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Archive for the ‘LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment’ Category

Equestrian Commission to meet on Monday

Posted in Agendas, Equestrian Commission, Horse Boarding, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Uncategorized on June 4, 2017| 3 Comments »

The Equestrian Commission is scheduled to meet on Monday evening at 6:30 PM.  The commission has not met in nearly a year.  On the agenda are several items, including discussions on Fencing and Horse Boarding Regulations.  However the most interesting item seems to be something called the Illinois State Farm Nuisance Act Presentation.  We researched this topic, and apparently it is legislation that has been promoted by the Horsemen’s Council of Illinois and local Equestrienne Elaine Ramesh.  The legislation has already passed the Illinois Senate and House, and, from what we can tell, it is awaiting the Governor’s signature.

It would add the keeping of horses and horse BOARDING to the current state law which protects existing livestock farms from being lawsuits on the basis of nuisance.  The original law was intended to protect actual agricultural farms from being sued as a nuisance by neighbors because of odors, dust or noise generated by the routine performance of farming chores, but it seems as though the activists in the Horsemen’s Council are using this to bypass local zoning ordinances, such as ours in Barrington Hills.    Horse boarding in our view is NOT agricultural, as there is no agricultural product which is generated. We would strongly urge residents to attend this meeting.

At the time of publication, only the agenda was available here, but no meeting packet materials were posted.  The Trustee Liaison to the Commission is newly elected Trustee Paula Jacobsen.

CORRECTION:  Michelle Maison is still the liaison to the commission.

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From the Horsemen’s Council of Illinois Facebook page

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Local papers publish candidate questionnaires

Posted in 2017 Elections, Cook, County, Heritage Fest, Horse Boarding, Kane, Lake, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Longmeadow Parkway, McHenry, News Media, Pension Funding, Public Safety, Real Estate, Road construction, Taxes, Traffic, Uncategorized, Unite Barrington Hills, Village Board, Village President, Well Water Quality, Your Barrington Hills on March 22, 2017| 2 Comments »

vote Both major regional newspapers recently released the responses to their Candidate Questionnaires.

Here are the trustee candidate questionnaires published in the Northwest Herald.

To read village president candidates’ answers to the Northwest Herald’s questions, click here.

The link to the Daily Herald’s village president profiles is here, and the trustee candidate profile link is here.

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February 21st Zoning Board recordings posted

Posted in Audio Recordings, Fundraisers, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Public Safety, Special Use Permits, Traffic, Uncategorized, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Code, Village Government, Zoning Board on March 7, 2017| Leave a Comment »

audio_tape_revox_pr99-203 Audio recordings from the February 21st Meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals have been posted to the Village website. To access the main menu of recordings edited by agenda topic, click here.

The meeting began with a public hearing for a special use permit for expansion of an existing artificial lake at 153 Algonquin Road.  Several neighbors expressed concerns about potential impacts to their properties.  The hearing was followed by  a unanimous vote to recommend the special use permit to the Board of Trustees.  The hearing can be heard here.

The next agenda item had been scheduled to be a vote on the special use permit for a proposed boathouse for a residence on Hawley Lake, which had been the subject of a public hearing in January. Chairman Dan Wolfgram informed the ZBA that the petitioner’s request had been withdrawn.

Discussion then turned to a number of topics that the ZBA had begun to consider at last month’s meeting and had determined merited future deliberation.  Village Administrator Bob Kosin began with a description of the process by which a zoning complaint may be registered with the village, and then reviewed the staff procedures to review the complaint and determine if a violation had occurred.  True to form, Kosin’s explanation was difficult to follow at times due to his “unique” style.  Kosin’s narrative can be heard here.

Next, the board considered the matter of who can submit an application for a text amendment to the village’s zoning code.  In recent years, a somewhat vague part of our code has been interpreted to allow any resident potentially affected, directly or indirectly by a zoning matter, to be able to propose a text amendment change.  In the case of commercial horse boarding, this lead to numerous dueling proposals which took up an inordinate amount of the ZBA’s time, not to mention taxpayer money.  Members seemed to be in agreement that a better process might be for residents first to bring up their suggested amendment changes with either a Board of Trustees member or a ZBA member.  The topic was referred to the ZBA’s trustee liaison Colleen Konicek-Hannigan who will present the idea for discussion at an upcoming BOT meeting. That section of the discussion can be heard here.

