Fence laws in La Crosse, Wisconsin
What the La Crosse municipal code says about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line. Where La Crosse sets no rule of its own, the Wisconsin rule is shown in its place and marked as such.
Fence laws in La Crosse, Wisconsin, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- La Crosse gives a reason for its setback, which almost no other code does, and the answer turns on the material and whether the neighbors have signed an affidavit. The figure is 3 feet, for setback from a property line where access is needed to maintain the fence.
- How tall
- A residential fence in La Crosse may not exceed six feet without a conditional use permit, and drops to forty eight inches from grade in a front, side or rear yard setback that abuts a public sidewalk, so the trigger is the sidewalk rather than the yard name, and the answer turns on the district, whether a sidewalk runs beside the fence, and how open it is. The figure is 6 feet, for residential fence without a conditional use permit.
- Permits
- A City of La Crosse building permit is required for any newly installed fence and for a total fence replacement, charged at the flat permit fee in the building chapter, with no height threshold and no district exemption, and the answer turns on whether the fence is new, temporary, or within three feet of a line. The figure is 3 feet, for distance from a lot line at which a survey becomes necessary.
- Pool barriers
- La Crosse sets no statewide pool barrier rule. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Spite fences
- Wisconsin has a spite fence law and it covers hedges as well as fences. The figure is 6 feet, for height above which a maliciously built fence or hedge is a private nuisance.
- Measured from what
- La Crosse measures a fence as an average rather than at a point, and expressly leaves out the posts or pillars the fence is attached to.
- Corner lots
- La Crosse protects a band rather than setting a simple ceiling, and the answer turns on the height above the sidewalk grade and the width of the object. The figure is 36 inches, for height limit above the highest grade of the adjacent sidewalk.
- Retaining walls
- La Crosse sets no rule for a wall that holds back earth. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Materials
- La Crosse ranks its fence materials, and the answer turns on the district and whether the fence is replacing a nonconforming one. The figure is 10 feet, for height above grade at which barbed wire may be secured in an industrial area.
- Livestock
- Wisconsin lists the fences that count as legal and says nothing else does. The figure is 50 inches, for minimum height of a legal fence, measured at the posts.
Who owns the fence between two properties in La Crosse?
Compare fences on the property line across all 50 states
La Crosse answers this, but the answer changes depending on the material and whether the neighbors have signed an affidavit.
La Crosse gives a reason for its setback, which almost no other code does. Owners are to locate a fence no closer than three feet from the property line so that each side can be properly maintained by the owner while standing on their own land. Two things release that. A recordable affidavit signed by the adjoining owners, either agreeing to maintain the far side or agreeing to let the fence owner come across, and a fence built of maintenance free material, which needs no access at all. The section also says residential fences are permitted up to the property lines, and the three foot rule with its two waivers is what reconciles the two sentences: a vinyl fence may sit on the line, a wood one needs a signature or three feet. Along a public alley the setback is three feet with no waiver, and where a city alley project forces a fence out, it may be rebuilt inside that three feet without a new survey.
Property owners shall locate fences no closer than three feet from the property line so that each side of the fence may be properly maintained by the owner of the fence while on said owners property, unless an affidavit in recordable form is provided signed by the adjacent property owners agreeing to maintain the opposite side of the fence or agreeing to permit the owner of the fence to maintain said fence. This requirement can be waived if a maintenance free fence is installed.
The answer turns on the material and whether the neighbors have signed an affidavit.
- a fence needing maintenance
- Three feet back. 3 ft
- a maintenance free fence
- Up to the line. 0 ft
- a signed affidavit
- The three feet is waived.
- a public alley
- Three feet, no waiver.
Also on fences on the property line in La Crosse
- set in state lawWisconsin splits a fence on the property line in equal shares, but only where farming or grazing is involved. The duty runs between the people using two neighboring farm or grazing properties, and between the owners when one side is used that way. The fence stays in good repair all year unless both sides agree otherwise, and the two sides may agree to use markers instead of a fence. Wis. Stat. § 90.03Wisconsin · Statute
How tall can a fence be in La Crosse?
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La Crosse answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district, whether a sidewalk runs beside the fence, and how open it is.
A residential fence in La Crosse may not exceed six feet without a conditional use permit, and drops to forty eight inches from grade in a front, side or rear yard setback that abuts a public sidewalk, so the trigger is the sidewalk rather than the yard name. A rear yard fence abutting a sidewalk may go back up to six feet if the whole fence is wrought iron or similar open construction, or if the part above four feet is at least half open, and the worked example given is a solid four foot fence topped with two feet of lattice. That same allowance may be used on the street side of a corner lot behind the house. Between two dwellings an interior side yard fence stops at six feet. Non-residential land gets eight feet in commercial districts and ten in light or heavy industrial, and a fence on a line shared with a residential lot may not exceed eight.
