Permits: what the City of Humble requires

Because Timberwood sits inside Humble city limits, the City of Humble Building Department governs work on the house. This trips people up all the time. Most of ZIP 77396 is unincorporated Harris County, where the rules are looser, and most of the advice online is written for that.

The city lists these as needing plans submitted

• New construction
• Interior build-out or remodel
• Alteration of the building interior or exterior
• Fencing, buffer wall, screening wall
• Tree removal
• Concrete
• Site development
• Installing a generator
• Adding solar panels
• Floodplain activity: development, fill of any amount, grading, storage¹

The city calls that list "some examples", so it is a starting point and not the

whole list. It also warns that "often, a floodplain development permit is required

even when a construction permit may not be required", and that the rule reaches the

500-year floodplain as well as the 100-year one.¹

A fence needs a permit here. So does tree removal, and so does concrete. Plenty of pages online say fences do not normally need a permit in Humble, and those pages are describing unincorporated county areas or are out of date. The city's own building page governs.

Fence rules in the city code

• A permit is required before a fence goes up, under section 9.07.003.² This is the rule most often missed here. A repair does not need one; the code defines what counts as a repair in section 9.07.002.²
• Chain link is not allowed on a new fence. Section 9.07.006(b)(2) makes it unlawful to build a fence "constructed of chain link".² The article covers fences built after the ordinance took effect and any fence where more than half has been damaged or needs replacing, so an older chain link fence stands until that much of it comes down.²
• In a front yard only a decorative fence is allowed in the setback area at all, it cannot exceed 4 feet, and it cannot be wire, mesh or chain link.²
• A fence higher than 8 feet is unlawful in a rear yard or a side yard, or along either lot line.²
• Any fence along a roadway, public or private, must have the finished side facing the roadway.²

A fence also has to satisfy any recorded deed restriction on the lot, which is a separate question from the permit and is not checked by the city.

Humble's code of ordinances is published on eCode360, not Municode. Searching the wrong one is how people conclude a rule does not exist.

What it costs

A 150-foot back fence is therefore $56, not $50. The fee schedule in force took

effect October 1, 2024.³

How to submit

Plans go to the Building Department in person or by courier. Bring the filled-in application, the plan review fee, two full sets of plans, a PDF on a disc or flash drive, and anything else that applies, like an elevation certificate or a soil report.¹ Plans have to be printed 24 by 36 inches and edge bound, and a Texas engineer's seal is required once a building reaches 5,000 square feet or $20,000 in construction cost.¹

Contacts

• Building Department, 114 W. Higgins St, Humble TX 77338, 281-446-6228¹
• Public Works, 102 Granberry St, 281-446-2327, 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM weekdays.⁵ After hours, the police department at 281-446-7127 reaches the on-call crew.⁵

Still open

The fees above are published. Turnaround is not, and the city does not post a review time for a residential fence. A neighbor who has pulled one recently can settle how long it actually took.

See also

• Deed restrictions
• Garage sales
• Flooding