The ZBA also mulled over the need for either a special use permit or special event permit for residences which play host to numerous and/or large private charitable events.  Members felt that charity events are a hallmark of the generosity of the community, and any efforts to create a more formal permitting process should not be done with the idea to curtail or discourage such events.  As is the case with many issues debated by the ZBA, a balance between the individual property rights of one resident must be balanced with the neighbors’ rights to peaceful enjoyment of their homes. Members decided that they should begin attempting to draft language for review at a future meeting. That portion of the dialogue can be accessed directly by clicking this link.

Finally, Zoning Board members considered the pros and cons of regulating the length of time that contractors’ advertising signs might be allowed to be displayed at a home, and whether or not there needs to be a limit placed on the height of building structures.  Those topics may be found beginning here.

 

 

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2016 Year in Review

Posted in 2017 Elections, Agendas, Barrington Hills Farm, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, Cuba Rd Bridge, ePacket agendas, Horse Boarding, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, OP/Ed, Special Use Permits, Topics Of Interest, Uncategorized, Village Board, Village Code, Village Government, Zoning Board on January 1, 2017| Leave a Comment »

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The Observer takes a look back at another year gone by, as we present the most frequently read news stories and editorials for 2016. Click on any title to read and revisit stories from this past year.

August 30th Zoning Board public hearing recordings published

Our most read and most commented upon story of 2016, this article summarized the August 30th Zoning Board meeting which concluded the public hearings on the latest text amendment proposal for commercial horse boarding codes.

WARNING: Beware of phantom developers!

This story discussed a fear-mongering letter that was mailed to residents throughout the  village, containing unsubstantiated claims of Barrington Hills once again being imperiled by greedy developers.

Why Anderson II must go

In October, the Observer reviewed the myriad of flaws in the Anderson II commercial boarding ordinance and explained the importance of reinstating boarding under the Home Occupation Ordinance.

There they go again

Despite the misinformation repeated at many recent meetings, archived Village Board minutes from 1960 show that village leaders then did not approve of commercial equestrian activities on residential properties, having shut down a riding school for being in violation of village code.  This feature also drew the second most comments of any story for 2016.

June Village Board Meeting Recordings Released

Our review of the Board of Trustees June meeting covered several topics, but focused primarily on the ongoing delays with the reconstruction of the Cuba Road Bridge (now known as Veteran’s Crossing Bridge).  The article highlighted the lack of proper oversight of the project by Gewalt Hamilton, as well as some confusing explanations of the situation by Village Administrator Bob Kosin.

Here we go again

As the Zoning Board of Appeals was about to begin a review of the commercial horse boarding code, the Observer dispelled a long list of oft-repeated fallacies, fictions and lies concerning equestrian activities and horse boarding in this column from July.

Candidates file for April 2017 Village Elections

The title speaks for itself in this most recent top story, highlighting the high level of resident interest in our village government.

Park District to begin charging user fees for Riding Center

The July announcement by the Park District of its intention to set up a fee structure for resident and n0n-resident users of the Riding Center drew a large audience.

Documents added to ZBA horse boarding code hearing package

In the days leading up to the August 30th ZBA meeting, readers were eager to review the 291 pages of documentation that had been submitted to the Zoning Board in the form of court documents, resident and Village official emails, affidavits, Village engineering and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency reports and form letters.

 

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Candidates file for April 2017 Village elections

Posted in 2017 Elections, Barrington Hills Farm, BH Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, Ethics, FRVPC, Horse Boarding, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Politics, Riding Club of BH on December 21, 2016| 4 Comments »

Four seats on the Barrington Hills Board of Trustees are up for election in the April 4, 2017 Consolidated Elections, and the Riding Club of Barrington Hills seems to be aiming for all four now that candidates have filed with the Village Clerk on Monday.

Running for the office of President are:

  • Martin J. McLaughlin* (Independent)
  • Louis Iacovelli (Riding Club)

Those running for three Trustee positions are:

  • Colleen Konicek Hannigan* (Independent)
  • Paula Jacobsen (Riding Club)
  • Elaine M. Ramesh (Riding Club)
  • Matthew P. Vondra (Independent)
  • Robert M. Zubak (Riding Club)
  • Ralph Sesso (Independent)
  • Linda H. Cools (Independent)

Incumbent Trustees Fritz Gohl and Mike Harrington are not running for re-election in April, however Gohl will be running unopposed for trustee to the Barrington Township Board of Directors.

