FENCE RULES – ST. AUGUSTINE (CITY), FLORIDA
OVERVIEW
Residential fences are permitted on private property within City of St. Augustine, subject to local regulations.
For properties located outside City of St. Augustine municipal limits, St. Johns County regulates fences in unincorporated areas.
The primary citywide standards appear in the City of St. Augustine Code of Ordinances, especially section 28-331, Fences, Walls, and Hedges, together with the City’s fence-permit materials. Separate provisions address historic-preservation districts, entry corridors, archaeological zones, conservation overlay zones, regulated floodways, coastal high-hazard areas, swimming-pool barriers, and work affecting a public right-of-way.
This page focuses on typical single-family residential fencing. If the jurisdiction’s adopted code or ordinance materials do not state a specific limit or requirement, this page notes that the code does not specify one. If no local code or ordinance is available in the approved source packet, this page notes that the jurisdiction does not publish the relevant standard in the referenced published materials.
Compiled From the City of St. Augustine Code of Ordinances, Building Permit Information, Required Building Permit Documents, Planning and Building Department materials, Architectural Guidelines for Historic Preservation, Historic Architectural Review Board materials, Anastasia Boulevard Design Standards, San Marco Avenue Design Standards, King Street Design Standards, Archaeology Review Process, Floodplain Development Permit Requirements, Right-of-Way Permit materials, Chapter 2026-63, and Florida statewide utility-safety law as of July 2026.
GOVERNANCE
The governing authority is the City of St. Augustine.
The Planning and Building Department administers building permits and land-use review, maintains the zoning atlas, and provides staff support to the Planning and Zoning Board, Historic Architectural Review Board, Corridor Review Committee, Development Review Committee, and Code Enforcement Special Magistrate.
The City does not rely on one standalone fence ordinance. Citywide residential standards appear primarily in Code section 28-331, while special conditions are addressed in the floodplain regulations in Chapter 8, the conservation-overlay regulations in Chapter 11, the historic-preservation provisions and Architectural Guidelines for Historic Preservation, and the three adopted entry-corridor design standards.
The municipal code source is published through Supplement No. 58, October 2025, incorporating ordinances through Ordinance No. 25-06, adopted May 12, 2025.
An official Florida Building Commission search for 2023 local amendments under the jurisdiction City of St Augustine returned no matching records.
PERMIT AND APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS
Effective July 1, 2026, Florida’s HB 803, enacted as Chapter 2026-63, changed the building-permit framework for certain work on single-family residential property. A local government that issues building permits must exempt an owner of a single-family dwelling, or the owner’s contractor, from the requirement to obtain a building permit for work valued at less than $7,500 on the owner’s property. The exemption does not apply to work on property located partly or entirely in a flood hazard area as defined by the Florida Building Code, or to electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical, or gas work performed on property containing a single-family dwelling. A construction project may not be divided into multiple projects to evade this rule. To qualify, the owner or the owner’s contractor must submit a written exemption request to the local enforcement agency with a contract or other documentation showing the nature and value of the work.
This statutory exemption concerns only the requirement to obtain a building permit. It does not eliminate separate requirements involving zoning, fence permits, setbacks, surveys, easements, rights-of-way, drainage, visibility, floodplain review, historic or design review, Certificates of Appropriateness, pool barriers, HOA approval, covenants, or other site-specific restrictions that may apply to the property.
The statute does not classify every fence project as structural or nonstructural. Unless the local permitting authority has published specific guidance for fence work under HB 803, whether a particular fence project qualifies for the valuation exemption depends on the nature of the work, the property location, and the applicable local permitting process.
• Building Permit: The City lists fences among projects for which a permit is usually required and publishes Fence and Masonry Wall as a permit category. This local articulation controls the ordinary-fence permit discussion on this page.
• Permit Submission: All permit applications must be submitted online through the City’s Permit Portal.
• Required Documents: A fence or masonry-wall submission requires a property survey showing the existing or proposed fence location and a materials list. Building plans are also required when applicable to a masonry wall.
• Local HB 803 Process: The City directs an owner or contractor seeking the less-than-$7,500 exemption to file a land-development application through the Permit Portal and submit the written request and value documentation described above. The City expressly states that the exemption does not remove HARB, PZB, or archaeology approvals.
• Historic Preservation Approval: Within HP-1 through HP-5, fence and wall work is reviewed under the City’s historic-preservation framework and the Architectural Guidelines for Historic Preservation. The Planning and Building Department may act on required approvals for landscape features, including fences and walls; when HARB approval applies, a Certificate of Appropriateness is required before the building permit may be issued.
• Entry Corridor Review: Developments and alterations along King Street, San Marco Avenue, and Anastasia Boulevard that meet the published criteria require review and approval through the Corridor Review Committee. The corridor standards apply to specified new development, redevelopment, exterior modifications, and accessory uses or structures on applicable corridor parcels.
