Fence Regulations in Wisconsin (2026)

Appleton limits a residential boundary fence to 6 feet, rising to 12 feet in commercial and industrial districts, under…

Residential fences in Ashwaubenon top out at six feet on the rear and side lot lines, dropping to three feet within the…

Beloit caps fences at 4 feet in front and street-side setbacks in residential, commercial and PLI districts, and at 8…

Burlington caps front-yard fences at four feet if they are at least 80% open, or three feet if more solid, while side…

De Pere caps residential fence height at three feet in the front or street-side yard setback, four feet if it is a…

In Fitchburg, Wisconsin residential districts, City Code § 22-56(10) caps a perimeter fence, one built within five feet…

In unincorporated county towns, Section 12.19.030(a) caps residential fences and walls at 6 feet in the side and rear…

Fences and hedges in Little Chute top out at 42 inches in any yard facing a street, unless at least half open above…

Madison's zoning code caps screening fences and hedges at six feet in required interior side and rear setbacks, eight…

Residential fences in unincorporated Marathon County towns can run up to 6 feet along most lot lines, but drop to 4…

Middleton limits residential fences to 3 feet in a required front or corner side yard and 6 feet in a side or rear…

Milton, Wisconsin's zoning code caps residential fences at 4 feet in a front or street yard and 6 feet in a side or…

Milwaukee caps residential fences at 4 feet in front and side street yards, 6 feet in side and rear yards, under the…

Mosinee caps most fences, walls, hedges and shrubbery at six feet, drops that to three feet in a corner side yard and…

Fences in the City of Neenah are regulated by the city Building Code under the authority delegated to Wisconsin cities…

New Berlin caps residential front-yard fences at 50 inches, side and rear fences at 74 inches, and nonresidential…

City of Oshkosh Zoning Ordinance Chapter 30, Section 30-192 (Fencing Standards) caps fence height at 4 feet in front or…

In Outagamie County's residential zoning districts, fences, walls and hedges cannot top 3.5 feet in the front yard or 8…

Racine County zoning caps security fences at 10 feet and requires an open woven-wire or wrought-iron style; the fences…

Rock County sets no countywide fence-height limit. General zoning inside cities (Janesville, Beloit), villages, and the…

Rothschild caps residential front and street-yard fences at four feet with at least 50% transparency and an 18-inch…

Sun Prairie regulates fences under Title 17 (Zoning), Section 17.36.200 of the Municipal Code. Residential fences may…

In the towns under Walworth County zoning, fences on the property line cannot exceed six feet in side, rear or street…

The City of Waukesha regulates fences in residential districts under Section 22.58 of the Municipal Code, adopted under…

Wausau caps residential fences at four feet in the front or street yard and six feet in the side or rear yard across…

Wauwatosa caps fence height by yard location: rear and side yards not facing a street allow up to six feet without a…

West Allis caps residential fences at six feet in side and rear yards, bans them in required front-yard setbacks, and…

In Winnebago County towns that adopted Chapter 23 zoning, a fence over 30 inches built after April 29, 2012 is capped…

Waukesha County's zoning code excludes fences from its definition of "Structure," so ordinary offset and setback height…

Within Racine County's 75-foot shore yard setback along navigable waters, fences count as prohibited structures, with…

Appleton charges a permit fee for residential, commercial, and industrial fences under its building permit fee…

No fence may be built anywhere in Ashwaubenon without first securing a building permit from the building inspector. The…

Before installing, building, replacing or moving any fence in the City of Beloit, the property owner must obtain a…

Brown County treats a new fence in the shoreland zone as development requiring a shoreland permit, unless it is a…

Anyone building a fence in Burlington must first get a fence permit from the Building Inspector, with a fee set by the…

Green Bay caps residential fences at 6 feet in side and rear yards, but only 3 feet facing the street unless you use…

In Kenosha County's unincorporated towns, most new, moved, or rebuilt fences need a zoning permit under Section…

Little Chute requires a permit for permanent fences; only temporary fences built to protect plantings or mark…

A fence meets Marathon County's broad definition of 'structure,' so in towns under county zoning, erecting one…

Every fence in Middleton needs review and approval by the Zoning Administrator plus zoning and building permits, though…

Milton, Wisconsin exempts fences from the building permit requirement that applies to structures generally, but a…

Milwaukee requires a construction permit to erect a fence, with a $25 construction fee plus a $35 processing fee…

Milwaukee County requires a permit and a recordable agreement with the director of public works before installing a…

Before building, enlarging, or altering a fence in Neenah, owners must get a permit from the Building Inspector and…

New Berlin needs no permit for a fence built within Sec. 275-42 H's standard height and material rules, but a…

A Rothschild fence permit turns on height and location under Village Code § 590-95D(1): fences under four feet outside…

Walworth County does not require a zoning permit to build a residential fence in the towns under Walworth County…

The county treats a fence as excluded from its "Structure" definition, so no county zoning permit is required for an…

Every fence in Wausau needs the Zoning Administrator's review and approval plus a building permit, unless the design…

Wauwatosa requires a fence permit whenever a fence exceeds the exempt heights set in Section 15.28.020, including most…

A zoning permit is required to build or rebuild a fence over 30 inches tall in residential, business, mixed-use, and…

Wisconsin Chapter 90 governs partition (line) fences between adjoining owners of farming or grazing land. Adjoining…

Appleton caps a boundary fence at six feet in residential districts and twelve feet in commercial and industrial…

De Pere puts the burden of finding the property line on the fence owner, not the neighbor. Sec. 54-7(b) requires the…

When a Little Chute subdivision borders farmland or grazing land, the developer must build and maintain a state-law…

