Rules governing the commercial boarding of horses in recent years have divided Barrington Hills and helped fuel the six-way race for Village Board.
The controversy has pitted neighbor against neighbor and prompted an ongoing private lawsuit. An attempt by the Village Board to change zoning rules to resolve the issue was not only vetoed by Village President Martin McLaughlin, but also prompted him to hire special legal counsel to investigate the five trustees who voted to change the boarding regulations.
Bringing an end to a worsening relationship between village leaders and residents weighs greatly on the candidates. Incumbents Karen Selman and Patty Meroni, and newcomers Mary Naumann, Bryan Croll, Michelle Nagy Maison and Brian Cecola, are running for three open seats.
Read more from the Northwest Herald here, and be sure to click on the candidates highlighted names above and in the article to read their profiles.
Zoning issues are certainly part of the equation, but the real issue is who controls the Board of Trustees in this election. If SOS wins, Abboud and a radical faction of the riding club control the votes on the board, so we’ll continue to have special interest decisions for at least another two years.
If OBH wins (and they deserve to) then we’ll have a much more balanced board that will represent the interests of the entire community. That’s why I’m voting for Croll, Maison and Cecola.
ITS ALL ABOUT THE HORSE . . . EVEN AT THE EXPENSE OF HOME VALUES AND INDIVIDUAL QUALITY OF LIFE.
You cannot be a supporter of estate residential R1 Zoning (5-acre lot) and be a supporter of Anderson II Horse Boarding Amendment, they are mutually exclusive. Anderson II guts the Floor Area Ratio formula (“FAR”) under VBH Code which has faithfully served VBH residents for more than 50 years. This ratio is the sole reason VBH looks the way it does today, 5-acre residential estate living with some choosing equestrian activities as a “hobby”. The way the architects of VBH code contemplated it; the way most of us expected it to remain when we paid large sums of money to move here.
This has all changed now. Anderson II is the only ordinance under VBH code which permits a commercial boarding structure to be the “primary structure” on the R-1 (5 acre) lot and the residence inconsequential or accessory in nature. A practice prohibited in VBH since beginning of time, that is, until Anderson II voted upon by VBH BOT Meroni, Selman, Messer, Harrington and Gohl. This is why all of them must go.
This was illegal before Anderson II requiring the home be the primary structure and barn accessory. The net effect under traditional VBH code is the barn on a 5 acre lot would max. out at about 2,700 sq/ft. Now, other than the maximum FAR allowance of @10,750 sq/ft for 5-Acre lot there is no limitation on how large the commerial structure can be or how small the residence can be. With favorable real estate tax benefit and profits to be made in the boarding business there is great incentive for landowners to flip the barn and home building ratio under Anderson II even if the landowner is boarding only 1 horse. [It should be noted there is no limitation on the number of horses which can be boarded under Anderson II, because “boarding” is not a defined term]. The incentive now, is big business and big structures to operate it is now legal in VBH.
The net result of Anderson II is Mega Commercial Barns (+10,000 sq/ft) and trailer homes on foundation with water/septic are now welcome on any 5 acre lot in VBH. Under Anderson II, the very foundation of VBH estate residential code has been emasculated for the sake of big horse business. Big horse business which can do business anywhere in VBH zoned R-1 without any say by adjacent homeowners. This means you and me. Of course, once flipping the FAR ratio becomes a significant trend in VBH there will be increased pressure and good legal argument from business proprietors and their lawyers to expand business use of VBH properties beyond horse boarding. I think SOS captain and Abboud disciple Steven Knoop refers to this phenomenon as the “LaSalle Factors”.
The next falsity to be perpetrated on us, VBH residents is BOT will vote on Monday to approve VBH Zoning Map which makes no mention of the Anderson II radical change in VBH R-1 zoning. To the casual individual looking to move into VBH, the zoning Map “before” and “after” Anderson II will look the same making no mention of Anderson II’s flipping FAR requirememts having the net effect of converting VBH traditional R-1 Zoning into a mixed use of R-1 (Residential) and Commercial Boarding.
But then again, corruption, waste and mismanagement of village resources has been the modus operandi of these obedient Abboud disciples for many years now . . . . the question for VBH voters, will you let them continue in office after April 7th by electing Meroni and Selman to a new term.