Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Grundy County ZBA forwards Mazon water-treatment special-use to Land Use Committee, approves variances
Loading...
Summary
The Grundy County Zoning Board of Appeals on Feb. 17 recommended that the Land Use Committee consider the Village of Mazon’s special-use permit to build a new water treatment facility and approved variances allowing construction on a constrained village-owned parcel; the project was described as replacing an 80+-year-old plant.
The Grundy County Zoning Board of Appeals voted Feb. 17 to forward the Village of Mazon’s special-use permit request for a new water treatment facility to the county Land Use Committee and approved a set of variances the village said are necessary to build the plant on a constrained, village-owned parcel.
Alec, a county staff member who presented the case (25ZBA028), told the board the proposal would replace the village’s existing water treatment plant, which he described as approximately 83 years old, and would be constructed in accordance with Illinois EPA permitting and applicable engineering standards. Alec said the proposed site is an undeveloped, village-owned parcel located in unincorporated Grundy County roughly 4,560 feet east of the village’s corporate limits and that the project includes a state funding match.
Tim Haney of Chamlon and Associates, who was sworn in as the petitioner, said the project is “a new water treatment plant that’s long overdue for the village,” and noted the village secured state grant funding and loan-forgiveness that make the work feasible. Haney told the board bids are due in March, that contract paperwork would follow, and that construction would likely take about 18 months to two years once under way.
Board members asked about site constraints and operations. One member asked how close the new plant would sit to Grand Ridge Road and whether future roadway widening could pose an issue; Haney and staff said the design accounted for the minimum right-of-way and that the village could donate additional right-of-way if needed. A member also asked whether new wells would be required; a presenter reported the system includes multiple shallow wells and one deep well (about 930 feet), and an approximate pumping figure was stated in the record but is unclear in the transcript.
The variances approved by the Zoning Board (case 25ZBA029) were described by staff as necessary to accommodate parcel geometry and security needs. Staff listed the specific relief sought: reduced insulation requirement under the IBC energy code (from R-11.4 to R-3), lot-area relief from the five-acre minimum to allow development on the constrained parcel, a reduced front setback from 50 feet to 7.9 feet and a reduced rear setback from 30 feet to 28.2 feet, permission for an 8-foot chain-link security fence with barbed wire, and reduced landscape/tree buffering (the project requested relief from planting 32 trees owing to equipment footprint). Staff cited security and EPA guidance supporting protected fencing for public water supplies and said off-site impacts would be minimal.
After closing the public hearing and reviewing the LaSalle/variance factors required by the ordinance, a board member moved to approve the special-use recommendation and forward the matter to the Grundy County Land Use Committee for consideration on Feb. 25, 2026, with the county board slated to consider final approval on March 10, 2026. The board then moved to approve the variances with conditions; the motions passed by voice vote.
Next steps: the Land Use Committee will consider the ZBA’s recommendation at its Feb. 25 meeting; final approval, if any, would occur at the county board meeting scheduled for March 10.
