Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Village of Orland Hills, Illinois
Village of Orland Hills is a village in Cook County, Illinois. Village of Orland Hills adopts its own zoning, so inside its limits Village of Orland Hills’s rules apply, not the county’s. 3 rules below are quoted from official sources and independently re-checked, most recently on October 22, 2026. Rules for unincorporated land are on the Cook County page.
Answers from the rulebook for Village of Orland Hills
Village of Orland Hills’s own rules
Building code adoptedAdopted
Building construction permits submitted to the Village of Orland Hills, inside Orland Hills village limits
Adopted by Village Ordinance 2017-002 on January 18, 2017 (per the village notice), which took effect for permits submitted on or after February 1, 2017.
Adopted set per the notice: 2015 International Residential, Building, Mechanical, Fire, Energy Conservation, Performance, Property Maintenance, and Existing Building Codes; Illinois Plumbing Code (latest edition adopted by Illinois); Illinois Accessibility Code and ADA (latest edition adopted by Illinois).
The notice is from 2017. Chapter 150-series building code text on amlegal was not opened, so later replacement or amendment of these codes was not checked.
“on january 18th, 2017 the village of orland hills board of trustees adopted ordinance #2017-002 amending the code of ordinances of the village of orland hills.”
Local zoningPresent (with conditions)
Land inside Orland Hills village limits, under the village's own Zoning Code (Chapter 159 of the village code)
Only the Chapter 159 table of contents (district list, zoning map section) was opened; use rules and dimensional text in the district sections were not read.
The American Legal Publishing copy is marked current through Ordinance 2025-008 (supplement S-26); amendments after that were not checked.
“zoning districts; zoning map 159.025 district classifications 159.026 zoning map 159.027 zoning of streets, alleys, public-ways, and railroad right-of-way”
Zoning districtsPartial
Zoning districts inside Orland Hills village limits under Chapter 159
Table of contents lists R-1 through R-6 residential, B-1, B-2 and O-1 business, and M-1 manufacturing districts, plus the zoning map section 159.026.
District boundaries and the zoning map were not opened; the per-district text was not reviewed.
“159.041 r-1 single-family residential district 159.042 r-2 single-family residential district 159.043 r-3 single-family residential district 159.044 r-4 multiple-family residential district 159.045 r-5 multiple-family residential districts 159.046 r-6 multiple-family residential districts business districts 159.055 purpose 159.056 b-1 business district, limited retail 159.057 b-2 business district, general retail, and service 159.058 o-1 office district manufacturing districts 159.070 purpose 159.071 m-1 manufacturing district”
Still unanswered
We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask Village of Orland Hills or Cook County directly.
Building permit — New construction and alterations inside Orland Hills village limits
Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder permits inside Orland Hills village limits
Inspections — Inspections for construction inside Orland Hills village limits
Certificate of occupancy — Certificate of occupancy for new homes inside Orland Hills village limits
Minimum dwelling size — Single-family dwellings in the R-1 (single-family residential) district of Orland Hills village
22 more unanswered
Minimum lot size
Setbacks
Lot coverage
Building height
Living in an RV
Camping on your land
Tiny homes
Manufactured homes
Accessory dwellings
Who permits septic
Septic permit
Septic inspection
Off-grid sanitation
Well permit
Mandatory utility hookup
Agricultural exemption
Subdividing land
Driveway access
Building in a floodplain
Short-term rentals
Permit fees
Permit process
Each answer was extracted from an official source and independently re-checked against that source by a second reviewer. That is an evidence check, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the authority before you buy or build.
Unanswered questions are usually a sign that Village of Orland Hills publishes no rule on the point, not that none exists. Cook County’s page lists the county offices to call.
Off-grid gear
Going off-grid in Village of Orland Hills means bringing your own water and power. The kit we’d start with:
