Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Village of Bishop Hill, Illinois

Village of Bishop Hill’s own rules

• Building permitLimited

  General maintenance or work costing under $1,000 on a home outside the historic district inside Bishop Hill village

  • Applies only to residences outside the historic district.
  • Work replacing a roof, adding on, or changing the appearance of a residence still requires a discussion with the zoning enforcing officer before work begins.

  threshold cost for no permit: < 1000 USD (outside historic district only)

  “for those residing outside the historic district, a permit will not be needed for any work or general maintenance on your home costing less than $1,000.”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Required — Excavation for or construction of any building, including accessory buildings, and moving or alteration of buildings inside Bishop Hill village; issued by the village zoning enforcing officer

    “102.1 building application/permit required it shall be unlawful to commence the excavation for or the construction of any building, including accessory buildings, or to commence the moving or alteration of any buildings, including accessory buildings, until the zoning enforcing officer has issued a building application/permit for such work”

• Certificate of occupancyLimited

  Each individual mobile home located in a mobile home park inside Bishop Hill village

  • Applies to mobile home parks only; the ordinance text captured does not state a certificate of occupancy requirement for other dwellings (see search notes).

  “a certificate of occupancy shall be required for each individual mobile home to be located in the park prior to occupancy as provided in article x of this ordinance.”

• Local zoningPresent

  Land inside the corporate limits of Bishop Hill village, Henry County, Illinois

  • Zoning Ordinance 2024-03 supersedes all previous village zoning ordinances and amendments and folds them into one document.
  • The ordinance builds on Zoning Ordinance 215 (1968) and the amendments listed in its preamble.
  • Only land inside village limits is covered; unincorporated Henry County is not governed by this ordinance.

  “be it and it is hereby ordained by the board of trustees of the village of bishop hill, henry county, illinois”

• Zoning districtsPublished

  All land inside Bishop Hill village limits

  • The zoning map is titled 'bishop hill, illinois zoning districts' and is adopted as part of the ordinance; the map itself was not captured as text.
  • Districts listed in Section 21: AG (agricultural), R (one family residential), R-1 (one and two family residential), R-2 (multiple family residential), C-1 (general retail), C-2 (service retail), I-1 (light industrial), I-2 (heavy industrial), H (historic), CO-1 (conservation).

  “section 21. establishment of districts: for the purpose of this ordinance, all land within the village of bishop hill is hereby designated on the zoning map as being in one of the following districts: ag district - agricultural r district - one family residential”

• Minimum lot sizeSpecified

  Single-family dwelling in the R and R-1 residence districts inside Bishop Hill village

  • Lot area and width depend on whether the lot has public water and public sanitary sewer.
  • The table marks the public water and sewer row with an asterisk (*); the footnote text was not captured in the extracted page.
  • Section 45 states that individual septic tanks on a lot are not to be treated as public sanitary sewer for this table.

  minimum lot area, single-family dwelling with public water and public sanitary sewer: >= 6000 square feet (asterisk footnote not captured) · minimum lot width, single-family dwelling with public water and public sanitary sewer: >= 50 feet (asterisk footnote not captured) · minimum lot area, single-family dwelling with public water supply or public sanitary sewer (only one): >= 10000 square feet · minimum lot width, single-family dwelling with public water supply or public sanitary sewer (only one): >= 80 feet · minimum lot area, single-family dwelling with neither public water nor public sanitary sewer: >= 20000 square feet · minimum lot width, single-family dwelling with neither public water nor public sanitary sewer: >= 100 feet

  “sewage treatment on a individual lot basis (such as individual septic tanks) shall not be interpreted as public sanitary sewer in this table.”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — Dwelling in the AG (agricultural) district inside Bishop Hill village

    “section 33. required lot area and lot width in the ag district no dwelling shall be located on a lot less than one (1) acre in area nor 150 feet in width.”

