The Planning and Zoning Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on November 24, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. in the Conference Room East located in the DeKalb County Administration Building.  In attendance were Committee Members Roger Steimel, Vince Faivre, Anita Turner, Michael Haines, Pat Vary, and Eileen Dubin, and staff members Paul Miller and Rebecca Von Drasek. Also in attendance was Ken Andersen.

 

Mr. Steimel, Planning and Zoning Committee Chairman, called the meeting to order, and noted Committee member Marlene Allen was absent.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

 

Ms. Vary moved to approve the minutes of the October 22, 2008 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Committee, seconded by Ms. Dubin, and the motion carried unanimously.

 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

 

Mr. Ken Andersen asked to address the Committee following the agenda item.

 

Ms. Turner moved to approve the agenda as amended, seconded by Mr. Haines, and the motion carried unanimously.

 

ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

 

Mr. Miller introduced a proposed Zoning Text Amendment, explaining that staff, on behalf of the County Board, filed a petition to amend Section 4.01, the FP/C, Floodplain/Conservation District, of the DeKalb County Zoning Ordinance to adopt the new version of the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) for DeKalb County, dated January 2, 2009.  The Zoning Text Amendment was filed in accordance with the requirements of Section 10.04.C of the Zoning Ordinance.  Mr. Miller explained that the required public hearing for this Zoning Text Amendment was conducted by Hearing Officer Kevin Buick on November 13, 2008.  Mr. Miller noted that the primary change was that the floodplain is now overlaid on aerial photography. He also noted that some minor changes were made to the limits of the floodplain  to reflect Letters of Map Revision issued by F.E.M.A. since September of 2000, the date of the last maps.   He then explained that DeKalb County must adopt the new maps before January 2, 2009 as part of its continued participation in the National Flood Insurance Program. Mr. Miller explained to the Committee that the maps depict the regulatory floodplain, which in many places varies from the actual floodplain.   He advised the Committee that  F.E.M.A. requires the protection of regulatory flood prone areas as a prerequisite to providing residents of the County with flood insurance.  Mr. Miller briefly described the options that residents who own property in the flood prone areas have to appeal the Federal government’s floodplain depiction, including a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) and a Letter of Map Revision (LOMR). Finally, he stated that the Hearing Officer had filed his report and recommended approval of the Text Amendment.

 

Mr. Steimel noted that in the Hearing Officer’s report that F.E.M.A. had denied all of the suggested corrections by the County Engineer.  Mr. Miller offered that this response was not surprising given that the program is completed on a national scale and centralized in its administration.

 

Ms. Vary asked if citizens would still need to pay for surveys prior to applying for LOMA or LOMR after the County produces new contour maps.  Mr. Miller noted that the new floodplain maps along with the contour mapping approved as part of the FY 09 Budget will assist surveyors in determining topography of a given property and presumably reduce the costs to homeowners.  However, because the floodplain maps depict the regulatory rather than actual flood areas, a surveyor will still need to review the information and may have to shoot even more detailed topography.

 

Ms. Vary  moved to approve the Zoning Text Amendment, seconded by Ms. Dubin, and the motion carried unanimously.

 

OTHER ISSUES

 

Mr. Anderson then briefly addressed the Committee noting there were improvements on two properties within the County where surplus vehicles had been stored.  He inquired as to the resident responses to these inquires.  Ms. Von Drasek noted that one of the properties was for sale and so the property owner had not been contacted, and the second property owner had successfully complied with the regulations after the initial contact from staff.  She also noted that there were two inquiries which were scheduled for Code Violation Hearings, but the remaining violation inquiries appeared to be working toward compliance.

 

The Committee briefly discussed the upcoming projects in the New Year, noting that Florida Power and Light, which is proposing a wind farm, had filed for public hearings in the Villages of Shabbona and Lee.  These hearings have taken place, with Shabbona approving the project and Lee deferring a decision until later.  Staff indicated that an application from FPL to the County is expected soon.

 

In anticipation of the coming year, staff noted that the Comprehensive Plan is scheduled for an update in 2009.

 

Mr. Steimel thanked everyone on the Committee for their commitment to the County Board and their service on the Planning and Zoning Committee.  The Committee then thanked Mr. Steimel for his leadership of the Committee and his efforts for the citizens of DeKalb County.  Mr. Miller also expressed his gratitude to the Committee for all of their hard work.

 

The Committee cancelled the regularly-scheduled December meeting.  The next meeting of the Planning and Zoning Committee is scheduled for January 28, 2009 at 7:00pm in the Conference Room East.

 

ADJOURNMENT