Fence laws in Wylie, Texas
What the Wylie municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Wylie sets no rule of its own, the Texas rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Wylie, Texas, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- No fence goes into a drainage easement in Wylie until the city engineer has told the building official in writing that the fence will probably not interfere with the natural flow of water across it.
- How tall
- Wylie writes a separate height section for each part of the lot, and the answer turns on which part of the lot the fence is on, the district, and the size of the lot. The figure is 8 feet, for fence along a rear, alley or side yard line.
- Permits
- Installing a fence in Wylie, or altering, adding to or changing one, needs a permit from the building official first, and the application carries a plot plan showing the lot size, every improvement on it, and where the fence will go. The figure is 30 days, for period in which a limited repair may be made without a permit.
- Pool barriers
- Wylie leaves pool barriers to the most recently adopted edition of the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code.
- Spite fences
- Wylie has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Wylie leaves the measuring rule to the governing body of a municipality.
- Corner lots
- Wylie bans a fence that is a visibility obstruction and then defines the obstruction with a drawing rather than with words.
- Retaining walls
- Wylie 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
- Barbed wire is out in Wylie except on fence arms in an industrial district, and fence arms themselves are permitted nowhere but industrial districts, where they may not reach past the 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 Wylie?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Wylie answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
No fence goes into a drainage easement in Wylie until the city engineer has told the building official in writing that the fence will probably not interfere with the natural flow of water across it. The test is the engineer’s written judgment rather than a dimension, so an identical fence can be allowed on one easement and refused on the next. Separately, no privately owned fence, guy wire, brace or other part of one may stand on or hang over city property.
No fence shall be constructed within any drainage easement in the corporate limits of the city unless the city engineer shall have first determined and advised the building official, in writing, that he believes such fence shall, in all probability, not interfere with or impair the natural flow of water across the drainage easement.
Also on fences on the property line in Wylie
- 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 Wylie?
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Wylie answers this, but the answer changes depending on which part of the lot the fence is on, the district, and the size of the lot.
Wylie writes a separate height section for each part of the lot. Eight feet along the rear yard or alley line, eight feet on a side yard line up to the building line of the house, and four feet between the building line and the front property line, which on a corner lot also covers the street side building line of a house facing the side street. A lot over half an acre may carry an ornamental fence at eight feet in the front instead, provided it uses masonry columns and is at least fifty percent transparent. Industrial districts get ten feet, and a fence around a tennis court gets ten feet in any district.
No fence shall be constructed at a height exceeding four feet between the building line and front property line and/or street side building line for corner lots for residential buildings facing the side street, except for ornamental type fencing on lots exceeding one-half acre. On lots exceeding one-half acre, the maximum height is eight feet, provided masonry columns are used. All ornamental-type fences shall be at least 50 percent transparent.
The answer turns on which part of the lot the fence is on, the district, and the size of the lot.
- along the rear yard or alley line, or on a side yard line up to the building line
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- between the building line and the front property line
- Four feet. 4 ft
- in front of the building line on a lot over half an acre, ornamental with masonry columns
- Eight feet, at least fifty percent transparent. 8 ft
- an industrial district, or around a tennis court in any district
- Ten feet. 10 ft
Also on fence height in Wylie
- 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 Wylie?
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Wylie answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Installing a fence in Wylie, or altering, adding to or changing one, needs a permit from the building official first, and the application carries a plot plan showing the lot size, every improvement on it, and where the fence will go. Repair is allowed without a permit only up to one pole, or sixteen linear feet of pickets or rails, in any thirty day period. When the fence is finished it is inspected, and the building official either issues a card of acceptance or rejects it. The article does not reach fences on land that is zoned but still in agricultural use as undeveloped property.
It shall be unlawful for any person to install or cause to be installed, or to permit any person to install a fence or to make any alterations, additions or changes to a fence, without first having procured a permit to do so from the building official. However, a property owner may replace, or caused to be replaced, up to one pole or 16 inch linear feet of pickets or rails in any given 30-day period to repair a damaged fence without a permit.
30 daysperiod in which a limited repair may be made without a permit
Also on permits in Wylie
- 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 Wylie
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Wylie does not set this. It leaves it to the most recently adopted edition of the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code.
Wylie sets no pool barrier dimension of its own. The enclosure has to follow the most recently adopted edition of the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, so the numbers move whenever the city adopts a new edition rather than when the ordinance is amended. What the city does add is timing and scope: the protection starts at the excavation, before there is a pool, and runs continuously through construction. An electrical, solar or battery utility, access or service gate does not count as part of the barrier. On a single family lot the enclosure may be the perimeter of the whole property, and at an apartment complex it may be the courtyard around the pool.
The fence (barrier) for a pool or spa shall be installed per the most currently adopted edition of the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code.
The code hands this to the most recently adopted edition of the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, which is not published in the code itself.
Also on pool barriers in Wylie
- set in state lawTexas 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. Health & Safety Code 757.003(b)Texas · Statute
Spite fence laws in Wylie
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Wylie 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 Wylie 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 Wylie
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Wylie 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 Wylie 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 Wylie
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Wylie answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Wylie bans a fence that is a visibility obstruction and then defines the obstruction with a drawing rather than with words. Section 22-236 points at figure 1, printed in the section, and states no distance, no height and no angle in the text. Reading the ordinance alone does not settle whether a given fence clears the corner; the figure has to be looked at.
No fence shall be erected or maintained in a manner so as to be a visibility obstruction as indicated in figure 1 of this section and made a part of this section.
Also on corner visibility in Wylie
- 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 Wylie
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Wylie 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 Wylie 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 Wylie
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Wylie answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Barbed wire is out in Wylie except on fence arms in an industrial district, and fence arms themselves are permitted nowhere but industrial districts, where they may not reach past the property line. A tennis court fence may not carry arms at all. Electric fencing is banned in any district where farm animals are not allowed, with one exception: a single strand run through an approved low voltage regulator along the interior baseline of an otherwise permitted fence, which needs no permit. Metal fence poles may go on either side of the fence as long as they cannot be seen from a street, a park or a school.
In no event shall barbed wire be permitted, except on arms in industrial zoning districts.
Also on materials in Wylie
- 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 Wylie
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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 Wylie 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 Wylie
- 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 Wylie itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Texas LegislatureTexas Agriculture Code, Chapter 143, Subchapter F, Removal of Adjoining Fences
- City of WylieCode of Ordinances, Chapter 22 Buildings and Building Regulations, Article XVII 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 Wylie 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