Kendall County, IL Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)
Key Facts
- Lighting curfew
- No illumination 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. near residential districts
- Internally lit signs
- Light must pass only through lettering, not background
- Enforcing agency
- PBZ Department under Sec. 36-1065
- Billboard siting
- Special use only in M-2 and M-3 districts
- Permit required
- Sec. 36-1052(a) before any sign is erected
- Noncompliance window
- 30 days to fix after written PBZ notice
Summary
In unincorporated Kendall County, every illuminated sign, including any billboard or outdoor advertising structure permitted under the zoning code, must go dark between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. whenever it is visible from a residential district. Internally lit signs may only shine light through their lettering and graphics, never through an unshielded background, and the Planning, Building and Zoning Department enforces the standard countywide.
(b)Illuminated signs. All illuminated signs shall be subject to the following requirements:(1)Signs shall be shaded wherever necessary to avoid casting bright light upon property located in any residential district. When a sign is visible from a residential district, it shall not be illuminated between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.(2)Internally illuminated signs shall permit light to shine fully through only the lettering and graphic elements of the sign. The background for such spacing and graphics shall be opaque or translucent and shall transmit light at a level substantially less than that transmitted through the lettering and graphics.
Full Breakdown
Kendall County Code Sec. 36-1053(b), part of the countywide sign article that governs unincorporated territory, sets the lighting rules that apply to every illuminated sign, including the outdoor advertising structures the code calls billboards. m. Internally illuminated signs can only let light pass through the lettering and graphic elements themselves; the background has to stay opaque or translucent and transmit substantially less light than the letters do, so a glowing panel behind the copy is not allowed. This standard reaches actual off-premises billboards because the county treats them as signs under Article VI: Sec.
36-1059 confines new commercial off-premises advertising structures to a special use in the M-2 Heavy Industrial and M-3 Aggregate Materials Extraction districts, and any billboard approved there still has to meet the Sec. 36-1053(b) curfew and shielding rules. No sign, illuminated or not, can go up without a permit from the PBZ Department under Sec. 36-1052(a), and the permit application must show the proposed illumination method under Sec. 36-1052(b)(3). Nonconforming billboards already standing when the sign rules were adopted stay subject to Article VI, per Sec. 36-223, meaning an old billboard cannot be re-lit in a way that makes it more nonconforming with the curfew.
Violations & Fines
The PBZ Department enforces the lighting curfew under Sec. 36-1065. If a sign is unsafe, insecure, or maintained in violation of the article, PBZ gives the owner written notice and thirty days to bring it into compliance or remove it; PBZ may remove an immediate safety hazard summarily and without notice. If the owner does not reimburse removal costs within sixty days, the County Board can certify the charges and file a lien against the property, plus attorney's fees and litigation costs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do billboards in unincorporated Kendall County have to turn off their lights at night?
Where are new billboards even allowed in unincorporated Kendall County?
What happens if a sign owner ignores the lighting rules?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Kendall County
Compare Kendall County to another location·View the Illinois outdoor lighting overview
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