Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Charleston, Illinois

Charleston’s own rules

• Building code adoptedAdopted

  Construction inside Charleston city limits

  • Adopts the 2021 International Building Code as the city building code (9-1-1). Title 9 also adopts separate residential, fire, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, property maintenance, fuel gas, existing building and flood damage prevention chapters (ch. 2-11), not all opened.
  • Section 9-1-2 contains local amendments to the code; not opened.

  “being marked and designated the international building code, 2021 edition, as published by the international code council, incorporated, is hereby adopted as the building code of the city”

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land inside Charleston city limits (Charleston, IL, Coles County). The city administers its own Unified Development Code zoning districts.

  • Zoning districts and uses are set by the city's Unified Development Code, Title 10; development approvals follow Chapter 4 procedures (staff permits, board of zoning appeals and planning, city council).
  • The UDC lists the A agricultural district, RE residential estate district, R-1 single-family residence district and other districts; dimensional limits were not extracted (see dimensional claims).

  “10-5-4-3: r-1 single-family residence district: 10-5-4-4: r-2 and r-2u two-family/duplex residential districts:”

• Zoning districtsPublished

  Zoning districts inside Charleston city limits

  • Districts listed in UDC 10-5-4: A, RE, R-1, R-2/R-2U, R-3/R-3U, R-4/R-4U, C-1, C-2, C-3, I-1, I-2, C/D corridor, M manufactured home park, PUD, AOD airport overlay, FHOD flood hazard overlay, government, RTA.
  • District maps are referenced in 10-5-2 (zoning maps); the map and per-district dimensional tables were not opened.

  “10-5-4-1: a agricultural district: 10-5-4-2: re residential estate district: 10-5-4-3: r-1 single-family residence district: 10-5-4-4: r-2 and r-2u two-family/duplex residential districts:”

• Subdividing landRegulated (with conditions)

  Division of land inside Charleston city limits

  • Major subdivision concept plan, preliminary plat (board of zoning appeals and planning, then city council), construction plans (staff), final plat (staff then city council), and minor subdivision are listed as review procedures in UDC Table 4-1.
  • Plat requirements and standards are in UDC Chapter 4 (10-4-3 e) and were not opened.

  “10-4-3 e subdivision preliminary plat board of zoning appeals and planning 2 city council type 3”

• Permit processPublished (with conditions)

  Development approvals inside Charleston city limits

  • Table 4-1 lists staff-issued permits (Type 1, 10-4-2) and Type 2/3 applications that go to the board of zoning appeals and planning and the city council.
  • Application requirements are filed with the community development director; the building permit intake process itself was not located.

  “staff issued permits staff staff 1 type 1 10-4-2”

Still unanswered

We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask Charleston or Coles County directly.

• Building permit — New residential construction inside Charleston city limits
• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder construction inside Charleston city limits
• Inspections — Inspections of new construction inside Charleston city limits
• Certificate of occupancy — Occupancy of new buildings inside Charleston city limits
• Minimum dwelling size — Minimum dwelling size in the R-1 single-family residence district (10-5-4-3) and the A agricultural district (10-5-4-1) inside Charleston city limits

Each answer was extracted from an official source and independently re-checked against that source by a second reviewer. That is an evidence check, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the authority before you buy or build.