Fence laws in Tyler, Texas
What the Tyler municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Tyler sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Tyler, Texas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- A Tyler fence runs along the rear and side property lines and has to sit entirely on private property.
- How tall
- Four feet in a Tyler residential front yard, at least fifty percent open, with the concrete or masonry footing held to twenty four inches from grade, and the answer turns on the zoning district, which yard the fence is in, and whether the lot is a key lot. The figure is 4 feet, for fence in a residential front yard.
- Permits
- Texas has no fence permit rule of its own.
- 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
- Tyler has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- A Tyler lot with frontage on two streets observes a front yard setback on both, and the fence rule follows. The figure is 4 feet, for fence in either yard of a residential through lot.
- Corner lots
- Tyler leaves corner clearance to the city’s judgment of traffic sight visibility at the time.
- Retaining walls
- Tyler leaves retaining walls to Chapter 6, Section 6-11 of the Tyler city ordinances.
- Materials
- Tyler allows wood, chain link and similar wire, brick, wrought iron, stone, pipe and concrete, and bans chain link wire and pipe fencing inside the front yard setback.
- 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 Tyler?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Tyler answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Tyler fence runs along the rear and side property lines and has to sit entirely on private property. A driveway gate may not be built inside the required front yard setback in a residentially zoned district unless a planned unit final site plan allows it, and an existing legal nonconforming gate has to be put back within six months of removal or the nonconforming status is lost.
Fences generally may be constructed along the rear and side property lines, if located entirely on private property and not in excess of the maximum height allowed.
Also on fences on the property line in Tyler
- 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 Tyler?
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Tyler answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zoning district, which yard the fence is in, and whether the lot is a key lot.
Four feet in a Tyler residential front yard, at least fifty percent open, with the concrete or masonry footing held to twenty four inches from grade. Behind the front yard setback the limit is eight feet. A commercial or industrial lot gets eight feet in front and fifteen feet behind. Multi-family, religious, educational, hospital and nursing uses in the R-MF zone get six feet in the required front yard. A key lot, whose front or side yard runs against a neighbor’s rear yard, may exceed four feet except across the width of the front yard.
Fences located in the front yard, along the front property line and/or the side property line(s), to a depth less than or equal to the required front yard setback of shall be restricted to a maximum height of four feet. Such fences shall be at least 50 percent open and any concrete or masonry footing, not including any required retaining walls, shall be limited to 24 inches from grade.
The answer turns on the zoning district, which yard the fence is in, and whether the lot is a key lot.
- a residential front yard
- Four feet, at least fifty percent open, footing no more than twenty four inches. 4 ft
- a residential rear or side yard beyond the front setback
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a commercial, industrial or other non-residential front yard
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- a commercial, industrial or other non-residential rear or side yard
- Fifteen feet. 15 ft
Also on fence height in Tyler
- 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 Tyler?
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Texas answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Texas 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.
This one is Texas law, not Tyler 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.
Pool fence requirements in Tyler
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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 Tyler 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 Tyler
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Tyler 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 Tyler 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 Tyler
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Tyler answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A Tyler lot with frontage on two streets observes a front yard setback on both, and the fence rule follows. Both the designated front yard and the designated rear yard are held to four feet in residential zoning and eight in commercial or industrial, so the fence matches whichever street it faces. Two named situations lift the residential rear yard above four feet: a four or six lane arterial behind the lot, or industrial land across the street from it.
Fences in both the designated front and rear yard of through lots, are restricted to a maximum height of four feet in residentially zoned districts and eight feet in commercial, industrial and other non-residential districts, so as to conform to the maximum fence height along either street frontage.
4 ftfence in either yard of a residential through lot
Also on how height is measured in Tyler
- 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 Tyler
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Tyler does not set this. It leaves it to the city’s judgment of traffic sight visibility at the time.
Tyler prints no sight triangle in its fence division. It states the duty, that a fence must not interfere with traffic sight visibility, and then gives the city a power most codes do not: a fence found to cause immediate danger may be removed by the city. So the corner rule here is enforced by judgment and removal rather than by a published distance.
Fences must not be designed or constructed so as to interfere with traffic sight visibility. Fences determined to cause immediate danger may be removed by the city.
The code hands this to the city’s judgment of traffic sight visibility at the time, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on corner visibility in Tyler
- 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 Tyler
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Tyler does not set this. It leaves it to Chapter 6, Section 6-11 of the Tyler city ordinances.
The Tyler fence division covers retaining walls in its purpose and then hands the standards to another chapter. Retaining walls are built to Chapter 6, Section 6-11 of the city ordinances, so a reader working from the fence rules will not find the height, the footing or the engineering requirement there. The one thing the fence division does say about them is that a required retaining wall does not count toward the twenty four inch limit on a front yard fence footing.
Retaining walls shall be in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 6, Section 6-11 of these Ordinances.
The code hands this to Chapter 6, Section 6-11 of the Tyler city ordinances, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on retaining walls in Tyler
- 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 Tyler
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Tyler answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Tyler allows wood, chain link and similar wire, brick, wrought iron, stone, pipe and concrete, and bans chain link wire and pipe fencing inside the front yard setback. Tires, bumpers and anything else not commonly used for fencing are prohibited in every district. Barbed, razor and concertina wire are prohibited everywhere except on top of a fence in the M-1 and M-2 districts, on top of a rear yard fence in C-2, on genuine agricultural land, and where state or federal law requires it. The Planning Director may allow it elsewhere on a limited basis where it is barely visible from the street.
Fences composed of tires, bumpers or other new or used materials, not commonly used in fence construction, are prohibited in all zoning districts.
Also on materials in Tyler
- 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 Tyler
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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 Tyler 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 Tyler
- 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 Tyler itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Texas LegislatureTexas Agriculture Code, Chapter 143, Subchapter F, Removal of Adjoining Fences
- City of TylerTyler Unified Development Code, Chapter 10, Division C, Fences and Walls
- 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 Tyler 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