Fence laws in Evanston, Illinois
What the Evanston municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Evanston sets no rule of its own, the Illinois rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Evanston, Illinois, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Evanston points the finished face at residential property or the street where a residential property adjoins, and then does something most codes do not: it lets the unfinished face front an alley, on the reasoning that nobody lives on the alley side. The figure is 2 feet, for setback and planting strip in a required street side yard.
- How tall
- Across the residential, business, commercial, campus, university, downtown and transitional manufacturing districts an Evanston fence stops at six feet, and the exceptions run both ways, and the answer turns on the district, where the fence sits relative to the front of the house, and what is on the other side. The figure is 4 feet, for fence across the front of a lot.
- Permits
- Nobody in Evanston may erect, construct, install or replace a fence without first getting a certificate of zoning compliance, with no height threshold and replacement named alongside new work. The figure is 30 percent, for most a replacement may increase a nonconforming fence opacity.
- Pool barriers
- Evanston sets no statewide pool barrier rule. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Spite fences
- Evanston has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Evanston leaves the measuring rule to the corporate authorities of each municipality.
- Corner lots
- Evanston prints a table with four rows rather than one rule, and each row changes the size, the datum and the limit together, and the answer turns on what kind of intersection the fence stands at. The figure is 20 feet, for sight triangle leg at a street intersection.
- Retaining walls
- Evanston leaves retaining walls to the municipal or county residential building code, or the International Residential Code named in the construction contract. It reaches newly built homes only.
- Materials
- Evanston lists six permitted materials for its residential and commercial districts and attaches conditions to two of them, and the answer turns on the district and the material. The figure is 6 feet, for height above which barbed wire may sit in industry.
- Livestock
- Illinois calls a fence legal at four and a half feet tall and in good repair. The figure is 4.5 feet, for height of a legal fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in Evanston?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
Evanston answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Evanston points the finished face at residential property or the street where a residential property adjoins, and then does something most codes do not: it lets the unfinished face front an alley, on the reasoning that nobody lives on the alley side. A fence in a required street side yard has to keep a two foot setback from the property line and that strip has to be landscaped with foundation plantings. A fence in a required street side or interior side yard, or inside the building envelope, has to be set back three feet from any front-facing facade of the house unless it connects to a stretch of fence lawfully in the front yard. All fences have to be kept in good, structurally sound condition.
All fences shall have their finished face directed toward residential property or streets, where a residential property is adjacent to the subject property. However, the unfinished face may be oriented toward an alley.
2 ftsetback and planting strip in a required street side yard
Also on fences on the property line in Evanston
- set in state lawIllinois makes both neighbors pay for a fence on the line between them, each one a fair share. Most of the section is about hedge fences. A hedge has to be cut back to four feet in the year after it turns seven, then trimmed to five feet at least every two years. An owner who has done the trimming can give the neighbor ten days written notice, do the work, and sue for the cost. Town officers called fence viewers settle the fights. 765 ILCS 130/3Illinois · Statute
How tall can a fence be in Evanston?
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Evanston answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, where the fence sits relative to the front of the house, and what is on the other side.
Across the residential, business, commercial, campus, university, downtown and transitional manufacturing districts an Evanston fence stops at six feet, and the exceptions run both ways. It drops to four feet in the strip between the front lot line and a point three feet behind any front-facing facade of the house, and rises to eight in a required interior side or rear yard where that line, or an abutting alley, is the boundary between a residential and a non-residential use. A temporary construction fence may reach eight feet, and an open mesh fence around a park, recreational area or school site has no height restriction at all. In the industrial districts and on non-residential land in the MUE and MXE districts the general limit is eight feet.
Fences shall not exceed eight (8) feet in height when located within a required interior side yard or required rear yard and when the lot line associated with said required yard or an abutting alley is a boundary between a residential use and a nonresidential use;
The answer turns on the district, where the fence sits relative to the front of the house, and what is on the other side.
- between the front lot line and three feet behind the front of the house
- Four feet. 4 ft
- the rest of a residential, business or commercial lot
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a side or rear line dividing a home from a non-residential use
- Eight feet. 8 ft
- open mesh fencing at a park, recreation area or school
- No height restriction.
Also on fence height in Evanston
- no rule, documents checkedIllinois sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The Fence Act names four and a half feet, but that is a floor for a farm fence that holds animals, and the same section lets a town meeting or the county board pick a different number. The state housing law sets no height either. A yard fence height comes from city zoning. 765 ILCS 130/2Illinois · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in Evanston?
