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DeKalb County, Illinois |
Minutes of the
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The
Planning and Regulations Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on July 24,
2002 at 7:30 p.m. in the DeKalb County Administration Building, Conference Room
East. In attendance were Committee
Members Robert Hutcheson, Roger Steimel, Clifford Simonson, Howard Lyle,
Veronica Casella, Thomas Smith, and Marlene Allen, and staff members Paul Miller
and Marcellus Anderson.
Mr.
Hutcheson called the meeting to order at 7:30PM.
APPROVAL
OF MINUTES
Mrs.
Allen moved to approve the minutes of the May 22, 2002 meeting, seconded by Mr.
Simonson, and the motion carried unanimously.
APPROVAL
OF AGENDA
Mrs.
Casella moved to approve the agenda, seconded by Mr. Lyle.
Mr. Miller stated he
would like to amend the agenda by adding an item regarding personnel.
The amended motion
carried unanimously.
SPECIAL USE AMENDMENT – Request of Trinity Lutheran Church, located on the east side of North State Road in Genoa Township, for an Amendment to a Special Use Permit to replace an approved landscaping plan, Petition GE-02-12.
Mr. Miller stated the
Trinity Lutheran Church has asked to amend the landscaping plan approved with
the Special Use Permit granted by the County Board in 1999 for an addition to
the church and church parking lot. In
order to do this, the Church needed both Variations from the Zoning Ordinance
requirements for parking lot landscaping, and an amendment to the ordinance that
approved the Special Use Permit, because a condition of that ordinance required
compliance with the original landscaping plan.
Hearing Officer Ron
Klein conducted the required public hearing on June 27, 2002.
Mr. Klein approved the Variations, with conditions, and recommended that
the amendment to the Special Use Permit be granted.
The conditions related to requiring the Church to install additional
landscaping if existing landscaping surrounding the parking lot is removed in
the future.
Mr. Steimel moved
to approve the amendment to the Special Use Permit, including the conditions
recommended by the Hearing Officer, seconded by Mrs. Casella.
After a brief
discussion, the motion carried unanimously.
ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT, MAP AMENDMENT & SPECIAL USE – Request of Nelson Funeral Homes: for an Amendment to the Zoning Ordinance to add “crematory” to list of special uses I B-1 District; to rezone property located at 1275 South County Line Road in Sandwich Township for R-2 to B-1; and for approval of Special Use to operate a crematory as part of a mortuary on the property, Petition SA-02-14.
Mr. Miller stated that
the Nelson Funeral Home wants to convert a residence into a mortuary with a
crematory. There are a few things
that need to happen in order to accommodate the request. First, the Zoning Ordinance “mortuaries” are permitted
only in the B1 district, so the subject property would need to be rezoned from
R1 to B1. Second, because the
Zoning Ordinance does not define “mortuary,” and because of concerns that a
“crematory” is not what was anticipated as a permitted use, staff suggested,
and the petitioner agreed, that a definition for “crematory” should be
crafted, and “crematory” should be made a Special in the B1 District.
Third, Nelson Funeral Home would seek a Special Use Permit to allow a
crematory as part of the proposed mortuary on the subject property in reliance
on the proposed Zoning Text Amendment.
Hearing Officer Kevin
Buick conducted a public hearing on the requests on June 27, 2002. Each of the
three issues was discussed at some length at the hearing.
The Hearing Officer recommended approval of each of the proposals, with
conditions.
Mr. Miller recommended
that the Committee forward two separate ordinances to the County Board.
One would deal with adding “crematory” to the Zoning Ordinance and
making it a Special Use in the B1 District.
The second would address the rezoning and Special Use request.
Mr. Miller stated that staff felt adding “crematory” was a good idea,
but that the Committee should discuss whether rezoning the property and granting
the Special Use Permit to Nelson Funeral Homes was appropriate. Mr. Miller noted that the City of Sandwich has forwarded a
resolution of opposition to the request. The
State Statues stipulate that when a city that has a planning jurisdiction
objects to a proposed Special Use, it requires a ¾ vote of all the County Board
members to approve that Special Use Permit.
Mrs. Casella asked if
crematories were regulated by the State. Mr.
Miller stated that there are State regulations.
Mr. Steimel
motioned to adopt the definition of “crematory” proposed by the Hearing
Officer and add “crematory” as a Special Use in the B-1 District, seconded
by Mrs. Casella.
Mrs. Allen asked staff
what would stop all funeral homes from having crematories?
