Arlington Heights, IL Accessory Structures: Shed & Carport Rules (2026)
Shed permit rules in Arlington Heights, IL, also referred to as storage shed, backyard shed, or accessory building regulations, set size limits, setbacks, and when a building permit is required.
Key Facts
- Location
- Rear yard only, § 28-6.5-2
- Side setback
- 3 ft (tree house 5 ft)
- Rear setback
- 5 ft
- Height cap
- 15 ft above grade, § 28-6.5-6
- Shed/playhouse/gazebo size cap
- 300 sq ft
- Detached garage cap
- 720 sq ft
- Count limit
- 3 (<10,000 sq ft lot) / 4 (≥10,000 sq ft lot)
Summary
A backyard shed in Arlington Heights is capped at 300 square feet and must sit in the rear yard, at least three feet from the side lot line and five feet from the rear lot line. Municipal Code Section 28-6.5 also caps accessory-structure height at 15 feet above grade and limits how many accessory structures a lot may hold.
6.5 Accessory Structures. 6.5-2 An accessory structure including but not limited to a tool shed, storage building, detached garage, tree house or gazebo, shall only be located in a rear yard. An accessory structure may be located no less than three feet from a side lot line (except for a tree house which shall be setback five feet and no closer than ten feet to the principal structure), and no less than five feet from the rear lot line. No more than three accessory structures shall be permitted on any zoning lot less than 10,000 square feet and no more than four accessory structures shall be permitted on any zoning lot 10,000 square feet or greater. ... 6.5-5 Percentage of Required Rear Yard Occupied. No accessory structure or structures shall occupy more than 40 percent of the area of a required rear yard. 6.5-6 Height of Accessory Structures in Required Rear Yards. No accessory structure or portion thereof shall exceed a height of 15 feet above grade... 6.5-7 Maximum Size of Accessory Structures. ... b. Playhouse, Shed and Gazebo: 300 square feet.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Municipal Code: Supplement 3 Update 2).
Full Breakdown
5, Accessory Structures, governs sheds, playhouses, gazebos, tree houses, and detached garages across the Village. 5-2, an accessory structure may only be located in the rear yard, no closer than three feet to a side lot line and five feet to the rear lot line (a tree house gets its own five-foot side setback and must sit at least ten feet from the principal structure). A zoning lot smaller than 10,000 square feet may hold no more than three accessory structures; a lot of 10,000 square feet or more may hold up to four.
5-6 caps their height at 15 feet above grade, with tree houses held to the same 15-foot ceiling. 5-7 sets maximum footprints by structure type: a detached garage tops out at 720 square feet (with floor area over 400 square feet counted against the lot's floor area ratio), a playhouse, shed, or gazebo is capped at 300 square feet, and a tree house at 100 square feet. 5-7a further limits the R-E, R-1, R-2, and R-3 single-family districts to no more than two detached garages per zoning lot.
5-4 also bars building an accessory structure before the principal building exists on the lot, a shed generally cannot go in ahead of the house itself on a vacant parcel.
Violations & Fines
Under Section 28-6.4, the Director of Building and Life Safety cannot approve a building permit for a shed, garage, or other accessory structure that violates the location, setback, height, size, or count limits in Section 28-6.5; a structure erected without that approval is subject to the Village's general code enforcement and permit-compliance process for the Zoning Chapter.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big can my shed be in Arlington Heights?
How many accessory structures can I have on my lot?
How tall can a shed be, and can it fill my whole backyard?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Arlington Heights
How Arlington Heights compares: Shed Permit Requirements by City·Compare Arlington Heights to another location·View the Illinois accessory structures overview
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