The Farm Nuisance Suit Act shields established Illinois farms from nuisance lawsuits when the operation predates surrounding non-agricultural land uses by at least one year.
The Farm Nuisance Suit Act (740 ILCS 70) provides that no farm or farm operation in existence for one year or more may become a private or public nuisance because of changed conditions in or about the surrounding non-agricultural area, if the farm was not a nuisance when it began. The Act does not protect farms whose operations are negligently or improperly run, or that violate state or federal pollution law. It also expressly provides that local governments may not adopt ordinances that make established farm operations a nuisance.
Plaintiffs filing barred nuisance suits may be liable for the farm operator's reasonable attorney fees and costs of defending the action under Section 70/4.1 of the Act.
Winnebago County, IL
Winnebago County has no county-wide noise ordinance with fixed quiet hours for unincorporated areas. State law (720 ILCS 5/26-1 disorderly conduct) and Illin...
Winnebago County, IL
Winnebago County's Unified Development Ordinance (Chapter 90) regulates fences in unincorporated areas through Article 18 (Temporary and Development Standard...
Winnebago County, IL
Winnebago County Code of Ordinances Chapter 14 (Animals) and the Illinois Animal Control Act (510 ILCS 5) require owners to keep dogs under restraint and pro...
Machesney Park, IL
Machesney Park requires property owners to keep grass and weeds at or below 7 inches as part of property-maintenance enforcement. The Village adopted the 202...
Winnebago County, IL
Illinois prohibits all 'consumer fireworks' (UN0336/UN0337 1.4G/1.4S) under the Pyrotechnic Use Act (425 ILCS 35), making firecrackers, bottle rockets, Roman...
Winnebago County, IL
Winnebago County's Chapter 90 Unified Development Ordinance does not publish a vacation-rental-specific parking ratio. Vacation rental parking in unincorpora...
See how Machesney Park's farm nuisance protection rules stack up against other locations.
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.