The Woodlands is one of the few places around Houston where a backyard fence needs written approval before anyone digs. That surprises a lot of new residents. The good news is that the rules are published, and a fence designed to them usually gets approved without trouble. This guide walks through the process as it works today.

When you need approval

The Woodlands Covenants and the Township’s Residential Development Standards require prior written approval from your village’s Residential Design Review Committee (RDRC), or its designated staff, for improvements on a lot with an existing home. For fences, that means:

• Any new fence, including replacing an old fence with a different design or material.
• Repairs over eight feet. Approval is required when more than eight linear feet of fencing is replaced, redesigned, reconstructed, or relocated.
• Gates and fences on pool barriers. Changing a fence that serves as a pool, spa, or pond barrier can also trigger a new safety inspection.

One common exception: an interior fence no taller than four feet is pre-approved and needs no application, as long as it isn’t used to confine animals, doesn’t act as or weaken a pool barrier, and isn’t visible from the street or a neighbor’s property at ground level.

Your neighborhood may also have its own Neighborhood Criteria, which can require a specific fence design to keep a street consistent. Check those before you pick a style.

Step 1: Register on the Civic Access Portal

Applications go through the Township’s online Civic Access Portal, linked from the Covenant Administration page at thewoodlandstownship-tx.gov. The property owner has to create an account first. After that, a contractor can complete the application on the owner’s behalf.

Step 2: Put the packet together

Have these ready before you start the application:

• A signed Hold Harmless Agreement. The Township requires it for every application.
• A property survey with the fence marked on it.
• A drawing that shows the distance from the fence to each property line. The Township notes that surveys don’t always give the most accurate measurements, so the plan needs those distances spelled out.
• The fence details: height, style, material, and stain or color.

Step 3: Mark the fence line on site

Before Township staff visit, the owner or contractor should mark the outline of the new fence on the ground. If any tree would have to come out, flag it at the time you submit. Keep in mind that trees larger than six inches in diameter, measured two feet above grade, can’t be removed to make room for a fence. See our guide to building a fence around trees.

Step 4: Design to the standards before you submit

Most delays come from a design that doesn’t fit the rules. The common issues are height, placement on golf course or lake lots, and materials. Solid fences top out at 7’6” on most lots, see-through fences at 6’6”, and chain link isn’t allowed unless it’s fully screened. Our height, placement, and materials guide covers the main limits.

Two situations need an extra signature:

• A “good neighbor” fence with alternating sections facing each side needs your neighbor’s written consent, unless you’re repairing or replacing one that’s already there.
• A fence in an easement needs approval from the easement owner, such as the utility or drainage district, as well as the review committee.

Step 5: Wait for written approval, then build

Construction should start only after you have written approval. If you’re in Grogan’s Forest (Cantwell Forest, Avalon Oaks, or Dulcimer Woods), the process is different: those properties file a joint application through the City of Shenandoah, which handles fences and pool barriers there.

For meeting schedules, submittal deadlines, and current fees, check the Township’s Covenant Administration Helpful Resources page, or call Covenant Administration at 281-210-3800.

How we help

When we quote a fence in The Woodlands, we design it to the standards and your Neighborhood Criteria first, then put together the drawing, height, materials, and stain details the RDRC asks for. We start work once you have written approval. If you’d like help with an application, request a free estimate.

This guide summarizes The Woodlands Township's 2024 Residential Development Standards and Covenant Administration permitting pages as of October 2026. The recorded standards and your Neighborhood Criteria control, and they can change.