Garage Bathrooms? La Grange Says Yes, With Catch

LA GRANGE, IL – For the last six years, La Grange interpreted its code to ban bathrooms in detached garages.

That was seen as part of the prohibition on using such garages as living spaces.

On Monday, the Village Board clarified its code to allow garage bathrooms with sinks and toilets, but not showers or bathtubs.

Under the changes, such a bathroom would require the owner to sign a form acknowledging the garage could not be used as a dwelling. That document would be recorded.

The revisions also allow home offices, workout rooms and storage as part of second floors of detached garages.

"It provides an additional use of the space, which we have seen much more demand for since COVID, and still provides an additional level of protection for the village to ensure the single-family character of our residential neighborhoods," Charity Jones, the village's community development director, told the board.

The changes appear to be a response to La Grange architect Tim Trompeter's complaint last year that the village's interpretation failed to reflect its code.

He said he got garage plumbing approved years ago, but the village rejected one of his clients in recent times.

"You can have the Village Attorney give you his interpretation, but if he can't quote from the Zoning Code, it will have no Legal Bearing as well," Trompeter wrote in an email to the village.