Tazewell County, IL Fence Regulations: Fence Permit Requirements (2026)

049 of the county zoning code sets both the design limits and the permit trigger. Front-yard fences between the property line and the building setback must be open style and no taller than four feet (division (A)). Side and rear fences in residential districts and platted subdivisions may run up to six feet (division (B)), and the same six-foot cap applies to a corner lot's side and rear lines beginning at the setback (division (D)). Outside residential and agricultural districts, fences may run up to eight feet, and the Zoning Board of Appeals can approve a taller fence as a special use if it finds the height serves the public welfare (division (F)).

Barbed wire and electric fencing are barred from every residential district and, where allowed elsewhere, must sit at least ten feet from a residential boundary (division (E)). Fences cannot encroach into a right-of-way, and while an owner may build one inside a dedicated easement at his or her own risk, none may go inside a dedicated drainage easement (divisions (C) and (G)). Division (H) exempts three categories from the permit requirement outright: fencing used for agricultural operations, ornamental fencing made of decorative posts, lattices, arbors or trellises, and any fence totaling less than 24 lineal feet on the parcel, though that short fence must still meet every other fencing standard in the section. 011(C) lists the fee as $50, payable when the permit application is filed with the Community Development Department.