County Board Tables Zoning Items

By Alex Haglund

There were numerous people present at the county board meeting held on Tuesday, June 13, to argue both for and against a pair of zoning map amendments, case 003-17, Bryan Kuder, and case 004-17, Caitlin Harting. Ultimately though, because of the filing of a petition to the county board urging them to vote against the amendments, the board tabled the items and will revisit them at the July board meeting.

“Both cases were related,” said Vic Shubert of the zoning committee. “The properties are adjacent to eachother and both owners wanted to build residences on them.”

The opposition to the zoning changes was based on the fact that the land in question was also adjacent to hunting ground. The committee and zoning board were split on the issue, but Shubert said that they had not previously denied a zoning change based on the property in question’s proximity to hunting grounds.

The landowners opposing the amendment also petitioned the county board, and by sending that petition, they may have changed the requirement to pass a motion related to this from a simple majority vote to a 75-percent majority.

Whether this was the case or not, the board and those present were not positive, with Rick Greten, zoning administrator asking those present, “Did you know that by getting a petition, it would increase the need for that from a simple majority to a 75-percent approval?”

With this question out there, and the board asking State’s Attorney Daniel Bronke to also look into the issue to be sure, the zoning committee, “kind of feels that it would be wise to table it a month,”  said Shubert. “To me, it’s important that we know both sides of this argument too, because if we go off on this the wrong way, it will go off that way in the future.”

Linda Tragresser of the Southwest Illinois Planning Commission asked the board to be sure to evaluate the decision that they would make in light of the larger comprehensive plan for the county that it was a part of.

County Board Chairman David Meyer also agreed with tabling the items, and asked that the members of the board all visit and see the properties in question to be sure that they were well-informed of what was being questioned here.

The item will be revisited at the next meeting of the county board, to be held on Tuesday, July 11, at 7 p.m., in the county courthouse.