Land use is regulated by:
- Public and Private Restrictions
- Federal, State, and Local Governments.
Government Control
Most government controls on property occur at the local level.
Police Power
It is the inherent authority of the states to create regulations needed to protect the public health, safety, and welfare.
Through enabling acts, states delegate to counties and local municipalities the authority to enact ordinances in keeping with general laws. The increasing demands placed on finite natural resources have made it necessary for cities, towns, and villages to increase their limitations on the private use of real estate. There are now controls over noise, air, and water pollution as well as population density.
Home Rule
Article VII of the Illinois Constitution allows for home rule units of government. Any municipality with a population in excess of 25,000 and any county that has a chief executive officer elected by the people are automatically home rule units. However, a home rule unit may elect by referendum not to be one. On the other hand, a municipality of fewer than 25,000 people may elect by referendum to become a home rule unit of government. Townships are not allowed to be home rule units.
Constitutionally, a home rule unit of government may exercise any power and perform any function pertaining to its government, including the exercise of police power by way of laws that control the use of land.
If any ordinance of a home rule county conflicts with any ordinance of a home rule municipality, the municipal ordinance prevails.
Township zoning ordinances must give way to county zoning ordinances. Townships are not empowered to pass subdivision controls or building codes