Residential fences are permitted up to the property lines in Residential Districts but shall not, in any case, exceed a height of six feet without a conditional use permit, shall not exceed 48 inches in height from grade in the front, side, or rear yard setback abutting a public sidewalk, shall not encroach into any vision corner and shall not be closer than three feet to any public right-of-way along a public alley.
The answer turns on the district, whether a sidewalk runs beside the fence, and how open it is.
- a residential yard
- Six feet. 6 ft
- a setback beside a sidewalk
- Forty eight inches. 48 in
- half open above four feet
- Six feet in a rear yard beside a sidewalk. 50%
- light or heavy industrial land
- Ten feet. 10 ft
Also on fence height in La Crosse
- no rule, documents checkedWisconsin sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The six feet in the spite fence law is what starts a nuisance claim and not a cap, and that same law says a city or village may ban a fence under six feet. Chapter 90 describes legal fences for farm and grazing land without limiting height, and the Uniform Dwelling Code does not reach fences at all. Wis. Stat. § 844.10Wisconsin · Statute
Do I need a permit for a fence in La Crosse?
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La Crosse answers this, but the answer changes depending on whether the fence is new, temporary, or within three feet of a line.
A City of La Crosse building permit is required for any newly installed fence and for a total fence replacement, charged at the flat permit fee in the building chapter, with no height threshold and no district exemption. On top of that comes a rule about proof rather than paperwork: where a fence is proposed within three feet of a lot line and no record of a fence existed there, a survey by a registered land surveyor or professional engineer is required to get the permit, unless a recordable affidavit signed by all affected owners establishes an agreed line. Temporary fences protecting planting or warning of a construction hazard need no permit, provided they are marked with streamers or similar at four foot intervals and stand no more than forty five days, or for the length of the construction project. Ball field, tennis, volleyball, pickleball, airport and industrial park covenant fences each carry their own permit requirement by name.
In the case of a proposed fence installation within three feet of a lot line where no record of a fence existed, a survey prepared by a registered land surveyor or professional engineer is required to obtain a building permit. No survey is required if a recordable affidavit signed by all affected property owners establishes an agreed upon lot line.
Section 115-398(e)(1)h and (c)(4)
The answer turns on whether the fence is new, temporary, or within three feet of a line.
- any new fence
- A building permit.
- within three feet of the line
- A surveyor, or a signed affidavit. 3 ft
- a temporary fence
- No permit, forty five days. 45 days
- a ball field or the airport fence
- A fence permit by name.
Also on permits in La Crosse
- set in state lawWisconsin does not use the International Residential Code. It writes its own Uniform Dwelling Code in chapters SPS 320 to 325, which sets one set of building standards and inspections for one and two family homes and modular homes across the state. That code covers homes and their attached garages, porches, decks and stairways, and the word fence is nowhere in it. So a fence permit in Wisconsin is purely a local zoning question. Wis. Admin. Code § SPS 320.01Wisconsin · Building code
Pool fence requirements in La Crosse
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La Crosse law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Wisconsin sets no statewide fence rule for a pool at a house. The state pool chapter, SPS 390, says on its face that it covers public pools and water attractions only. The Uniform Dwelling Code, which governs one and two family homes, has no pool, barrier, fence or enclosure section in any of its six chapters. A pool fence at a home is a local matter.
This one is Wisconsin law, not La Crosse law. All Wisconsin findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Wis. Admin. Code § SPS 390.02Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services
- Wis. Admin. Code § SPS 320.01Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services
Spite fence laws in La Crosse
Compare spite fences across all 50 states
Wisconsin answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Wisconsin has a spite fence law and it covers hedges as well as fences. Any fence, hedge or structure like a fence that goes over six feet with no need to, and was put up or kept up out of spite to annoy a neighbor, is a private nuisance, which means the neighbor can sue over it. The same section says it does not stop a city or village from banning a fence under six feet, so local rules still bite below that line.
This one is Wisconsin law, not La Crosse law. All Wisconsin findings
Any fence, hedge or other structure in the nature of a fence unnecessarily exceeding 6 feet in height, maliciously erected or maintained for the purpose of annoying the owners or occupants of adjoining property, shall be deemed a private nuisance.
