Kenilworth homeowners will get their first formal chance to weigh in on a comprehensive rewrite of the village's zoning code at two public hearings in October.
The Kenilworth Plan Commission will hear public testimony on the proposed changes at Village Hall, 419 Richmond Road, on Monday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. and Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m., according to a village notice posted on vok.org. The commission's recommendations will then go to the Village Board for a final vote, expected in late 2026.
The village hasn't undertaken a comprehensive zoning code update since the late 1960s. A third-party audit by planning consultant Teska Associates in 2024 found that much of the code's language was more than 50 years old, overly complicated and out of step with current practices.
Community feedback backed that up. Residents consistently described the zoning process as difficult to interpret, according to a village newsletter mailed to every Kenilworth home in September.
The Village Board made the overhaul a priority in its goals for 2024, 2025 and 2026. Teska Associates has led the project with guidance from village staff and an ad-hoc Zoning Code Update Workgroup made up of representatives from village commissions.
That workgroup met seven times through 2024 and 2025 to review proposed changes. An open house at Village Hall on Nov. 4, 2025 gathered additional resident input, and drafting ran from January through August 2026.
What would change
A mailer sent to every Kenilworth household outlines several proposed changes. Among the most notable: a new "plane of light" bulk standard would require anything above the second floor to step back from the building line. The village describes this as a tool already used in neighboring Glencoe to reduce the visual impact of large new homes on adjacent properties.
Other proposed changes include a maximum driveway width of 15 feet and a minimum 5-foot setback for new attached garages at the front of a house. The draft also allows taller 8-foot fences along the alley behind Green Bay Road and adds incentives for architectural elements like bay windows.
The entire code document has been rewritten for clarity, with new graphics and tables added even where regulations stay the same. Certain signs and minor variations could be approved by village staff rather than requiring full commission review, though the same standards and neighbor notification requirements would still apply.
Business district deferred
One significant piece of the update won't be part of the October hearings. At an Aug. 13 Committee of the Whole session, trustees decided to separate the business district zoning chapter covering Green Bay Road from the residential code changes, The Record North Shore reported. That chapter will continue into 2027 for further deliberation.
Under the current proposal, the only change to the Business District on Green Bay Road is the addition and clarification of design standards. Existing rules on building height, lot placement and permitted uses would remain the same.
"I wouldn't even call it a business district. I'd call it four blocks of storefronts," Trustee Christopher Ottsen said at the Aug. 13 session, noting Kenilworth lacks the parking and space of neighboring commercial areas.
How to participate
The village expects to post the full draft code on its website in early October. Residents can submit comments at the hearings or through the Form Center at vok.org. Questions can be directed to Heather McFarland, assistant to the village manager, at (847) 251-1666 or [email protected].
No specific date has been set for the Village Board's final vote on the residential code changes.
