ADU rules in Schaumburg

Schaumburg prohibits accessory dwelling units, and does so twice over. The building code is explicit and names them: section 153.14 provides that IRC Section R301.1.4 covering intermodal shipping containers, accessory dwelling units and tiny houses is not adopted, that 'Intermodal Shipping Containers, Accessory Dwelling Units, and Tiny Houses are not a permitted construction or occupancy type,' and that Appendix AQ is deleted. Zoning is the second lock. All six residence districts (A agricultural, R-1, R-4, R-6, R-6C and R-7) list 'Single-family dwellings' as the only dwelling type permitted, each district section states that 'Only those uses specifically listed hereunder shall be considered permitted uses,' and section 154.27 defines a single-family dwelling as 'A building containing one (1) dwelling unit.' Even setting the use question aside, the bulk rules leave no room: section 154.63(E)(4)(c) caps any detached accessory building other than a garage at 200 square feet, section 154.63(E)(2) caps accessory structures in residential districts at 15 feet, and section 154.61(B) allows only one detached principal building per zoning lot.

The building code de-adoption is not limited to detached units: section 153.14 makes 'Accessory Dwelling Units' a non-permitted construction or occupancy type without qualifying the phrase, so a basement apartment, an internal conversion or an addition with its own kitchen is barred on the same footing as a backyard cottage. Zoning reaches the same answer. Section 154.27 defines a dwelling unit as 'One (1) or more rooms containing individualized cooking, sleeping and sanitary facilities which is designed, occupied or intended for use by one (1) family or household,' so adding a second kitchen and bath inside a house creates a second dwelling unit and turns the building into a two-family dwelling, a use no Schaumburg residence district permits. The village has no multiple-family residence district at all: section 154.145 divides the village into thirteen base districts and every residence district is agricultural or single-family. The only lawful way to house an unrelated party inside the home is a rooming house, permitted in R-1, R-4, R-6, R-6C and R-7, but section 154.27 defines it as an owner-occupied house in which at most two bedrooms are let as a single habitable rooming unit 'which does not make provisions for separate dining and/or cooking facilities.' No kitchen means no ADU.

Section 154.63(E)(4)(b) sets the detached garage cap at 'six hundred (600) square feet or no more than forty percent (40%) of the rear yard (including all accessory structures within the rear yard), whichever is less,' with a footprint no less than 10 feet wide and no more than 25 feet deep. Subsection (E)(4)(c) caps 'any other accessory building excluding detached garages, playhouses, and portable sheds, and including, but not limited to, gazebos, greenhouses, workshops, or fixed sheds' at 200 square feet or 40 percent of the rear yard, whichever is less. Portable sheds are limited to 25 square feet, playhouses and dog runs to 100 square feet. Subsection (E)(2) holds accessory structures in residential districts to 15 feet and never taller than the house, and subsections (E)(5) to (E)(7) allow only one detached garage plus at most one or two of a fixed shed, workshop or greenhouse. The only residential floor area figure that runs the other way is a minimum, not a maximum: section 154.160(D)(4) requires a single-family home in R-6 to be at least 960 square feet on one story or 1,200 square feet over two or more stories.

There is no accessory dwelling unit in Schaumburg, so no owner-occupancy rule attaches to one; the value is recorded as unknown to match how this directory codes other jurisdictions that prohibit ADUs outright. What the code does say about owner occupancy is worth knowing, because it points in two directions. The two accessory-living arrangements Schaumburg does allow are both owner-occupancy tests by definition: a rooming house is 'Any owner-occupied residential house or part thereof in which two (2) bedrooms are let separately,' and a bed and breakfast (a special use, not a permitted use) is 'Any owner-occupied residential structure or part thereof in which two (2) or more bedrooms are offered for rent for a period of thirty (30) consecutive days or less.' Renting out the whole single-family house, by contrast, carries no owner-occupancy requirement at all: it needs only a rental license under Chapter 123. Illinois has no statewide ADU statute, so no state preemption of owner-occupancy rules applies here.

Section 154.123's Schedule of Parking Requirements lists exactly two residential rows: 'Single-family dwellings, 2 per unit,' and 'Multiple-family dwellings other than single-family detached, 1.5 for the first bedroom, plus 1/2 parking space for each additional bedroom in each dwelling unit,' with guest parking at 1 space per 20 required spaces. The multiple-family rate is the one that would apply if a second unit ever became lawful on a lot through a rezoning or a planned unit development, since no ADU row exists. Section 154.121(G)(3)(a) adds a rule homeowners run into: 'The number of permitted vehicles allowed to be parked in the rear yards of single-family residences shall be limited to the number of ground-level parking spaces available in any detached garage located on the property. In the absence of a detached garage, no more than two (2) vehicles shall be permitted to be parked in the rear yard on an approved surface.' 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 accessory-rental right in Schaumburg and leaves both prohibitions untouched, but Schaumburg contains a Metra rail station, so within a half mile of it the two-space single-family minimum cannot be imposed on new dwelling construction; bus-frequency tests were not verified.

No approval pathway of any kind exists, so none of permitted, conditional-use or varies describes the reality; unknown matches how this directory codes other outright prohibitions. Section 153.14 removes accessory dwelling units from the adopted construction and occupancy types, so the Permit Services division has nothing to issue a building permit against, and the zoning side offers no special use either: each residence district section lists the complete set of special uses (bed and breakfasts, group homes, institutional housing, plus agricultural, religious, educational, institutional, recreational and utility uses) and no second or accessory dwelling appears among them. Changing the answer would take legislation rather than a permit: a zoning text amendment under section 154.43, plus an amendment to the building code chapter. A homeowner cannot even start that process, because section 154.43(B)(1) provides that text amendments 'may be proposed by the village board, the zoning board of appeals, the zoning administrator, or other governmental bodies,' with residents and property owners limited to proposing rezonings and map amendments; the amendment itself is granted or denied by the Village Board by ordinance only after a public hearing before the zoning board. For reference, ordinary residential building permits are filed through the village's OpenGov portal and administrative site plan amendments under section 154.51(A) reach only listed minor changes, none of which involve dwelling units.

Chapter 123 makes every rental in the village licensed: section 123.02(A)(1) makes it unlawful to rent a residential dwelling or dwelling unit without a license from the finance department. Subsection (A)(4) is the ADU-relevant one, barring habitation of any accessory building and allowing an accessory structure only 'as an amenity at any specific location for which a rental license has been issued.' The short-term rental regime is deliberately narrow: section 123.01 defines a short-term rental as 'A single room, dwelling unit or portion thereof located within the primary structure in a residential zoning district and offered for rent for a period of thirty (30) consecutive days or less,' which by its own words excludes a coach house or backyard cottage. Section 123.02(B)(7) adds discretionary findings (no negative cumulative effect, no substantial adverse impact on adjoining property) plus the criteria at (B)(7)(f): no rental shorter than 20 hours, no food or drink beyond pre-packaged items, one short-term rental at a location at a time, hotel and motel tax, no corporate or LLC ownership except trusts or estates whose beneficiary or trustee is a natural person, and a 750-foot property-line separation from another short-term rental. Those tighter rules came in with Ordinance 24-088, passed December 10, 2024 and effective January 1, 2025; properties already licensed were grandfathered, but subsection (B)(7)(f)7 strips that legal nonconforming status on any transfer of ownership or on non-renewal or revocation of the license.