McHenry County, IL Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

36, Agricultural Zoning Districts. The A-1 Agriculture District exists "to permit agricultural purposes and activities," with residences allowed only on large agricultural parcels within the county; its standards are written to promote the continuation of farming and to protect agricultural land uses from encroachment by incompatible uses. The A-2 Agriculture District instead allows individual single-family residences sited within agricultural portions of the county, but every residence in that district must be compatible with surrounding agricultural operations and must maintain, preserve, and enhance ongoing agricultural activities.

020 (A-2 District Rezoning Standards), which is the county's screening mechanism for converting agricultural ground into residential-compatible agricultural parcels. 040. Because Illinois townships in McHenry County do not exercise zoning authority, the county is the sole zoning authority over this unincorporated farmland, so these two districts are the entire land-use framework protecting agricultural parcels from incompatible development pressure outside the county's cities and villages.