ADU rules in Elgin

Elgin's zoning code contains no accessory dwelling unit provision of any kind, and the phrase does not appear anywhere in the Elgin Municipal Code. Every residential district's land use list is closed by its own terms, and in the single-family districts the only residential principal use enumerated is 'Single-family detached dwellings': that holds for SFR1 (19.25.130) and SFR2 (19.25.330) as well as for the mature-neighborhood districts RC1 (19.20.130), RC2 (19.20.330) and RC3 (19.20.630). A backyard cottage cannot enter through the accessory-use door either, because section 19.90.015 requires an accessory use to be subordinate and customarily incidental to the principal use and caps it at less than ten percent of the zoning lot area and less than ten percent of the building floor area. Detached accessory buildings are permitted, but only to house accessory uses, never a separate dwelling unit.

An attached, basement or internal second unit is barred by the same closed use lists working together with Elgin's definitions. Section 19.90.015 defines a single-family dwelling as 'a building containing one (1) dwelling unit' and defines a dwelling unit as rooms having 'individualized and independent entrance, cooking, sleeping and sanitary facilities', so adding a second kitchen and entrance converts the house into a two (2) family dwelling, a use listed only in the TFR and MFR districts (19.25.530, 19.25.730). One narrow provision protects history rather than creating new units: in RC3 alone, 'Original residential use' is a permitted use, preserving the unit count a building was 'originally designed and intended' for, which covers lawfully established two family and multiple-family buildings. Rezoning to TFR is rarely a practical workaround, since TFR requires a minimum 10,000 square foot zoning lot and 12,000 square feet for corner and through lots.

Because the code authorizes no accessory dwelling unit, there is no ADU floor-area or height standard to report. The envelope that does govern detached accessory buildings sits in section 19.12.500: in all residence conservation districts, all residence districts and the CF Community Facility District their height 'shall not exceed fifteen (15) linear feet', rising to twenty-five (25) linear feet only where the HP Historic Preservation overlay applies. Total accessory building coverage follows a site capacity formula that scales with lot size and differs by district: in RC1 the maximum equals the zoning lot area minus 7,500 square feet, times 0.02112, plus 792 square feet (19.20.135 J), while in SFR1 it equals the lot area minus 20,000 square feet, times 0.0066, plus 1,056 square feet (19.25.135 J). Accessory buildings must also match the principal house's roof type, with 100 percent of each street-facing wall and 50 percent of other walls in materials compatible with the house.

There is no owner-occupancy rule to report, because Elgin authorizes no ADU and Title 19 never conditions a residential use on the owner living on site. Owner occupancy does appear in Elgin law, but as an exemption rather than a mandate: chapter 6.37 exempts 'Single-family owner-occupied dwellings' from the rental residential license, and separately exempts 'Single-family and two-unit rental residential properties, lawfully established as either a lawful conforming or lawful nonconforming use, in which each dwelling unit is occupied by the owner or a member of the owner's immediate family.' That second exemption is the one that reaches a grandfathered second unit in an older Elgin neighborhood. Recorded as unknown rather than no because the question presupposes an ADU regime Elgin does not have.

Elgin has no ADU parking standard because it has no ADU. The residential row of the required-parking table sets '1 stall per 500 square feet of floor area with a minimum of 2 stalls per dwelling unit, but need not exceed 4 stalls per dwelling unit', with efficiency dwelling units at 1.5 stalls each. A second unit, if one were ever authorized or if a lawful nonconforming one were altered, would therefore carry a full 2-stall minimum of its own rather than a reduced ADU rate. The table contains no transit-proximity, small-unit or affordability reduction. Vehicle use area is separately capped per district, for example a flat 1,800 square feet in SFR1 and a lot-size formula in RC1. 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 ADU or second-unit right in Elgin, but Elgin contains Metra rail stations, which are rail transit stations under the act, so within a half mile of each the baseline dwelling minimums cannot be imposed on new dwelling construction; bus-frequency tests were not verified.

No ADU permit path exists, so no review type can be reported. Elgin's use lists are closed, and its use-variation power is unusually narrow: section 19.10.500 permits land use variations 'only in the following instance and no others', namely changing one unabandoned nonconforming use of a structure to another nonconforming use, and section 19.70.020 expressly withholds land use variations from the planning and zoning commission's general variation authority while adding that the power 'shall be sparingly exercised'. There is therefore neither an administrative ADU permit nor a conditional-use hearing that can produce one. The only routes to a second dwelling unit on a single-family lot are a zoning text or map amendment under chapter 19.55 or a planned development approved by the city council under chapter 19.60, both legislative acts rather than permits.

Because no new accessory unit can lawfully be created, the rental question reaches only legally established units, including second units in older neighborhoods that survive as lawful nonconforming uses or under RC3's 'Original residential use'. For those, chapter 6.37 makes it unlawful to 'operate, maintain or offer to rent within the city a rental residential property whether vacant or not without first obtaining a license'. The definition in 6.37.030 reaches short stays directly, covering 'properties that are listed and/or let for rent, lease, or occupancy on a short-term basis either independently or through online services (e.g., AirBnB, VRBO, etc.)'. Elgin has no separate short-term-rental ordinance and no nightly-stay cap in Title 19; the 6.37 licensing and inspection regime is the operative control, backed by inspections and license suspension. Owner-occupied single-family homes are exempt from licensing, as are one- and two-unit properties in which every unit houses the owner or an immediate family member.