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Village issues update regarding “InZone”

Posted in Legal Expenses, Politics, Topics Of Interest, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Code, Zoning Board on July 1, 2020| 1 Comment »

Dear Barrington Hills Residents:

As you may be aware, the Village of Barrington Hills has received media coverage and social media posts regarding a proposal by the InZone Project and Mr. Terrence Wallace. Various comments and concerns about the proposal have been shared with the Village Board and Village Administration. The Village acknowledges the importance of ensuring that any project, including this proposal, complies with all applicable ordinances, laws, and regulations.

Recognizing that this proposal has generated significant community interest, the Village has retained Special Counsel to work directly with InZone and the Village to determine the most appropriate course of action for this proposal. We ask the community to be patient and understand that the Village is taking the steps necessary to ensure that this proposal satisfies all health, safety, and other standards. Compliance with these standards is in the best interests of the community regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, creed, religion, or any other individual self-identified status or immutable characteristic.

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Fact checking

Posted in 220, County, Lake, Politics, Property Taxes, School Districts, Village Board, Village Code, Zoning Board on July 1, 2020| Leave a Comment »

On Monday night, CBS Chicago reported a story that included audio and text stating the following:

“Over 20 acres of tree-lined property nestled in affluent Barrington Hills feature tennis courts and a sprawling home purchased by Terrance Wallace, the InZone Project founder.” (InZone Project Founder Says He’s Been Hit With Red Tape In Efforts To Bring Black And Brown Boys From Chicago To Live In Barrington Hills Mansion.)

There is no recorded public record of a recent sale of the property on 541 Merri Oaks Road. Public records do indicate that the property is currently owned by a Trust and has been under the ownership of the Trust or related parties since 2002.

Public records indicate that 2019 Real Estate Taxes were approximately $32,000, down from approximately $50,000 for 2018, and in both years, a homeowner’s exemption of $6,000 was taken. (Note: To take a general homestead exemption in Lake County, IL, the Property must be the principal residence of the owner as of the first of the year in which the exemption is claimed and this exemption can only be received on one property.)

If Mr. Wallace has other financial arrangements with the owner, it is not available in public records we can find.

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Racism allegations follow as plan to move 25 kids into Barrington Hills home stalls

Posted in Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Code, Zoning Board on June 30, 2020| 10 Comments »

Terrance Wallace, middle right in suit, wants to move 25 children of color in his InZone Project into a 12,000-square-foot home on roughly 28 acres in Barrington Hills. He and several backers attended Monday night’s Barrington Hills village board meeting. (Bob Susnjara | Staff Photographer)

Although the leader of an organization helping disadvantaged minority youths contends race is a factor in his delayed plan to move into a Barrington Hills home with 25 children of color, village officials say the zoning code is the only issue.

Terrance Wallace wants to move his InZone Project into the 12,000-square-foot home on roughly 28 acres so he can provide opportunities for the children, who are under his legal guardianship, to live in a nurturing residential environment with support. He said he wants to relocate InZone to Barrington Hills from its temporary Wauconda home.

Wallace said he first contacted Barrington Hills in April 2018 to make village officials aware of his plan and did not receive a response for several months. He said officials have continued to ignore his recent emails.

“I definitely believe that has everything to do (with race),” Wallace said after he and several supporters brought their concerns to the village board meeting Monday night.

Village Attorney Patrick Bond said officials don’t have all the facts needed from Wallace and that race is not an issue.

“Everybody follows the same rules,” Bond said. “The zoning code doesn’t know what color you are, what race you are, what religion you are. That’s just not the case. The rules apply to everybody who comes into this village. And that’s not unique to this village. It’s not unique to this county. It’s not unique to this state.”

Read more here.

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Village Board of Trustees meets tonight

Posted in Agendas, Building Department, Financial Reports, Police Pension Board, Roads and Bridges, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Code, Zoning Board on June 29, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Our Village Board of Trustees meets this evening at 6:30 PM. A copy of their agenda, including instructions on participating remotely, may be viewed and downloaded here.

Tonight’s agenda is relatively routine. However, the board will be discussing the 2019 Annual Audit Report, and two of trustees won’t be deprived of an opportunity to ask inane questions given the opportunity, so the meeting will likely be longer than usual.

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Village announces grand reopening

Posted in Agendas, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Village Board on May 18, 2020| 1 Comment »

The Village offices will reopen tomorrow, May 19, with the following guidelines due to current events:

  • Refrain from entering the building if exhibiting symptoms or feeling ill.
  • Maintain a 6-foot distance between village staff and other members of the public
  • All persons (older than 2 years of age) interacting with staff are required to bring and wear a face covering.
  • Groups of people visiting Village Hall/PD to conduct business for the same project will be limited to two people.
  • Respect room capacity limits
  • Use provided hand sanitizer if able

Our Village Board of Trustees will be meeting tomorrow as well, and a copy of their agenda can be viewed and downloaded here.

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Barrington Hills looking to reopen village hall by May 19

Posted in Pritzker’s Rules of Order, The New Normal, Village Board, Village President on May 6, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Barrington Hills’ elected officials want village hall and the adjacent police headquarters to reopen to the public this month, with visitors abiding by state regulations such as social distancing.

Barrington Hills’ elected officials want village hall and the adjacent police headquarters to reopen to the public in less than two weeks, with visitors abiding by state regulations such as social distancing.

