Iron County Zoning (towns under county general zoning) fence permit

How to file for a fence permit in the Iron County Zoning (towns under county general zoning)

Steps based on co.iron.wi.gov — Title 9 Land Use Ordinance PDF

1. Call the Iron County Land & Zoning office (715-561-5414) and get the Land Use Application (also linked on the County's Land & Zoning Info page).
2. Draw a scale map showing your lot, the fence location and its distance to roads and any lake or stream.
3. Submit the application and the land use permit fee to the Zoning Administrator, 300 Taconite St, Suite 115, Hurley, before building.
4. Start work within 12 months or the permit expires.
5. Call Diggers Hotline (811) at least 3 business days before digging.

Paying

Land use permit fee set by the County Zoning Committee (Zoning fee schedule revised March 19, 2024; amount not reviewed)

Review time

Issued by the County Zoning Administrator

Permit good for

Expires 12 months from issuance if no building activity has begun

What to submit

• Iron County Land Use Application
• Scale map showing lot size, the fence and its relation to roads and water

Official application form or packet

Other rules to know

• Fence rules are Sec. 9.7.13 'Fences, Walls and Hedges' of the Iron County Title 9 Land Use (zoning) Ordinance, read from the copy linked on the County's current Ordinances page (it matches the energyzoning.org archive dated 2023-02-20). Sec. 9.7.13(6): 'Anyone erecting a fence or wall except as described in Subsection (4) must have an Iron County Land Use Permit.' Subsection (4) covers barbed wire/solid board fences for livestock, crops, junkyards and utility or municipal property.
• Solid board fences are forbidden in general (Sec. 9.7.13(3)), so a solid privacy fence is not allowed under the fence section; ask the Zoning office before planning one.
• No height limit for fences protecting playgrounds, baseball backstops, tennis courts and like activities. Open fences that do not obstruct vision and are used for livestock, crops, junkyards or utility/municipal property may be in highway and waterfront setback areas and may exceed the height limits.
• Corner-lot vision triangle (Sec. 9.5.3): nothing that obstructs vision between 2 1/2 and 10 ft high may be placed in the clearance triangle; open fences are excluded from that rule.
• Land use permit applications need scale maps showing lot size, proposed structures and their relation to roads and water (Sec. 9.2.2(B)). The County's Land & Zoning Info page links a Land Use Application (dated 201812) and a 'Fee Schedule - Zoning - Revised March 19, 2024'; the research tool could not open either PDF, so the fee and the form's fine print were not reviewed.
• Shorelands are lands within 1,000 ft of a navigable lake or 300 ft of a navigable river or stream (Sec. 9.4.16). The County also posts a Title 13 Shoreland Zoning Ordinance (March 2, 2021) and a Shoreland Development Guide (not reviewed).
• Coverage: Title 9 applies to the unincorporated areas of Iron County; Sec. 9.1.4 names all ten towns (Anderson, Carey, Gurney, Kimball, Knight, Mercer, Oma, Pence, Saxon and Sherman) as under county zoning. The Town of Mercer is listed separately because it also has its own Town Land Use Permit.
• Town of Sherman: its Permits & Zoning page says the Town is governed by Iron County's zoning, that Iron County issues land use permits, and that effective October 13, 2026 the Town no longer requires a separate Town land use permit. A Town permit is still needed for a driveway or culvert onto a Town road. (Sherman's 2023 comprehensive plan had said the Town also required building permits from the Town Clerk; the current page does not mention this.)
• Town clerk contacts (Iron County municipality pages unless noted): Anderson - Anna Lardinois, 715-862-2096; Carey - Courtney Maslanka, 715-360-3692, [email protected], 12005N Hakala Rd, Hurley; Gurney - Christina Ofstad, 715-209-1027, 13831N Highway 169, Saxon; Kimball - Irene Salzmann, 715-893-2469 (Town office 715-561-2202, [email protected], Town website); Knight - Jody Walbridge, (612) 720-5223, Town office 715-561-2091, [email protected], P.O. Box 40, Iron Belt (Town website); Oma - Alex Mabie, 715-600-8077, [email protected]; Pence - Lori Genisot, 715-862-0833, PO Box 242, Montreal; Sherman - Beth Godfrey, (715) 583-4422, 3063W State Hwy 182, Park Falls, by appointment (Town website); Saxon - no clerk contact was found online (the County's Town of Saxon page lists none).

Before you dig

Call Diggers Hotline at 811 (or file online at diggershotline.com) at least 3 business days before digging post holes. Find your lot corner markers and keep the fence on your side of the line. County parcel maps can be off by several feet; if you're not sure where the line is, a licensed land surveyor can stake it.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Summarized from Iron County Zoning (towns under county general zoning)'s own ordinances, forms and permit pages. Each link opens the original.

Ordinance: Iron County Title 9 Land Use Ordinance Sec. 9.7.13 Fences, Walls and Hedges

1. co.iron.wi.gov — Title 9 Land Use Ordinance PDF
2. energyzoning.org — Zoning ordinance (archived copy)
3. co.iron.wi.gov — Zoning Department
4. co.iron.wi.gov — Land Zoning Info
5. co.iron.wi.gov — Iron County Ordinances
6. shermanironcowi.gov — permits zoning
7. shermanironcowi.gov — town contacts
8. storage.googleapis.com — Element 8 Land Use 2
9. co.iron.wi.gov — Municipalities
10. co.iron.wi.gov — Town of Anderson
11. co.iron.wi.gov — Town of Carey
12. co.iron.wi.gov — Town of Gurney
13. co.iron.wi.gov — Town of Oma
14. co.iron.wi.gov — Town of Pence
15. co.iron.wi.gov — Town of Saxon
16. co.iron.wi.gov — Town of Sherman
17. kimballwi.gov — contact us
18. townofknight.gov — town board staff