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Evanston answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Nobody in Evanston may erect, construct, install or replace a fence without first getting a certificate of zoning compliance, with no height threshold and replacement named alongside new work. The regulations reach every fence built or replaced after 1 April 1999, and a fence legally standing on that date may remain as a legal nonconforming use. Repairing or replacing one is allowed on four conditions: it may not increase the degree of nonconformity or create a new one, it may not raise the height above the permitted maximum or increase the opacity by more than thirty percent, it has to provide adequate sight distance, and the work has to finish within a year or the fence loses its nonconforming status altogether. The Zoning Administrator may grant one further year for extenuating circumstances such as weather.
No person shall erect, construct, install, or replace a fence without first receiving a certificate of zoning compliance.
30%most a replacement may increase a nonconforming fence opacity
Also on permits in Evanston
- set in state lawIllinois has no one statewide permit rule for work at a house. Where a town or county has no building code of its own, the Residential Building Code Act makes the builder and the buyer name a code in the building contract, and the International Residential Code applies when they name none. A separate law, in force since January 1, 2025, also requires a city or county code to be at least as strict as a recent model code on how a building is built to hold weight. Illinois Residential Building Code Act, Sec. 15Illinois · Statute
Pool fence requirements in Evanston
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Evanston law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Illinois writes no fence rule for a pool at a private home. The Swimming Pool Safety Act covers pools built for public swimming, and it says plainly that a pool at a private home used by the owner and guests is left out. The state Swimming Facility Code leaves the same pools out. What a home pool needs comes from the city or county and from whatever building code that place has adopted.
This one is Illinois law, not Evanston law. All Illinois findings
Documents read before writing that:
- 210 ILCS 130/1Illinois General Assembly
- 77 Ill. Adm. Code 820Illinois General Assembly, Joint Committee on Administrative Rules
Spite fence laws in Evanston
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Evanston law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Illinois has no spite fence law. The Fence Act covers who pays, what counts as a legal fence, and how hedges get trimmed. Nothing in it turns on why a fence was built. A fence put up to annoy a neighbor is fought in Illinois as a nuisance case in court, or under a city rule.
This one is Illinois law, not Evanston law. All Illinois findings
Documents read before writing that:
- 765 ILCS 130/3Illinois General Assembly
- 765 ILCS 130/2Illinois General Assembly
How fence height is measured in Evanston
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Evanston does not set this. It leaves it to the corporate authorities of each municipality.
Illinois never says where a fence height is measured from. The Illinois Municipal Code lets a city set the height and size of buildings, in one short line, and stops there. The Fence Act calls four and a half feet a legal fence and says nothing about the surface those feet start at. So the number and the way to measure it both come from the city.
This one is Illinois law, not Evanston law. All Illinois findings
(1) to regulate and limit the height and bulk of buildings hereafter to be erected;
The code hands this to the corporate authorities of each municipality, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence rules for corner lots in Evanston
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Evanston answers this, but the answer changes depending on what kind of intersection the fence stands at.
Evanston prints a table with four rows rather than one rule, and each row changes the size, the datum and the limit together. Two streets meeting get a twenty by twenty foot triangle measured from the edge of the curbs, with nothing over two and a half feet and no opacity limit. Two alleys get three by three, measured from the property lines, at the same two and a half feet. A street meeting an alley gets twenty by twenty, measured from the curb on the street side and the property line on the alley side. A property line meeting a driveway that leads to a street gets eight by eight measured from the driveway edge and the property line, at four feet, and it is the only one of the four that also caps opacity, at seventy percent.
Any person erecting, constructing, installing, or replacing a fence shall ensure that adequate sight distance is provided at the intersection of two (2) streets, two (2) alleys, or a street and an alley, or a property line and a driveway that leads to a street.
The answer turns on what kind of intersection the fence stands at.
- two streets, or a street and an alley
- Twenty by twenty feet, nothing over two and a half feet. 20 ft
- two alleys
- Three by three feet, nothing over two and a half feet. 3 ft
- a property line and a driveway leading to a street
- Eight by eight feet, four feet high, and at most seventy percent opaque. 70%
Also on corner visibility in Evanston
- set in state lawIllinois treats this as blocking the road. Under the Illinois Highway Code it is a petty offense to block a public highway, and running a fence onto one counts, unless the highway authority in charge gave permission. The fine runs from fifty to five hundred dollars, and more for each day the blockage stays after an order to take it out. That rule covers the road strip. A clear view triangle on private ground comes from city zoning. 605 ILCS 5/9-117Illinois · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in Evanston
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Evanston does not set this. It leaves it to the municipal or county residential building code, or the International Residential Code named in the construction contract.
Illinois has no statewide building code for homes, so no state law sets a height at which a wall that holds back dirt needs a permit. Where a town or county has its own building code, that code answers it. Where there is none, the Residential Building Code Act makes the builder and the buyer name a code in the building contract, and the current International Residential Code becomes part of that contract when they name none.
This one is Illinois law, not Evanston law. All Illinois findings
The home builder and the home purchaser may agree to adopt the International Residential Code or any municipal residential building code or county residential building code that is in effect on the first day of construction in any county or municipality that is within 100 miles of the location of the new home.
