Palatine, IL Parking Rules: Commercial & Oversized Vehicles (2026)

The Zoning Ordinance defines 'commercial vehicle' broadly in § 3.02 as any motor vehicle used by or for a business or service which may or may not bear any sort of advertising for that business or service, so the rule reaches unmarked work trucks and vans as well as lettered service vehicles. Outdoor parking of a commercial vehicle on a residential lot is governed by § 7.03(d)(1)(b)(ii), which permits one commercial vehicle twenty-two feet or less in length, when owned or used by the occupant, to sit in the rear or interior side yard, but only if it is screened on all sides by a hedge, masonry wall, or solid fence between four and six feet high.

A commercial vehicle over that 22-foot length has no outdoor spot on a residential lot under this section. Garaged commercial vehicles face a separate weight cap: the ordinance's 'Garage, private' definition in § 3.02 states a private garage shall not be used for more than one commercial vehicle per family resident upon the premises, but no such commercial vehicle shall exceed six thousand pounds gross vehicle weight, meaning even inside an enclosed garage, a single household can't store more than one qualifying commercial vehicle, and it must stay under three tons.

Combined with § 7.02(e)'s ban on commercial automotive repairs on residential lots, the Village's scheme lets residents park one moderate-sized work vehicle at home but keeps larger trucks and any repair operation out of residential districts entirely.