- Retaining walls
- Mesquite 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
- Mesquite names what a fence may be made of rather than only what it may not: chain link, barbed wire where it is allowed, vinyl, composite, brick, stone, stucco, concrete or wooden pickets.
- 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 Mesquite?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Mesquite answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Mesquite fence may not have a gate opening onto an unimproved alley, a drainage or utility easement, or any other unimproved land, unless the city authorizes it for maintenance or emergency access, and a maintenance gate may be no more than five feet wide. No part of the fence, including guy wires and braces, may sit on or hang over public property, a right of way, an unimproved alley, a drainage easement or unimproved land.
No fence shall be constructed with a gate that allows access onto an unimproved alley, drainage and/or other utility easement, or other unimproved land unless specifically authorized by the City for maintenance or emergency access.
5 ftmaximum width of a gate allowed for maintenance access
Also on fences on the property line in Mesquite
- 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 Mesquite?
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Mesquite answers this, but the answer changes depending on which yard the fence is in, and whether the lot is zoned agricultural.
Eight feet along a Mesquite rear yard or alley line and eight along a side yard line up to the building line of the house. In front the limit is three and a half feet, and the material question is settled at the same time: a stockade fence or anything else without fifty percent through vision is prohibited in a front yard at any height. An agricultural lot of at least an acre with the house set fifty feet back can have six feet in front, at fifty percent through vision, built of one material from the ground up.
Front yard. No fence over three and one-half (3½) feet in height shall be permitted from the front building line to the parkway or parallel with the street line. All stockade fences or other fences which do not have fifty (50) percent through vision are prohibited in any front yard.
The answer turns on which yard the fence is in, and whether the lot is zoned agricultural.
- a rear yard or alley line
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a side yard line up to the building line of the house
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a front yard
- Three and a half feet, and at least fifty percent through vision. 3.5 ft
- a front yard on an agricultural lot of at least an acre with the house fifty feet back
- Six feet, at fifty percent through vision. 6 ft
Also on fence height in Mesquite
- 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 Mesquite?
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Mesquite answers this, but the answer changes depending on the height of the fence, how much of it is being replaced, whether the material changes, and whether it is being moved.
Mesquite lists five separate things that need a fence permit, and only the first is about height. Any fence over two feet needs one. So does replacing half or more of the fencing on the lot, repairing or replacing with a different material, raising a fence so it ends up over two feet, and moving a fence anywhere at all. A like for like repair on less than half the fence is the only work left outside.
Construction of any fence over two (2) feet in height;
The answer turns on the height of the fence, how much of it is being replaced, whether the material changes, and whether it is being moved.
- a new fence
- A permit above two feet. 2 ft
- replacing an existing fence
- A permit at fifty percent or more of the fencing on the lot. 50%
- repairing or replacing with different materials, or moving the fence
- A permit, whatever the height or extent.
Also on permits in Mesquite
- 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 Mesquite
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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 Mesquite 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 Mesquite
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Mesquite 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 Mesquite 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 Mesquite
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Mesquite 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 Mesquite 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 Mesquite
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Mesquite answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
On a Mesquite corner lot whose rear line runs against the side line of the lot behind it, a fence over three and a half feet has to stand ten feet back from the exterior side property line. That is a setback rather than a triangle, so it holds along the whole side street rather than only near the intersection, and a low fence can still come to the line.
on all corner lots where the rear lot line directly abuts a side lot line of an adjoining lot, fences exceeding three and one-half (3½) feet in height shall be set back a minimum of ten (10) feet from the exterior side property line.
10 ftsetback from the exterior side property line on a corner lot
Also on corner visibility in Mesquite
- 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 Mesquite
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Mesquite 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 Mesquite 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 Mesquite
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Mesquite answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Mesquite names what a fence may be made of rather than only what it may not: chain link, barbed wire where it is allowed, vinyl, composite, brick, stone, stucco, concrete or wooden pickets. Products made for some other purpose, plywood, corrugated steel and fiberglass panels, are out. And privacy mesh screen, inserts or slats added to a chain link fence are prohibited, so an open fence cannot be converted into a solid one after the fact. Barbed wire needs six feet of clear height under it and an industrial, commercial or agricultural setting, and an electric fence charger needs pasture, an acre, and three hundred feet from the nearest other dwelling.
Fencing materials shall be chain-link, barbed wire (where allowed), vinyl, composite, brick, stone, stucco, concrete or wooden pickets. Products manufactured for other uses such as plywood, corrugated steel, or fiberglass panels are prohibited as fencing materials. Adding privacy fence mesh screen or similar materials and/or privacy fence inserts or slats to chain-link fences shall be prohibited.
Also on materials in Mesquite
- 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 Mesquite
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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 Mesquite 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 Mesquite
- 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 Mesquite itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Texas LegislatureTexas Agriculture Code, Chapter 143, Subchapter F, Removal of Adjoining Fences
- City of MesquiteCode of Ordinances, Chapter 5 Building Code, Article V Construction of 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 Mesquite 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