P&Z: Floodway and Steep Grade Justify Troy Township Garage Setbacks

Will County Planning and Zoning Commission | October 6, 2026

Article Summary: The Will County Board Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, approved two setback variances allowing a new detached garage at 21624 Belom Lane in Troy Township, with staff citing a DuPage River floodway across three-quarters of the lot and a 12-foot grade drop as circumstances that leave nowhere else to build.

Belom Lane Garage Variance Key Points:

• Variance V-26-183 cuts the A-2 street setback from 100 feet to 44 feet; V-26-184 cuts the south side yard setback from 20 feet to nine feet.
• Staff recommended approval of both, finding the Zone AE floodway and steep elevation change unique to the parcel — a departure from the findings in the two other variance cases heard the same night.
• The 2.06-acre lot has zero feet of lot frontage because Belom Lane is a private road, and was created deficient on Jan. 1, 1965, before the county adopted lot standards.
• The owner declined to testify, and no objectors appeared.

WILL COUNTY — The Will County Board Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, approved two variances allowing owner Zachary David Smith to build a detached garage in front of his existing attached garage on a riverfront lot in Troy Township.

Planner Alec Van Patten, who prepared the Sept. 25, 2026, staff report in case ZC-26-073, told the commission the 2.06-acre property on the west side of South Belom Lane is zoned A-2 Agricultural-Residential, a district requiring a minimum lot area of 2.5 acres and 300 feet of lot frontage under Section 155-2.30. The parcel has zero feet of frontage because Belom Lane is a private road that does not count toward the requirement.

Mapping and platting records show the lot was created deficient in both area and frontage on Jan. 1, 1965, before the county adopted lot standards, making it a legal nonconforming A-2 parcel. Troy Township assessor’s records put construction of the house at 1955. Smith acquired the property Oct. 11, 2023, per recorded deed R2023060857.

The existing attached garage will remain and be used for personal storage, Van Patten said.

Staff’s findings turned on the site’s physical constraints. A Zone AE floodway associated with the DuPage River runs through the westernmost three-quarters of the property. “Floodway is the most restrictive type of floodplain,” the staff report states, and it prevents a new garage from meeting the district’s 100-foot street setback. On the northern side, the report documents a grade change from 586 feet to 574 feet within a 33-foot span, which staff said makes meeting the 20-foot side setback impossible.

“The property is on the DuPage River. Due to this, it has a floodway that goes through the back portion of the property. There’s also a significant grade change on the northern side of the property,” Van Patten said, concluding that those conditions prevent building the garage in a location meeting the street or side yard setbacks. The report puts it the same way: “These two restrictions make the proposed location of the new garage to encroach into street and side yard setbacks.”

On neighborhood character, staff cited GIS measurements showing two A-2 parcels and one A-1 parcel in the vicinity with structures encroaching into the 100-foot street setback, and a cluster of nearby parcels with structures closer than nine feet to a side property line. The report concludes the parcel “is located in an already developed subdivision that face similar building restrictions as this one,” and notes the purpose is personal storage rather than financial gain. The house’s physical limitations predate the current owner by decades.

Staff also found the variances would not impair an adequate supply of air to adjacent properties, substantially increase the danger of fire, endanger public safety or diminish property values.

The property lies in the DuPage River Watershed. Soils include DuPage silt loam, 0 to 2 percent slopes, occasionally flooded; Casco-Rodman complex, 12 to 20 percent slopes, eroded; and Fox silt loam, 2 to 4 percent slopes. The Land Resource Management Plan designates the area Suburban Community with a Conventional Residential Suburban use concept, and staff found the request in conformance.

The Will-South Cook Soil and Water Conservation District filed Natural Resource Information Report #5916 on Aug. 7, 2026, finding little to no effect on the existing land. The Will County Health Department was the only agency to comment, advising that all setback requirements from septic systems and from any well on or adjacent to the property must be met, and that the existing septic system must be evaluated for adequate sizing if additional bedrooms are added. Troy Township, the Troy Township Road District and the Troy Protection District submitted no comments.

Van Patten said the applicant will still need a building permit, and that the structure will require approval from the fire district, the road district and Will County land use staff during permitting.

No objectors or concerned citizens appeared. Stipan told Smith the commission had no objectors and a staff recommendation of approval, and asked whether he wished to speak or have the commission proceed directly to a vote. Smith declined to testify. The commission took separate motions and roll calls on each variance, and both carried without discussion. The property is in County Board District 1.