*Incumbent

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December 7th Village Board meeting recordings released

Posted in Animal Welfare, Audio Recordings, Barrington Hills Farm, BH Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, Deception, FRVPC, Horse Boarding, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Politics, Real Estate, Riding Club of BH, Village Board, Village Code, Zoning Board on December 18, 2016| 4 Comments »

Audio recordings from the December 7th special meeting of the Board of Trustees have been posted to the Village website.  To access the menu of recordings edited by agenda item, click here.

The meeting began with an announcement that the James J. Drury commercial boarding text amendment which was on the agenda for the meeting had been formally withdrawn earlier in the day, so no discussion or vote on that agenda item would take place.

Prior to public comments, the chair announced that the standard three minute limit rule on comments would be adhered to, as can be heard here.

Multiple Zoning Board of Appeals hearings had been held where residents had ample opportunities to speak as long as they wished, and it was noted that the public had been given significant latitude in their remarks, and that the Board of Trustees had reviewed the recordings and/or transcripts from those meetings.

Despite this, the first person to read public comments obviously decided that these established rules for public comment don’t apply to him.

The developer of Barrington Hills Farm had submitted written comments to the Board of Trustees, which were available to all in attendance, prior to the meeting.  Yet he chose to read them in their entirely anyway, in a self-serving speech lasting well beyond three minutes, choosing to ignore two polite requests from the chair to conclude his remarks as can be heard here.

Obviously some feel they are more important than others, but the fact is this person was not only disrespectful to the Board, but more so, to the many residents in attendance who took their personal time to listen to what the Board of Trustees had to say about the Zoning Board’s recommendation on commercial horse codes.

Seven other residents made comments, for and against, regarding the Zoning Board recommendation, and one used her time to comment on the Longmeadow Parkway Project.

Prior to the board beginning discussion on the Zoning Board recommendation, the chair asked Village Attorney Mary Dickson to weigh in on the validity of the “construct” of the form letter statements the Barrington Hills Farm Developer had been mailing to residents for months apparently in the hopes of amassing sufficient response to require a “super-majority” vote by trustees to pass an amendment nullifying the Anderson II commercial boarding code.

Counsel stated she’d seen a number of the petition statements, and her preliminary opinion was they didn’t satisfy the statuary requirements of our Village Code, and therefore, a super-majority may not be required.  The recording of this discussion can be heard here.

When discussion began, President McLaughlin invited each board member to provide their opinions on the recommendation before them before the Zoning Board.  To listen to each member’s viewpoints in order of presentation, click on their names highlighted below:

We recommend listening to the remarks made by all board members, particularly those made by President McLaughlin.  His uncharacteristically candid, off-the-cuff comments will resound with most residents, reminding them why he was elected, so please take a few minutes to listen.

When the vote was called, five board members voted to approve the Zoning Board recommendation to repeal Anderson II, and two opposed, thus making any debate over the number of votes required due to questionable petitions moot, as a super-majority was achieved.

The next Village Board meeting is scheduled for Monday December 19th.

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Village Board votes to repeal Anderson II

Posted in Animal Welfare, Commercial Horse Boarding, Horse Boarding, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Village Board, Village Code, Zoning Board on December 8, 2016| 2 Comments »

The Village Board of Trustees voted 5-2 to approve the Zoning Board of Appeals recommendation to repeal the Anderson II Commercial Horse Boarding Code during a special meeting last night.  The dissenting votes were cast by Trustees Gohl and Harrington.

Horse boarding will now fall under the Home Occupation Ordinance as it had from 2006 to 2015 until such time as the Zoning Board prepares new codes which we imagine will be considerate of all residents’ property rights, whether they board horses or not.     

We’ll have more information on the meeting once audio recordings are released.

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Special Village Board meeting Wednesday

Posted in Agendas, Barrington Hills Farm, BH Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, FRVPC, HARPS, Horse Boarding, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Real Estate, Riding Club of BH, Village Board, Village Code, Zoning Board on December 6, 2016| Leave a Comment »

The Board of Trustees will be holding a special meeting tomorrow evening beginning at 6:30 at Countryside Elementary School.  The topics to be considered and voted upon are two amendments to the recently enacted commercial horse boarding codes as follows:

  • James J. Drury Text Amendment
  • Zoning Board of Appeals Text Amendment

The Zoning Board of Appeals has held a total of eight meetings on these matters since June, including lengthy public hearings.  This board voted to not recommend the Drury Amendment, however they did vote to recommend the second text amendment which would essentially repeal the LeCompte/Anderson II commercial horse boarding codes passed last year. 

