Unincorporated DuPage County, Illinois

IdyllwildAcres said:

I would leave the neighbors out of it. Loose lips sink ships.

Gary

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Hi Gary. It's usually different here. We're unincorporated Du Page. I think you have to live it to know it. Neighbors are okay here.

Any updates to this thread, by chance? A quick google search didn't yield any further information.

I just made some phone calls to the county office, since I'm in DuPage county as well. I spoke with someone named Jessica in the Building and Zoning Department who stated that chickens are not allowed in unincorporated DuPage County unless: (a) your lot is at least 40,000 square feet AND you are registered in 4H, or (b) your lot is at least five acres and is zoned for agricultural use. I asked her which ordinance(s) govern this policy, and she pointed me to section 37-700.8 of the municipal code.

I'm no lawyer, but it looks like they are prohibiting chickens based on a "mother may I" approach to zoning. The beginning of this section (37-700.1) states: "Except as hereinafter provided, no building shall be used and no lot or tract of land shall be devoted to any use other than a permitted use or conditional use as provided in the zoning district..." In other words, you may not legally do anything with your property unless the county says you may. In section 37-700.8 we get to the "conditional use" portion of the ordinance, which delineates what the county says you can do with your property, and the required conditions for them to allow you to do it:

37-700.8: - REQUIRED CONDITIONS.

Permitted or conditional uses established in the residence districts shall comply with the following required conditions:

[...]

E. There shall be no more than four (4) pets over four (4) months of age in any dwelling unit.

[Chickens don't count since they don't qualify as "pets" under section 37-302. Pet: A domesticated animal (which may include, but not to be limited to, a dog, cat, miniature pig, etc.), customarily kept for pleasure and which typically spends a majority of its time in a dwelling unit. The term shall not include animals which are kept for agricultural or utility purposes...]

Later in that same section, between statements about easements and statements about radio antennas, it says:

4-H projects may be permitted on a zoning lot containing not less than forty thousand (40,000) square feet of land area. All buildings for a 4-H project shall be set back not less than one hundred fifty feet (150′) from the front lot line and not less than thirty feet (30′) from any side or rear lot line.

Other than that, there's no law governing chickens in the building and zoning section. However, since they've not said that we may have chickens, then legally we may not. At least, that's how I'm interpreting their approach based on the sections that the young woman on the phone pointed to in answer to my question.

Again, I'm no lawyer, but DuPage County's "you may not unless we say you may" approach seems contrary to the spirit (and letter) of the Declaration of Independence. If (since!) we have the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the default position in law should be one of freedom rather than restriction. That is, the county's approach ought to be, "you may unless there is a law stating that you may not." But, that's a topic for another time. Once this coronavirus stuff blows over and we're all out of quarantine, we should look to changing this law.

PhilP You've done good leg work.
Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, we're still at the "don't ask don't tell" stage. My property has been inspected plenty of times, no comment from the county on the chickens.
I wonder, how many municipalities besides Naperville allow Chickens?
Lisle is a No.
BTW, 40,000 ft appears to be about .9 acres.

Hi, All.

I'm not suggesting that anyone do this, but it seems to me that if one were to build a coop that did not meet all the criteria for a building delineated below, then it would not fall under the county's definition of a building and hence could not be regulated as such. For example, if the coop were mobile like a chicken tractor or something similar, or if it had a removable roof instead of an attached one, then one could argue that it did not qualify as a building and hence their keeping of chickens would not be governed by the county building code.

Here is how the county defines "building" in section 37-302 of the county ordinance:

Building: Any structure constructed or erected partially or wholly above ground with a permanent roof, separated on all sides from adjacent open space by walls, built for the shelter, or enclosure of persons, animals, chattels, or property of any kind. The term includes both the aboveground and belowground portion of the structure.

So, to count as a building, your coop needs to be:
1) A structure
2) Constructed or erected (what about a naturally-occuring shelter, such as a tree?)
3) Partially or wholly above ground
4) Built with a permanent roof (temporary ones aren't permanent, are they?)
5) Separated on all sides by walls (does chicken wire connected by bailing wire count?)
6) Built for the shelter or enclosure of persons, animals, etc.

Anything that does not meet all six conditions may not qualify as a building.

philprof said:

I just made some phone calls to the county office, since I'm in DuPage county as well. I spoke with someone named Jessica in the Building and Zoning Department who stated that chickens are not allowed in unincorporated DuPage County unless: (a) your lot is at least 40,000 square feet AND you are registered in 4H, or (b) your lot is at least five acres and is zoned for agricultural use. I asked her which ordinance(s) govern this policy, and she pointed me to section 37-700.8 of the municipal code.

I'm no lawyer, but it looks like they are prohibiting chickens based on a "mother may I" approach to zoning. The beginning of this section (37-700.1) states: "Except as hereinafter provided, no building shall be used and no lot or tract of land shall be devoted to any use other than a permitted use or conditional use as provided in the zoning district..." In other words, you may not legally do anything with your property unless the county says you may. In section 37-700.8 we get to the "conditional use" portion of the ordinance, which delineates what the county says you can do with your property, and the required conditions for them to allow you to do it:

37-700.8: - REQUIRED CONDITIONS.

Permitted or conditional uses established in the residence districts shall comply with the following required conditions:

[...]

E. There shall be no more than four (4) pets over four (4) months of age in any dwelling unit.

[Chickens don't count since they don't qualify as "pets" under section 37-302. Pet: A domesticated animal (which may include, but not to be limited to, a dog, cat, miniature pig, etc.), customarily kept for pleasure and which typically spends a majority of its time in a dwelling unit. The term shall not include animals which are kept for agricultural or utility purposes...]

Later in that same section, between statements about easements and statements about radio antennas, it says:

4-H projects may be permitted on a zoning lot containing not less than forty thousand (40,000) square feet of land area. All buildings for a 4-H project shall be set back not less than one hundred fifty feet (150′) from the front lot line and not less than thirty feet (30′) from any side or rear lot line.

Other than that, there's no law governing chickens in the building and zoning section. However, since they've not said that we may have chickens, then legally we may not. At least, that's how I'm interpreting their approach based on the sections that the young woman on the phone pointed to in answer to my question.

Again, I'm no lawyer, but DuPage County's "you may not unless we say you may" approach seems contrary to the spirit (and letter) of the Declaration of Independence. If (since!) we have the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the default position in law should be one of freedom rather than restriction. That is, the county's approach ought to be, "you may unless there is a law stating that you may not." But, that's a topic for another time. Once this coronavirus stuff blows over and we're all out of quarantine, we should look to changing this law.

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Hi and thanks for that info. That's exactly what we were told many years ago when we had to remove our chickens from our rubbermaid shed that we turned into our coop. It wasn't permittable even though it wasn't permant. Also chickens weren't permitted because they said so. What a joke! So we can have pigs but not chickens.
You can even adopt a chicken from the county which to me makes no sense.
I've just recently got 3 new chickens because I love them so much!! they are my new pets!! Going to keep it quiet here in our little subdivision and see how it goes. There is another neighbor 2 streets away who also has chickens. I'm going to keep there small coop close to our house and go from there. all goes good.
Is there away to get it permitted, anyone know how to go about this?