Fence laws in Pearland, Texas
What the Pearland municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Pearland sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Pearland, Texas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Pearland does not keep fences out of public easements. The figure is 24 feet, for setback from the property line for a non-residential vehicle gate.
- How tall
- A Pearland front yard takes no fence at all on a single family or duplex lot next to a public street, except a decorative one, and the answer turns on which yard the fence is in, whether it is decorative, and whether the lot fronts a thoroughfare. The figure is 4 feet, for decorative fence in a residential front yard.
- Permits
- Pearland sets the residential permit line in dollars rather than in feet or in length, and the answer turns on whether the property is residential or non-residential.
- 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
- Pearland has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Pearland leaves the measuring rule to the governing body of a municipality.
- Corner lots
- Pearland leaves corner clearance to the commissioners court of each county, for intersections on county roads outside city limits.
- Retaining walls
- Pearland 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
- Pearland settles the front yard question with a definition rather than a ban.
- 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 Pearland?
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Pearland answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Pearland does not keep fences out of public easements. It makes them openable: a fence inside a public easement has to carry a gate or a removable panel so the easement can still be reached for maintenance. A fence in a drainage easement carries a different test, that it be built so it does not restrict the flow of water. A vehicle gate on a non-residential lot sits at least twenty four feet back from the property line so a vehicle can wait off the street.
Fences within a public easement shall have a gate or removable panel to allow for maintenance access to such easement.
24 ftsetback from the property line for a non-residential vehicle gate
Also on fences on the property line in Pearland
- 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 Pearland?
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Pearland answers this, but the answer changes depending on which yard the fence is in, whether it is decorative, and whether the lot fronts a thoroughfare.
A Pearland front yard takes no fence at all on a single family or duplex lot next to a public street, except a decorative one. Decorative means at least half the area open, and it stops at four feet, or six where the property fronts an identified thoroughfare. No residential fence comes closer than fifteen feet to a public street, with an exception on continuous corner lots where the side yard can be treated as part of the rear. Side and rear yards run to eight feet, and eight feet is the ceiling in a non-residential district too.
then the height of that fence may be increased to six (6’) feet in height.
The answer turns on which yard the fence is in, whether it is decorative, and whether the lot fronts a thoroughfare.
- a decorative fence in a front yard
- Four feet, at least half open. 4 ft
- a decorative fence in a front yard on an identified thoroughfare
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a side or rear yard
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- any residential fence, on how close it may come to a public street
- Fifteen feet back. 15 ft
Also on fence height in Pearland
- 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 Pearland?
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Pearland answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the property is residential or non-residential.
Pearland sets the residential permit line in dollars rather than in feet or in length. Repairing, rebuilding or building any kind of fence needs a permit once the market value of the work, counting both materials and labor, passes three hundred dollars. In a non-residential district there is no threshold at all: every new, rebuilt or replaced fence needs a permit.
All new, reconstructed, or replaced fences require permits.
The answer turns on whether the property is residential or non-residential.
- a residential lot
- A permit once the work is worth more than three hundred dollars.
- a non-residential lot
- A permit for every new, rebuilt or replaced fence.
Also on permits in Pearland
- 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 Pearland
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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 Pearland 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 Pearland
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Pearland 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 Pearland 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 Pearland
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Pearland 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 Pearland 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 Pearland
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Pearland 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 Pearland 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 Pearland
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Pearland 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 Pearland 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 Pearland
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Pearland answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Pearland settles the front yard question with a definition rather than a ban. Only a decorative fence is allowed in a front yard, and chain link, woven wire mesh and metal panel are declared not decorative, so they are out of the front yard whatever their height. Wood, decorative metal, chain link and woven wire mesh are all fine elsewhere, and plastics, PVC, metal slat, honeycomb and cement fiber board can be approved by the building official where the material proves sturdy, durable and close to maintenance free. Above ground electric fencing, hog wire, chicken wire and barbed wire are out as perimeter fencing except on lots of two acres or more in the Suburban Development and Residential Estate districts.
Chain link, woven wire mesh metal panel, or similar materials are not considered decorative fencing, and are therefore not allowed in front yards.
Also on materials in Pearland
- 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 Pearland
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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 Pearland 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 Pearland
- 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 Pearland itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Texas LegislatureTexas Agriculture Code, Chapter 143, Subchapter F, Removal of Adjoining Fences
- City of PearlandUnified Development Code, Chapter 4 Site Development, Section 4.2.4.3 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 Pearland 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