Kenosha County, WI Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Section 12.19.030(a), the same subsection that sets residential fence heights, states without qualification that "no fence or wall which incorporates barbed wire shall be permitted in a residential district," and the ordinance carries no height or partial-use exception for it: any barbed wire strand on a residential fence violates the section. The rule reverses inside the FPO Floodplain Overlay District under Section 12.19.030(c), which prohibits every fence type there except "barbed wire or wire strand fences for agricultural purposes." Agricultural wire-strand fencing gets its own separate permit exemption too: Section 12.19.020(e) allows it to be constructed or placed within the required shore yard, the 100-year floodplain, or the C-1 Lowland Resource Conservancy District without a zoning permit at all, provided it serves agricultural purposes.

Outside the residential-district ban and the floodplain restriction, Section 12.19.030(b) lets non-residential security fences and walls run up to 10 feet without a stated material restriction, so commercial and industrial security fencing elsewhere in the county is not barred from incorporating barbed wire the way residential fencing is. Any fence, regardless of material, still has to clear the 2-foot vision-triangle cap and the 2-foot right-of-way setback that apply under 12.19.030 generally, and a zoning permit under Section 12.19.010 is required unless the fence qualifies for one of the Section 12.19.020 exemptions.