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DuPage County committee approves conditional use to increase accessory-building area after shipping-container conversion
Summary
The DuPage County Development Committee approved a conditional use to increase the allowed cumulative area for detached accessory buildings from 1,000 square feet to about 1,381 square feet for a property where a shipping container is being converted into a shed.
DuPage County Development Committee on April 15 approved a conditional use to raise the cumulative permitted area for detached accessory buildings on a single property from 1,000 square feet to approximately 1,381 square feet, allowing an existing detached garage and a converted shipping container to remain on the lot.
The move followed a recommendation from the zoning hearing officer, Friedman, and a brief member discussion. Committee members motioned and seconded the item and voted in favor; the transcript records the motion as approved but does not list mover, seconder or a roll-call tally.
The property owner purchased the lot in 2020. Committee discussion established that an existing detached garage was on the property when purchased and that the owner used a shipping container behind the garage as a base to convert into a shed. Jerry, a county staff member who answered members’ questions, summarized the county’s building-code practice: "Shipping containers are not permitted, but per our building code, it can be used as a base of a shed. You just have to put a roof and cladding on it, make it look like a shed." The committee heard that once the container is finished with roof and cladding, it is treated as a shed for zoning/building calculations.
A committee member asked whether both structures existed before the current owner moved in and whether the conversion was the sole issue. Jerry confirmed the garage and container predated the purchase and that converting the container into a shed made the cumulative detached accessory area exceed the standard allowance.
The zoning hearing officer’s recommendation to approve the conditional use was adopted by the committee. The committee did not record any amendments or additional conditions on the approval in the transcript.
The approval allows the property owner to retain the converted container along with the existing garage under the expanded accessory-area allowance; building-permit and final code compliance steps were described as required by staff but no dates or permit numbers were recorded in the meeting transcript.
