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Trustees debate ordinance to permit planning-area residents on planning and zoning panel; appointment tabled
Summary
An ordinance (25-12) that would allow individuals within a 1.5-mile planning area to serve on the combined planning and zoning commission prompted objections from trustees concerned about changing the rules after an appointment; the board voted to table further action.
The Campton Hills Village Board debated Ordinance 25-12, which would amend the village code to allow membership on the combined planning and zoning commission by persons who reside in the village’s planning area (up to 1.5 miles outside corporate limits). Trustees raised procedural and policy objections and ultimately voted to table further action.
Why it matters: The ordinance was introduced after a request to appoint a nearby resident, Drew Fraas (referred to in the meeting as Drew Frais/ Fraas), to the village’s Planning and Zoning Commission. Opponents said the amendment appears to change rules retroactively to accommodate a single appointment and could expand the pool of prospective voting members beyond village residents.
Trustee Janet Berson objected to the ordinance’s timing and motive. “If there was an idea that we should be appointing people outside of the village boundaries to the planning zoning commission, then that notion should have been somehow brought to the board and a consensus should have been arrived at,” Berson said. She added she had no problem with the individual proposed but could not support changing rules to fix what she called a mistaken appointment.
Village attorney Carmen (last name not stated in the transcript) explained the statutory background: because the municipality has a combined planning and zoning commission, state law permits planning-commission members who live up to 1.5 miles beyond corporate limits to serve. She said the Illinois Municipal Code does not require residency for zoning-board-of-appeals membership and noted the municipal code can be more restrictive than state law.
Administrator Mark Rooney told the board staff measured the distance and said the candidate lives within one mile of the corporate limit and well within the state’s 1.5-mile planning-area allowance.
Board action: After discussion, Trustee Janet Berson moved to table the ordinance to a future meeting; the motion passed by roll call.
Discussion vs. decision: The board did not adopt Ordinance 25-12 at this meeting. Trustees suggested alternatives, including creating a nonvoting or ex officio community representative position so a planning-area resident could participate in debate without a voting seat. Several trustees said they would prefer voting commissioners to be village residents.
What’s next: The board tabled the ordinance. The appointment item (consent item 6c) was pulled and not acted on at Tuesday’s meeting. Trustees asked staff to research alternate approaches (nonvoting member language, temporary terms) and to return with options for future consideration.
