Will County Planning and Zoning Commission Overrides Staff to Approve New Lenox Accessory Building Variance

Will County Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting | March 3, 2026

Article Summary: The Will County Planning and Zoning Commission voted to override a staff recommendation of denial, approving a variance that allows a New Lenox property owner to exceed the maximum accessory building area to construct a 1,200-square-foot detached garage.

New Lenox Accessory Building Key Points:

• The variance for Case ZC-25-131 allows the maximum accessory building area to increase from 1,800 square feet to 2,126 square feet.

• County staff recommended denial, arguing the structure was based on personal convenience rather than a property hardship.

• The applicant’s attorney successfully argued that the nearly two-acre lot is double the size of standard R-2 zoning requirements, justifying the need for additional storage for property maintenance equipment.

JOLIET, Ill. — The Will County Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, voted to approve a variance for a new detached accessory structure in New Lenox Township, overriding a formal staff recommendation to deny the request.

The variance, filed under Case ZC-25-131 by property owners Adam and Angela Kramski, sought to increase the maximum accessory building area from 1,800 square feet to 2,126 square feet. The owners intend to construct a 30-by-40-foot detached building on their property at 1171 Banbury Lane.

Will County Land Use planner Jesus Briseno presented the case, noting that the 1.95-acre property already features an 825-square-foot attached garage and a 101-square-foot shed. Adding the proposed 1,200-square-foot structure would push the parcel over the 1,800-square-foot limit for the R-2 residential zoning district.

Briseno stated that while the proposed building met all required setbacks—sitting 47 feet from the right-of-way, 10 feet from the side property lines, and 5 feet from the rear—county staff ultimately recommended denial.

“Staff finds that the plight of the owner is not due to unique circumstances,” Briseno told the commission. “The desire to obtain more accessory building area is a convenience request, and again, not a hardship that comes from the land itself.”

Attorney Nathaniel Washburn, representing the applicants, strongly disagreed with the county’s assessment. Washburn pointed out that an R-2 zoning district requires a minimum lot area of 40,000 square feet. The Kramski property, at over 80,000 square feet, is more than double the required size.

Washburn argued the extra space is a matter of necessity, not convenience, to properly maintain the expansive property.

“My client has, due to the near two-acre size, some abnormally large lawn maintenance equipment… He also inherited a fairly sizable boat that currently takes up the entirety of his garage, forcing the nice fancy lawnmower to sit outside,” Washburn said. “This is not really a matter of convenience. It’s a matter of necessity for my client to be able to both maintain his property himself without having to pay a landscaping company.”

Washburn also cited a recent precedent set by the commission, pointing to a property roughly half a mile away at 1237 Green Street in New Lenox. According to Washburn, the commission previously approved an accessory building of approximately 3,942 square feet for that site, which sits on a smaller 35,000-square-foot lot.

Following the attorney’s presentation and noting the absence of any community objectors, the commission unanimously approved the variance request.