Council approves school planned unit development after ownership clarification; staff to require updated survey

The McHenry City Council on May 5 approved an ordinance granting a conditional use permit and final plan approval for a planned unit development (PUD) at 1012 North Green Street to accommodate an existing school, reconfigure parking and construct a maintenance garage.

Aldermen moved and seconded the ordinance; discussion centered on a potential parcel ownership discrepancy uncovered in the county property description. An alderman noted a tax‑parcel description omitted a digit and suggested the parcel might be listed under District 15 instead of District 156. The council requested confirmation of legal ownership before final permitting.

The superintendent of McHenry Community School District 156 appeared at the meeting and told councilors “10 parcels there. We own them all,” responding to the council’s question about ownership of the site. City staff said the apparent discrepancy stemmed from a typographical error in the Athena parcel description and that the tax bill on file shows McHenry Community School District 156 as the mail‑to address and owner for the parcels in question.

Council members asked that staff require an updated plat of survey as a condition of final permit approval; the applicant agreed that a corrected survey and the final plat would be provided before the final permit is issued. Alderman Glenn expressed reservations that the ownership question had been raised only at the meeting and asked for more pre‑meeting coordination in the future.

The motion to approve the PUD passed on roll call.