Posted in 2017 Elections, Animal Welfare, Barrington Hills Farm, BH Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, County, FRVPC, Horizon Farm, Horse Boarding, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, McHenry, OP/Ed, Politics, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Special Use Permits, Village Board, Village Code, Well Water Quality, Zoning Board on October 14, 2016| 9 Comments »
Dear Neighbors and Friends,
We hope this editorial finds you and your family in good health and enjoying the fall in Barrington Hills, because if the Anderson II horse boarding and training codes remain in effect much longer, those pleasures may become a thing of the past.
Anderson II (or as we’ve termed it, LeCompte/Anderson) established a privileged class of properties within our Village with zoning code variances available to anyone boarding horses, whether it’s one or dozens. We’ve chronicled that before in these pages (see “Our views on the latest horse boarding text amendment proposal”), but the most flagrant flaw is that now the largest structure on any Barrington Hills property can be a barn, not the primary residence, as has been the tradition for decades.
To illustrate how far just this one loophole can be taken, we found a 5.01-acre property actively on the market in the unincorporated Barrington area as an example:
Anderson II proponents will be the first to claim this would never happen, or if it did, it would be extremely rare, but sensible zoning codes are enacted to protect residents from exceptions such as this, and that is what our Zoning Board is currently considering.
Despite the many flaws in Anderson II, there are some in our community who have been lead to believe its repeal will mean the end of horse boarding entirely in Barrington Hills, or at least they claim that’s the intent of the Zoning and Village Boards. It is NOT.
If this were true, why did the current administration approve a twenty-year extension of the special use permit for polo matches, including the Kalaway Cup, at Oakwood Farm? This administration also approved construction of recently debated indoor and outdoor polo fields at the corner of Algonquin and Old Sutton Roads.
Ever since the Zoning Board began considering a petition to amend horse boarding codes earlier this summer, there has been a flurry of direct mail, blog postings and social media campaigns intended to stir up the equestrian community, and others, within and outside our community.
In addition, one seemingly well-funded resident sent a book with pretty pictures and stickers to residents for no apparent reason other than to confuse matters further. We will tackle that in a future piece, but this unsolicited gesture has most residents we know scratching their heads wondering why it was sent and for what purpose other than political.
If these campaigns have served any purpose, it’s to confuse residents. People who have backyard boarding businesses have been led to believe they will be shut down in favor of large-scale boarding operations that threaten their businesses, while large-scale boarding operators believe the opposite is true. From what we’ve witnessed, neither is true.
We understand how some horse owners can get emotionally charged whenever changes are being considered that may or may not affect them. There’s no denying, some are so passionate about their horses, it’s almost an obsession, and there’s actually a term for it – Hippomania.
At one time, or throughout one’s life, we all can become passionate about something. We will defend anyone’s right to be passionate about horses, so long as they don’t impose it on neighbors and friends, which is exactly what Anderson II enables.
We also don’t condone these people being manipulated and misled by fellow equestrians, politicians and developers, and it appears that is exactly what is occurring again in our community, much the same as when people were told polo matches would end during the last election campaign (see “Polo politicking – SOS Party style”).
Yes, the Zoning Board of Appeals is considering recommending repealing the Anderson II codes and reinstating the Home Occupation Ordinance (HOO), as the most recent mailing to the proletariat from a “Neighbor and Friend” on a hilltop stated (a copy can be viewed here).
What was purposely omitted from that communique is the board is doing this as a temporary measure to get the exposure Anderson II has created off the books, so that sound and equitable codes can be drafted to protect the interests of all residents.
Considering the integrity demonstrated by those now serving on the current Zoning Board, this seems to be the fair and proper direction to pursue, and we believe the quiet majority of residents agree.
-The Observer
Editor’s note: Anyone wishing to listen to the audio recordings of recent Zoning Board meetings can do so by accessing our archive of releases by clicking here.
Posted in Agendas, Barrington Hills Park District, BH Polo Club, FPDCC, FRVPC, Riding Club of Barrington Hills on October 9, 2016| Leave a Comment »
The Barrington Hills Park District Board of Commissioners meets Monday evening at 7:00 PM at the district Riding Center located at 361 Bateman Road. A copy of their agenda can be viewed here.
