Skokie, IL Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Section 118-91 treats a home occupation as a permitted accessory use in every residential zoning district in Skokie, from the R1 Single-Family district through the R4 Multifamily Housing district, as long as the business stays clearly and obviously subordinate to the home and is conducted entirely inside the principal building; a home occupation cannot spill into a detached garage, yard or accessory structure. The Village then layers on numbered conditions. Staffing is capped at one non-resident employee or worker in addition to the people who live there.

The space devoted to the occupation cannot exceed 15 percent of the principal building's floor area, and inventory or supplies stored for the business cannot occupy more than half of whatever space is permitted for the occupation. The business cannot change the building's fire rating, meaning any use requiring a higher hazard classification is disqualified outright. It also cannot alter the residential character of the building or let deliveries and merchandise pickups disrupt the residential character of the neighborhood, and there can be no exterior display or storage of commercial goods on the property.

The occupation is also barred from generating noise, dust, vibration, smell, smoke, glare, electromagnetic or radio frequency interference, fire hazard, or any other nuisance beyond what is typical in a residential district. Two categories are separately excluded from qualifying no matter how small: Section 118-90(d) bars any adult use from being a home occupation, and patron traffic is separately capped under Section 118-91(b)(7).