B3-5 Community Shopping District
Shopping centers, large stores and retail storefronts, often along major streets. Allows a broader range of businesses than B1 and B2, with apartments permitted above the ground floor.
Example on a 100 × 100 ft lot. The dashed box is the maximum zoning envelope, the buildable footprint after setbacks, raised to the 80 ft height limit. The solid building is an illustrative example at FAR 5: covering the full footprint reaches ~6 stories before the 80 ft height limit binds, well under the floor-area cap. A taller ground-floor commercial storefront sits below the upper residential floors.
Specifications
- Zoning Ordinance reference
- §17-3-0104
View in the Chicago Zoning Ordinance - Floor area ratio (FAR)
- 5
- Maximum building height
- Varies by lot frontage and whether the building has ground-floor commercial space. §17-3-0408.
- Lot area per unit (density)
- 200 sq ft of lot area per dwelling unit. 135 sq ft per efficiency unit; 100 sq ft per SRO unit.
- Minimum lot area
- —
- Rear yard open space
- —
- On-site open space
- —
- Parking requirements
- 1 space per unit for the first 100 units; 0.60 spaces per unit for each unit above 100. §17-10-0207-C.
Setbacks
- Front yard
- None required, unless the property borders an R-zoned lot — then at least 50% of that lot's front setback. §17-3-0404.
- Side yard
- None required, unless the property borders an R-zoned lot — then that lot's front setback applies.
- Rear yard
- At least 30 ft where the building contains dwelling units. If the rear borders the side of an R-zoned lot, match that lot's side setback; if it borders the R lot's rear, at least 16 ft.
Allowed Uses
Curated from the §17-3-0207 use table. P = permitted by-right; S = special-use approval required. Always confirm against the full ordinance text.
- General retail sales
- Limited AND general restaurants
- Offices, medical service, data centers
- Financial services; consumer repair; laundromat
- Auto supply; indoor light-vehicle sales; vehicle repair (no body work)
- Dwelling units & artist live/work above ground floor
- Building-material sales; veterinary; kennel
- Indoor & outdoor participant sports; medium venues (150–999)
- Drive-through facilities; taverns
- Hotel/motel; liquor store (package goods)
- Ground-floor / below-2nd-floor residential
- Body art, payday/title loan, pawn shop
- Large venues (PD); cremating; cabaret
Reference figures are modeled from the Chicago Zoning Ordinance (Title 17) for general guidance and do not constitute zoning or legal advice. Lot-specific limits depend on frontage, depth, adjacencies and overlays — analyze a specific address for exact figures. Always confirm against the official ordinance.