Posted in Agendas, Animal Welfare, BH Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, FRVPC, HARPS, Horse Boarding, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Special Use Permits, Village Code, Well Water Quality, Zoning Board on September 20, 2016| Leave a Comment »
The Zoning Board of Appeals will be meeting to continue their discussions and likely vote on proposed text amendments to horse boarding and training codes this evening beginning at 6:30 PM at Countryside Elementary School. A copy of the agenda can be viewed here.
Posted in Animal Welfare, Audio Recordings, Barrington Hills Farm, BH Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, County, FRVPC, HARPS, Horse Boarding, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, McHenry, Politics, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Village Board, Village Code, Well Water Quality, Zoning Board on September 15, 2016| 17 Comments »
Audio recordings from the August 30th Zoning Board of Appeals public hearing regarding a text amendment proposal for horse boarding codes have been released. The menu of recordings edited by agenda topic from the meeting can be accessed by clicking here.
This third and final hearing held by the Zoning Board on the matter included two hours and forty-five minutes of testimony. Since this process began in July, the ZBA has heard a total of seven hours of testimony, including what can only be described as an hour of filibustering by the owner of Oakwood Farms at the end of the latest hearing.
Throughout this hearing process, board members have heard very few specific amendment recommendations related to the proposed text amendment, aside from, “It’s too restrictive” or “We don’t like it.” This provided little, if any, guidance for them to make changes to improve it.
As a matter of fact, not one person who testified suggested any modifications to the language itself.
However, board members also heard that the LeCompte/Anderson, or “Anderson II” codes are too liberal leaving neighbors with few, if any, options to protect their peace and privacy, especially should a new boarding and training facility be built next door without anyone asking of they would approve of such a facility.
But what was clearly evident is that many residents felt the Village had no business entertaining any petitions from residents who were currently involved in active court proceedings related to horse boarding. A number of attorneys, whether residents, or those advising our Board of Trustees, consistently and strongly recommended that the Village not tamper with codes related to a private lawsuit.
Instead of heeding these cautions, the ZBA which was presiding in 2014 marginally approved the LeCompte/Anderson amendment, and then in 2015 by a majority of the Board of Trustees, including three trustees who are no longer on the board, despite a presidential override of the ill-advised legislation.
Once it was confirmed that everyone who had wished to testify had had their say in the matter, the chair then adjourned the public hearing and opened the public meeting to entertain comments from the members of the Zoning Board.
There was one procedural question regarding the disposition of the amendment, and then about a twenty-minute recap of the history, both good and bad, behind the history of how Barrington Hills has handled, and mishandled, horse boarding zoning codes for over ten years was provided by David Stieper.
His commentary, opinions and citations of Village and court records can be heard here. Once he concluded his remarks, Stieper then made the following motion:
“The Drury Amendment be adopted to the limited extent that the former Home Occupation Ordinance, which has served this Village so well in recent years, be fully reinstated into the Village Code, and that all other language in the Drury Amendment be rejected for now, and that all language in the Village Code constituting the 2014 Anderson II boarding amendment be rejected, removed from the code and held for naught. In other words, I move that our Village Code as it relates to horse boarding be restored to that it was in year 2011.”
His motion was seconded, however due to the time limits on the use of the room, the discussion and vote was continued to the next meeting of the Zoning Board scheduled for September 20th at Countryside Elementary School at 6:30 PM.
Posted in Agendas, Barrington Hills Park District, BH Polo Club, FPDCC, FRVPC, OMA, Riding Center Advisory Committee, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Taxes on September 8, 2016| Leave a Comment »
The Barrington Hills Park District Riding Center Advisory Committee held their monthly meeting last Tuesday evening, and their agenda was once again posted to the district website after they met. Ironically, one of the topics on their agenda pertained to Open Meetings Act (OMA) training completion.
A copy of their agenda can be viewed here.
Posted in Agendas, Animal Welfare, BH Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, FRVPC, Horse Boarding, Politics, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Village Code, Well Water Quality, Zoning Board on August 30, 2016| Leave a Comment »
The Zoning Board of Appeals will be continuing their public hearing on a petition to amend horse boarding codes beginning at 6:30 PM at Countryside Elementary School. A copy of the agenda can be viewed here.
A copy of the proposed text amendment can be viewed here. Those wishing to submit written comments can do so via email to Anna Paul, Village Clerk, at clerk@barringtonhills-il.gov.
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