Skokie, IL Fence Regulations: Material Restrictions (2026)

Skokie Village Code Sec. 118-61(e) prohibits, unless otherwise stated elsewhere in the code, any fence or fence attachment that is electrically charged, with no exception offered for residential or commercial property. The same subsection bans barbed wire, razor wire, or any guard or barricade intended to cause injury, again with no general residential exception. The single carve-out is for industrially zoned property: barbed wire is permitted there only if it is located at least 6 feet above ground level and angled inward, toward the property it encloses, rather than outward where it could injure a passerby or neighboring property.

Because Sec. 118-61 sits in Article IV, General Provisions, alongside the height rules in the same section, a fence that combines a prohibited material with a height violation exposes the owner to enforcement on both grounds at once. Sec. 118-61(a) also requires a Village building permit before any fence, including a legal wire or metal fence, is constructed, installed, or replaced, and the permit review is the point at which the Zoning Official can catch a prohibited material before it goes up. Legal fences are exempt from some of the setback rules that apply to other structures under Sec. 118-59(d)(1) and Sec. 118-60(f), but that exemption covers placement, not the material bans in Sec. 118-61(e).