Village board members have set May 19 as the target date for the municipal buildings to be accessible to the public. Officials said the facilities typically receive a minimum number of visitors.

In addition, the village board plans to end teleconference meetings and return to in-person sessions, while not exceeding a limit of 10 people together and spreading them 6 feet apart in a room, Barrington Hills Village President Martin McLaughlin said.

“It’s really difficult to get the sense of what somebody’s going through on a Zoom (video) call or a phone call,” he said. “You can’t really interact. And from board member to board member, it’s really difficult to communicate as well. You’re getting cut off mid-sentence. It’s just not an appropriate way, in my opinion, to do public business from this point moving forward.”

Read more here.

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Special Board of Trustees meeting Monday

Posted in ePacket Agendas, Politics, Springfield, Village Board on May 2, 2020| Leave a Comment »

The Barrington Hills Board of Trustees is holding a special meeting remotely Monday evening at 6:30 PM. It was called by two of its members regarding consideration of opening the Village of Barrington Hills in line with what many other communities in Illinois and around the country are doing.

A copy of the agenda can be viewed here, and a link to the conference call can be found here.

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Yup, they’re going there. “Open Burning Ordinance” on tonight’s BOT agenda.

Posted in ePacket Agendas, Friends of Forest Preserves, Land Use, OP/Ed, Uncategorized, Village Board, Zoning Board on April 27, 2020| 1 Comment »

Our Village Board of Trustees meets this evening, and one of the topics on their agenda is the, “Open Burning Ordinance.” We have the sneaking suspicion this might me the first of many occasions this subject will appear in their and other’s agendas.

Many residents have shared their thoughts and frustrations on this ordinance since it was first passed around the turn of the century. It rarely comes up in public discussion even though open burning of “bonfires” is a daily occurrence somewhere in Barrington Hills.

Since it will be discussed tonight, here are some of our collective thoughts on what we see as the two primary components of contention of the ordinance:

Bonfire size:

The code states, “A bonfire shall not be more than 5 ft X 5 ft X 5 ft in dimension.”

Our experience is that few residents gather a bonfire for the purposes of roasting weenies and s’mores. When tree limbs and other debris are stacked on their five-acre property, can it be assumed that residents are following code or is it more likely that their bonfires are “illegal” due to the size?

Clearly there needs to be limits to the limits of the burn pile (our technical term), but the current limits are too low and unrealistic in most cases.

Hours and duration burning is allowed:

No bonfire shall be started or maintained other than between the hours of 10:00 AM. to 10:00 PM and for a maximum duration of 3 hours per day:

Experience shows winds are almost always calmest in the early morning and late evening hours. On any given day, by 7:00 – 8:00 AM, if you cannot see some neighborhoods with smoke rising, you will likely smell it some days.

Then, depending on the season, by 6:00 PM people are outdoors enjoying their property from barbecues to bocce, and they likely do not appreciate the smell of smoke other than that from their own grills. Also, in the spring and fall, who does not want to open their windows for fresh, cool air?

Summarizing, when it comes to size and time/duration of bonfires, although in most cases inadvertently, residents are breaking the law. If the codes are deemed acceptable, they should be enforced. If not, the need to be amended.

The Board of Trustees meeting is at 6:30, and a link to the remote proceedings can be accessed here.

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Barrington Hills wants to recover costs from murder investigation

Posted in Cook, County, Crime, Taxes, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board on April 16, 2020| 1 Comment »

Barrington Hills officials say they plan to seek reimbursement from the owners of this house on the 300 block of Old Sutton Rd for police costs related to a murder investigation.

Barrington Hills officials may seek reimbursement from a property owner, an online home rental service and others for police costs related to a fatal shooting last month during a house party they say violated village code.

Police spokesman William Walsh said no new information has surfaced regarding the killing of Sean B. Patton, 28, of Chicago, during the March 7 party on the 300 block of Old Sutton Road.

Walsh said three other men suffered gunshot wounds, but their injuries were not life-threatening.

Officials said the home was advertised for rent on multiple online marketplaces before the shooting.

Barrington Hills zoning regulations don’t allow for the use of a residential property for commercial purposes, such as short-term rentals for lodging and special events. That’s why the reimbursement of the police expenses should be sought, said Trustee Brian Cecola, who chairs the village board’s public safety committee.

Read more here.

Related: March Board of Trustee meeting recordings released

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Have a nice day!

Posted in Crime, Deception, Ethics, Legal Expenses, OP/Ed, Politics on April 10, 2020| 6 Comments »

The Barrington Hills Bulletin Board claims to be, “AN ALTERNATE RESOURCE OUTLET FOR LOCAL BARRINGTON HILLS RESIDENTS TO READ, COMMENT AND REACT TO NEWS AND TOPICS WITH THE INTENT TO EDUCATE, PROVIDE AWARENESS, TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY TO RESIDENTS IN A UNCENSORED FORMAT.”

The Barrington Hills Bulletin Board posts fabrications, typo-ridden incoherent ramblings and now offers a new feature to their minimally followed blog; censorship of comments that are posted on Facebook (“…some comments may have been filtered out”).

As for the offensive comment that was, “filtered out”?

“Paragraphs and proper grammar and punctuation would be nice.”

So much for transparency.

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