Mr. Miller responded that, since they would be Special Uses, the County
Board would evaluate each request to establish or add a crematory.
Mr. Smith asked why
crematories should be limited to serving only the mortuary on the same property?
Mr. Miller responded that staff and the Hearing Officer were concerned
that crematories be kept small in scale and not serve large regions.
Mr. Smith stated that he had no such concern.
Following further
discussion, the motion passed with five voting “aye” and two voting
“nay.” The “nay” votes were
from Mr. Smith and Mrs. Allen.
The Committee then took
up the issue of rezoning the property from R-1 to B-1 and the request for a
Special Use Permit to operate a crematory as part of a mortuary on the subject
property.
Mrs. Allen asked how
long the Special Use would be in effect. Mr.
Miller stated that the Special Use would be in effect indefinitely unless the
County Board placed a specific time limit upon it.
Mr. Simonson asked if
the R1 land was being farmed. Mr.
Miller stated that no part of the property is farmed.
Mr. Simonson stated that his main concern were the neighbors who had
expressed opposition to the Special Use.
Mr. Steimel asked where
the Sandwich City limits were located. Mr.
Miller stated that the city limits were about ½ mile away from the site and
that area was developing. The
County Comprehensive Plan calls for the area to develop as commercial uses.
Mr. Steimel stated that he was having trouble understanding the concerns
of the City of Sandwich.
Following further
discussion, Mrs. Allen made a motion to deny the rezoning from R1 to B1 and to
deny the Special Use request, seconded by Mr. Simonson. The motion failed on a
vote of three “aye” and four “nay”.
Those voting in favor of the motion to deny included Mrs. Allen, Mr.
Simonson and Mr. Lyle. Those
opposed to the motion to deny included Mr. Hutcheson, Mr. Steimel, Mrs. Casella
and Mr. Smith.
Mr. Steimel moved
to approve the requested rezoning from R-1 to B-1 and to grant the Special Use
Permit for a “crematory” as part of a mortuary, seconded by Mrs. Casella.
Motion passed on a vote of four “aye” and three “nay.”
Those voting in favor of the rezoning and Special Use included Mr.
Steimel, Mrs. Casella, Mr. Hutcheson and Mr. Smith.
The opposed included Mrs. Allen, Mr. Simonson and Mr. Lyle.
SPECIAL USE AMENDMENT – Request of DeKalb County Broadcasters, Inc. for an amendment to a Special Use Permit to increase the height of an approved radio tower, located on the west side of Ault Road in Franklin Township, from 199 to 399 feet, Petition FR-02-15.
Mr. Miller explained
that the County Board approved a Special Use Permit for DeKalb County
Broadcasters in 2001 for a 199-foot-tall radio tower on the subject property.
At that time, the terms of the Special Use as set forth in the Zoning
Ordinance restricted the maximum height of such radio towers to 200 feet.
Subsequently, DeKalb County Broadcasters petitioned for a change to the
text of the Zoning Ordinance to allow that radio towers could be a maximum of
399 feet tall under specific conditions. This
amendment to the Zoning Ordinance was approved in May of 2002. Now, DeKalb County Broadcasters has returned requesting an
amendment to its 2001 Special Use Permit to allow the existing tower on Ault
Road to be increased in height to 399 feet.
Mr. Miller stated that a
public hearing was conducted on the request on July 11, 2002.
The petitioner provided information to show that the proposed
399-foot-tall tower has received FAA and FCC approval, as required by the Zoning
Ordinance for radio towers of that height.
Mr. Miller also stated that, in order to meet the required set back of
90% of the height of the tower from the road right-of-way, the petitioner agreed
that the height would not exceed 396 feet.
The Hearing Officer recommended approval of the amendment to the Special
Use to allow the tower to be extended to a height of
396 feet.
Mr. Smith moved
to approve the requested Amendment to the Special Use Permit to allow the radio
tower to be a maximum of 396 feet in height, seconded by Mrs. Casella, and the
motion carried unanimously.
Personnel
-- Mr. Miller announced that Heather Haacker would be leaving the Planning and
Zoning Department. Mrs. Haacker has
taken a job full time elsewhere. Mr.
Miller expressed his appreciation for her service, and the Committee members
joined him in expressing their thanks for her efforts on the Committee and
Planning and Zoning Department’s behalf.
Mr.
Lyle moved to adjourn, seconded by Mrs. Allen, and the motion carried
unanimously.
Respectfully
submitted,
_______________________________
Robert Hutcheson, Chairman
Planning & Regulations Committee
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