Development & Land Use

It is the set of public rules that decide what a parcel may become: the zoning ordinance, which fixes use, bulk and parking; the subdivision regulations, which govern how land is divided and what infrastructure a developer must build; and the layer of stormwater, environmental and access permits that sit on top. In Illinois the comprehensive plan is advisory, so the ordinance text is what counts. It matters to a project because the entitlement sets the land's value before a shovel moves: a parcel priced for the density the pro forma assumes but zoned for half of it is a lawsuit or a loss, and the contingency period in the contract is the only time to find out which.

The ordinance assigns every parcel to a district and, within it, fixes the permitted uses, the floor area and height limits, and the parking the use must provide. A plan that fits all of those is approved as of right by the building department. One that needs a listed use with conditions goes to a special use hearing; one that needs a different district goes to the council as a rezoning; one that misses a dimension by a margin goes to the zoning board for a variance. Two further points shape the answer. A use that is lawful only because it predates the ordinance can be lost if it is discontinued for the period the ordinance sets. And until a developer has substantially changed position in reliance on the existing zoning, the municipality may amend it with the application pending.

Relief from a specific dimensional rule, a setback, a height limit or a lot coverage cap, granted when applying the rule as written would cause what the Illinois statute calls practical difficulties or particular hardship, and when the relief will not alter the character of the neighborhood. The hardship has to arise from the land, not from the owner's plans or price; a problem the applicant created is not grounds. A use variance, allowing a use the district does not permit, is a different and much rarer animal, and many ordinances do not allow one at all. We prepare the application, assemble the hardship record and present it to the zoning board.

More than the zoning board. The municipality's plan commission and council decide the entitlement and its building department issues the permits. In the Chicago area the county or the water reclamation district reviews stormwater management before site work begins. The state environmental agency requires a construction stormwater permit for any site disturbing an acre or more, and the state transportation department controls every curb cut onto a state route. Wetlands bring in the Army Corps of Engineers. Utilities, school and park districts and the fire protection district each hold a signature somewhere in the chain. Our work is knowing which approval is a condition of which, so that none is applied for before the one it depends on exists.

The land contract itself, with a contingency period sized to the approvals. An annexation agreement if the parcel is being brought into a municipality, which Illinois law lets run for up to 20 years and which fixes zoning, fees and infrastructure obligations for its term; a development agreement does similar work for land already inside the limits. A recapture agreement where the developer oversizes a water main or road that later parcels will use, so that their owners pay a share when they connect. Easements for access and utilities, and a declaration of covenants if the project will be sold in pieces. Then the construction and design contracts, with the sworn statements and lien waivers that protect an owner against paying twice under the Illinois Mechanics Lien Act. Each is drafted so that the approvals, the financing and the build refer to the same plan.

By staying on the file from the contingency period to the last permit. In diligence we tell you what relief the plan needs and negotiate the contract around the hearing calendar. For the hearing we assemble the record, brief the staff and present the case to the plan commission, zoning board or council. Once approved, we paper the result in an annexation or development agreement and watch the appeal window close. Then come the plat, the permits and the construction contracts, in the order the approvals require. One partner carries the matter throughout, and when a neighbor or a contractor turns a stage into a dispute, the same partner is already standing there.