Champaign County, IL Ordinances (2026)

Rent control is illegal everywhere in Champaign County. The Illinois Rent Control Preemption Act (50 ILCS 825) bars every unit of local government, the county, Champaign, Urbana, and…

Champaign County treats an occupied rental unit as a public nuisance TYPE 5 dangerous structure when it lacks safe potable water, a working toilet, code-compliant plumbing, adequate…

Illinois's Home-to-Market Act lets you make and sell a wide range of homemade food from a Champaign County home after registering with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District. No…

In unincorporated Champaign County a home day care runs as a neighborhood home occupation under Zoning Ordinance § 7.1.1: up to 12 children may be present, children may arrive as early…

Champaign County limits home-based businesses in unincorporated areas to one non-family employee present between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., requires the operation to stay entirely indoors in…

Unincorporated Champaign County caps a home occupation's on-premises patrons and clients at three people at a time, between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m., with narrow numeric carve-outs for day…

A Neighborhood Home Occupation in unincorporated Champaign County may post no sign other than a name plate capped at two square feet; a Rural Home Occupation on qualifying farm land…

In unincorporated Champaign County a permanent residential swimming pool is regulated under the Illinois Counties Code, which lets the county board set construction rules. Champaign…

Illinois law lets Champaign, Urbana, and the county require a barrier around a residential pool. Champaign and Urbana enforce the International Residential Code's 48-inch fence with a…

Champaign County zones unincorporated land through its Department of Planning and Zoning. Front setbacks are measured from the street centerline: 85 feet on a major street, 75 on a…

Champaign County's Zoning Ordinance caps building coverage at 30 percent of lot area in the R-1, R-2 and R-3 residential districts under Section 5.3, rising to 40 percent in R-4 and…

In unincorporated Champaign County, single-family homes in the R-1, R-2 and R-3 districts may rise no higher than 35 feet or two and one-half stories, measured from grade to the roof's…

Illinois law protects solar in HOA neighborhoods. The Homeowners' Energy Policy Statement Act bars a Champaign County association from adopting any rule that prohibits, or effectively…

Roof-mounted solar arrays need no zoning permit in unincorporated Champaign County. Ground-mounted PV arrays under one megawatt qualify as accessory structures and must meet the…

Champaign County requires full-cutoff, shielded fixtures on every special use permit that adds exterior lighting. Zoning Ordinance Section 6.1.2 caps lamps at 250 watts, bars fixtures…

Champaign County's Public Nuisance Ordinance makes excess glare onto a neighbor's property a public nuisance. Section 3.2.D bars noise, vibration, glare, heat, odors, dust or…

Unincorporated Champaign County enforces a 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. noise curfew under its Public Nuisance Ordinance, barring any noise a neighbor can hear inside their home that isn't…

No Champaign County city singles out leaf blowers, and Illinois has no equipment ban. Gas and electric blowers are legal in Champaign, Urbana, and countywide, answering only to the…

Running or operating a motor vehicle on private property between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. is a public nuisance in unincorporated Champaign County if the noise is louder or longer than…

Construction noise that disturbs neighbors between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. is a public nuisance in unincorporated Champaign County under the Public Nuisance Ordinance, which names…

Running a sound amplification device between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. is a public nuisance in unincorporated Champaign County if a neighbor can hear it inside their home and it's…

A dog or other domestic animal that makes noise at any time of day in a residential zoning district is a public nuisance in unincorporated Champaign County if a neighbor can hear it…

Short-term rental guests follow the same noise rules as residents: Champaign's Chapter 21 or Urbana's Chapter 16 code in the cities, and disorderly conduct law, 720 ILCS 5/26-1, in the…

Short-term stays owe Illinois's 6% Hotel Operators' Occupation Tax, which the state extended to short-term rentals effective July 2025. The City of Champaign adds a 7% municipal…

Beyond mowing height, Illinois law makes controlling noxious weeds a legal duty. The Illinois Noxious Weed Law requires every owner across Champaign County to eradicate listed species…

Native prairie landscaping is well accepted here. Since July 2024, Illinois' Homeowners' Native Landscaping Act bars HOAs from prohibiting native-species yards, and Champaign's code…

Illinois strictly limits consumer fireworks, and the rule holds across Champaign County. Only sparklers, snakes, and novelty items are legal. Firecrackers, Roman candles, bottle…

Illinois bans burning refuse, and that applies everywhere in Champaign County. Landscape waste like leaves may be burned only on the property where it grew, but home-rule Champaign and…

Champaign County allows a recreational campfire, cooking fire or fireplace burn within the 1,000-foot buffer around Champaign and Urbana only as part of its regulated…

Both Champaign and Urbana allow up to six backyard hens, no roosters, with a $25 coop license. Rural, unincorporated Champaign County is farm country where livestock is a normal…

Countywide, every dog and cat over four months must be vaccinated against rabies and registered with Champaign County Animal Control. Off its property, a dog must be on a leash no…

No city in Champaign County may ban or restrict dogs by breed. Illinois law (510 ILCS 5/24) preempts breed-specific ordinances statewide, so pit bulls and every other breed are legal…

