The Village Board of Trustees will be holding a special meeting this Wednesday evening, September 23rd, at Countryside Elementary School at 6:30 PM. The purpose of the meeting is to hear public “comment on the potential settlement” of a lawsuit filed against the Village over the enactment of the Commercial Horse Boarding Amendment to our Village Code.
If our Village Board chooses to settle the suit, it is our understanding the boarding amendment will likely be voided, and work will need to begin on drafting new codes. If the suit is not settled and proceeds in the courts, we’ll likely be faced with legal expenses for a protracted period of time (likely years) defending the amended code.
Those wishing to submit their comments in advance of the meeting can do so via email to the Village Clerk at clerk@vbhil.gov through tomorrow, September 22nd. Comments can also be dropped off at Village Hall, or faxed to 847-551-3050.
While we’re no longer obligated to provide our addresses in written or public comment, we believe it’s important to at least indicate whether you are a resident or not along with your comments.
Also, for those unfamiliar with the Commercial Horse Boarding code amendment in question, our perspectives from December of last year were summarized in “Our views on the latest horse boarding text amendment proposal.” Click here to read that article which cites our major points of contention with the amendment.
Have a look at the tax returns for the Riding Club of Barrington Hills – https://www.citizenaudit.org/369211380/
Notice who the preparer of the returns has been for many years now (former ZBA member).
Q,
Likely nothing wrong about Kurt Anderson using his skills and training preparing tax returns for Riding Club! Maybe he’s even doing the work pro bono.
However, Member Anderson is (or isn’t) the author of the current commercial boarding text amendment. He either endorsed or wrote the provision for a 7 year retroactive period that appears to be specifically added to aid LeCompte’s litigation. Any business relationship there not disclosed?
Furthermore, a mission of the Riding Club is to attract more members (in and out of District) to increase revenue. The Anderson Amendment calls commercial boarding agriculture in order to avoid Home Occupation and raise limits on commercial operations.
At a minimum (attorney opinion welcomed), wouldn’t an attorney and tax preparation practitioner (Anderson) think that disclosure and possible recusal might be appropriate when drafting the text amendment as a Member of the ZBA? Interesting that Anderson’s appointment had expired prior to this process, but he stayed on refusing to vacate his expired term as requested by the new Village President.