FENCE RULES – GLADES (COUNTY), FLORIDA

OVERVIEW

Residential fences are permitted on private property within Glades County, subject to local regulations.

This page applies to properties in the unincorporated areas of Glades County; incorporated municipalities such as City of Clewiston may regulate fences under their own ordinances.

Glades County does not publish a single standalone residential fence ordinance. Relevant standards appear in the Glades County Code of Laws and Ordinances, including Chapter 125 – Land Development Regulations for required-yard and visibility rules and Chapter 117 – Floodplain Management for flood-hazard and regulated-floodway requirements. Permit administration is published through Glades County Community Development and the Building Division.

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 Glades County Code of Laws and Ordinances, Glades County Community Development, Building Division and Planning and Zoning materials, the Building Department Schedule of Permit Fees, the 8th Edition (2023) Florida Building Code, the Florida Building Commission local-amendment search, Chapter 2026-63, section 556.105, Florida Statutes, and section 720.3035, Florida Statutes, as of July 2026.

GOVERNANCE

The governing authority is the Glades County Board of County Commissioners.

Glades County Community Development administers the county’s Land Development Regulations for unincorporated areas. The Building Division administers building permits and inspections, and Planning and Zoning administers and interprets the Land Development Regulations. Under Chapter 117, the county manager serves as the floodplain administrator and may delegate floodplain-administration duties.

The 8th Edition (2023) Florida Building Code supplies the statewide building-code permit context used on this page. The Florida Building Commission’s search for 2023 local amendments reports no matching local-amendment records for the County of Glades.

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-Code Permit Context: The applicable Florida Building Code includes a building-permit exemption for fences not over 7 feet high. Glades County does not publish a general local permit or approval requirement for standard residential fences in the referenced published materials.

• County Fence-Permit Reference: Section 113-3 identifies a “fence permit” as a permit type that is exempt from concurrency review. That provision does not state that every standard residential fence requires the permit, and the referenced published permit materials do not define its scope.

• Floodplain Development Approval: Development activity wholly or partly within a flood hazard area requires application to the floodplain administrator and the required permit or approval before work begins. This requirement also applies to development that is exempt from the Florida Building Code.

• Regulated Floodways: Fences that may block the passage of floodwaters, including stockade fences and wire-mesh fences, must satisfy the regulatory-floodway limitation requiring a floodway encroachment analysis showing no increase in the base flood elevation.

FENCE PLACEMENT RULES

• Required Yards: Chapter 125 permits fences, walls, and hedges in any required yard, except where visibility must be maintained at street intersections or where driveways meet streets.

• 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.

• Visibility Areas: Fences must not materially impede vision within the required visibility triangles at street intersections or where a driveway meets a street.

• 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

• Maximum Height: The code does not specify a maximum height for standard residential fences.

• Street Intersections: The visibility triangle extends 25 feet in each direction along the adjoining property lines from the intersection of the street rights-of-way. Within the triangle, nothing may materially impede vision between 2 1/2 feet and 10 feet above the centerlines of the intersecting thoroughfares.

• Driveway Intersections: The visibility triangle extends 25 feet along the street right-of-way and 25 feet along the driveway edge. Curved driveways and driveways that meet the street at an angle must provide equivalent visibility.

• Building-Code Figure: The Florida Building Code’s 7-foot figure is a building-permit exemption threshold, not a Glades County maximum fence height.

MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION LIMITS

• Standard Residential Materials: The code does not specify required or prohibited materials for standard residential fences outside the regulated-floodway limitation.

• Regulated Floodways: Stockade fences and wire-mesh fences are identified as examples of fences that may block floodwaters. In a regulated floodway, such fences must satisfy the no-rise limitation described in Chapter 117.

PRIVATE RESTRICTIONS

HOA rules, architectural-review requirements, subdivision restrictions, deed restrictions, private easements, covenants, recorded agreements, and other private restrictions operate independently of Glades County regulations 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:

• Building-Code Permit Context: Whether the project falls within the Florida Building Code exemption for fences not over 7 feet high, while remaining subject to separately applicable local and site-specific requirements.

• County Fence-Permit Reference: Whether the work falls within the fence-permit category referenced in section 113-3.

• Required Yards and Visibility: Whether the fence is placed in a permitted yard location and preserves the 25-foot street or driveway visibility triangle and the 2 1/2-foot to 10-foot visibility band.

• Floodplain and Floodway Review: Whether the property lies wholly or partly in a flood hazard area and whether a fence in a regulated floodway may block floodwaters or requires a no-rise analysis.

• Complaint-Based Enforcement: Glades County Code Enforcement investigates complaints and enforces county code in unincorporated areas.

• Utility Safety: Whether excavation notice and positive-response requirements have been completed through Sunshine 811 before fence-related digging begins.

USING THIS INFORMATION

This page provides general orientation on how residential fence rules are structured and applied within Glades County, 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 Glades County Community Development and any applicable private agreements. If this page conflicts with official ordinances, published guidance, or direction from Glades County staff, the official sources control. For legal advice or legal interpretation, consult a licensed attorney.