Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Village of Island Lake, Illinois

Village of Island Lake’s own rules

• Building permitRequired

  Construction and alteration work inside Island Lake village limits (new construction, additions, alterations to foundation, framing, or rough plumbing/electric).

  • Section 8-1-3(b): a permit is required for an addition or alteration of a foundation, rough framing, rough plumbing or rough electric.
  • Section 8-1-3(b) lists exempt work, including fixture replacement without altered rough locations, cosmetic work, replacement of up to two windows or exterior doors, and retaining walls under 30 inches high.
  • Section 8-1-3(a): no work shall start before the permit is issued.

  “a permit is required when there is an addition or alteration of a foundation, rough framing, rough plumbing or rough electric.”

• Building code adoptedAdopted

  All construction inside Island Lake village limits.

  • Section 8-1-1(a) adopts the International Building Code, 2009 edition, as the village building code.
  • Section 8-1-1(b) adopts additional codes and amendments; the list was not reviewed in this pass.
  • Adoption is shown on the code text; the source gives no separate adoption date.

  “a. adoption of the international building code, 2009 edition: a certain document, three (3) copies of which are on file in the office of the village clerk”

• Certificate of occupancyRequired

  Buildings inside Island Lake village limits that the village issues a certificate of occupancy for.

  • Section 8-1-4(a) describes a certificate of occupancy issued under the village ordinances; the copy of the rule that issues it was not fully read.
  • Section 8-1-4(a) states the village file for the county supervisor of assessments is 'Lake and/or McHenry county'; parcels in Lake County may follow that county's assessor process.
  • Sprinklered structures require fire-district inspection before a certificate of occupancy issues (section 8-1-4).

  “prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy pursuant to the ordinances of this village, the building commissioner shall file an unexecuted certificate of occupancy with the lake and/or mchenry county supervisor of assessments.”

• Local zoningPresent

  All land inside Island Lake village limits; the village's own Title 9 zoning code applies.

  • Title 9 is titled 'Island Lake zoning code' and is adopted under the Illinois Municipal Code (section 9-1-2).
  • Village uses are permitted by right in all districts except R-3 (section 9-1-3).

  “to carry out the purposes of this code, the village is hereby divided into the following zoning districts”

• Zoning districtsPublished

  Zoning districts established for Island Lake village.

  • Districts listed in section 9-2-1 include E-1, R-1 through R-5 (with R-3 overlay), B-1, B-2, B-3, ORI, I-light and OS; the zoning map is incorporated by section 9-2-3.

  “to carry out the purposes of this code, the village is hereby divided into the following zoning districts: a. residential districts (chapter 3) e-1 residence district r-1 residence district r-2 residence district r-3 residence district r-3 residence overlay district”

• Minimum dwelling sizeSpecified

  E-1 residence district (the village's lowest-density residential district, the closest analogue to a rural-residential district) inside Island Lake village.

  • Table in section 9-3-11(a) of Title 9.
  • Column alignment was taken from the flattened PDF text; verify against the PDF table.

  minimum dwelling size: >= 1350 square feet

  “minimum dwelling size (square feet) 1,350 1,100 1,100 1,000 1,000”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — R-1 residence district (main single-family residential district) inside Island Lake village.

    “minimum dwelling size (square feet) 1,350 1,100 1,100 1,000 1,000”

• Minimum lot sizeSpecified

  E-1 residence district inside Island Lake village.

  • Lot area row is printed after the side-yard row in the flattened PDF text; verify column alignment against the PDF table.
  • Nonconforming lots: see section 9-10-5.

  minimum lot area: >= 110000 square feet

  “110,000 40,000 20,000 10,000 7,200 10,000 100,000 minimum lot width at frontage (feet) 200 150 100 75 60 70 200”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — R-1 residence district inside Island Lake village.

    “110,000 40,000 20,000 10,000 7,200 10,000 100,000 minimum lot width at frontage (feet) 200 150 100 75 60 70 200”

• SetbacksSpecified

  E-1 residence district inside Island Lake village: front yard 75 ft, side yard 30 ft, rear yard 50 ft.

  • Side-yard row footnote 2 applies; see the table footnotes in section 9-3-11(b).
  • Accessory structure setbacks are in section 9-9-1 and were not opened.

  front yard setback: >= 75 feet · side yard setback: >= 30 feet (footnote 2 applies) · rear yard setback: >= 50 feet

  “minimum front yard setback (feet) 75 50 35 35 25 35 35”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — R-1 residence district (main single-family residential district) inside Island Lake village: front yard 50 ft, side yard 20 ft, rear yard 35 ft.

    “minimum front yard setback (feet) 75 50 35 35 25 35 35”

• Lot coverageSpecified

  E-1 residence district inside Island Lake village.

  • Maximum lot coverage for all buildings.

  maximum lot coverage for all buildings: <= 15 percent

  “maximum lot coverage for all buildings 15% 15% 20% 20% 20% 35% 35%”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — R-1 residence district inside Island Lake village.

    “maximum lot coverage for all buildings 15% 15% 20% 20% 20% 35% 35%”

• Building heightSpecified

  E-1 residence district inside Island Lake village: principal building 35 ft, accessory building 20 ft.

  maximum principal building height: <= 35 feet · maximum accessory building height: <= 20 feet

  “maximum principal building height (feet) 35 35 30 30 30 37 37”

  One more reviewed finding on this topic

  • Specified — R-1 residence district inside Island Lake village: principal building 35 ft, accessory building 20 ft.

    “maximum principal building height (feet) 35 35 30 30 30 37 37”

• Permit feesPublished

  Building permit fees for work inside Island Lake village.

  • Fees are set in the annual fee ordinance schedule in section 1-16-3 of the code; that schedule was not opened, so amounts are not recorded here.
  • The village's 2025 fee schedule PDF was located but not opened.

  “in the amount set forth in the annual fee ordinance schedule contained in section 1-16-3 of this code”

• Permit processPublished (with conditions)

  Building permit application and issuance inside Island Lake village.

  • Plans must be submitted for review with a nonrefundable deposit before permit issuance (section 8-1-3).
  • No work may start before the permit is issued; permits expire if work does not start within two months or is not finished within twelve months, absent an extension (section 8-1-3(c)).

  “no work shall start before the issuance of the permit.”

Rules another office applies inside Village of Island Lake

Village of Island Lake does not set these itself; the county, a health district or the state does, and they apply to every address inside its limits.

• Mandatory utility hookupSewer (with conditions)

  Sanitary sewer service inside Island Lake village, provided by Northern Moraine Water Reclamation District (NMWRD), not the village.

  • The village newsletter states NMWRD provides sanitary service; no rule was found requiring a new home to connect to public sewer or setting a distance from the sewer line.
  • Water and sewer billing are separate; water service is billed by the village (not verified in an opened page).

  “nmwrd, a separate entity from the village of island lake, provides sanitary (sewer) service.”

Still unanswered

We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask Village of Island Lake or McHenry County directly.

• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder permit rules inside Island Lake village limits.
• Inspections — Building inspections inside Island Lake village limits.
• Living in an RV — Living in RVs on private land inside Island Lake village.
• Camping on your land — Temporary camping on private land inside Island Lake village.
• Tiny homes — Tiny home occupancy inside Island Lake 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.