6 ftheight above which a maliciously built fence or hedge is a private nuisance
How fence height is measured in La Crosse
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La Crosse answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
La Crosse measures a fence as an average rather than at a point, and expressly leaves out the posts or pillars the fence is attached to. That does two things at once. It judges a run stepping down a hill as a whole, so a panel that is tall at one end does not put the fence over on its own, and it lets a heavy masonry pillar or a tall corner post stand above the fence line without counting. The two ideas together make La Crosse one of the most forgiving measuring rules in this project, alongside Harrisonburg in Virginia, which also uses an average for a rear yard. What the section does not do is name the ground it averages from. A berm is not addressed and a fence built on a retaining wall is not addressed, so the question of whose side of a slope the average is taken from is left open.
The height of any fence shall be measured as an average and shall not include the posts or pillars to which a fence is attached.
Also on how height is measured in La Crosse
- left to the townWisconsin does not set this. The city does. The fence law in chapter 90 covers fences on a property line and what a fence viewer does, and it has no measuring rule in it anywhere. Section 62.23(7)(am) lets a city council set rules for the height, number of stories and size of buildings and other structures, and tells courts to read that power broadly in the city's favor. So the city ordinance sets the fence height and decides on its own what the height is taken from. Wis. Stat. 62.23(7)(am)Wisconsin · Zoning code
Fence rules for corner lots in La Crosse
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La Crosse answers this, but the answer changes depending on the height above the sidewalk grade and the width of the object.
La Crosse protects a band rather than setting a simple ceiling. Nothing in a vision clearance area may be maintained or allowed to grow higher than thirty six inches above the highest grade of the adjacent sidewalk, or the required sidewalk grade where no sidewalk exists, and the same rule applies at alley vision clearance areas. The band then reopens: the requirement does not apply at a height of six feet or more above that same grade, so a tree canopy or an awning above six feet is outside it. Narrow objects no more than ten inches in diameter that do not impair corner vision may be permitted inside the area at the discretion of the Fire Department Division of Fire Prevention and Building Safety, which is the same office that abates a blocked corner as a public nuisance with the City Attorney. All permanent fences have to sit outside the public right-of-way.
No fence, structure, post, pillar or object of natural growth shall hereafter be maintained or allowed to grow higher in the vision clearance area than 36 inches above the highest grade of the adjacent sidewalk or the required sidewalk grade where no sidewalk exists. This provision shall likewise apply to alley vision clearance areas.
The answer turns on the height above the sidewalk grade and the width of the object.
- anything in the area
- Thirty six inches above the sidewalk. 36 in
- above six feet
- The rule stops applying. 6 ft
- a narrow post
- Up to ten inches across, at the fire department discretion. 10 in
- a blocked corner
- A public nuisance.
Also on corner visibility in La Crosse
- set in state lawWisconsin draws a triangle at every highway crossing outside a city or village, running 1,000 feet out along each center line, and bans danger causing advertising inside it. Section 86.191 then goes past signs. The road authority has to ask the owner of land inside that triangle to cut back whatever blocks the view across it, as far as that can be done, and to work out an arrangement that makes travel on both roads as safe as it reasonably can be. It is a duty to work it out with the owner rather than a fixed height, and it stops at the city line. Wis. Stat. 86.191(4)Wisconsin · Traffic code
Retaining wall rules in La Crosse
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La Crosse law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
Wisconsin has no rule at all for a wall that holds back earth. It does not use the International Residential Code, so the model code line about a four foot wall never reaches this state. It writes its own Uniform Dwelling Code for one and two family homes, and both halves of that code were read end to end. Chapter SPS 320 is the paperwork half, covering the building permit, who issues it, inspections and exemptions, and the word retaining is nowhere in it. Chapter SPS 321 is the building half, covering digging, footings, frost protection, foundations, masonry walls and decks, and the word retaining is nowhere in it either. The code does have sections on digging next to a neighbor's land and on erosion control, and neither one sets a rule for a wall built to hold back earth. A permit for that kind of wall in Wisconsin is a local question.
This one is Wisconsin law, not La Crosse law. All Wisconsin findings
Documents read before writing that:
- Wis. Admin. Code ch. SPS 320Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services
- Wis. Admin. Code ch. SPS 321Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services
Fence materials allowed in La Crosse
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La Crosse answers this, but the answer changes depending on the district and whether the fence is replacing a nonconforming one.
