Kane County commissioners debate roof-height rules and conditional use permits; attorney to draft ordinance language

Kane County commissioners spent a substantial portion of their March 24 meeting discussing whether the county should limit building heights by ordinance rather than leave large variances to conditional use permits.

Planning staff and the county attorney told the commission that some county sections use conditional use permits to allow taller structures, but inconsistent language has led to legal challenges in other jurisdictions. County attorney Jeff Scott noted that courts have overturned local decisions when ordinance language was internally inconsistent or lacked clear definitions for measurement of height.

Commissioners outlined a practical approach: keep a 35-foot maximum for typical flat-roof buildings, allow pitched roofs to reach up to 49 feet in total height in specified cases (some commissioners proposed 45 feet as an alternative), and consider limited additional vertical allowance (for example, up to an extra 10 feet) for narrow decorative elements such as steeples or chimneys that do not occupy significant roofline width. The Planning Commission had previously recommended no change; commissioners said they wanted clearer, uniform standards to reduce repetitive CUP hearings and unpredictable outcomes.

The board directed the county attorney to draft ordinance language that defines "height" (roofline versus decorative appurtenances), specifies a pitch-based exception for deeply pitched roofs on mountain properties, and identifies any narrow-profile exceptions and their maximum widths. Commissioners asked that the draft return to Planning & Zoning for review and then to the commission for formal consideration rather than adopting ad-hoc CUP practice.

No final ordinance vote was taken on March 24; the matter remains in the drafting stage with staff and legal review timed to avoid creating additional court exposure or unintended conflicts with state code.