The meeting began with the approval of minutes from their last meeting in December of 2013, and the chair asking the recording secretary if he wished to be relieved of that duty for this meeting. Clearly, it was known in advance the recording secretary would be the featured speaker of the night.
Following this, the chair read a prepared statement as to the purpose for calling a special meeting on a Friday evening. According to the recording, the Zoning Board requested their input on the number of horses per acre to be allowed on properties. However, they were also asked by “several residents” to weigh in on their thoughts about the boarding issue and about the two proposals currently before the Zoning Board.
When attempting to recollect what the commission determined to be an allowable number of horses per acre back in 2009-2010, members recalled no limits should be imposed and then approved this as their current recommendation to the ZBA by unanimous vote.
However, minutes from the March 10, 2010, Plan Commission meeting contradict those memories. At that meeting Dan Lundmark, then chair of the Equestrian Commission, stated the commission felt “that the number of horses on private properties should not be policed, but in a commercial boarding setting, a limit of two horses per acre was recommended.” Minutes from that meeting can be viewed here.
The remainder of the meeting was devoted primarily to comments regarding the Oakwood Farms (LeCompte) boarding amendment proposal. The commission’s recording secretary led this discussion and changes or omissions were agreed upon. It should be noted that the recording secretary also held a position on the Zoning Board until recently, after the Illinois Attorney General’s office determined his and many other appointments to Village bodies were invalid due to the lack of proper agenda notice by the former administration in 2013.
Residents in attendance expressed concerns over past issues with manure management, the need for an independent panel to take the matter up for objectivity, the implications of “Agriculture” designation relating to property tax reductions, accounting for other animals besides horses as it relates to density of use, and why it was necessary for the commission to call a special meeting on a Friday night on such short notice? We think we have an answer to the last question.
Apparently, a third alternative boarding amendment proposal was filed the morning of July 29. The announcement of the special Equestrian Commission meeting was posted to the Village calendar later that day. We’ve also learned that a fourth boarding proposal is in the works.
The Observer will publish these documents as soon as the Village posts them.
A link to the full Equestrian Commission meeting recording can be accessed here.