Fence laws in San Marcos, Texas
What the San Marcos municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where San Marcos sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in San Marcos, Texas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- On a shared line a San Marcos fence is capped at eight feet where it sits at the building setback line and six feet where it sits closer in, and the answer turns on where the fence sits relative to the building setback line, and whether both owners have applied jointly. The figure is 8 feet, for fence on a shared line at the building setback line.
- How tall
- Between the property line and the front yard setback line, or the side setback line on a corner lot, a San Marcos residential fence stops at four feet, and the answer turns on whether the fence is in front of the setback line. The figure is 4 feet, for fence in front of the required setback line. It reaches residential areas other than multiple-family only.
- Permits
- No fence goes up in San Marcos without a permit from the Director of Development Services, with no height floor and no repair exception in the general requirement. The figure is 24 feet, for setback from the property line for a vehicle access gate.
- 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
- San Marcos has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Beside a single family or multifamily use in San Marcos, chain link and wire fencing may come no closer to the boundary than the building setback line.
- Corner lots
- San Marcos leaves corner clearance to the commissioners court of each county, for intersections on county roads outside city limits.
- Retaining walls
- San Marcos 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
- Chain link and woven wire mesh panel are not decorative fencing in San Marcos and are therefore not allowed in a front yard.
- 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 San Marcos?
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San Marcos answers this, but the answer changes depending on where the fence sits relative to the building setback line, and whether both owners have applied jointly.
On a shared line a San Marcos fence is capped at eight feet where it sits at the building setback line and six feet where it sits closer in. Both owners can lift that by making a joint fencing application with both signatures, and the Director then has to find that the fence protects the interests of the adjacent owners and of the community. Barbed wire, razor wire and similar security features are only allowed through that same joint process. A fence may also not be placed where it stops landscape maintenance or fence repair without an access agreement.
All fences or walls located along adjacent property lines shall be no taller than eight feet at the building setback line or six feet if located closer unless the following conditions are met:
The answer turns on where the fence sits relative to the building setback line, and whether both owners have applied jointly.
- at the building setback line
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- closer to the line than the building setback
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a joint application signed by both owners and approved by the Director
- Above those limits.
Also on fences on the property line in San Marcos
- 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 San Marcos?
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San Marcos answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is in front of the setback line.
Between the property line and the front yard setback line, or the side setback line on a corner lot, a San Marcos residential fence stops at four feet. A decorative fence with at least half its area open gets the same four feet and is expressly allowed in required front and side yards. At or behind the setback line the limit rises to six. No residential fence comes within fifteen feet of a public street, except on continuous corner lots where the side and rear building lines adjoin, where the fence may run out to the side property line.
Any fence or wall located between the property line and the required front yard setback line (or side yard setback line if a corner lot) of a building shall not exceed four feet in height.
The answer turns on whether the fence is in front of the setback line.
- between the property line and the front or side setback line
- Four feet. 4 ft
- at or behind the required setback line
- Six feet. 6 ft
- any residential fence, on how close it may come to a public street
- Fifteen feet back. 15 ft
Also on fence height in San Marcos
- 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 San Marcos?
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San Marcos answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
No fence goes up in San Marcos without a permit from the Director of Development Services, with no height floor and no repair exception in the general requirement. A vehicle gate has to stand at least twenty four feet back from the property line so a car can wait off the street. A fence crossing a public easement needs a gate or a removable panel, and no fence in a public utility easement may run parallel with it.
No fence shall be erected or constructed without a permit first having been issued by the Director of Development Services or his/her designee.
24 ftsetback from the property line for a vehicle access gate
Also on permits in San Marcos
- 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 San Marcos
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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 San Marcos 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 San Marcos
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San Marcos 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 San Marcos 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 San Marcos
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San Marcos answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Beside a single family or multifamily use in San Marcos, chain link and wire fencing may come no closer to the boundary than the building setback line. So the distance that governs the fence is the one drawn for the building, and the material decides whether it applies rather than the height.
No chain link or wire fencing shall be located closer than the building setback line adjacent to single-family or multiple-family residential uses.
Also on how height is measured in San Marcos
- 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 San Marcos
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San Marcos 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 San Marcos 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 San Marcos
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San Marcos 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 San Marcos 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 San Marcos
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San Marcos answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Chain link and woven wire mesh panel are not decorative fencing in San Marcos and are therefore not allowed in a front yard. The way back in is the street itself: in an older neighborhood, where it can be documented that chain link in the front yard is an established standard for that particular neighborhood, the responsible official may approve it for a new fence. Above ground electric fencing, hog wire, chicken wire and barbed wire are prohibited as perimeter fencing except on undeveloped parcels of five acres or more, or platted lots with a recognized agricultural tax exemption.
In an older neighborhood, when it can be documented that the use of chain ink in the front yard is an established standard for the particular neighborhood, the responsible official may approve its use for a new fence.
Also on materials in San Marcos
- 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 San Marcos
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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 San Marcos 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 San Marcos
- 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 San Marcos itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Texas LegislatureTexas Agriculture Code, Chapter 143, Subchapter F, Removal of Adjoining Fences
- City of San MarcosLand Development Code, Chapter 6 Development Standards, Article 1, Division 3, 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 San Marcos 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