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

Sec. 121-99 states the A1 district's intent directly: its regulations exist to govern land, buildings, and structures in areas of the county where soil and topographic conditions are best adapted to the pursuit of agriculture and the use of other natural land resources, and the section applies to the A1 district specifically. Under the permitted-use rules, the minimum lot area for an agricultural use is five acres, while a single-family dwelling requires a much larger 20-acre lot, discouraging piecemeal rural residential subdivision of working farmland.

Beyond specific permitted and special uses, the district's baseline dimensional standards require a lot area of not less than two acres, lot width of not less than 330 feet, and frontage of not less than 330 feet, with setbacks of 50 feet in front, 30 feet on an interior side, 50 feet on a side adjoining a street, and 100 feet in the rear. These large minimums work with the county's stated zoning purpose in Sec. 121-2, which calls for protecting land best suited for agriculture from haphazard, unplanned urban intrusion using the LESA land evaluation and site assessment system, and for buffering agricultural land within one and a half miles of a municipality that has its own comprehensive plan.

Together, the district's size and setback requirements function as the county's practical agricultural-zoning tool for keeping farmland intact and shielding working farms from incompatible development.