• SetbacksSpecified

  Structures in the R, R-1 and R-2 residence districts inside Bishop Hill village

  • Corner lots must provide a front yard on each street side, but this may not reduce the buildable width below 32 feet (Section 47.4).
  • Section 48 requires off-street parking in these districts per the schedule in Article II.

  front yard: >= 25 feet · side yard, one side yard minimum: >= 5 feet (one side yard) · side yard, two side yards combined minimum: >= 12 feet (two side yards) · rear yard: >= 20 feet (or 20 percent of lot depth, whichever is greater)

  “section 47. yards required in residence districts all structures to be constructed, altered, or moved in the r, r-1 and r-2 districts shall provide yards of the following minimum depths 47.1 front yard: twenty-five (25) feet 47.2 side yard: five (5) feet minimum, one side yard; twelve (12) feet minimum, two side yards. 47.3 rear yard: twenty (20) feet or twenty (20) percent of the lot depth, whichever is greater.”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — All structures in the AG (agricultural) district inside Bishop Hill village

    “section 35. required yards in the ag district all structures shall have the following minimum yard spaces: front yard - fifty (50) feet. side yard - each not less than fifteen (15) feet. rear yard - each not less than thirty (30) feet.”

• Building heightSpecified

  Buildings in the R, R-1 and R-2 residence districts inside Bishop Hill village

  • Height may exceed 30 feet only if each side yard is increased by five feet for every five feet of added height, up to 30 feet additional.
  • In no case may the building height exceed 50 feet.

  maximum height: <= 30 feet (may increase if side yards are increased; absolute cap 50 feet) · maximum stories: <= 2 stories (same as height rule) · absolute maximum height: <= 50 feet

  “in no case shall the building height exceed fifty (50) feet.”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — Residential dwellings in the AG (agricultural) district inside Bishop Hill village

    “section 34. height regulations no residential dwelling shall exceed two (2) stories or thirty (30) feet in height.”

• Living in an RVLimited

  Camping trailers and RVs on residential lots in the R district inside Bishop Hill village

  • Permitted use is off-street storage of up to one camping trailer per family unit.
  • Camping trailers are intended only for use, not for living purposes, within the village (Section 12.101).
  • Camping trailer means a trailer of 22 feet in length or less under the ordinance definition.

  maximum camping trailers stored per family unit: <= 1 count (off-street storage only) · camping trailer length definition: <= 22 feet (trailers over 22 feet are not camping trailers under this ordinance)

  “41.1 single family residence dwellings and related accessory buildings, off-street storage of not more than one (1) camping trailer per family unit”

• Manufactured homesLimited

  Mobile home parks inside Bishop Hill village

  • A park must provide permanent accommodations for at least five trailers, with individual underground sewer and water connections and concrete platforms per mobile home.
  • Spaces must be set back from park boundaries by the adjacent district's yard requirements.
  • A certificate of occupancy is required for each mobile home before occupancy (see certificate_of_occupancy claim).

  minimum mobile home spaces in a park: >= 5 trailers · minimum area per mobile home space: >= 2400 square feet

  “(c) the plan of development will provide a minimum of twenty-four hundred (2,400) square feet per mobile home space,”

• Permit feesPublished

  Building application/permits issued by the village zoning enforcing officer inside Bishop Hill village

  • The schedule is stated in the 2024-03 ordinance text; no later fee schedule was found.
  • Fee is charged to partially defray administration of the ordinance.

  permit fee, valuation $0.00 to $999.99: 0 USD (no charge) · permit fee, valuation $1,000 to $4,999.99: 10 USD · permit fee, valuation $5,000 to $14,999.99: 20 USD · permit fee, valuation $15,000 and above: 50 USD

  “102.23 to partially defray the expense of administering this ordinance, a fee shall be collected by the zoning enforcing officer in accordance with the following schedule: $ 0.00 to $999.99 no charge $1,000 to $4,999.99 $10.00 $5,000 to $14,999.99 $20.00 $15,000 and above $50.00”

• Permit processPublished

  Building permit application to the Bishop Hill village zoning enforcing officer

  • Historic-district applications are sent to the historic review board; approval criteria apply (Section 74).
  • Permit is void 90 days after issuance unless substantial progress has been made by that date (Section 102.22).

  “in applying to the zoning enforcing officer for a building permit, the applicant shall submit a dimensioned sketch or scale plan indicating the shape, size, height, and location of all buildings to be erected, altered, or moved”

Still unanswered

We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask Village of Bishop Hill or Henry County directly.

• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder construction of a home inside Bishop Hill village
• Building code adopted — Building construction code for new homes inside Bishop Hill village
• Inspections — Building inspections for work inside Bishop Hill village
• Minimum dwelling size — Minimum floor area of a dwelling inside Bishop Hill village
• Lot coverage — Lot coverage for buildings inside Bishop Hill village

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.