Table of Contents

Group Housing

The city's zoning code defines community living facilities for services-dependent populations and establishes three categories: Category I (CLF1) is for permanent placement of up to 4 dependent residents plus two live-in staff; Category II (CLF2) is for permanent placement of up to 8 dependent residents plus 2 or more live-in staff; and Category III (CLF3) is for temporary or permanent placement of up to 16 dependent residents plus staff (§37-17). Category I and II community living facilities are permitted uses in all residential districts, while Category III CLFs are provisional uses in all residential districts subject to a 1,000 distancing requirement from other Category III CLFs (§37-47.3 et seq.).

Parking standards require 2 spaces per CLF facility (§37-359.2).

Rethinking Off-Street Parking Requirements

The city’s zoning code includes multiple types of policy-driven off-street parking requirements. It exempts multifamily dwellings in a district near the University of Illinois campus and all nonresidential and most residential uses in the central business district from minimum off-street parking requirements (§37-358). It also reduces parking requirements for elderly housing (§37-358(e)). It includes parking reductions for shared parking facilities based on the mix of uses (§37-357).

Food Systems | Urban Livestock

The city code's animal title was amended in 2013 to allow for the keeping of up to 6 hens on single-family and two-family dwelling parcels (§7-19). The ordinance addresses care and housing, sanitation and safety.  A $25 annual coop license is required.

A city website summarizes the backyard chicken regulations and provides a link to the urban chicken permit application.