• Archaeology Review: A ground-disturbing project associated with a building or right-of-way permit requires City Archaeology Program review when it is in an Archaeological Zone, extends deeper than 3 inches, and spans 100 square feet or more. Published examples include perimeter walls and flood walls.
• Conservation Overlay Review: The Planning and Zoning Board reviews development in Conservation Overlay Zone 1 and development in Zones 2 and 3 that does not qualify for the published staff-level exceptions. In Zone 2, the Planning and Building Department may issue a permit for a new secondary structure such as a fence when no drainage into the marsh is proposed, no significant alteration of surface-water hydrology will occur, and native plant materials are preserved or replaced. In Zone 3, staff may issue permits when all healthy significant trees are retained.
• Floodplain and Coastal Review: The City directs property owners to contact the Planning and Building Department before building, changing, regrading, or filling land. In regulated floodways and coastal high-hazard areas, the code imposes additional fence standards described below. Property located partly or entirely in a Florida Building Code flood hazard area is excluded from the HB 803 valuation exemption.
• Right-of-Way Work: A Right-of-Way Use Permit is required for work that takes place in or affects a City right-of-way. The application is submitted through the Permit Portal.
FENCE PLACEMENT RULES
• Required Yards: Fences, walls, and hedges may be permitted in a required yard or along the edge of a yard, subject to the height, visibility, historic, corridor, floodplain, and other special rules that apply to the property.
• Property Lines, Rights-of-Way, and Easements: The ordinance does not state a setback requirement for standard residential fences from property lines; however, fences must be located entirely on the owner’s property and must not encroach into rights-of-way or easements.
• Nonconforming Front Setback: Where a structure has a nonconforming front-yard setback, a fence may not extend past the front building line of the structure.
• Historic Sites: Historic-preservation review considers the relationship of fences, walls, and gates to the primary building, site layout, streetscape, and architectural period. The pre-1821 guidelines require front property lines and exposed side and rear yards to be enclosed by period-appropriate fences or walls.
• Entry Corridor Frontage: On an applicable entry-corridor parcel, street-facing fences and walls must follow the corridor frontage standards. Privacy fences and walls are not allowed between adjacent uses along the named corridor frontage.
• Regulated Floodways: Stockade fences, wire-mesh fences, and other fences with the potential to block floodwaters must satisfy the City’s regulated-floodway limitations.
• Coastal High-Hazard Areas: In Zone V, solid fences, privacy walls, and fences prone to trapping debris must comply with the special coastal-development conditions, including authorization by the applicable authority, placement outside and without structural attachment to a building, and design that avoids obstruction or harmful diversion of floodwaters.
• Utility Safety: Florida law requires notice through the statewide notification system commonly operated as Sunshine 811 before excavation or demolition. For fence projects that involve digging, drilling, augering, boring, grading, or other movement of earth on land, notice must be provided not less than 2 full business days before excavation begins. Member operators mark or otherwise respond regarding covered underground facilities, and the excavator must verify the system’s positive responses before beginning excavation where required. This statewide utility-notice framework is separate from local fence permitting, zoning, development approval, easement limits, right-of-way approvals, floodplain review, stormwater review, drainage review, historic or design review, HOA restrictions, and other applicable requirements.
FENCE HEIGHT AND VISIBILITY RULES
• Residential Maximum: A fence or wall may not exceed 8 feet in a residential district unless a specific provision in section 28-348 applies.
• Required Front Yard: A fence or wall exceeding 4 feet may not encroach into a required front yard on a residential lot, subject to the specific exceptions stated in the code.
• Intersection Visibility: A fence, wall, hedge, or other visual barrier exceeding 30 inches may not be located within 25 feet of an intersection. This specific restriction does not apply in HP-1, HP-2, or HP-3.
• Entry Corridor Street Walls: Where the King Street, San Marco Avenue, or Anastasia Boulevard standards require or allow a street wall, it must be at least 3 feet and no more than 5 feet high. The portion above 3 feet may be no more than 50 percent solid.
• Pre-1821 Historic Properties: Under the historic guidelines, First Spanish Period and Second Spanish Period fences and walls must be at least 5.5 feet high, while British Period fences and walls must be at least 6 feet high.
• Post-1821 Historic Properties: American Territorial period fences and walls should be at least 5.5 feet high. Later-period fences should be at least 4 feet high but less than 5 feet high adjacent to the street.
• Private Pool Barriers: The local code requires a retaining wall or fence enclosing a private swimming pool to be at least 4 feet and no more than 8 feet high. A pool located in a front yard must be screened by a fence, wall, or hedge at least 6 feet and no more than 8 feet high. Related water features more than 2 feet deep require enclosure by a fence at least 4 feet high.
• Residential Tennis Courts: A private tennis court may use a chain-link or mesh enclosure up to 12 feet high when the enclosure is located more than 5 feet from a property line.
MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS
• Barbed Wire: Barbed-wire line fencing along streets or property lines is prohibited unless the barbed wire is placed on top of a fence at least 6 feet high and is turned or directed inward toward the enclosed property.
• Historic-District Chain Link: Within the City’s historic-preservation districts, chain-link fences are nonconforming structures except where a chain-link fence abutting a playground or court for handball, paddle ball, tennis, or a similar sport is approved as a permitted use by exception.
• Historic Materials and Design: Historic fences, walls, and gates must be retained and repaired where feasible and must match the architectural style and period of the primary building. For post-1821 properties, the permitted materials are stucco over masonry, poured coquina or tabby concrete, coquina stone, wood, and iron. Modern vertical-board privacy fences are limited to side and rear elevations and should be recessed from the wall plane on street-side elevations.
• Entry Corridor Fence Materials: Along the front property line and front setback of an applicable entry-corridor parcel, gates, railings, and fencing materials must be painted wood, powder-coated aluminum, or wrought iron. Chain link, wire, and PVC fencing are prohibited in the front setback but may be used along side or rear areas.
• Entry Corridor Street Walls: Street walls must be constructed of brick or masonry. In the San Marco Avenue Residential Typology, a fence may be used in place of a street wall.
• Pool Gates: Gates in a local private-pool enclosure must be self-latching, with latches at least 4 feet above the underlying ground, and must be kept closed and latched.
• Other Residential Materials: Apart from the citywide barbed-wire restriction and the special historic, corridor, pool, floodplain, and recreational-facility provisions above, the code does not specify a general list of permitted or prohibited materials for standard residential fences.
PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS
HOA rules, architectural-review covenants, subdivision restrictions, deed restrictions, private easements, and other recorded private agreements operate independently of City of St. Augustine requirements and may be more restrictive.
Effective July 1, 2026, section 720.3035(1)(c), Florida Statutes, as added by Chapter 2026-63, provides that an association or similar committee may not require issuance of a governmental building permit as a prerequisite to its review of structures or improvements. This provision does not eliminate HOA or architectural review.
REVIEW AND ENFORCEMENT CONTEXT
Fence issues are typically reviewed during permit or approval review when required, and through complaint-based code enforcement. Examples include:
• Permit Review: Whether the project has been submitted under the City’s Fence and Masonry Wall permit process with the required survey and materials list, or under the City’s formal HB 803 exemption process.
• Height and Yard Placement: Whether the fence or wall complies with the 8-foot residential maximum, the 4-foot required-front-yard limit, and the front-building-line restriction for a nonconforming front setback.
• Visibility: Whether a visual barrier exceeding 30 inches is located within 25 feet of an intersection outside HP-1, HP-2, and HP-3.
• Historic Preservation: Whether a fence, wall, or gate in HP-1 through HP-5 has the required administrative or HARB approval and complies with the Architectural Guidelines for Historic Preservation.
• Entry Corridors: Whether work on an applicable King Street, San Marco Avenue, or Anastasia Boulevard parcel complies with corridor review, frontage, height, opacity, and material standards.
• Floodplain and Conservation Conditions: Whether a fence in a regulated floodway, coastal high-hazard area, or conservation overlay zone satisfies the applicable water-flow, siting, vegetation, and approval conditions.
• Archaeology: Whether qualifying ground disturbance in an Archaeological Zone has completed the City Archaeology Program review.
• Right-of-Way: Whether fence-related work takes place in or affects a City right-of-way and therefore requires a Right-of-Way Use Permit.
• Pool Barriers: Whether a fence used as a private-pool or water-feature barrier meets the local height, gate, and access-control standards and any applicable statewide pool-barrier requirements.
• Materials: Whether barbed-wire placement, historic-district chain link, historic materials, or entry-corridor materials comply with the applicable rule.
• Utility Safety: Whether excavation notice and positive-response requirements were completed through Sunshine 811 before digging.
USING THIS INFORMATION
This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within City of St. Augustine, based on the referenced published materials as of July 2026.
In addition to local fence rules, certain Florida laws apply statewide. See Statewide fence laws in Florida.
It is not legal advice and does not replace official ordinances, permits, zoning approvals, zoning certifications, development approvals, Florida Building Code requirements, HB 803 exemption procedures, surveys, or professional guidance. Rules and interpretations may change, and application may vary based on zoning district, site conditions, easements, rights-of-way, flood-hazard status, coastal conditions, stormwater requirements, drainage conditions, historic district status, design-review status, rural or agricultural context, pool-barrier use, Florida Building Code edition, local amendment status, Sunshine 811 utility-safety requirements, overhead utility-line safety, and private restrictions such as HOA covenants, deed restrictions, private agreements, or conservation easements. Before purchasing materials or beginning construction, confirm current requirements and any site-specific limitations with the Planning and Building Department and any applicable private agreements. If this page conflicts with official ordinances, published guidance, or direction from City of St. Augustine staff, the official sources control. For legal advice or legal interpretation, consult a licensed attorney.