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Residents urge McHenry County Board to affirm ZBA denial of proposed Greenwood/Wonder Lake slaughterhouse
Summary
At the Feb. 12 meeting, multiple residents asked the county board to uphold a zoning board denial of a conditional-use permit for a proposed slaughterhouse near Greenwood and Wonder Lake, citing UDO access standards, lack of McHenry County DOT permits, proximity limits and concerns about property values and operations.
Several McHenry County residents used the board's public comment period on Feb. 12 to press the board to affirm the Zoning Board of Appeals' denial of a conditional‑use petition for a proposed slaughterhouse near Greenwood and the Wonder Lake area.
Linda Haimbach, the first public commenter on the petition, argued the ZBA's decision rests on clear ordinance grounds. She told the board the petition seeks a variance eliminating required road frontage (reducing frontage from 330 feet to zero) and therefore undermines access standards in the Unified Development Ordinance. Haimbach cited McHenry County's access rules and said the record lacked a required McHenry County Division of Transportation access permit, referring specifically to chapter 10.12 of the county access and right‑of‑way ordinance. "Without lawful DOT approval, safe highway access has not been demonstrated," she said, and urged the board to affirm the ZBA denial.
James Ferretti and Elaine Baron, other nearby residents, echoed those points. Ferretti said the petition "did not meet any of the standards" and noted formal opposition from Greenwood Township and the village of Wonder Lake. Baron said the applicant proposed a roughly $250,000 structure that she said appeared inadequate for ventilation and animal‑handling standards, questioned the applicant's experience running a slaughterhouse and objected to an access route that runs near Greenwood Cemetery.
Resident Jacob Traum raised economic concerns, citing a local real‑estate agent's estimate that property values within about a mile and a half could decline and calculating a possible aggregate reduction in nearby home values in the millions of dollars. He also said the petition does not satisfy UDO standards.
Those speakers repeatedly asked the county board to deny the conditional‑use permit and to uphold the ZBA decision; speakers said the ZBA relied on ordinance standards, staff analysis and formal input from the village of Greenwood, the village of Wonder Lake and Greenwood Township.
No formal board decision on the petition appears in the transcript; during this meeting the public comment period concluded after these statements and the agenda moved to committee reports and budget presentations.
What the speakers said in public comment will be part of the record if the board takes a formal vote on the zoning item at a future meeting.
