ADU rules in Cicero

Cicero recognizes no accessory dwelling unit of any kind. Zoning is Chapter 114, the Cicero Unified Development Code, adopted by Ordinance No. 65-22 on November 22, 2022 (which repealed the old Appendix A zoning ordinance) and administered by the Zoning Department as the 'Cicero Unified Development Code of January 2023'. Its Table 4.1 residential land uses list only assisted living, congregate living, single-family detached, two-family and duplex, townhomes, mixed use, ground-floor dwelling units in mixed-use buildings, home occupations, group homes, homeless shelters and multiple-family dwellings; there is no accessory, secondary, coach house or backyard cottage row in any district. Accessory structures are governed by Article 3, Division 1, Section 6 and Table 3.1, which enumerate detached garages and carports, sheds, decks, patios, pools, dog runs, solar panels and similar items and include no habitable or dwelling use. Accessory buildings are separately capped at one story and 17 feet, which forecloses a unit above a garage.

An attached or internal second unit is not authorized either. Table 4.1 does allow two-family and duplex buildings by right in the TN, NI, MF and NMU districts, but its Note (1), carried forward verbatim from the repealed Appendix A and still citing Ord. No. 224-00 of October 24, 2000, states that the allowance 'does not authorize the conversion of existing single-family dwellings into two-family dwellings' and permits new two-family construction only on a lot at least 28 feet wide with another two-family dwelling within 500 feet of the lot line. That route produces a principal two-flat, not a unit subordinate to an existing house. Article 3, Division 3 closes the internal path: a building nonconforming only as to bulk may be remodeled or enlarged only if the work does not increase its nonconformity as to 'the number of kitchens or bathrooms, or the number of dwelling units allowed in the zoning district in which it is located'. The Town's zoning determination form applies the same test, clearing a second unit only if it 'LEGALLY existed prior to October, 1990, or was new construction after October 2000'.

Because Chapter 114 recognizes no accessory dwelling unit, there is no ADU floor area allowance to report. The limits that actually bind a backyard structure are the accessory building rules: no accessory building may have more than one story or exceed 17 feet in height; one shed of at most 200 square feet is allowed per zoning lot; an accessory building must sit at least 10 feet from the nearest wall of the principal building and, in a rear yard in a residential district, at least 5 feet from any property line; and flat roofs are not allowed on residential accessory structures. The Town's detached garage handout adds that a garage may not occupy more than 30 percent of a rear yard. In the TN and NI districts a standard lot is 3,500 square feet and at least 25 feet wide, and total lot coverage including the garage is capped at 50 percent on an interior lot and 65 percent on a corner lot.

Recorded as unknown because Cicero has no accessory dwelling unit regime for an owner-occupancy condition to attach to. A full-text read of the adopted UDC finds no owner-occupancy or owner-residency language in any form, and the Code of Ordinances has no rental licence or rental registration scheme. The only ownership-linked control is the point-of-sale regime in Chapter 22, Article VI: every transfer of improved real property requires a certificate of compliance confirming the property meets the Town's minimum housing, building, electrical, plumbing and zoning codes, which is where an unlawful extra unit is usually caught. That is a transfer trigger, not an occupancy requirement. Article 9 defines an accessory use only as one 'subordinate to the principal use' on the same lot, with no residency condition.

There is no ADU parking standard because there is no ADU. UDC Table 5.1 sets the residential minimums: 2 spaces for each single-family detached dwelling; 1.5 spaces for each duplex or townhome dwelling; and for multiple-family, 1 space per dwelling with 2 or fewer bedrooms and 1.5 spaces per dwelling with 3 or more bedrooms. The Town's detached garage handout restates the same rule in plainer terms as at least 2 spaces for a single-family dwelling, 3 for a two-family dwelling and 1.5 per unit for multifamily. Any lawfully added dwelling unit therefore carries a full parking obligation on lots that in the TN and NI districts can be as narrow as 25 feet, and on non-standard lots between 3,000 and 3,499 square feet each single-family detached home must provide a two-car enclosed garage. PA 104-0457, Art. 5 (People Over Parking Act), effective 6-1-2026, bars any unit of local government from imposing or enforcing minimum automobile parking requirements on a development project (a permit to construct or reconstruct a dwelling qualifies) within one-half mile of a public transportation hub (any rail transit station, or an intersection of 2 or more bus routes with combined 15-minute peak frequency) or one-eighth mile of a 15-minute-peak bus corridor, binds home-rule units (Section 5-90), and grandfathers site plans approved before the effective date (Section 5-15(b)). It creates no second-unit right in Cicero, but Cicero contains a Metra rail station and CTA Pink Line stations, so much of the dense town grid sits within a half mile of a rail transit station where the baseline minimums cannot be imposed on new dwelling construction; bus-frequency tests were not verified.

There is no permit route for an ADU because there is no ADU use to permit. Article 4, Division 2 provides that no use may be established in any zoning district unless Table 4.1 expressly designates it a permitted use or a special use, and that uses not listed may also be prohibited. The Zoning Administrator may treat an unlisted use as permitted only where it is 'similar to and compatible with those uses permitted in the zoning district in question', which a second dwelling unit on a single-family lot is not. A homeowner who wants an answer in writing files the Town's Unified Development Code Determination Request Form with the Legal/Zoning Department; its outcomes are compliance with the UDC, noncompliance with notice to the owner, a certificate of nonconforming status, other zoning relief, or the pre-October-1990 / post-October-2000 second unit exception. Separately, the Building Department lists 'Reconverting illegal rooms or apartments' among the works that require a building permit.

Nothing may be rented as an accessory unit because none may lawfully be created, and there is no amnesty for the units that already exist: Article 3, Division 3 provides that anything established illegally as of the UDC's effective date 'will remain illegal if it does not conform with the requirements of this Chapter'. A genuinely lawful nonconforming unit may continue, but the owner carries the burden of proving its legal status, the status is lost if the use sits idle for six continuous months, and a determination must be secured before any permit that increases dwelling units and on any sale or transfer. Renting a lawful unit is otherwise unregulated; there is no rental licence or registration. Short-term rentals are not addressed at all: Chapter 26, Article VII licenses hotels and public lodginghouses only where five or more transient guests are accommodated, and Cicero has no vacation-rental or home-sharing ordinance. Any basement living space must meet Sec. 46-476(a)(6), including window area located entirely above the adjoining grade.