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Village adopts zoning changes easing offsets for agricultural buildings, adds pigs to permitted uses
Summary
The Village Board and Planning Commission unanimously adopted amendments to zoning chapters 42-83 and 42-84 that remove special offset requirements for livestock buildings, clean up a redundant height exception reference, and add pigs to permitted agricultural uses in districts that allow livestock.
The Village Board and the Joint Planning Commission on Sept. 11 unanimously approved amendments to Village Ordinance chapters 42-83 and 42-84 to change how agricultural buildings and livestock shelters are regulated. Planning staff described the changes at a joint public hearing and commissioners and board members voted to adopt the revisions after brief public comment.
The changes remove an additional offset requirement that had applied specifically to buildings sheltering livestock and instead require only the minimum accessory-building offsets that already apply in each district, Planning staff said. The amendments also remove a redundant cross-reference about farm-structure height and add pigs to the list of permitted agricultural uses in districts that already allow livestock.
The move standardizes setback rules across districts that permit livestock, Planning staff said during the hearing: "…to remove any limit to offset for buildings, sheltering livestock, except for the minimum offsets that already apply to accessory buildings," and that those minimum offsets (for example a 20-foot side/rear setback in an R-1 lot) would now control.
A resident, Sandy Homewest of 230 S. 3827 Milky Way Road, offered public comment in support: "I read through the red line changes in 83 and 84 of chapter 42, and I'm in favor of the changes."
Commissioners asked for clarification about how the ordinance’s separate height exception — which generally allows some structures to rise to twice the distance from the nearest lot line — interacts with other height provisions and the agricultural exemptions. Planning staff explained that the agricultural building height exception remains specific to farm structures and that other accessory-building height provisions would continue to apply to nonagricultural accessory buildings; staff said they would clarify the overlapping language when the zoning ordinance is next reviewed but could not change that unrelated section as part of this amendment because it was not noticed for revision.
Both bodies voted without dissent to adopt the proposed ordinance changes. The joint approval means the revised text replacing the special livestock offsets with standard accessory-building offsets, removing the redundant height cross-reference, and adding pigs to permitted agricultural uses will be part of the village zoning code going forward.
Planning staff said they will follow up in a future ordinance review to clarify remaining cross-references about height exceptions.