The code hands this to the municipal or county residential building code, or the International Residential Code named in the construction contract, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in Evanston
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Evanston answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district and the material.
Evanston lists six permitted materials for its residential and commercial districts and attaches conditions to two of them. Wood, wood polymer lumber, wrought iron and masonry or stucco are allowed outright, with wood polymer lumber required to be at least half postconsumer or postindustrial wood fiber. PVC is allowed only if its posts and horizontal components are non-circular in cross section and at least 0.120 inch thick, the material is solid wall extruded so the color runs all the way through, it is recyclable at the end of its useful life, and it meets ASTM standard F964-94. Chain link is the narrowest case of all, permitted only in the strip between a street lot line and three feet behind a street-facing facade, only where the yard abuts a type 1 street, and only where the City Council has specifically listed chain link for that street. Barbed wire appears only in the industrial districts, in an interior side or rear yard, above six feet.
Chainlink, provided said material shall only be permitted within the area between a street lot line and three (3) feet behind any street-facing facade of the principal building where the required front and/or street side yard abuts a type 1 street, and the City Council has specifically listed chainlink as a permitted fence material along the said type 1 street; and
The answer turns on the district and the material.
- a residential, business or commercial district
- Wood, wood polymer lumber, wrought iron, masonry or stucco, and PVC to specification.
- chain link
- Only on a type 1 street the City Council has specifically listed.
- barbed wire in an industrial district
- Interior side or rear yard only, above six feet. 6 ft
Also on materials in Evanston
- set in state lawIllinois lists what a legal fence can be made of: rails, boards, stone, hedge, barbed wire, woven wire, or anything the town fence viewers judge just as good. The fence has to stand four and a half feet tall and be in good repair. 765 ILCS 130/2Illinois · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in Evanston
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Illinois answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Illinois calls a fence legal at four and a half feet tall and in good repair. It can be rails, boards, stone, hedge, barbed wire, woven wire, or anything the town fence viewers judge just as good at keeping cattle, horses, sheep and hogs off the land next door. Voters at the yearly town meeting can set a different number for their own town. In a county with no townships, the county board sets it.
This one is Illinois law, not Evanston law. All Illinois findings
Fences four and one-half feet high, and in good repair, consisting of rails, timber boards, stone, hedges, barb wire, woven wire or whatever the fence viewers of the town or precinct where the same shall lie shall consider equivalent thereto suitable and sufficient to prevent cattle, horses, sheep, hogs and other stock from getting on the adjoining lands of another
4.5 ftheight of a legal fence
Also on agricultural fencing in Evanston
- set in state lawIllinois puts the duty on the animal owner, not on the neighbor. A separate act bans letting livestock roam loose anywhere in the state and tells owners to put up whatever it takes to hold them. The owner pays in court for the damage loose animals do. The one way out is showing the animals got out without the owner knowing, and that the owner had taken reasonable care to keep them in. 510 ILCS 55/1Illinois · Statute
Documents behind this page
10 documents, of which 1 was published by Evanston itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Illinois General AssemblyIllinois Compiled Statutes, Property, Fence Act
- City of EvanstonCity Code, Title 6, Chapter 4, Section 6-4-6-7, Special Regulations Applicable to Fences
- Illinois General AssemblyIllinois Compiled Statutes, Property, Fence Act, Legal and sufficient fences
- Illinois General AssemblyIllinois Compiled Statutes, Illinois Residential Building Code Act
- Illinois General AssemblyIllinois Compiled Statutes, Health Facilities and Regulation, Swimming Pool Safety Act
- Illinois General Assembly, Joint Committee on Administrative RulesIllinois Administrative Code, Title 77, Part 820, Swimming Facility Code
- Illinois General AssemblyIllinois Compiled Statutes, 65 ILCS 5, Illinois Municipal Code, Article 11, Division 13, Section 11-13-1
- Illinois General AssemblyIllinois Compiled Statutes, 605 ILCS 5, Illinois Highway Code, Article 9, Section 9-117
- Illinois General AssemblyIllinois Compiled Statutes, Chapter 765, Fence Act
- Illinois General AssemblyIllinois Compiled Statutes, 510 ILCS 55, Domestic Animals Running at Large Act
What this page does not cover
A city ordinance is not the only rule that reaches a fence. The zoning district a parcel sits in can change the height allowed on it, and so can an overlay district, a recorded easement, a fire hazard severity zone or a coastal zone. A homeowner association can be stricter than the city and nothing in the municipal code will say so. None of those appear here.
The rules above are the ones Evanston publishes, plus the Illinois rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Illinois has the state layer in full.
This is general information drawn from published government documents. It is not legal advice, ordinances are amended, and the date beside each finding is the date the document was read. How findings are made · What the terms mean