Following are some of the articles published by The Observer for the month of July in recent years. These articles, gathered from various publications and editorials, are noteworthy for residents in that they remind us of where we’ve been as a community.
Village Board considering ZBA proposal on horse boarding – 2011
ZBA chair Judith Freeman presented a proposal to address horse boarding codes in the Village at the July BOT meeting. President Abboud deferred discussion/comment by the board of the ZBA proposal until the August BOT meeting to allow time for trustees to further consider the proposal.
The ZBA proposal calls for any property owner that boards ten (10) horses or more within the Village on R-1 properties to be classified as “Commercial” and residents boarding nine (9) or fewer horses would be allowed to conduct their businesses under the “Home Occupation Ordinance.”
Freeman’s letter to the board can be downloaded here.
Barrington Hills panel: Status quo on horse boarding – 2012
Barrington Hills’ zoning board Monday unanimously recommended disregarding proposed conditions for the allowance of commercial horse boarding as a home occupation business use.
The board’s recommendation was made on the basis that the conditions would only confuse current debate as to whether commercial horse boarding is permissible at all.
The Complete Daily Herald article can be read here.
Another blame game – 2012
Monday evening the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) discussed public comments on the commercial horse boarding amendment to the Home Occupation Ordinance (HOO).
During that meeting several members of the ZBA, most notably Chairperson Judith Freeman and Kurt Anderson, expressed their condescending opinions that residents who opposed the amendment failed to understand it. Anderson, quoted in the Daily Herald cited what he called “a campaign of both disinformation and misinformation.”
Read the original Observer editorial here.
AG’s office reviews ex-mayor’s Barrington Hills appointments – 2013
The Illinois attorney general’s Public Access Bureau is reviewing a complaint that former Barrington Hills Village President Robert Abboud’s 35 proposed committee appointments made after he lost the April 9 election were not adequately identified on a meeting agenda.
As such, the review is looking into whether the action constitutes a violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act, spokeswoman Natalie Bauer said. She would not speculate on the time frame of the review or what action would be appropriate if it determined a violation had occurred.
Abboud said he was following the advice of the village attorney that sufficient notice on the agenda did not necessarily have to include names.
Read the Daily Herald story here.
Update: Since this story was published it was determined the appointments made at that time did in fact violate the Illinois Open Meetings Act. As a result, our Zoning Board only has six members, one of whom’s term expired in 2012.
– The Observer
Thanks for July Flashbacks –
Time for the Village to mobilize. A few are attempting to change 5 decades of good sense zoning under Home Occupation and Special Use. The motivations are simply to protect Oakwood Farms and create BH as an equestrian commercial boarding destination.
Bike lanes increasing traffic? Look next door and visualize 20 horses commercially boarded on 5 acres and the traffic in and out for daily boarders, workers and manure disposal. Visualize the flies and summer stench.
Residents opposed to this are NOT anti-equestrian. We want BH to remain equestrian. We want our BH residents to be able to board at other local properties. We just don’t want to create BH as the destination for everyone else using our private trails and encouraging commercial business operations in the Village.
Abboud and Messer denied changes to the code in 2012 (read flashbacks) because LeCompte was made legal by them calling Oakwood Farms under Home Occupation. The Appellate Court opinion changed that. Now the ZBA and BOT are using their political position to advance commercialism and retroactively legalize Oakwood Farms. If that’s not illegal, it’s certainly unethical.
The ZBA chair and Joe Messer are leading this charge and abusing the privileges of their office attempting to manipulate approval of new text amendments. Now the Equestrian Commission appears to be getting into the act with their disingenuous call for a Special Meeting on a Friday night to support these text amendments without adequate public notice.
Time for a sane few dedicated to preserving BH’s equestrian, Open Spaces, and residential code to be charged by the Village President to come up with a solution that benefits the entire community.
We already have the solution. Our present village codes and special use permit options are adequate – perhaps some additional tweaking may be needed. It is enforcement that needs to be addressed.
And who is going to do that Jack Spratt? Madame Chairperson Freeman? Jason Elder? Barry LeCompte? The Equestrian Commission? The Riding Club and Oakwood Farms seem to be leading this charge with the support of ZBA and Save 5 Acre Trustees Messer, Meroni, Selman, Harrington, and Gohl.
We do already have a solution with minor tweaks as you suggest. But, who will lead that and create a balanced approach for the good of the entire community? Village President McLaughlin is unable to move the agenda forward with the S5A crowd blocking every move to restore balance.
Private property owners in opposition to these tactics need to close the horse trails. A simple solution that would bring the riding club and Abboudites to the negotiation table. That would be step one – perhaps the president should appoint a well balanced representational committee to address this issue. This is a no brainer but residents have to stick together rather than whine.