Every residential fence in Port St. Lucie needs a fence permit from the city, whether it is a 4-foot picket or a 6-foot privacy fence. You file the city's fence application with a survey marked to show where the fence will run. Fences can be up to 6 feet high, must stay inside your property line, and have to sit back from the street in the front yard. We prepare and file all of it as part of every fence we build.
What goes in the application
- The fence application. The city's zoning fence form, signed by both the property owner and the contractor in front of a notary.
- A survey or site plan. Your property survey (or the city's accessory use map) with the fence line, gates and heights drawn on it.
- A Notice of Commencement for larger jobs. On jobs of $5,000 or more, a recorded Notice of Commencement is needed before the first inspection.
- The fee. The 2025 fee schedule lists a fence permit at about $65, a little less when filed online.
The city form does not ask for your HOA's approval, but your HOA almost certainly will. Get the community's sign-off on style, color and height before the fence goes up, because an HOA can make you change a fence the city has already passed.
Height and placement rules
The city's zoning code sets these limits for residential lots:
- 6 feet maximum height for a residential fence.
- Front yard setback. A full fence has to sit at least 25 feet back from the front property line, or in line with the front corners of the house if that is farther back. Short decorative sections up to 4 feet are allowed nearer the street, with openings along the run.
- Corner lots. Nothing may block the view between about 2 and 6 feet above the road inside the 25-foot sight triangle at the corner, and the same applies close to driveways, so drivers can see traffic.
- Through lots. Where the back of a lot faces a street, the fence keeps the same 25-foot setback from that street.
- Inside the line. The fence goes on your side of the property line, not on it.
- Banned materials. Barbed wire and chicken wire are not allowed on residential fences.
Easements: the rule that catches people out
Many Port St. Lucie lots carry utility or drainage easements along the rear or side lines, and lots on canals often have a maintenance easement along the bank. The city allows a fence in some easements, but it has to be easy to remove, and a fence inside a city easement needs a revocable encroachment permit, recorded with the county. Revocable means what it says: if the city or a utility needs the easement, you take the fence down at your own cost. We read the easements off your survey before we lay anything out and tell you where a fence can sit without that risk.
Pool fences follow extra rules
A fence that serves as a pool barrier must also meet Florida's pool barrier law: at least 48 inches high, no more than 2 inches of clearance at the bottom, openings too small for a 4-inch sphere, and gates that open away from the pool and close and latch on their own, with the release at least 54 inches up or on the pool side. The city caps fences around pools at 6 feet. When the fence goes in at the same time as a new pool, it is permitted with the pool. Our pool fence page covers the details.
Before anyone digs
Florida law requires a call to Sunshine 811 at least two full business days before digging, so the utility companies can mark their buried lines. The marks are good for a limited time, and digging within about two feet of a marked line has to be done by hand. We place the locate request for every fence and do not dig until the lines are marked.
Step by step, the way we run it
- We measure, agree the layout with you and mark it on your survey.
- You get HOA approval if your community needs it; we supply the drawing and product sheets.
- We complete the application, arrange the notarized signatures and file it with the city.
- Once the permit is issued we call in the 811 locate, then build.
- We request the final inspection and walk the finished fence with you.
Outside the city limits
The rules change at the city line. Unincorporated St. Lucie County, Fort Pierce and Martin County, which includes Stuart and Jensen Beach, each issue their own fence permits with their own forms. Martin County, for example, keeps fences back from navigable waterways. We file wherever the property sits.
Rules change. This guide reflects the city's fence application and fee schedule as of October 8, 2026. The City of Port St. Lucie Building Department has the final word, and we check the current form on every job.
Last updated October 8, 2026