Fence laws in Skokie, Illinois
What the Skokie municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where Skokie sets no rule of its own, the Illinois rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in Skokie, Illinois, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- Skokie writes the finished side rule as a choice rather than a command.
- How tall
- Skokie starts at six feet in a required yard and then moves in both directions, and the answer turns on the yard, the district, and what the lot on the other side is zoned. The figure is 5 feet, for fence between two residential lots.
- Permits
- Skokie needs a building permit for any fence, in one sentence with no height threshold and no exemption for a short one.
- Pool barriers
- Skokie sets no statewide pool barrier rule. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Spite fences
- Skokie has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- Every height in the Skokie fence section is written as so many feet from ground level, and the phrase is repeated on each figure rather than stated once and left to carry, so the datum is the ground the fence stands on.
- Corner lots
- Skokie controls a band rather than everything above a line, and the answer turns on the zoning district. The figure is 10 feet, for sight triangle leg in the lower density districts.
- Retaining walls
- Skokie 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
- The Skokie fence section names no permitted material and sets no rule about opacity, color or style outside the site plan review that a decorative fence at a non-residential use in a residential district needs, and the answer turns on the material and the zoning of the property. The figure is 6 feet, for lowest point barbed wire may sit at.
- 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 Skokie?
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Skokie answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Skokie writes the finished side rule as a choice rather than a command. Fence posts and other supporting members either face the owner side, which is the usual requirement, or are enclosed on two sides by fencing, which allows a board on board or double sided fence where neither neighbor sees the frame. The section sets no setback from the property line anywhere, and the height rules speak of a fence being along a side lot line, so a fence on the boundary is contemplated rather than prohibited. Nothing in the section requires a gate, a maintenance strip or a survey.
All fence posts and other supporting members must face to the owner's side or be enclosed on two sides by fencing.
Also on fences on the property line in Skokie
- 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 Skokie?
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Skokie answers this, but the answer changes depending on the yard, the district, and what the lot on the other side is zoned.
Skokie starts at six feet in a required yard and then moves in both directions. It drops to five feet in a residential district where the fence runs along a side lot line, or sits in a required side yard, and the lot on the other side is also residential, so the fence between two houses is the lowest one in the village. It rises to eight feet in an industrial district, and on a residential lot whose side or rear line abuts an industrial district or an alley that abuts one. Inside a sight distance triangle it falls to thirty inches. The front yard and the corner side yard are not a height question at all: no fence or portion of a fence is allowed there, with exceptions only for schools, public parks, governmental uses and public utilities where one is needed to protect the public, plus a decorative fence at a non-residential use in a residential district with site plan approval.
A fence in a required yard may be erected to a height not exceeding 6' from ground level, except as otherwise provided below:
The answer turns on the yard, the district, and what the lot on the other side is zoned.
- a front yard or corner side yard
- No fence at all, with narrow public exceptions.
- a side lot line between two residential lots
- Five feet. 5 ft
- any other required yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- an industrial district, or a residential lot backing onto one
- Eight feet. 8 ft
Also on fence height in Skokie
- 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 Skokie?
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Skokie answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Skokie needs a building permit for any fence, in one sentence with no height threshold and no exemption for a short one. Three acts are named and replacement is the third, so swapping a failing fence for a new one in the same place is permit work rather than repair. The only fence the section lets stand without one is a temporary fence required as a condition of a village permit or license at a construction or work site, and that one is allowed in every required yard including the front.
A building permit shall be required for the construction, installation, or replacement of any fence.
Also on permits in Skokie
- 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 Skokie
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Skokie 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 Skokie 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 Skokie
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Skokie 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 Skokie 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 Skokie
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Skokie answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Every height in the Skokie fence section is written as so many feet from ground level, and the phrase is repeated on each figure rather than stated once and left to carry, so the datum is the ground the fence stands on. The section stops there. It does not say whose ground where two lots sit at different levels, does not average the two sides, does not say whether a post cap or a decorative top counts toward the figure, and sets no allowance for a post to rise above the limit for ornament. The sight distance triangle uses a different word for the same idea, measuring its thirty inch and eighty four inch band from grade.
Not exceeding 8' from ground level in an industrial zoning district or where a side or rear lot line of a property in a residential zoning district abuts either an industrial district or an alley abutting an industrial district.
Also on how height is measured in Skokie
- left to the townIllinois 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. 65 ILCS 5/11-13-1Illinois · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in Skokie
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Skokie answers this, but the answer changes depending on the zoning district.
Skokie controls a band rather than everything above a line. Nothing may sit between thirty inches and eighty four inches above grade inside the triangle, so a fence panel is caught but an open canopy above seven feet is not. The legs are ten feet in the R1, R2, R3 and R4 districts and fifteen feet everywhere else. The triangle sits at the intersection of two rights of way, or of a street right of way and a driveway, so an ordinary driveway gets the same treatment as a corner, and the legs are measured at grade from the point where the two meet. Traffic control devices listed in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices are the only thing exempt. The fence section states the same limit in its own words, capping a fence in the triangle at thirty inches from ground level.
No objects are allowed within a 10' sight distance triangle in R1, R2, R3, and R4 districts, or within a 15' sight distance triangle in all other districts, between 30" and 84" in height from grade except traffic control devices listed in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
118-52, with the fence rule at 118-61(d)(3)
The answer turns on the zoning district.
- the R1, R2, R3 and R4 districts
- Ten foot legs. 10 ft
- every other district
- Fifteen foot legs. 15 ft
- a fence inside either triangle
- Thirty inches from ground level. 30 in
Also on corner visibility in Skokie
- 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 Skokie
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Skokie 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 Skokie 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 Skokie
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Skokie answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material and the zoning of the property.
The Skokie fence section names no permitted material and sets no rule about opacity, color or style outside the site plan review that a decorative fence at a non-residential use in a residential district needs. What it does list is two prohibited types and one conditional allowance. An electrically charged fence is prohibited outright. Barbed wire, razor wire and any guard or barricade intended to cause injury are prohibited too, except that barbed wire may go on industrially zoned property, and only there, provided it sits at least six feet above ground level and extends inward over the property being enclosed rather than out over the sidewalk.
Barbed wire, razor wire or any guard or barricade intended to cause injury. Barbed wire shall only be allowed at industrially zoned property, located at least 6' above ground level, and extended inwards towards the property enclosed.
The answer turns on the material and the zoning of the property.
- an electrically charged fence
- Prohibited.
- barbed wire on industrial property
- Allowed at six feet or higher, angled inward. 6 ft
- any ordinary material
- The section names none and restricts none.
Also on materials in Skokie
- 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 Skokie
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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 Skokie 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 Skokie
- 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 Skokie itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Illinois General AssemblyIllinois Compiled Statutes, Property, Fence Act
- Village of SkokieZoning Chapter, Chapter 118, Article IV, General Provisions, Section 118-61, 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 Skokie 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