Champaign County's Zoning Ordinance caps household pet-keeping at five dogs or five cats before the parcel is reclassified as a regulated "kennel" use. Once a lot holds six or more…

Champaign County lets a veterinary hospital open by right in the unincorporated county only if it is fully enclosed with no outdoor runs. Any clinic that wants outdoor exercise yards…

A food truck in Champaign or Urbana needs a Champaign-Urbana Public Health District health permit plus a city mobile-vendor license. Permits run about $150 to $400 a year and require a…

Champaign and Urbana require door-to-door solicitors to register for a city permit, and canvassing hours are limited. Statewide, Illinois gives a buyer three business days to cancel a…

Recreational home growing is illegal in Illinois. Only a registered medical patient 21 or older may cultivate cannabis at home, capped at 5 plants per household. Adults 21+ may possess…

Cannabis dispensaries are legal and state-licensed in Illinois, and several operate in Champaign-Urbana. The Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act lets Champaign and Urbana zone their time…

Champaign County spaces cannabis dispensaries 1,500 feet apart under its own zoning table, not a stand-alone buffer ordinance. Table Note 23 to Zoning Ordinance Section 5.2 bars a new…

Illinois requires Champaign County to keep an adopted Solid Waste Management Plan emphasizing recycling. Recycling is voluntary for residents in the unincorporated area, but Champaign…

In unincorporated Champaign County, letting yardwaste, brush or cut timber pile up outside a licensed facility is a public nuisance under the county's Public Nuisance Ordinance…

Champaign County's Public Nuisance Ordinance bans dumping or accumulating garbage or debris on public or private land anywhere outside a licensed facility in the unincorporated county…

Owners of vacant lots in Champaign County must keep them clear of overgrowth, weeds and dumped debris. Illinois law makes weed control every owner's duty, and the county can abate a…

Champaign County's Public Nuisance Ordinance makes five types of dangerous structures a public nuisance across the unincorporated county: buildings vacant and open to intrusion for…

Illinois sets a statewide juvenile curfew by statute, 720 ILCS 5/12C-60, which replaced the repealed Child Curfew Act (720 ILCS 555). A minor under 17 may not be in a public place…

Champaign County and its cities enforce NFIP floodplain rules, and Illinois DNR requires a permit for construction in a regulated floodway. Boneyard Creek's flood history drove major…

Champaign County requires a Land Disturbance Erosion Control (LDEC) Permit for any land disturbance of 10,000 square feet or more within the county's MS4 area. Permittees must install…

Champaign County's Storm Water Management and Erosion Control Ordinance, adopted June 18, 2015, bars grading or filling that ponds surface water or turns runoff into a nuisance…

A fence counts as a STRUCTURE under the county Zoning Ordinance's definitions, so building or erecting one in unincorporated Champaign County requires a Zoning Use Permit from the…

Champaign County's Zoning Ordinance caps residential fences at 6 feet in required front yards and 8 feet in side and rear yards, measured from grade, under Section 4.3.3.G. Any fence…

In unincorporated Champaign County, a DATA CENTER is allowed only as a special use in the AG-2, B-4 and I-1 zoning districts. Before a Zoning Use Permit issues, the fire protection…

Champaign County ties data center noise to state law. Zoning Ordinance Section 6.1.3 requires every DATA CENTER to comply with Illinois Pollution Control Board noise rules, and any…

Champaign County has temporarily banned new data centers. Adopted April 23, 2026, Zoning Ordinance Section 5.6 halts approval of any DATA CENTER with 10,000 square feet or more of…

Champaign County's Zoning Ordinance requires commercial and industrial establishments in the unincorporated area to provide off-street loading berths sized and located by a floor-area…

Storing an inoperable vehicle outside a fully enclosed building is a public nuisance in unincorporated Champaign County unless it meets narrow exemptions in the Public Nuisance…

A residential lot in unincorporated Champaign County running a home occupation may keep only one commercial vehicle, capped at 36,000 pounds gross weight and 25 feet in length, under…

Champaign County protects farmland through two agriculture zoning districts covering the unincorporated county: AG-1 shields land best suited to farming from premature urban…

Champaign County's Public Nuisance Ordinance exempts lawful farming outright: Section 3.3.A declares that 'all lawful agricultural activities, appurtenances and structures' are not…

Champaign County keeps sexually oriented businesses away from sensitive uses through its zoning table, not a business license. Table Note 11 to Zoning Ordinance Section 5.2 bars any…

Champaign County bans major auto repair as a home occupation outright and allows minor auto repair only by Special Use Permit, generally more than 1.5 miles from a municipality that…

Political campaign signs on private property in unincorporated Champaign County need no permit but are capped at 10 square feet and must come down within 14 days after the election…

Off-premises freestanding advertising signs along interstate highways in unincorporated Champaign County are tightly rationed by distance from an interchange, capped at 150 square feet…

Champaign County requires detached sheds and other accessory buildings on unincorporated land to sit at least 5 to 10 feet off the side and rear lot lines depending on the zoning…