Remodeling contractor in Glenview, IL

Permits run through the Development Center, the front counter of the Community Development Department inside Village Hall at 2500 East Lake Avenue. Simple permits can be issued over the counter, small and medium jobs can go through same day review, and larger ones take the traditional plan review. Electronic submittal is encouraged.

Glenview requires general contractors to register with the Village before work starts, and plumbers, electricians and roofers file copies of their licences. If the contractor changes after a permit is issued, a change of contractors form is filed. We register before we pull. Construction hours are 7am to 7pm on weekdays, 9am to 6pm on Saturdays and 9am to 5pm on Sundays and holidays.

Glenview was incorporated in 1899 and stayed a farming village, with fewer than 2,000 people as late as 1930. It had 6,142 residents in 1950 and 18,132 by 1960 after the Edens Expressway opened. The Village's comprehensive plan says most of its development happened in the 1950s and 1960s.

The Navy ran an air station in the middle of town from 1937. The base was annexed in 1971, its closure was announced in 1993, and the land became The Glen. So a 1950s house and a 2000s house at The Glen can need very different work.

In Glenview, new cabinets and flooring with no change in layout or wiring do not need a permit. Moving or adding plumbing fixtures, changing the heating or cooling system, or new electrical work does. That line decides whether a kitchen refresh is a permit job.

Exterior changes meet the Village's architectural design code. No permit is issued for improving an existing building if the result is manifestly inferior or so radically different that it hurts neighbouring values, and exterior walls must use the same or harmonious materials. One small area has its own rules. Houses at 905 to 941 Long Road, in the Glenayre Gardens subdivision near the Edens, fall in the Edens Expressway noise impact area, where remodels and additions must meet sound transmission standards.

Glenview takes in parts of the Des Plaines River, the North Branch of the Chicago River and its West Fork. The Village's hazard plan says some homes beside the rivers sit in the floodplain, and that older areas, Downtown included, were built before stormwater detention was required. Those areas are listed in the Village's 2010 Stormwater Flood Reduction Plan.

Any development in the 100 year floodplain, including additions, fences, filling and excavation, needs a Village Development Permit first. For basements, the Village offers a site drainage inspection and a cost sharing program to convert gravity sanitary sewers to overhead sewers, which it says greatly reduces the risk of sewage backup. Glenview also takes part in the Community Rating System, which earns residents flood insurance discounts.

Glenview has a historic preservation ordinance. The Village Board designates landmarks and historic districts, and for those properties a certificate of appropriateness is required for any addition, alteration or repair that changes the exterior and needs a building permit. Check the address before planning an addition or new windows.

Outside landmarked property, additions are reviewed against zoning and the design code above. When a design is turned down under the architectural rules, the Village refers it to the Glenview Development Commission for a public hearing.

No pool can be built or altered without a Village construction permit, and the application needs scaled plans and a plot plan showing lot lines, the pool, walks, fence, water supply and drainage. The pool, its equipment and decks stay out of front yards and side yards facing a street, and at least 6 feet from side and rear lot lines. Inground pool walks and patios stay 2 feet from any lot line.

The fence and gates must be at least 4 feet high, with no opening a 4 inch sphere can pass and nothing that works as a ladder. Gates close and latch on their own, latches at the top, and stay locked when nobody is supervising. Every house door that opens onto the pool area needs an alarm, and a cover goes over the pool in the off season.