Bolingbrook Fence Heights, Yards, and the Permit

A permit, and an association letter when covenants apply

Section 54-252 says it is unlawful to construct, erect, or replace a fence or wall on private property without a building permit. If a declaration of covenants applies to the lot, the village will not issue that permit unless the application includes a letter from the association, or the entity that administers the declaration, stating that the fence complies and is authorized.

That letter is Bolingbrook’s rule. Romeoville has its own association language on the HOA page. Do not swap them. A vinyl or wood estimate for a Bolingbrook house should say who files and whether the association letter is in hand. The request does not file the permit.

How the fence has to be built

Section 54-253 says fences and walls shall not inhibit or alter drainage over public utility and drainage easements. Section 54-254 says the finished side faces a public street or neighboring properties. Posts must be set so that not less than one third of the length of each post is in the ground. Support has to resist wind load under the village building codes.

Materials named in that section include wood, chain link of 11 gauge or heavier, and plastic or PVC. Chicken wire and snow fencing are not acceptable for a permanent fence. A compact hedge over 2.5 feet that is more than 50 percent closed, viewed at right angles, is deemed a fence. Chain link with barbed ends up, and chain link along a major street as chapter 30 defines it, are prohibited.

Six feet, with a short front yard

Section 54-260 says residential fencing generally shall not exceed 6 feet. A front-yard fence is decorative only. Eighty percent of the fence area must be open, and that area is the smallest rectangle that encloses the fence. Height in the front yard shall not exceed 3 feet. The setback is not less than 1 foot from a property line, or 2 feet from a public sidewalk. Total length shall not exceed 50 percent of the lot width at the front property line.

A corner side yard is set back at least 10 feet from the property line, unless the fence is 3 feet or less, in which case the setback is at least 1 foot. It may not sit in the vision triangle. An interior side yard has no setback from the interior side line. A rear yard on an interior or corner lot has no setback from the rear line. A rear yard that abuts a street is set back at least 5 feet, except when a fence installed before April 27, 1993 is replaced using the existing post holes. That street-abutting rear fence needs a gate for maintenance, with the same April 27, 1993 exception.

Landscape material is required between the fence and a rear lot line that abuts a primary arterial or major street, except an existing fence installed before April 17, 1993 that is replaced using the existing post holes. The April 27 date and the April 17 date are different sentences. Do not mix them.

Vision, pets, and what is banned

Section 54-255 measures the vision triangle along the right-of-way lines of two intersecting streets: 15 feet on residential property and 30 feet on nonresidential property. Section 54-259 allows a pet enclosure only in a rear yard, no more than 6 feet high, no more than 200 square feet, and no closer than 10 feet to a property line.

Section 54-258 prohibits electrically charged fences, barbed wire, spikes, glass, and protruding nails. Village-owned land is exempt from the barbed-wire ban. The board may grant a narrow electric-fence exemption for a sales or storage facility, as a second fence inside a perimeter, with warning signs at least every 100 feet and an indemnification. Snow fences are limited to November 1 through March 31 and to highway authorities. Commercial and industrial fencing in section 54-261 generally shall not exceed 8 feet.

The owner must keep the fence safe and sound under section 54-256. Open-design fences such as chain link around a public park or school playground are exempt under section 54-257. Lockport’s different height table is on the Lockport fence page. Plainfield, Crest Hill, and Lemont stay on the service area page without a town URL. The Romeoville permit guide is only for Romeoville. Prices vary. A free estimate gives the real number.