Fence laws in Wichita Falls, Texas
What the Wichita Falls municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Wichita Falls sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Wichita Falls, Texas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Wichita Falls will not let a front yard fence seal a house in.
- How tall
- A fence may stand in any setback on most Wichita Falls property, and the answer turns on whether the use is single family or duplex, and which setback the fence stands in. The figure is 4 feet, for fence in the front setback of a single family or duplex lot.
- 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
- Wichita Falls has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- A screening fence in Wichita Falls goes in on a site plan showing where it runs and what it is made of, and the review is explicitly about how it looks from the street as well as whether it is safe.
- Corner lots
- Where a property line meets a public right of way in Wichita Falls the city may cut the fence down to three feet for the part standing within ten feet of the street right of way. The figure is 10 feet, for distance from the street right of way within which the fence may be cut to three feet.
- Retaining walls
- Wichita Falls 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
- Wichita Falls does not ban barbed wire and broken glass outright. The figure is 6 feet, for height below which nothing designed to injure may be attached.
- 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 Wichita Falls?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Wichita Falls answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Wichita Falls will not let a front yard fence seal a house in. Where the front door opens into the area being enclosed, the fence may not fully enclose the front setback unless a postal service approved mailbox stands outside the enclosure. It is a small rule and it is the only one of its kind in this state: the thing being protected is delivery and access rather than sight lines or appearance.
The fence shall not totally enclose all or a part of the front setback area if the front door of the residence opens into the enclosed area, unless a postal service approved mailbox is provided outside the enclosure;
Also on fences on the property line in Wichita Falls
- 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 Wichita Falls?
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Wichita Falls answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the use is single family or duplex, and which setback the fence stands in.
A fence may stand in any setback on most Wichita Falls property. On a single family or duplex lot it may stand in the side and rear setbacks freely, and in the front setback only on four conditions: at least half the face open and free of opaque material, no more than four feet tall, no full enclosure of the front setback where the front door opens into it unless a postal approved mailbox sits outside, and compliance with the visibility sight triangle near an intersection. A required screening fence may go to ten feet, and anything over six feet has to show the building official it will carry the wind load.
The fence shall have at least 50 percent of the face area open and free of opaque materials;2. The fence shall be no more than four feet tall;
The answer turns on whether the use is single family or duplex, and which setback the fence stands in.
- a front setback on a single family or duplex lot
- Four feet, at least half open. 4 ft
- a required screening fence or wall
- Up to ten feet. 10 ft
- any fence over six feet
- Wind loading capacity has to be demonstrated to the building official. 6 ft
Also on fence height in Wichita Falls
- 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 Wichita Falls?
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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 Wichita Falls 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 Wichita Falls
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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 Wichita Falls 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 Wichita Falls
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Wichita Falls 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 Wichita Falls 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 Wichita Falls
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Wichita Falls answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
A screening fence in Wichita Falls goes in on a site plan showing where it runs and what it is made of, and the review is explicitly about how it looks from the street as well as whether it is safe. The city weighs the aesthetic character of the fence against the surrounding property as seen from a public right of way, and then weighs construction safety against traffic circulation and visibility on and off the site.
A site plan showing fence or wall location and building material must be submitted for approval. The site plan will be reviewed having due regard for the aesthetic character of the fence or wall in relationship to surrounding property as viewed from a public right-of-way.
Also on how height is measured in Wichita Falls
- 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 Wichita Falls
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Wichita Falls answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Where a property line meets a public right of way in Wichita Falls the city may cut the fence down to three feet for the part standing within ten feet of the street right of way. The general sight distance rule is held in section 102-40 of the Code of Ordinances, a different document from the zoning appendix the fence rules live in.
Where property lines intersect a public right-of-way, the height may be required to be reduced to a maximum height of three feet for that portion of the fence located within ten feet of the street right-of-way.
10 ftdistance from the street right of way within which the fence may be cut to three feet
Also on corner visibility in Wichita Falls
- 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 Wichita Falls
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Wichita Falls 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 Wichita Falls 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 Wichita Falls
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Wichita Falls answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Wichita Falls does not ban barbed wire and broken glass outright. It bans them within six feet of the ground, so anything designed to injure has to sit above head height. Pickets have to be lumber made and intended for fencing and securely fastened, the pole side faces in, and stains and paints are expected to match what is already on the street. A chain link fence, with or without slats or inserts, is not accepted as a screening device at all.
No barbed wire, broken glass or other products attached to a fence or wall designed or intended to injure shall be placed within six feet of grade.
6 ftheight below which nothing designed to injure may be attached
Also on materials in Wichita Falls
- 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 Wichita Falls
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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 Wichita Falls 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 Wichita Falls
- 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 Wichita Falls itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Texas LegislatureTexas Agriculture Code, Chapter 143, Subchapter F, Removal of Adjoining Fences
- City of Wichita FallsCode of Ordinances, Appendix B Zoning, Section 4200 Setback
- 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
- City of Wichita FallsCode of Ordinances, Appendix B Zoning, Section 4600 Screening Regulations
- 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 Wichita Falls 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