Kankakee County, IL Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

The Kankakee County Zoning Ordinance defines a garden compost operation in Sec. 121-3 as one that has no more than 25 cubic yards of landscape waste, composting material, or end-product compost on-site at any one time and is not engaging in commercial activity; such operations are exempt from the requirements of the chapter entirely, so a homeowner composting yard waste at that scale needs no zoning permit. Anything larger or run for profit becomes a landscape waste compost facility, and Sec. 121-99(c)(19) requires a special use permit for any commercial landscape waste composting facility other than a garden compost operation.

The county will not allow a commercial compost facility within 500 feet of an existing dwelling or a residential or commercial district boundary line unless the zoning board of appeals recommends, and the county board approves, waiving that setback for good cause. Separately, within the A1 Agriculture district, Sec. 121-99(b)(9) permits composting of landscape waste for land application in pursuit of agriculture as of right, but only on a parcel of not less than 20 acres, tying that agricultural use to a much larger minimum tract than the backyard exemption.

Applications for the special use permit route through the county planning department and are reviewed by the zoning board of appeals before going to the county board for final action, the same process used for other A1 special uses.