The City of Beloit regulates fence heights and placement under Section 9.28 of the Beloit Municipal Code (Chapter 9 - Building Code), with related setback and use standards in the Chapter 19 Zoning Code. In residential rear and interior side setbacks, fences are limited to 6 feet in height. In front-yard and street-side setbacks, fences must be at least 50 percent open and chain-link fences are not allowed in those locations. A fence permit is required from the Community Development Department's Planning & Building Services Division (City Hall, 100 State Street) before installation, including for dog enclosures. State law (Wis. Stat. ch. 90 and Wis. Stat. Sec. 62.23) provides the underlying authority for partition fences and municipal zoning.
Fence regulations for the City of Beloit are set out at Sec. 9.28 of the Beloit Municipal Code (Chapter 9 - Building Code) and are applied in conjunction with Chapter 19 (Zoning Code, recreated by ordinance #2946) for setbacks and yard definitions. Within residential districts, the standards distinguish between the rear/interior-side setback area, where solid privacy fences up to 6 feet in height are permitted, and the front-yard and street-side setback area, where any fence must be at least 50 percent open (for example, picket, wrought iron, or similar see-through styles) and chain-link is prohibited. Dog enclosures must be located directly behind and adjacent to the principal building, may not be located closer to a street-side property line than the building, and may not exceed 250 square feet or 6 feet in height. A fence permit application showing a site plan with the proposed fence location and height must be filed with the Division of Housing Services (Planning & Building Services) before any fence or dog enclosure is built. State authority for these local rules comes from Wis. Stat. Sec. 62.23, which grants cities zoning power, while Wis. Stat. ch. 90 (including Sec. 90.03 and Sec. 90.05) governs partition and legal fences for shared boundaries between landowners. Because Chapter 9 and Chapter 19 of the Beloit Municipal Code have been amended over time, property owners should pull the current Sec. 9.28 text from Municode and confirm requirements with Planning & Building Services before designing or installing a fence near a property line, intersection, or corner lot.
Building or maintaining a fence or dog enclosure in violation of Sec. 9.28 of the Beloit Municipal Code - including exceeding the 6-foot height limit in residential rear/interior setbacks, installing a closed or chain-link fence in a front-yard or street-side setback, or failing to obtain a fence permit before construction - can result in stop-work orders, citations, daily forfeitures, and orders to lower or remove the fence. Disputes over partition fences between adjoining landowners are handled under Wis. Stat. ch. 90, which can require cost-sharing and town fence-viewer involvement. Variances from the Zoning Code are heard by the City of Beloit Board of Appeals.
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