The Village has posted recordings from the last week’s Equestrian Commission meeting.
The meeting began with swearing in of three new members, one of whom has a degree in animal science, which we believe will be helpful to the commission.
The minutes from the last Equestrian Commission meeting held on August 1, 2014 were then briefly discussed and approved unanimously.
Once again, we must express our concern that certain changes to the LeCompte Horse Boarding Amendment recommended by the Equestrian Commission over a year ago were never discussed at either the Zoning or Village Board meetings, particularly the exclusion of the retroactivity clause seen below:
Considering the Village Board meets later this month to hear public comment regarding whether or not to void the Commercial Horse Boarding Ordinance passed earlier this year, which is based on the LeCompte proposal reviewed by the Equestrian Commission, it would seem important to know why the Equestrian Commission’s recommendations were ignored.
Minutes from past Equestrian Commission meetings are not published on the Village website (as seen here), so the August 2014 draft minutes (from the meeting’s ePacket) which were approved last week with no edits can be viewed here.
The commission members then began discussing what their roles and responsibilities should be going forward. One near-term action will be coordinating a training session for Village police officers and others invited from surrounding municipalities on handling horses who manage to get loose.
Early next month, a training session will be facilitated by the Hooved Animal Rescue & Protection Society (HARPS). Commissioners also discussed creating a list of equine-knowledgeable residents for the police department to contact for assistance in handling any stray horses.
Discussion then moved to improving communications with the new stewards of Horizon Farms — the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. Trustee Michelle Maison stated she was working on that matter and would be getting back to the commission members.
Members remarked Horizon Farms and the new polo field being constructed to the south across Algonquin Road to the south are both attractive to prospective home buyers. The chair went on to state an acquaintance of hers has two polo playing prospective home buyers who are considering moving to Barrington Hills specifically because of the new polo field currently being built (her remark can be heard here).
The link to the edited recording menu from the meeting can be accessed here.
The Equestrian Commission meets quarterly, and their next scheduled meeting is on December 7, 2015.
I believe the new polo field is not open to the public but is for the private use only by the owner and his friends. The statement that some are buying in VBH because of the new polo field would be similar to saying that some are buying because of an Olympic-sized swimming pool on a resident’s property. Sounds good, but a little disingenuous if promoted this way. It may behoove Equestrian Commission Members to read the Special Use Permit granted the property owner.
Question? What are they building across Horizon Farm entrance and to the west of the BH Village Hall on the south side of Hwy 62?
I see lots of big Earth Movers and large mounds of dirt being moved in great force over the past months. Are they altering the natural lay of the land? Do they have a permit for that? I see no more trees. Did they have Heritage Trees Removed?
Just wondering.what was happening. Info appreciated.
Historian:
Can you tell me the significance of the date June 26, 2006 contained in the Retroactivity Provision excluded by the Equestrian Commission in this blog?
Why not make the retroactivity date the date when the Village Code was adopted? More importantly Historian, why was it necessary to include a Retroactivity Provision at all?
Please explain this to me?
June 26, 2006 is the date that Village Trustees voted 7-0 to pass Ordinance No. 06-12 re “Home Occupation”. It should be noted here that the Legislation passed by Village Trustees in December of 2014 (5 voting in the affirmative)on “Commercial Boarding”, retroactively altered Ordinance No. 06-12. A Board of Trustees has the right to change or eliminate Village Ordinances by a majority vote of the Board of Trustees. In the 2014 hearings on Commercial Boarding, not one Petitioner could cite any instance of a Municipality retroactively amending or eliminating a Village Ordinance.
Link to Ordinance No. 06-12: http://www.barringtonhills-il.gov/records/ordinances/2006Ordinances/Ord06_12.pdf
Historian:
Thank you for identifying the significance of the June 26, 2006 date contained in the Retroactivity Provision in LeCompte’s Application for Text Amendment.
As I understand it, HOO was the only provision in VBH Code which permitted boarding of horses for a fee. Prior to the adoption of HOO on June 26, 2006 this business practice was not permitted on any level under VBH Code. This is interesting that VBH equestrians for 43 years were content with non-commercialization of horseboarding treating it as a private endeavor.
With adoption of former HOO, boarding of horses for a fee was permissable so long as this business practice was sublime, not open and obvious to adjacent property owners and subservient to VBH residential zoning standards.
Only 9 years later, with the adoption of Anderson II Horse Boarding Amendment in 2015, VBH has moved from boarding of horses for a fee being an non-conforming use from 1963 to June 25, 2006 (53 years) to an allowable use to a very limited extent under the the HOO in 2006 to now, where it can be open and obvious on a large unfettered scale with adoption of Anderson II Boarding Amendment; to such an extent that codified 5-acre residential zoning standards which have been in place under VBH Code for more than 50 years are now secondary to this commercial practice.
In further analyis and insult to R-1 Zoning rights, the “Retroactivity Provision” by LeCompte was designed for all of us to pretend these unfettered commercial horse boarding rights were in existence as of June 26, 2006, the date the HOO was adopted irrespective that this was never contemplated by the language or intent of HOO.