La Crosse ranks its fence materials. Replacing a fence that no longer conforms on height, setback or material is allowed provided the new material is the same grade or higher on a printed ascending order: chain link, chain link with PVC coating, stained treated wood, cedar, vinyl, wrought iron or aluminum, and field stone or brick, with split face block excluded from the last rung. That turns every replacement into a one way ratchet toward better materials. The ordinary list is separate: a side or rear yard fence uses residential-style materials including brick, fieldstone, wrought iron, vinyl, nine gauge chain link with a top rail, stockade or board-on-board wood. Discarded material in disrepair is out, naming pallets, tree trunks, trash, tires and junk, as is anything not made for fencing such as railroad ties, doors, landscape timbers or utility poles. Electric fences and barbed wire are prohibited, with barbed wire allowed in industrial areas only ten feet above grade and angled inward.
The replacement of a nonconforming fence as to height, setbacks (vision corner requirements shall still be met), or fence material type may be made provided that the fence material be the same or higher grade as outlined below: Ascending order of fence types: 1. Chainlink. 2. Chainlink with PVC coating. 3. Stained treated wood. 4. Cedar. 5. Vinyl. 6. Wrought iron or aluminum. 7. Field stone or brick (does not include split face block).
The answer turns on the district and whether the fence is replacing a nonconforming one.
- replacing a nonconforming fence
- Same rung or higher.
- a side or rear yard fence
- Residential-style materials, nine gauge chain link.
- barbed wire
- Industrial only, ten feet up. 10 ft
- an electric fence
- Prohibited.
Also on materials in La Crosse
- set in state lawWisconsin prints a closed list of legal fences and says the builds on it and no others count. Barbed wire and high tensile wire run through most of the list, always above a woven wire or board base, and one build is four or more barbed or high tensile wires at least 48 inches high on steel or wood posts. An electric fence is on the list too, with two extra strings attached. It takes two strands of tightly stretched wire fed by a standard approved electric or battery charger, with the top wire 34 to 36 inches up on insulated posts no more than two rods apart, which is 33 feet. And it counts as a legal fence only where the owners on both sides put their agreement in writing. Wis. Stat. 90.02(1m)(i)Wisconsin · Statute
Livestock and boundary fence law in La Crosse
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Wisconsin answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
Wisconsin lists the fences that count as legal and says nothing else does. The list runs from woven wire of different widths with barbed or high tensile wire above it, to board fences on posts no more than eight feet apart, to a 48 inch fence of four or more barbed or high tensile wires. Whatever the build, the fence stands at least 50 inches high and its bottom sits no more than four inches off the ground, both measured at the posts.
This one is Wisconsin law, not La Crosse law. All Wisconsin findings
Fences shall not be less than 50 inches high, and the bottom of the fence shall be not more than 4 inches from the ground, measurements to be made at the posts.
50 inminimum height of a legal fence, measured at the posts
Also on agricultural fencing in La Crosse
- set in state lawIn Wisconsin the fence on the line is the price of a damages claim. An owner who does not keep that fence in repair cannot collect for damage done by a neighbor's animals. Building it does not settle the other side either, because the owner of pigs, horses, sheep or goats still answers for damage those animals do inside the enclosure. Wis. Stat. 90.04Wisconsin · Statute
Documents behind this page
12 documents, of which 1 was published by La Crosse itself. Each was read on the date shown.
- Wisconsin LegislatureWisconsin Statutes, Chapter 90, Fences, Section 90.03, Partition fences; when required
- City of La CrosseLa Crosse Code of Ordinances, Chapter 115, Zoning, Article VII, Supplemental Regulations, Division 1, Section 115-398, Fences and hedges
- Wisconsin LegislatureWisconsin Statutes, Chapter 844, Section 844.10, Private nuisance; fence
- Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional ServicesWisconsin Administrative Code, Chapter SPS 320, Section 320.01 Purpose
- Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional ServicesWisconsin Administrative Code, Chapter SPS 390, Public Swimming Pools and Water Attractions, Section 390.02 Applicability
- Wisconsin State LegislatureWisconsin Statutes, Chapter 62, Cities, Section 62.23, City planning
- Wisconsin LegislatureWisconsin Statutes, Chapter 86, Miscellaneous Highway Provisions
- Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional ServicesWisconsin Administrative Code, Chapter SPS 320, Uniform Dwelling Code Administration and Enforcement
- Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional ServicesWisconsin Administrative Code, Chapter SPS 321, Construction Standards
- Wisconsin LegislatureWisconsin Statutes, Chapter 90, Fences
- Wisconsin State LegislatureWisconsin Statutes, Chapter 90, Fences
- Wisconsin State LegislatureWisconsin Statutes, Chapter 90, Fences
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 La Crosse publishes, plus the Wisconsin rules that apply where the city sets none. Fence laws in Wisconsin 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