Fence laws in Pharr, Texas
What the Pharr municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Pharr sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Pharr, 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
- Pharr answers fence height in two places that do not agree, and both are quoted below rather than one being picked as the winner.
- Permits
- A Pharr fence permit costs five dollars and comes from the director of planning rather than from a building official.
- 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
- Pharr has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Pharr measures a fence from the natural ground, which rules out gaining height by building the fence on fill or on a berm.
- Corner lots
- Pharr measures the corner from the curb rather than the property line, and takes the three foot height from the gutter flow line rather than from the ground, and the answer turns on the zone, and whether the corner is at a street or an alley. The figure is 15 feet, for leg of the corner triangle in a residential zone.
- Retaining walls
- Pharr 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
- Pharr treats wire and solid material as two different things in the front yard. The figure is 3 feet, for hedge, shrubbery or solid fence at the front property line.
- 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 Pharr?
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 Pharr 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 Pharr?
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Pharr says two different things about this. Both are quoted below, and neither one is treated as the right answer.
Pharr states the height of a wire fence at the front property line twice, in two different documents, and the two numbers are a foot apart. The building chapter, adopted in 1991, allows five feet. The zoning appendix, last amended in 2003, allows six in the residential zones and adds the condition about high theft areas. Neither one mentions the other.
Two provisions disagree. Both are printed, and this page does not pick a winner.
Five feet for a wire fence at a residential property line. A solid fence may go from five to seven feet, but only behind the minimum front setback for buildings in that zone.
A wire fence may be extended to a residential property line, provided such wire fence does not exceed the height of five feet fronting or located along a street.
Six feet for woven or hog wire at the front property line in the named residential zones, and only in high theft areas. Hedges, shrubbery and solid fences may also reach the front property line but stop at three feet.
In the R-1, R-1A, R-TH, R-2 and R-MH zones, a wire fence, woven or hog wire, may extend to the front property line in high theft areas provided such wire fence does not exceed the height of six feet.
Also on fence height in Pharr
- 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 Pharr?
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Pharr answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Pharr fence permit costs five dollars and comes from the director of planning rather than from a building official. The owner applies, or the occupant does with the owner’s permission, and residential and commercial property are treated the same way. The fee has not been changed since the ordinance was adopted in January 1991. Building without one carries a fine of not less than one dollar and not more than two hundred dollars per day.
The owner or occupant of a residential or commercial property, with the owner's permission, before constructing a fence must first obtain a fence permit from the director of planning of the city. The cost for such permit shall be $5.00.
Also on permits in Pharr
- 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 Pharr
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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 Pharr 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 Pharr
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Pharr 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 Pharr 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 Pharr
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Pharr answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Pharr measures a fence from the natural ground, which rules out gaining height by building the fence on fill or on a berm. The corner triangle is measured a different way again, three feet up from the street gutter flow line rather than from the ground beside the fence, so the same fence can be read against two different datums depending on which rule is being applied.
The height restrictions herein mentioned are measured from the natural ground.
Also on how height is measured in Pharr
- 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 Pharr
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Pharr answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zone, and whether the corner is at a street or an alley.
Pharr measures the corner from the curb rather than the property line, and takes the three foot height from the gutter flow line rather than from the ground. The triangle is fifteen by fifteen feet in a residential zone, thirty by thirty in a commercial, professional, business or industrial zone, and ten by ten at an alley. Utility poles, traffic signs and devices, and street name signs are exempt; a wall, a fence, any other structure and any plant growth are not. The legs are measured along the present or future curbline, so a street widening moves the triangle.
The area that is so restricted being the area of the corner of such property, more particularly described as being that area in the form of a triangle, bound by two intersecting boundaries of the present or future street curbline.
The answer turns on the zone, and whether the corner is at a street or an alley.
- a residential zone
- Fifteen feet along each curbline. 15 ft
- a commercial, professional, business or industrial zone
- Thirty feet along each curbline. 30 ft
- an alley
- Ten feet along each curbline. 10 ft
Also on corner visibility in Pharr
- 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 Pharr
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Pharr 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 Pharr 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 Pharr
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Pharr answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Pharr treats wire and solid material as two different things in the front yard. Woven or hog wire may run right up to the front property line in the named residential zones, but only in high theft areas, a term the ordinance uses and never defines. Hedges, shrubbery and solid fences or walls may also reach the front property line, and they stop at three feet. So the see-through fence is the tall one and the solid fence is the short one, which is the opposite of the usual arrangement and follows from the reason given: theft.
Hedges, shrubbery and solid fences or walls may also extend to the front property, but shall not exceed three feet in height.
3 fthedge, shrubbery or solid fence at the front property line
Also on materials in Pharr
- 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 Pharr
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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 Pharr 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 Pharr
- 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
7 documents, of which 2 were published by Pharr 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 PharrCode of Ordinances, Chapter 22 Buildings and Building Regulations, Article XI Fences
- City of PharrCode of Ordinances, Appendix A Zoning, Article VII
- 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 Pharr 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