McHenry County, IL Business Licensing & Operations: Auto Repair on Residential Property (2026)

McHenry County's home-occupation standards single out auto repair for an outright ban rather than case-by-case review. 050(I)(2), 'any type of auto repair' is listed alongside small engine repair and retail sales of ready-made items as occupation types that are prohibited as home occupations, full stop, regardless of scale or whether the work is for pay. Subsection (I)(7) reinforces the same restriction from the nuisance-standards side of the section, stating that 'any type of vehicle or small engine repair service is prohibited as a home occupation' in addition to the general ban on offensive noise, vibration, smoke, dust, odors, heat, glare, or electrical disturbance perceivable at or beyond the lot line, the kind of impact a repair bay commonly produces.

The prohibition covers oil changes, brake work, engine repair, and small-engine work on mowers or similar equipment performed as a business, not just body shops. Storing a vehicle used in connection with a home occupation is allowed only if it is fully enclosed indoors, and outdoor vehicle storage tied to a business is barred outside a narrow two-vehicle exception. Because the ban sits in the home-occupation standards rather than the county's general commercial-use table, an auto-repair operation at a residence has no path to a conditional use permit under this section; it would need a different, non-residential zoning classification entirely to operate legally.