Lockport Fence Heights in §156.024(E)

Six feet, and the eight-foot exceptions

Residential fences shall not exceed 6 feet above ground where the fence is constructed. Commercial, industrial, and office fences shall not exceed 8 feet unless the section says otherwise. A residential lot may go to 8 feet where the abutting property is zoned or used for commercial or industrial use.

A double-frontage residential lot may be 8 feet along the lot line that abuts the affected street only when all of the stated conditions are true: the lot abuts a collector or arterial the city designates; the opposite side is zoned C-2, C-3, O-1, O-2, M-1, or M-2; the adjoining property is or will be developed for commercial use; and the adjoining residential properties to the nearest intersection streets in both directions, or to points the zoning administrator sets, are installed at the same time with the same design, material, color, and height. Missing one condition means the 8-foot line does not apply.

Front yards are shorter and open

The finished side faces outward. A fence may sit on or next to a property line, and no part may extend over the line. It shall not be less than 1 foot from front and corner side yard lot lines.

In a required front yard the fence shall not exceed 4 feet, the length shall not exceed 50 percent of the lot frontage, and the design shall be open. Lots in the R-O Heritage Residential district may exceed 50 percent of the frontage. A required corner side yard is also 4 feet and open, unless the fence is 15 feet from the house side or one-half the distance between the house and the exterior lot line, whichever is less. A transition column between a 4-foot fence and a 6-foot fence may be taller than 6 feet, but not greater than 7.5 feet, for a light fixture.

Open design, in this section, means split-rail and post-and-board with no more than three horizontal rails or boards, wrought iron, open picket, and similar designs that do not obstruct vision. Chain link, woven mesh, and designs that create a visibility hazard by reflection or refraction are excluded, and they may not be placed in a required front or corner side yard where open design is required. A city handout that shortens this list was not the source used here.

Chain link, and what is prohibited

Chain link is not permitted in any front or corner side yard of a residential-zoned property. Chain link in a business or industrial zone shall have a vinyl coating. Governmental fences for parks and school playgrounds are exempt from the chapter.

Prohibited fences include ones that create a vision hazard in the right-of-way or a required yard, planting used as a fence inside the vision triangle unless the chapter says otherwise, electric wire, barbed wire, spikes, glass, protruding nails, chain link with barbed ends up, and snow fences except from November 1 through March 31 when highway authorities put them up.

The permit step is not in this subsection

Section 156.024(E) regulates height, location, and materials. It does not contain a sentence that says a permit is required. A search result about an IRC amendment deleting “fences not over 7 feet” from the work-exempt list was not the page opened for this guide, so it is not cited as Lockport’s permit rule. Ask the city whether your fence needs a permit before anyone sets a post.

Bolingbrook’s permit sentence is a different code and is on the Bolingbrook fence page. Romeoville’s permit guide is only Romeoville. Plainfield, Crest Hill, and Lemont do not have town pages, because their fence codes were not read from Municode or American Legal for this update. Use the service area and the contact form. The cost guide stays the sourced national figures. Prices vary. A free estimate gives the real number.