Bolingbrook, IL Landscaping Rules: Artificial Turf (2026)

Chapter 26, Article IV governs "registrable property," defined at section 26-83 as any real property in the village under an active foreclosure action, subject to a foreclosure judgment or sale, transferred by deed in lieu of foreclosure, or simply vacant for more than 30 days or with utilities cancelled. Owners or mortgagees of these properties must register with the village within ten days (sections 26-85, 26-86) and pay a nonrefundable semi-annual registration fee set by the village fee schedule. Section 26-87, "Maintenance requirements," then sets the yard standard: subsection (c) requires front, side and rear yards, including landscaping, to be kept to applicable code, and subsection (d) spells out what counts.

Acceptable registrable yard maintenance includes grass, ground covers, bushes, shrubs, hedges or similar plantings, decorative rock or bark, and artificial turf or sod. The ordinance draws the line at weeds, gravel, broken concrete, asphalt or similar material, none of which qualify as acceptable maintenance. Subsection (e) further requires watering, irrigation, cutting and mowing of required ground cover and removal of trimmings, meaning artificial turf's appeal as a low-maintenance surface does not exempt the rest of the yard from upkeep if any natural ground cover remains.

Because this artificial-turf language sits inside the vacant/foreclosure registry article rather than the general zoning code (chapter 54), it is a maintenance standard for registered vacant or foreclosed lots specifically, not a village-wide landscaping rule for occupied homes; a search of the full code turns up no other reference to artificial turf, synthetic turf or artificial grass.