This Title shall be known as the "Zoning Code of the Village of Wheeling, Illinois," and may be so cited, and further reference elsewhere as the "Wheeling Zoning Code," and herein as "this Code," "this Title" or as "this Ordinance," shall imply the same wording and meaning as the full Title.

(Ord. 4018 § A (part), 2005)

This zoning Title, adopted pursuant to the provisions of Sections 11-13-1 through 11-13-19, inclusive, of the Illinois Municipal Code, passed by the general assembly of the state of Illinois and enacted into law on May 29, 1961, and as amended from time to time thereafter, is intended to serve the following purposes:

(a)

To promote and protect the public health, safety, morals, comfort, convenience, and the general welfare of the people;

(b)

To implement the provisions of the village of Wheeling's comprehensive plan;

(c)

To protect the character and maintain the stability of residential, business, commercial, and manufacturing areas within the village, and to promote the orderly and beneficial development of such areas;

(d)

To divide the village into zones and districts restricting and regulating therein the location, construction, reconstruction, alteration, and use of buildings, structures, and land for residential, business, commercial, manufacturing and other specified uses;

(e)

To provide adequate light, air, privacy and convenience of access to property;

(f)

To regulate the intensity of use of zoning lots, and to determine the area of open spaces surrounding buildings necessary to provide adequate light and air and protect the public health;

(g)

To establish building lines and the location of buildings designed for residential, business, commercial, manufacturing, or other uses within such lines;

(h)

To fix reasonable standards to which buildings or structures shall conform;

(i)

To prohibit uses, buildings or structures which are incompatible with the character of development or the permitted uses within specified zoning districts;

(j)

To prevent such additions to, and alterations or remodeling of, existing buildings or structures as would not comply with the restrictions and limitations imposed hereunder;

(k)

To limit congestion in the public streets and so protect the public health, safety, convenience, and the general welfare by providing for sufficient on or off-street parking of motor vehicles and for the loading and unloading of commercial vehicles;

(l)

To prevent the overcrowding of land and undue concentration of structures, so far as is possible and appropriate in each district, by regulating the use and the bulk of buildings in relation to the land surrounding them;

(m)

To lessen or avoid hazards to persons and damage to property resulting from the accumulation or runoff of stormwater or floodwaters;

(n)

To conserve the value of land and buildings throughout the village;

(o)

To provide for the gradual elimination of those uses of land, buildings, and structures and of those buildings and structures which do not conform with the standards of the district in which they are respectively located and are adversely affecting the development and value of property in each district;

(p)

And to define and limit the powers and duties of the administration officers and bodies as provided in this Title.

(Ord. 4018 § A (part), 2005)

(a)

Minimum Requirements in this Title. The provisions of this Title shall be held to be the minimum requirements for the promotion of the public health, safety, morals and welfare of the village.

(b)

Conflict With Other Regulations. Whenever the requirements of this Title conflict with the requirements of any other lawfully adopted laws and ordinances, the most restrictive, or that imposing the higher standards, shall govern.

(c)

Cumulative Provisions. The provisions of this Title are cumulative and pose additional limitations upon all other laws and ordinances, heretofore passed or which may be passed hereafter, governing any subject matter in this Title.

(d)

Existing Unlawful Buildings, Uses. No building, structure, or use which was not lawfully existing and not deemed to be legally conforming at the time of the adoption of this Title shall become or be made lawful solely by reason of the adoption of this Title; and to the extent that, in any manner, the unlawful building, structure or use is in conflict with the requirements of this Title, it remains unlawful.

(e)

Consent Not Implied—Permits, Licenses and Approvals Required. Nothing contained in this Title shall be deemed to be a consent, license or permit to use any property or to locate, construct or maintain any building, structure or facility or to carry on any trade, industry, occupation or activity, without the required permits, licenses and/or approvals.

(f)

Conflict With Covenants. This Title is not intended to abrogate any easement, covenant, or any private agreement; provided, that where the regulations of this Title are more restrictive, the requirements of this Title shall govern.

(g)

Language.

(1)

Words used in this Title shall have their customary and ordinary meanings as defined in a standard dictionary, except for specific words and phrases as defined in this Chapter.

(2)

The present tense includes the past and future tenses. Singular words shall include the plural, and plural words shall include the singular.

(3)

Any word denoting gender includes the female, male and neuter.

(4)

The word "person" includes an individual, a firm, association, partnership, trust, company, corporation or any other legal entity.

(5)

The phrase "used for" includes the phrases, "arranged for," "designed for," "intended for," "maintained for" and "occupied for."

(6)

The word "shall" is mandatory; the word "may" is permissive.

(7)

Unless the context clearly indicates to the contrary, where an illustration accompanies any item within this Title, the written text and its interpretation shall have precedence over such illustration.

(h)

Available Relief. Variations from the provisions of this Title are available under the provisions of Section 19.13.030 to the full extent of the law.

(Ord. 4018 § A (part), 2005)

A.

Corporate Limits. The provisions of this Title shall apply only to buildings, other structures and land within the corporate limits of the village of Wheeling.

B.

Exemptions. Public utilities subject to regulation by the Illinois Commerce Commission, or by a federal agency, bureau or commission, and franchised by the board of trustees to operate within the corporate limits, may locate their poles, towers, wires, cables, conduits, vaults, laterals or other similar distributing equipment without the necessity of complying with the provisions of this Title.

(Ord. 4018 § A (part), 2005)

All land which shall hereafter be annexed to the village of Wheeling shall be automatically classified in the R-1 Single-Family Residential District. A public hearing before the plan commission requesting a particular zoning designation shall be held upon proper application to the village. Such public hearing may be held prior to the recording date of any such annexation, but final action thereon shall not be taken by the board of trustees until after the ordinance annexing such land has been properly recorded.

(Ord. 4018 § A (part), 2005)

If any court of competent jurisdiction renders any provision of this Title invalid, that ruling shall not affect any provision not specifically included in the judgment. If any court of competent jurisdiction rules invalid the application of any provision of this Title to any particular property, building, or other structure or use, that ruling shall not affect the application of the provision to any property, building, or other structure or use not specifically included in the judgment.

(Ord. 4018 § A (part), 2005)