Waukegan, IL Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Density Bonus Law (2026)
Key Facts
- R2 lot-size reduction
- Up to 50% below the zoning minimum
- R3 lot-size reduction
- Up to 25% below the zoning minimum
- Conservation open space required
- At least 40% of subdivision land
- Cluster open space required
- At least 25% of subdivision land
- Cluster minimum site size
- 5 acres
- Where allowed
- R1, R2, R3, L1, L2, L3 Districts only
Summary
Waukegan's Unified Development Ordinance grants a real density bonus through conservation and cluster subdivision design: lot sizes in the R2 District can shrink up to 50 percent and R3 lots up to 25 percent below the normal minimum, packing more units onto the same land in exchange for dedicated common open space.
2.Density. A conservation subdivision may include lot sizes of up to 50 percent less than the minimum lot size established in Section 8 (Zoning District Regulations) in the R2 District. Minimum lot sizes may be reduced by up to 25 percent in the R3 District. Minimum lot sizes may not be reduced in the R1, L1, L2, and L3 districts.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 113).
Full Breakdown
UDO Sec. 2 sets the density trade for conservation subdivisions: in the R2 District, lot sizes may be up to 50 percent smaller than the zoning district's normal minimum lot size, and in R3 they may be reduced up to 25 percent; R1, L1, L2 and L3 get no reduction. Sec. 3 repeats the same 50/25 percent reductions for the optional cluster subdivision process, which is limited to the R2 and R3 Districts and requires a minimum five-acre site under Sec. 1. Both tracks are conditioned on giving land back to the public realm: conservation subdivisions must keep at least 40 percent of total land area as common open space (Sec.
4), cluster subdivisions at least 25 percent (Sec. 5), and neither yards, rights-of-way, parking/loading areas nor golf courses count toward that open-space total under Sec. 2. Conservation design is mandatory, not optional, whenever a required conservation features inventory shows 20 percent or more of a proposed subdivision's land contains significant natural resources such as wetlands, floodplains, remnant prairies or heritage trees (Sec. 1, Sec. B). 03 does.
Violations & Fines
Because the density bonus is granted through the subdivision approval itself rather than as a standalone permit, noncompliance is addressed at the plat and construction-document stage: a final plat that does not meet the Sec. 7.03 open-space, lot-size, and common-open-space management-plan requirements cannot be recorded, and a building permit will not issue for lots platted in violation of the consolidation and dimensional rules in Section 6 and Section 7 of the UDO.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Waukegan offer a density bonus for subdivisions?
Is the density bonus available everywhere in Waukegan?
What triggers mandatory conservation subdivision design?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Waukegan
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