West Cook News

Village of Berkeley Planning & Zoning Commission met Feb. 26.

Here is the minutes provided by the commission:

1 Chairman Hurley called the meeting to order at 6:31 p.m.

2 Pledge of Allegiance

3 Roll Call

Present: Commissioners Bullard, Rubel, Jones, Villafaña, Chairman Hurley

Absent: Commissioners Lantero and Routen

Also Present: Village Administrator Rudy Espiritu, Village Attorney Greg Smith, and Assistant to the Village Administrator Justyn Miller

4 Public Hearing

4.1 Public Hearing regarding proposed Text Amendments regarding Planning and Zoning Commission Procedures and Authority.

Motion to open a Public Hearing regarding proposed Text Amendments regarding Planning and Zoning Commission Procedures and Authority.

Commissioner	Motion	Second	Ayes	Nays	Absent	Abstain
Jackie Jones			X
Paul Bullard	X		X
Arthur Rubel		X	X
Larry Lantero					X
Bruce Routen					X
Gustavo Villafana
Chairman Hurley			X

MOTION CARRIED

Village Administrator Espiritu explained the purpose of the proposed text amendments. More specifically, he spoke about the quorum issues the Commission has previously had due to the inconsistency of their meeting schedule. He also explained the proposed changes for the approval of variances that come before the Commission.

Village Attorney Smith further explained that the proposed text amendments could be broken down into three sections. The first proposed section makes a change to the definition of those present for approval of applications considered by the Commission. More specifically, only a simple majority would be needed to approve applications. The second proposed section makes changes to the number of Commissioners required to have a public hearing for an applicant. The proposed change would only require two Commissioners to be present to conduct a public hearing. The final proposed change would change how the Commission approves variance applications. Instead of making the final decision, the Commission would make a recommendation to the Village Board, who would then make a final determination about the variance application.

Commissioner Bullard asked, “how many would have to be present for a public hearing?” Village Attorney Smith indicated that two Commissioners would have to be present to start a public hearing.

Chairman Hurley asked, “if two Commissioners were present, they would only be able to hear the evidence applicable to the application and not make a determination on the request?” Village Attorney Smith said yes that is correct. The evidence could be heard at the public hearing but the final decision (recommendation) would be made at the next Commission meeting.

Commissioner Bullard asked “if there were other sections of the code, regarding the responsibilities and duties of the Commission, there were being looked at for possible changes?” Village Administrator Espiritu said there are no further plans for additional changes. Village Attorney Smith said from his experience working with other communities it was an uncommon practice to have the Planning and Zoning Commission as the final authority on variance requests.

Commissioner Bullard asked “what was the motivation to have the Commission as the final approval for variance requests?” He further stated that he could see why this was changed due to the complexity of some variance requests. Chairman Hurley stated that he supports changing the approval process for variance requests because he feels that he has no accountability to the public. He further stated that he only feels accountable to the Mayor and Village Board, and not the public. Commissioner Villafaña stated that he feels that changing the approval process makes the Commission more accountable.

Commissioner Ruble asked “if the change is made, to the approval process, does the Village Board consider the same information presented to the Commission for a variance request?” Village Administrator Espiritu said yes, the same information presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission is presented to the Village Board for a variance request.

5 Motion to Approve a Findings of Fact and Recommendation Regarding a Proposed Text Amendment Regarding Planning and Zoning Commission Voting.

Commissioner	Motion	Second	Ayes	Nays	Absent	Abstain
Jackie Jones			X
Paul Bullard	X		X
Arthur Rubel		X	X
Larry Lantero					X
Bruce Routen					X
Gustavo Villafana			X
Chairman Hurley			X

Motion to Approve a Findings of Fact and Recommendation Regarding a Proposed Text Amendment Regarding Planning and Zoning Commission Public Hearing Committee.

Commissioner	Motion	Second	Ayes	Nays	Absent	Abstain
Jackie Jones			X
Paul Bullard	X		X
Arthur Rubel		X	X
Larry Lantero					X
Bruce Routen					X
Gustavo Villafana			X
Chairman Hurley			X

MOTION CARRIED

Motion to Approve a Findings of Fact and Recommendation Regarding a Proposed Text Amendment Regarding Planning and Zoning Commission Procedural Changes.

Commissioner	Motion	Second	Ayes	Nays	Absent	Abstain
Jackie Jones			X
Paul Bullard			X
Arthur Rubel	X		X
Larry Lantero					X
Bruce Routen					X
Gustavo Villafana		X	X
Chairman Hurley			X

MOTION CARRIED

6 Chairman’s Report

Village Administrator Espiritu gave a brief update about potential future requests that could be considered before the Commission.

7 Chairman Hurley adjourned the meeting at 7:03 pm.

Commissioner	Motion	Second	Ayes	Nays	Absent	Abstain
Jackie Jones			X
Paul Bullard		X	X
Arthur Rubel			X
Larry Lantero					X
Bruce Routen					X
Gustavo Villafana			X
Chairman Hurley	X		X

VOICE VOTE

MOTION CARRIED

https://www.berkeley.il.us/vertical/Sites/%7BB4877CC9-5533-47FA-94DE-B3C09F1665AB%7D/uploads/Planning_and_Zoning_Commission_February_26_2020_Minutes.pdf