Champaign County, IL Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

0 of the Champaign County Zoning Ordinance, a "KENNEL" is defined as any lot or premises where six or more dogs or six or more cats (or any combination of the two) at least six months of age are kept, boarded, bred, or retained for compensation, or where dogs and/or cats are raised and offered for sale, adoption, or exchange even without compensation. That six-animal threshold is the county's operative pet limit: five or fewer dogs or cats stays an ordinary residential use, while six or more triggers zoning as a KENNEL.

Under the Schedule of Permitted and Special Uses, KENNEL is listed as a Special Use ("S") rather than a permitted-by-right use, meaning a property owner who crosses the threshold must obtain a County Board Special Use Permit before continuing to keep that many animals; the amendment history at the back of the ordinance confirms kennels were added "as a SPECIAL USE in AG-1, AG-2, and CR" districts. 3, the Schedule of Standard Conditions for Specific Types of Special Uses, then layers on physical standards once a kennel special use is approved: an enclosed kennel may not let animals be kept outside the structure, and one single-family dwelling is allowed on-site only for the owner or an employee of the kennel.

A kennel where animals are kept outdoors, temporarily or permanently, must instead provide a 6-foot wire mesh fence around the outdoor exercise or training area, keep that area at least 200 feet from any adjacent residential structure or use with a noise buffer of evergreen shrubs or trees at least four feet high, and maintain a 200-foot side yard and rear yard setback. This zoning threshold governs unincorporated Champaign County only; it does not reach the City of Champaign, Urbana, Rantoul, Savoy, or Mahomet, each of which sets its own limits inside its municipal boundaries.