Kenilworth's New Zoning Code Keeps Home Sizes the Same. Here's What It Changes Instead.
October 29, 2026
October 29, 2026
Kenilworth is close to replacing the zoning ordinance it has used since 1969. The Village's own summary leads with the reassurance that the house you're allowed to build stays the same size. Beyond that headline, the draft changes a lot about how much it costs to keep an older house and modernize it, and about what a replacement house can look like. Anyone weighing an older Kenilworth home against a lot for a new build should understand that before the Village Board votes.
The Village's planning consultant, Teska Associates, says the goal directly. The update supports "preserving and modernizing existing homes, rather than seeing requests for them to be torn down," and it does that without allowing larger homes. Almost every provision that matters to a homeowner follows from that sentence.
The current code has a threshold called a substantial alteration. Change more than 50 percent of a house and the project falls under a lower floor-area allowance. That threshold has quietly shaped renovation plans for years, because a project that crosses it loses buildable square footage.
Under the current definition, a detached garage counts in the same calculation as the house. So a family that rebuilds an old garage and also renovates the house can get pushed over the line. The public-hearing packet removes detached garages from that calculation, "so that changing only a detached garage does not trigger the reduced FAR threshold."
The size of what's at stake shows up in the floor-area rules the draft carries forward unchanged. In the R-1 district, one formula applies to permits issued on or before October 22, 2005: 1,200 square feet plus 0.24 times the lot area, capped at 0.45 times the lot area. Later permits get 1,200 square feet plus 0.21 times the lot area, capped at 0.42. Here is what those two formulas allow at common lot sizes, along with the proposed R-1 building coverage limit, which is 0.16 times lot area plus 800 square feet on lots up to 19,999 square feet and 0.20 times lot area on lots of 20,000 square feet or more.
| Lot size | Floor area, permits on or before Oct. 22, 2005 | Floor area, later permits | Gap | Max building coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15,000 sq ft | 4,800 sq ft | 4,350 sq ft | 450 sq ft | 3,200 sq ft |
| 20,000 sq ft | 6,000 sq ft | 5,400 sq ft | 600 sq ft | 4,000 sq ft |
| 30,000 sq ft | 8,400 sq ft | 7,500 sq ft | 900 sq ft | 6,000 sq ft |
On a 20,000-square-foot lot, the gap between the two formulas is about the size of a generous primary suite. That is why the definition of a substantial alteration matters so much, and why taking the garage out of it may be the most useful renovation change in the draft. A buyer looking at an older house with a tired detached garage now has one less way to trip the lower allowance by accident.
With the same total floor area allowed, the draft regulates the shape of new construction instead. It adds a residential setback plane, an imaginary 45-degree angle that requires a building to step back above the second floor, "most commonly a pitched roof." Height stays at 35 feet and two and a half stories for the main house, with a 40-foot front yard or the block average, whichever is greater. What changes is how much of that envelope a boxy third floor can fill.
Several other provisions point the same way:
The last item works as an incentive. A new house can get back some floor area by adding the porches and entries that already define Kenilworth's older streets. So the draft limits bulk in one place and rewards traditional detailing in another.
Variances are where an older-home renovation usually slows down, and the draft makes several changes there.
For small amounts of relief, the Zoning Administrator could approve variations without a Zoning Board of Appeals hearing: no more than 1 percent over maximum floor area, building coverage or impervious coverage, or no more than 5 percent off a required front, side or rear setback. The applicant still has to notify neighbors by letter and post a sign, and "any neighbor's objection" sends the request back to the standard Zoning Board of Appeals process.
For larger requests, the variation standards are revised to follow the LaSalle factors used in Illinois case law and to "allow home modernization to be considered as factor in determining approval." Approved variations would stay valid for one year instead of six months, and notice could go by first-class mail instead of certified mail.
One change adds a cost. The draft would require an escrow to cover the Village's third-party review expenses on Certificates of Appropriateness and variation requests. Those are the most common application types, and neither required an escrow before.
The draft also writes into the code several features that owners of older homes currently have to argue for case by case:
The packet explains why these matter. Larger vehicles, mudrooms, outdoor kitchens, backyard decks and larger closets "were not contemplated when the code was drafted and must be navigated today." Each item on the list is a renovation that gets more predictable.
Some decisions are still unsettled. The Plan Commission was asked for direction on six policy questions, and four of them bear directly on homes:
The other two concern the Green Bay Road business district: whether restaurants with live performance or dancing need a special use permit, and how the 10,000-square-foot special-use threshold applies to renovations. For a buyer, the coach-house and pergola questions are the ones that could change how a particular property can be used.
The Plan Commission opened its public hearing at Village Hall on October 19, 2026 and continued it on October 21. The Village has said the Commission's recommendations and the public testimony will go to the Village Board as part of final approval. In September, North Shore Weekly reported that a Board vote was expected in late 2026, with no specific date set. The Village Board's October 26 agenda did not include the zoning update. The Village calendar lists regular Board meetings on November 16 and December 14.
Until the Board acts, everything above is a draft. The project page is the place to follow it, and the Village takes written public comment online.
Will the new code let me build a bigger house in Kenilworth? No. The packet says "allowable home sizes in the update are the same." The R-1 floor-area formulas, coverage limits, height and setbacks carry over, and the new setback plane adds a limit on the bulk of new homes.
Does the garage setback rule affect a house that already exists? According to the packet, the 5-foot setback for front-loaded attached garages cannot be applied to existing homes and is being considered only for homes built after adoption.
Why is there no redline comparing the old code to the new one? The consultant rewrote the text from top to bottom because requirements were scattered across the old code. It says a redline "would be impossible to follow," even though the regulations themselves are largely the same.
This post is general information about a draft ordinance, not legal, tax or financial advice. Before you plan around any of these provisions, confirm your property's situation with the Village, an architect or a land-use attorney.
If you own an older Kenilworth home or are considering one, whether to renovate or rebuild is now partly a zoning question, and the answer depends on the lot, the permit history and the garage. At Mary Grant, I'm glad to look at those details with you before the Board votes. Schedule a private consultation.
Call Mary and learn what so many of her friends and colleagues already know: When it comes to helping you buy or sell your home, Mary will go above and beyond to get it done.
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