HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 10/28/1985 - Committee of the WholeCOMMITTEE MEETING OF THE WHOLE
MONDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1985 7:30 P.M.
The Committee Meeting of the Whole was called to order by Mayor
Busse on Monday, October 28, 1985 at 7:30 P.M. in city hall. At roll
call the following Aldermen were present: Bolger, McClatchey, Smith,
Snell, Teta. Absent: Nolan, Lieder, Serritella. Zoning Board members
in attendance were James Fouse, Donna Tobeck and Fred Kupstis. Absent:
Anna Mae Cuda, Gary Schaefer, Robert Jessup, Harry Semrow. Plan
Commission Members in attendance were Joan Schwegel, Lynn Donarski,
George Spyrnal, Don Wedekind, Bill Wilson. Absent: Bill Buhrman, Sandy
Eckstein„ Dick Hoover, Earl Osmon, Don Toole, Tom Uttich. City staff in
attendance Clerk Gilpin. Absent: Supt. Halvensleben, Attorney Narusis,
Park Director Merkel, Chief Joyce, Building Inspector Rosing.
Mayor Busse announced that the Meeting tonight was supposed to
be a Building & Zoning Committee Meeting but he expanded it, because of
Mr. Gann's presentation tonight, to a Committee Meeting of the Whole so
that Aldermen, Plan Commission and Zoning Board members would have an
opportunity to hear his presentation.
The purpose of tonights meeting was not to debate the merits of
each proposal or suggestion as submitted by Gann because the City Council
would have to make policy decisions on many of these items. The intent
of the meeting tonight was to listen to Gann's findings on a summary of
the 61 page assessment he had prepared.
Gann said the City does not have a bad zoning ordinance, it has
an old zoning ordinance. There are not many zoning ordinances around
that date back as far as the City of McHenry's does from the early
1960's. The old ordinance is based on some old practices that have been
superseded by the new ordinances that have come along. He said the
reason there are 61 pages of material in the zoning ordinance assessment
review -is that he deliberately decided not to preselect or censor the
material for the City Council. Rather than have his company decided what
the City would be interested in or would like to see, he decided to
include everything he found in his review and let the City judge what it
wanted to do with each item. It was not his intention that the City
accept every suggestion that was made in the review assessment, but he
did include everything so that the Council could made the final decision.
Gann said that some of the things he raised were very small
points which could be corrected by adding a single word. Some of the
items were large deficiencies which might have to be corrected by
rewriting the entire section. In some areas he found that the City
Zoning Ordinance was too strict and unnecessarily discouraged good and
desirable development.
Gann then reviewed various pages of his assessment review and
discussed them with the Council and Board members in attendance. In
closing., Gann stated "If the City wants a revised ordinance that really
is right for McHenry, it has to be a joint effort between the people who
live here and the experts who are employed from the outside. Local
people know the community better than anyone else and the best way to get
an ordinance that will work for McHenry, be legally defensible and be
suited 'to this community is to work together."
Busse said that it would be up to the City Council to decided
what the priorities should be. The Zoning Ordinance is a very important
document and will be the foundation of the City for the next 20 years.
There are some areas that need more immediate attention than others such
as the R-4 zoning. He felt that possibly the entire ordinance should be
rewritten.
Gann was asked what his cost etimate would be for rewriting the
ordinance if it was done by his firm. He said that in other communities
a similar project of rewriting the ordinance with possibly 10 meetings
held over the course of six to 10 months, cost approximately $10,000.
Council Mtgs.
Ctte. Mtgs.
of Whole
Monday, October 28, 1985
page 2
Bolger questioned if the entire project time frame could be cut
down if meetings were held over a period of days rather than months.
Gann said he had never seen it done because in most communities a lot of
deliberation, debate and discussion takes place because some of the
sections are controversial enough that it takes time to get an agreement.
This usually takes several months.
Mayor Busse announced that the matter will be taken before the
entire Council for a decision as to how to proceed.
Meeting adjourned at 9:40 P.M.
CITY CLERK