Zoning, building permits and septic rules in the Village of Burnham, Illinois

At a glance

Zoning

Village zoning ordinance covers all land inside Burnham⁵

Building permit

Filed with the Village of Burnham Building Department²

Certificate of occupancy

An occupancy permit is required for new buildings⁶

RV living

Only in a duly licensed trailer camp³

Septic

Cook County Department of Public Health reviews septic systems across the county outside four named towns; Burnham is not one of them⁴

Floodplain

Development in the 100-year floodplain needs the lowest floor at base flood plus one foot⁷

Who to call

Contact details are copied from each office’s official page and were checked against it on October 16, 2026.

Does Burnham, Illinois have zoning, and what does it mean for lots and RVs?

Yes. The Village of Burnham divides all land inside the village limits into zoning districts under its own ordinance, Appendix A of the village code⁵. The districts are A residential, B forest preserve, C commercial, and D industrial and manufacturing¹. Unincorporated Cook County zoning does not apply inside the village; the county ordinance excludes villages that have their own zoning⁸.

In Burnham's A residential district, a dwelling needs at least 40 feet of street frontage, with an exception for older recorded lots under one-sixth of an acre⁹. Yards are generally at least 20 feet in front, 5 feet on the sides and 20 feet in the rear, with exceptions for established block setbacks¹⁰. Buildings, including accessory buildings, may cover no more than 35 percent of an interior lot and 45 percent of a corner lot¹¹. Height tops out at 35 feet, or 45 feet for public buildings, churches and schools¹².

Burnham code makes it unlawful to maintain a house-car trailer for human habitation on any plot of ground in the village except in a duly licensed trailer camp³. Whether tiny homes, manufactured homes outside parks or accessory dwellings are allowed is not something we could confirm; ask the Village of Burnham Building Department².

Do you need a building permit in Burnham, and who issues it?

Building permits inside Burnham come from the Village of Burnham Building Department, whose permit application is approved by the Building Commissioner². Cook County's Department of Building and Zoning handles unincorporated land only, and tells people in incorporated municipalities to contact the local building and zoning authority¹³.

New buildings also need an occupancy permit from the village, and the village can deny it if grading rules were not followed⁶. The village inspects grading for compliance before issuing that occupancy permit¹⁴. We could not confirm the village's fee schedule, which building code it has adopted, or an owner-builder exemption; call the Building Department before you plan a budget.

How do septic permits work inside Burnham?

We could not confirm who approves septic systems inside Burnham or whether the village requires sewer connection for new homes. Cook County's Department of Public Health reviews and approves private sewage disposal systems throughout Cook County except in Barrington Hills, Inverness, Palos Park and South Barrington, and Burnham is not among those four⁴. Cook County also requires that health department approval before building permits move forward on homes involving wells and septic¹⁵.

Call Cook County Department of Public Health, Environmental Health at 708-836-8600¹⁶ and the Burnham Building Department² to learn whether a given lot is on sewer or needs a septic system. Soils matter if it is the latter: only a small share of Cook County soils rate as not limited for a conventional drain field, so expect a site evaluation¹⁷.

What about floodplain rules in Burnham?

Parts of Burnham lie in the special flood hazard area, and development there is regulated by the village⁷. New buildings and substantial alterations must put the lowest floor at or above the flood protection elevation, which is the base flood plus one foot of freeboard⁷. New subdivisions, manufactured home parks and planned unit developments in that area are reviewed by the village¹⁸. The same rules reach travel trailers that stay on a site more than 180 days⁷.

Building a home in Burnham: the steps, in order

1. Ask the Village of Burnham Building Department which zoning district your lot is in, and whether it is sewered².
2. Check the lot against the district rules for frontage, yards, coverage and height⁹.
3. If the lot is in the special flood hazard area, plan the lowest floor at base flood plus one foot⁷.
4. If a septic system is needed, get approval from Cook County Department of Public Health¹⁶.
5. File the building permit application with the village².
6. Finish the grading inspection and obtain the occupancy permit before moving in¹⁴.

What stays with Cook County, and what to check before you buy in Burnham

Septic and well approvals sit with Cook County Department of Public Health rather than the village's building office¹⁵. For land outside village limits, the rules differ; see the Cook County page for unincorporated Cook County.

Budget for taxes too: Cook County's effective property tax rate is about 2 percent¹⁹, and the median property tax bill is about $6,053 a year²⁰. Those are county-level figures, not Burnham's.

Watch-outs

• Do not use the Cook County Department of Building and Zoning for building permits inside Burnham; it serves unincorporated land only¹³.
• Living in an RV on a plot in Burnham is limited to a duly licensed trailer camp³.
• We could not confirm the village's septic arrangements, sewer connection rules, permit fees or adopted building code; ask the Burnham Building Department².

Sources

1. Burnham Code, Appendix A Zoning, Section 2 District regulations (Village of Burnham), quoted and re-checked
2. Village of Burnham Building Department (burnham-il.gov)
3. Burnham Code Sec. 54-36 Location of house-car trailers (Village of Burnham), quoted and re-checked
4. Septic, quoted and re-checked
5. Burnham Code, Appendix A Zoning, Section 2 District regulations (Village of Burnham), quoted and re-checked
6. Burnham Code Sec. 18-752 Grading (Village of Burnham), quoted and re-checked
7. Burnham Code Sec. 42-84 Permitting requirements applicable to all floodplain areas (Village of Burnham), quoted and re-checked
8. Amendment to Cook County Zoning Ordinance, quoted and re-checked
9. Burnham Code, Appendix A Zoning, Section 2 District regulations (Village of Burnham), quoted and re-checked
10. Burnham Code, Appendix A Zoning, Section 2 District regulations (Village of Burnham), quoted and re-checked
11. Burnham Code, Appendix A Zoning, Section 2 District regulations (Village of Burnham), quoted and re-checked
12. Burnham Code, Appendix A Zoning, Section 2 District regulations (Village of Burnham), quoted and re-checked
13. Building and Zoning, quoted and re-checked
14. Burnham Code Sec. 18-752 Grading (Village of Burnham), quoted and re-checked
15. Septic, quoted and re-checked
16. Cook County Department of Public Health - Environmental Health (cookcountypublichealth.org)
17. Share of soils USDA rates "not limited" for a conventional septic drain field (SSURGO). A strict rating: the median county is about 6% and a tenth of counties are 0%, so a low figure means most lots need a site evaluation or an engineered system, not that septic is impossible. Cite it only with that caveat: Bolthole Index county data
18. Burnham Code Sec. 42-85 Other development requirements (Village of Burnham), quoted and re-checked
19. Effective property tax rate: Bolthole Index county data
20. Median property tax bill: Bolthole Index county data

Written October 16, 2026 from the rules quoted below, each taken from an official source and re-checked by an independent reviewer. This is research, not legal advice: rules change, so confirm with the office before you buy or build.