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Council compiles ordinance-priority list, seeks staff drafts and Municode updates
Summary
Councilmembers reviewed a list of priority ordinances for summer work, asked staff and consultants to draft or amend several ordinances (special events, street vendors, lodging houses, food-handler certificates), and discussed publishing ratified ordinances to Municode and community engagement needs.
During a Highland Park City Council workshop, members reviewed a list of ordinance topics they want to address before the end of their term and assigned follow-up tasks to staff and consultants.
Councilmember Maneka presented a list of seven priority areas for immediate review that included a special-events ordinance, food-handler certificates, street-vendor rules, fireworks/weapons sections, animal-control updates, lodging-house rules, and nuisance/abatement provisions. The council president asked members to flesh out the list with specific section numbers and draft language where possible and to circulate proposed amendments to the full council and the law department before the next meeting.
Staff and consultants (McKenna) said that some municipal-code references on the city's website are out of date and that updating the published muni code is a multi-month process (staff cited a 12–36 month timeline for a full code refresh). Staff recommended the council collect ratified ordinances and work with Municode to bundle uploads so the online code reflects recent council action.
Council members also raised community-engagement needs tied to ordinance changes. Staff reported McKenna had held multiple outreach events earlier in the spring (one event on May 29 and two others), with attendance figures ranging from about 25 to 75 participants depending on the event; council members asked for additional town-hall-style Q&A sessions and door-to-door outreach to increase participation.
The council set next steps: members should send written amendment proposals to each other and to the law department; staff and McKenna should draft or redline ordinances identified on the list and produce suggested language for the next workshop; and the council president said he would schedule a follow-up workshop within the month to continue work on the list. No ordinance was adopted at the workshop.
