Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Zoning Commissions Reorganization topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Oak Park trustees approve ordinances to dissolve Community Design Commission and reassign its duties
Summary
The Village Board voted unanimously to amend the zoning ordinance and village code to eliminate the Community Design Commission and move its duties to the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Planning Commission and staff in Neighborhood Services.
Trustees of the Village of Oak Park voted unanimously to eliminate the Community Design Commission and reassign its responsibilities to other bodies and staff, approving a set of ordinances that amend multiple chapters of the village code.
The board approved three related ordinances after a brief presentation from Craig Faylor, the village's development services director, who told trustees staff had identified "a potential for increased efficiencies" by consolidating the Community Design Commission's duties with the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), the Planning Commission and the Neighborhood Services Department.
The ordinances amend the table of contents for Article 12 and changes within Articles 5, 7 and 12 of the zoning ordinance; remove references to the Community Design Commission in Chapter 7, Article 7 of the village code; and amend Chapter 2, Article 18 and other provisions to reassign the commission's duties. Faylor said sign-variance procedures and many sign-code responsibilities will move to the ZBA because that board already handles zoning variance requests; public infrastructure and improvement projects that the Community Design Commission previously supported will move to the Planning Commission; and some civic-award and neighborhood-relations functions will be managed by the newly created Neighborhood Services Department.
Village Manager Jackson and Faylor told trustees three existing staff members currently supporting the Community Design Commission would be affected by the reorganization: the zoning administrator, the village planner and the forestry superintendent. According to Faylor, the zoning administrator already supports the ZBA and the village planner handles scheduling and coordination for commission work; the forestry superintendent will continue to support public-way tree plantings via the public works forestry division.
Clerk Waters conducted roll calls on each motion. The first ordinance (zoning amendments related to the Community Design Commission and ZBA) was moved by Trustee Wesley and seconded by Trustee Straub and passed on a roll-call vote with all trustees recorded as "yes." The subsequent ordinances eliminating references to the commission in the village code and reassigning duties were also approved on unanimous roll-call votes.
Trustees and staff said the changes are intended to reduce duplication, better align review responsibilities with similar boards, and make volunteer service more rewarding by directing interested volunteers toward openings on the Planning Commission or the ZBA. Trustee and staff remarks noted some Community Design Commission volunteers had expressed a desire for more direct involvement in design-oriented projects; staff said they would try to place those volunteers where appropriate.
The ordinances will be codified in the Village of Oak Park code and will reallocate public-improvement review, sign variances and award/program responsibilities as described. No ordinance language creating new duties for outside agencies was presented at the meeting; trustees directed implementation details to staff as part of the code-change process.
Votes at a glance: The board approved three related ordinances by unanimous roll-call votes. Each motion was moved, seconded and recorded as passed without a recorded dissent.
