St. Charles — Title 19 Inclusionary Housing [legal-review: § 19.02.110 rent-amount text] § 19.02.060
Affordable units and fee in-lieu required
Operative Text
A. General requirement. Affordable units, and/or a fee in lieu thereof, shall be required for every residential development. The City Council may permit the applicant to provide affordable units or pay a fee in lieu of constructing some or all of the required affordable units within a residential development. B. Number of affordable units required: 1. Calculation. The number of affordable units required for a residential development shall be a percentage of the total number of dwelling units to be constructed within the residential development, but not including any bonus market rate units permitted by Section 19.02.080 . The minimum requirement shall be calculated as follows: • One (1) to fifteen (15) dwelling units: five percent (5%) • More than fifteen (15) dwelling units: ten percent (10%) 2. Fractions. In the event that the calculation of the number of required affordable units results in a fraction, the following rules shall apply: For that portion of the requirement that is to be satisfied by the construction of affordable units, the fraction shall be rounded to the nearest whole number; a fraction of exactly one-half (½) shall not be counted as a required affordable unit. For that portion of the requirement that is to be satisfied by payment of a fee in-lieu, any fraction shall be used in calculating the total fee in lieu to be paid by the developer. C. Amount of fee in-lieu per unit. The amount of the per-unit fee in-lieu of affordable units shall be determined annually by the City Council. If no fee has been determined by the City Council for the current year, the fee most recently determined by the City Council shall apply. D. Calculation of total fee in-lieu. For purposes of determining the total fee in-lieu payment amount, the per unit fee in-lieu shall be multiplied by the required number of affordable units, including any fractional units. E. Payment of fee in-lieu. Unless otherwise approved by the City Council in the affordable housing agreement, for residential developments constructed in multiple phases the fee in-lieu payments due under the provisions of this chapter shall be paid for the entire phase to be developed prior to issuance of the first building permit for the applicable phase. For residential developments constructed in a single phase the fee in-lieu payment shall be paid for the entire residential development prior to issuance of the first building permit.
St. Charles Title 19 § 19.02.060 establishes that virtually every new residential development must either include a set number of affordable housing units or pay a fee in lieu of building them — or some combination of both. The required share of affordable units scales with project size: 5% for developments of 1–15 dwelling units and 10% for those exceeding 15 units, not counting any density-bonus market-rate units. The City Council sets the per-unit fee annually, and payment is due before the first building permit is issued for each phase (or for the whole project if built in a single phase).
Plain English — not legal advice.
Developers and property owners planning residential projects in St. Charles should be aware that § 19.02.060 triggers an affordable-unit or fee-in-lieu obligation at the time of project approval. Compliant operators typically calculate the required number of affordable units based on the applicable percentage tier, confirm the current City Council–approved per-unit fee, and arrange payment of any fee in lieu before pulling the first building permit for each phase. Because the City Council may approve alternative arrangements through an affordable housing agreement, operators generally engage with the City early in the entitlement process to clarify which compliance path applies to their project.
General guidance for property managers — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult an attorney for advice on your case.
St. Charles Title 19 § 19.02.060 is designed to ensure that new residential developments contribute to the local supply of affordable housing, either through on-site units or financial contributions to the City. Prospective tenants interested in affordable units within a new development can inquire with the City of St. Charles about which projects are subject to this requirement and how affordable units within those projects are made available. Tenant-rights organizations familiar with local inclusionary housing programs can help explain what income qualifications or application processes may apply to units created under this provision.
General guidance for tenants — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult a tenant-rights organization or attorney for advice on your case.
Generated November 6, 2026 — auto-generated, not yet human-reviewed. See /transparency for methodology.
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Rules and statutes that cite this regulation