Mount Prospect, IL Special Events & Permits: Sidewalk Dining & Cafés (2026)

Section 14.311 B of the Village Code covers outdoor dining areas in the Village of Mount Prospect. They are permitted on the same zoning lot as and in conjunction with an established restaurant in the B-3, B-4 or B-5 district, and the same section adds a second tier for public property such as a sidewalk.

The rules for every outdoor dining area come first. The village manager can revoke an outdoor dining area at any time on fourteen days' notice for failure to comply. Furniture and appurtenances must be removable for winter and able to withstand a minimum wind pressure of thirty pounds per square inch, with colors and materials harmonious with the principal and adjacent structures. Alcohol sales and consumption follow chapter 13. The proprietor provides refuse facilities as determined by the environmental health division, and the area must meet Village and state health requirements. Outdoor dining is exempt from parking requirements, but if it creates overflow parking on adjacent public streets the permittee must arrange off site parking on nearby nonresidential properties. Advertising is limited to umbrellas or canopies, covering no more than fifteen percent of the surface of a canopy or umbrella. No music or noise from the operation can be audible on adjacent properties, and operation cannot start earlier than 6:00 A.M. or run later than 11:00 P.M.

Public property adds a permit. The application goes to the department of community development, which reviews it administratively, and the director approves or denies it within thirty days of receipt. The application includes a site plan, plans and cut sheets for barricades and landscaping, distances to all property lines, proposed hours, the clear width of adjacent walkways and sidewalks, photographs of furniture, and refuse provisions. An approved permit is effective for one year from approval. Public sidewalk space can be used only incidental to a restaurant on private contiguous property, and the open portion of the sidewalk cannot fall below five feet in width.