Rothschild, WI Fence Regulations: Retaining Walls (2026)

Section 590-94, Grading, targets the erosion and drainage risk of altering ground level near a property boundary. The baseline rule bars excessive grading purely to create buildable lots on excessive slopes. For grade changes within 20 feet of a property line, the resulting slope cannot exceed a ratio of three horizontal feet to one vertical foot, and in no case can a slope exceed the soil's normal angle of slippage, the angle beyond which the material itself will slide. A retaining wall is the code's named way around that 3:1 ceiling: Subsection B lets a property owner exceed the standard slope ratio only where a retaining wall is built with the written consent of the abutting property owner whose land sits next to the steepened grade, and only with the additional approval of the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The section does not set its own wall height limit, required setback, or engineering certification, so those questions fall to the Commission's case-by-case review rather than a fixed table. Because the section sits in Chapter 590's general design-standards article rather than the building code, it governs whether a retaining wall may be built at all near a lot line, separate from any building permit or structural review the Building Inspector would apply once a wall is designed. A homeowner who grades a slope steeper than 3:1 without securing both the neighbor's written consent and the Commission's approval is grading in violation of this chapter.