Committee approves first major amendments to Waukegan Unified Development Ordinance; tree-fee caps added

Waukegan ' The Committee Development Committee on Sept. 2 approved a package of major amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance and a separate city-code change capping tree-in-lieu fees, officials said.

Sam Green, a planner with the Planning and Zoning Department, told aldermen the UDO amendments are the first substantive set since the ordinance consolidated the city's zoning, sign, subdivision, tree preservation and design guidelines into a single document and that the revisions reflect a year of implementation and user feedback.

The changes are intended to clarify uses and approval procedures, ease some approval paths for small projects, respond to recently enacted state legislation about transit-area parking, and add processes the city lacked, Green said. The committee voted 3-0 to approve the UDO amendment ordinance (motion by Alderman Donworth, second by Alderman Martinez) and separately approved the fee-and-fine schedule amendment capping tree-in-lieu payments (motion by Alderman Martinez, second by Alderman Donworth), both by roll call.

Why it matters: The UDO governs how property can be used and developed across the city. The amendments alter permitted uses, streamline some variance and appeal paths, adjust parking/landscape triggers and add an explicit process for revoking conditional use permits, potentially speeding routine approvals for homeowners and businesses while creating clearer enforcement steps for persistent…