13: Chicago Zoning Ordinance

What is zoning? Why does it matter? And why should you, as an artist, have to worry about it? This chapter discusses and explain the Chicago Zoning Ordinance, which tells you where certain activities can occur throughout the City.

Zoning is intended to create a balanced system that keeps residents and visitors safe while providing opportunities and environments needed for residential, commercial, manufacturing and art production to occur. It influences your use of space -- and, by association, your art practice -- in many ways. The most obvious impact is that certain types of artistic activity are restricted to areas with a particular zoning classification. For example, operating a dance school would not be permitted in a residential setting. However, a business or commercial-zoned property may allow both residential and art uses to exist in the same space.

The Chicago Overview section provides you with a basic understanding of how zoning affects your space choices. This knowledge will help you to locate a property that fits your work space needs and zoning requirements.

We have divided the remainder of this chapter into a simple path, which summarizes information; and a detailed path, which provides an in-depth explanation of how the Zoning Ordinance works. If you are only interested in the simplified version, read the Chicago Overview and then review the Art Use Table (AUT), which details where you can go in the City to open a gallery, rehearse your dance moves, splash paint on your studio walls, light up your blow torch, bang on your drums, etc.

As you review the AUT, you'll notice that all activities on the chart are classified in one of the following categories:

• Permitted
• Permitted with Special Use Approval
• Prohibited
  

Activities that require Special Use Approval must be approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA). For additional information about this procedure, review the sections Special Use Approval and Zoning Variations.

It would be beneficial to read this entire chapter, as it is important to become familiar with zoning -- it affects your art practice in many subtle ways!

Tim Barton, Chicago Department of Zoning, contributed to the content of this chapter.