We recommend all interested residents attend tomorrow night’s meeting.  A copy of the agenda can be viewed here.

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November Village Board meeting recordings available

Posted in 2017 Elections, Audio Recordings, Barrington Hills Farm, Bicyclists, Building Department, Commercial Horse Boarding, County, Deception, Ethics, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, McHenry, Politics, VBHPD, Village Board, Village Code, Zoning Board on December 5, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Audio recordings from the November 17th meeting of the Board of Trustees are available on the Village website.  To access the menu of recordings, click here.

The meeting began with a public hearing regarding some minor adjustments to the 2016 Annual Appropriation Ordinance related to telephone equipment leases.  No one from the public spoke, and the board later approved the changes.

Three residents made remarks during public comment encouraging the board to continue their efforts in opposing the Longmeadow Parkway Project.

The preliminary budget for 2017 was discussed during the finance reports, and expenses are once again forecasted to be down for the third year in a row.  The recording of that discussion can be heard here.

The Building and Zoning report revealed that a run-down home on Steeplechase Road that has been the subject of board discussions dating back for many years has finally been demolished.

With regard to other ZBA matters, it was explained that the reason the board was not taking up the November 9th recommendation of the Zoning Board of Appeals regarding boarding codes was that the transcript and “finding of facts” report provided by counsel had not been prepared yet.  Since that time, a special meeting of the Village Board has been scheduled for December 7th for this purpose.

The discussion then turned to an agenda topic titled, “Unincorporated & Boundary Properties Discussion,” and the subject became clear once Trustee Konicek began to provide background on why it was included.

It seems “rumors and fear-mongering” are being spread through the community regarding a developer’s plans to build a facility for HARPS in unincorporated McHenry County adjacent to Barrington Hills.  Apparently, people are being told the Village Board had taken an opposing stance towards the facility being built or that permits have been denied.

None of this is true, of course, but apparently these rumors and more stemmed from, among other communications, a recent letter sent to the Village by the developer. Konicek asked Trustee Cecola, Dan Strahan and Bob Kosin, all of whom have met with the developer, to join in the discussion to set the record straight, as can be heard here.

We’ll see about obtaining a copy of the letter, but it’s senseless how this pettiness continues to obstruct the forward momentum for our community our Village officials have strived to generate.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Trustees is scheduled for December 19th.

 

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November 9th Zoning Board meeting recordings released

Posted in Animal Welfare, Audio Recordings, Barrington Hills Farm, BH Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, County, Deception, FRVPC, HARPS, Horse Boarding, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, McHenry, Riding Club of BH, Village Code, Well Water Quality, Zoning Board on November 25, 2016| 1 Comment »

Audio recordings from a special Zoning Board of Appeals public hearing on November 9th are available for review on the Village website.  The link to the menu of audio recordings edited by agenda topic can be accessed by clicking here.

The purpose of the meeting was to hear testimony from residents regarding a proposed change to zoning codes returning commercial horse boarding to the Home Occupation Ordinance temporarily to provide the Zoning Board members time to craft more appropriate codes than those in the 2015 Anderson II codes.

Residents spent about two hours providing testimony with varying opinions, both for and against, regarding reverting to the Home Occupation Ordinance.

The developer of Barrington Hills Farm in unincorporated McHenry County read a prepared statement, after which he was once again asked to document the “clique of area residents associated with high density commercial housing development,” he referred to in a letter to all Village residents last July (seen here).

Once again, this witness refused to provide that documentation as can be heard here, but listening closely to his initial response to the question, one can hear, ”There’s no documents.”

The balance of the testimony provided little new evidence the board hadn’t already heard since they began this process back in June.  The link to the beginning of the remarks can be accessed here.

The board spent about 45-minutes discussing the testimony they’d heard and expressing their own opinions regarding the Anderson II code and what should be done with it.  This was in addition to the nearly three hour meeting they’d held on October 17th covering this same topic.

One member referred to it as a “loaded gun sitting on a chair” on more than one occasion.  Others phrased their concerns over the Anderson II language differently, but ultimately the board voted 6-1 to recommend the Board of Trustees repeal Anderson II and reinstate Home Occupation Ordinance codes to manage horse boarding operations.

The recording of the discussion and vote can be accessed here.

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