Wisconsin's partition fence statute (WI Stat 90.03) requires adjoining rural/agricultural landowners to share cost of…

Milwaukee County sets no neighbor fence rules. Boundary-line fences on residential land follow municipal zoning, while…

To build a fence directly on a side or rear property line in Mosinee, where there's no adjoining alley, both…

Wisconsin's line-fence law governs shared fences between neighbors. Where adjoining land is farmed or grazed, both…

Boundary-fence disputes in Waukesha County are governed by Wisconsin's partition-fence law, not the county. On…

West Allis requires the finished side of fences face neighbors. Shared boundary fences follow WI line fence statute…

Fitchburg, Wisconsin's land division ordinance lets the city require a subdivider whose plat borders farmland or…

Within shoreland areas of unincorporated Fond du Lac County, a fence may sit on any lot but must stay at least 75 feet…

New Berlin allows a fence to sit directly on a shared lot line only if it is built of maintenance-free material, or if…

In unincorporated Fond du Lac County, retaining walls are flatly prohibited within the design standards for any…

Madison treats any retaining wall built on City-owned or leased greenways or park land as a public nuisance unless the…

A retaining wall built inside Racine County's shore yard setback is treated as a prohibited structure unless a site…

Rothschild does not set a retaining wall height cap, but Village Code § 590-94 requires written consent from the…

Green Bay requires every retaining wall to be kept weather-tight, structurally sound, and free of significant wear as…

Kenosha requires a Retaining Wall Permit with licensed civil engineer approval for any retaining wall taller than five…

Little Chute caps any single retaining wall on a lot at six feet, and requires a three-foot terrace between lot lines…

Milwaukee requires a building permit for any retaining wall supporting 32 inches or more of unbalanced fill; shorter…

Milwaukee County treats a retaining wall in the public way as a 'retainment device' requiring director approval, a…

New Berlin requires an administrative permit for any retaining wall over 16 inches tall. City Code § 275-55 A(5) treats…

Retaining walls over four feet tall built for slope stabilization in unincorporated Walworth County must be designed…

Waukesha caps an unengineered retaining wall at four feet under Municipal Code Sec. 22.17, the Preservation of…

Waukesha County regulates retaining walls as Structures. A wall five feet or greater from a lot line generally needs a…

Wausau requires a building permit before any retaining wall is built or rebuilt, and the Building Inspector can demand…

Retaining walls that abut public property in Wauwatosa must stay structurally sound and can't dump mud, gravel or…

West Allis exempts retaining walls under five feet from permitting; walls five feet or taller need a building permit…

Retaining walls are exempt from Winnebago County's yard setbacks under Chapter 23, but that exemption doesn't reach the…

Burlington's Property Maintenance Code requires every retaining wall in the City to be structurally sound and bars any…

De Pere's building design standards cap knee walls and retaining walls used to manage sloping ground-story facades at…

Fitchburg's zoning code sets a one-foot minimum setback from the property line for retaining walls built as residential…

Mosinee's property maintenance code does not set a height limit or permit process for retaining walls. Sec. 42-1380(h)…

Milwaukee's zoning code prohibits barbed wire, concertina wire and razor wire on fences in residential districts. The…

The Village of Ashwaubenon bans barbed wire and electrically charged fencing everywhere except on parcels larger than…

The City of Beloit's fence code prohibits aboveground electric fences and razor wire on any property, and bars barbed…

Burlington bans fences that conduct electricity, are designed to shock, use barbed wire, or contain any part meant to…

Section 12.19.030(a) flatly bans any residential fence or wall that incorporates barbed wire in unincorporated Kenosha…

Little Chute bans fences designed to electrically shock and prohibits barbed wire villagewide, except in industrially…

The City of Milton, Wisconsin bans a long list of fence materials, including rope, wire products, cut or broken glass…

A front-yard fence in any Mosinee residence district has to be decorative, capped at 50 percent opacity and four feet…

Waukesha bans barbed wire and electric fences almost everywhere: they are allowed only in the T-1 Temporary zoning…

Wausau's zoning code bans rope, wire netting, broken glass, corrugated or galvanized sheet metal, plywood, pallets, and…

Winnebago County's Chapter 23 zoning code bans barbed wire and electric fencing on residential parcels except for…

Appleton bans barbed wire, electric fences and single/double/triple-strand wire fencing citywide except in the AG…

De Pere bans six categories of fencing material on residential lots: barbed wire, permanent chicken wire, thin wire or…

Green Bay bans barbed wire and other dangerous fencing materials on residential lots and within four feet of streets…

Fences in Madison's front or street side yard setbacks must be built of wood, ornamental metal, brick, vinyl-coated…

Marathon County's zoning code bans barbed wire and similar hazardous fencing materials in residential districts, with…

Middleton bans rope, wire netting, broken glass, corrugated or sheet metal, plywood, pallets, and plastic panels as…

Neenah bans electrically charged and barbed wire fencing on ordinary lots, plus junk materials like aluminum siding…

New Berlin's zoning code limits fence and wall materials citywide. Fences must use wood, stone, brick, decorative…

Rothschild bans wire mesh, barbed wire and electrified fencing on residential lots under Village Code § 590-95B(1)(a)…

Sun Prairie bans chain link and wire mesh fencing from residential front and street yards, while nonresidential…

Waukesha County's zoning code imposes no general fence-material palette for residential lots in unincorporated towns…

Wauwatosa's fence code bans barbed wire, razor wire, electrically charged fencing and agricultural wire (except around…

West Allis fences must use approved materials like commercial fencing, block, or treated lumber: sheet metal, salvage…