98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB1203

 

Introduced 2/1/2013, by Rep. Joe Sosnowski

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
55 ILCS 5/5-12009  from Ch. 34, par. 5-12009
55 ILCS 5/5-12009.5
55 ILCS 5/5-12014  from Ch. 34, par. 5-12014

    Amends the Counties Code. Provides that a notice concerning variations, special uses, or specified zoning hearings need not include a metes and bounds legal description of the property affected, provided that the notice includes the common street address or addresses and property index number ("PIN") of all the parcels of real property contained in the affected area. Effective immediately.


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A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning local government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing
5Sections 5-12009, 5-12009.5, and 5-12014 as follows:
 
6    (55 ILCS 5/5-12009)  (from Ch. 34, par. 5-12009)
7    Sec. 5-12009. Variation by board of appeals. The
8regulations by this Division authorized may provide that a
9board of appeals may determine and vary their application in
10harmony with their general purpose and intent and in accordance
11with general or specific rules therein contained in cases where
12there are practical difficulties or particular hardship in the
13way of carrying out the strict letter of any of such
14regulations relating to the use, construction or alteration of
15buildings or structures or the use of land; or the regulations
16by this Division authorized may provide that the county board
17may, by ordinance or resolution determine and vary their
18application in harmony with their general purpose and intent
19and in accordance with general or specific rules therein
20contained in cases where there are practical difficulties or
21particular hardship in the way of carrying out the strict
22letter of any such regulations relating to the use,
23construction or alteration of buildings or structures or the

 

 

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1use of land; however, no such variation shall be made by such
2county board without a hearing before the board of appeals
3unless the variation sought is a variation of ten percent or
4less of the regulations by this Division authorized as to
5location of structures or as to bulk requirements under such
6regulations, in which case no public hearing is required and
7such variation may be granted by the administrative official
8charged with the enforcement of any ordinance or resolution
9adopted pursuant to this Division. Provided, however, that
10before such variation may be granted, a notice of the intent to
11grant such variation shall be sent by certified mail to all
12adjoining landowners. If any adjoining landowner files a
13written objection with the administrative official within 15
14days of receipt of such notice, the variation shall only be
15considered by the board of appeals in the manner provided in
16this Section. All other variations sought shall be made only by
17ordinance, resolution or otherwise in a specific case and after
18a public hearing before a board of appeals of which there shall
19be at least 15 days notice of the date, time and place of such
20hearing published in a newspaper of general circulation
21published in the township or road district in which such
22property is located. If no newspaper is published in such
23township or road district, then such notice shall be published
24in a newspaper of general circulation published in the county
25and having circulation where such property is located. The
26notice shall contain: (1) the particular location of the real

 

 

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1estate for which the variation is requested by legal
2description and street address, and if no street address then
3by locating such real estate with reference to any well-known
4landmark, highway, road, thoroughfare or intersection; (2)
5whether or not the petitioner or applicant is acting for
6himself or in the capacity of agent, alter ego, or
7representative of a principal, and stating the name and address
8of the actual and true principal; (3) whether petitioner or
9applicant is a corporation, and if a corporation, the correct
10names and addresses of all officers and directors, and of all
11stockholders or shareholders owning any interest in excess of
1220% of all outstanding stock of such corporation; (4) whether
13the petitioner or applicant, or his principal if other than
14applicant, is a business or entity doing business under an
15assumed name, and if so, the name and residence of all true and
16actual owners of such business or entity; (5) whether the
17petitioner or applicant is a partnership, joint venture,
18syndicate or an unincorporated voluntary association, and if
19so, the names and addresses of all partners, joint venturers,
20syndicate members or members of the unincorporated voluntary
21association; and (6) a brief statement of what the proposed
22variation consists.
23    Any notice required by this Section need not include a
24metes and bounds legal description of the location for which
25the variation is requested, provided that the notice includes:
26(i) the common street address or addresses and (ii) the

 

 

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1property index number ("PIN") or numbers of all the parcels of
2real property contained in the area for which the variation is
3requested.
4    The costs or charges of the publication notice by this
5Section required shall be paid by the petitioner or applicant.
6    Where a variation is to be made by ordinance or resolution,
7upon the report of the board of appeals such county board may
8by ordinance or resolution without further public hearing adopt
9any proposed variation or may refer it back to the board of
10appeals for further consideration and any proposed variation
11which fails to receive the approval of the board of appeals
12shall not be passed except by the favorable vote of 3/4 of all
13the members of the county board, but in counties in which the
14county board consists of 3 members only a 2/3 vote is required.
15Every such variation, whether made by the board of appeals
16directly or by ordinance or resolution after a hearing before a
17board of appeals shall be accompanied by a finding of fact
18specifying the reason for making such variation.
19    If a township located within a county with a population of
20less than 600,000 or more than 3,000,000 has a plan commission,
21and the plan commission objects to a zoning variation which
22affects unincorporated areas of the township, the township
23board of trustees within 15 days after the public hearing
24before the board of appeals on such zoning variation, may
25submit its written objections to the county board of the county
26where the unincorporated areas of the township are located. In

 

 

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1such case, the county board shall not approve the zoning
2variation, except by the favorable vote of 3/4 of all members
3of the county board.
4    Appeals from final zoning decisions of the County Board
5must be filed within one year unless a shorter filing period is
6required by another law.
7(Source: P.A. 91-738, eff. 1-1-01.)
 
8    (55 ILCS 5/5-12009.5)
9    Sec. 5-12009.5. Special uses.
10    (a) The county board may, by an ordinance passed under this
11Division, provide for the classification of special uses. Those
12uses may include, but are not limited to, public and
13quasi-public uses affecting the public interest; uses that have
14a unique, special, or unusual impact upon the use or enjoyment
15of neighboring property; and uses that affect planned
16development. A use may be permitted in one or more zoning
17districts and may be a special use in one or more other zoning
18districts.
19    (b) A special use may be granted only after a public
20hearing conducted by the board of appeals. There must be at
21least 15 days' notice before the hearing. The notice must
22include the time, place, and date of the hearing and must be
23published in a newspaper published in the township or road
24district where the property is located. If there is no
25newspaper published in the township or road district where the

 

 

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1property is located, the notice must be published in a
2newspaper of general circulation in the county. The notice must
3also contain (i) the particular location of the property for
4which the special use is requested by legal description and by
5street address, or if there is no street address, by locating
6the property with reference to any well-known landmark,
7highway, road, thoroughfare, or intersection; (ii) whether the
8petitioner or applicant is acting for himself or herself or as
9an agent, alter ego, or representative of a principal and the
10name and address of the principal; (iii) whether the petitioner
11or applicant is a corporation, and if so, the correct names and
12addresses of all officers and directors of the corporation and
13of all stockholders or shareholders owning any interest in
14excess of 20% of all of the outstanding stock or shares of the
15corporation; (iv) whether the petitioner or applicant, or his
16or her principal, is a business or entity doing business under
17an assumed name, and if so, the name and residence of all
18actual owners of the business or entity; (v) whether the
19petitioner or applicant, or his or her principal, is a
20partnership, joint venture, syndicate, or an unincorporated
21voluntary association, and if so, the names and addresses of
22all partners or members of the partnership, joint venture,
23syndicate, or unincorporated voluntary association; and (vi) a
24brief statement of the proposed special use.
25    In addition to any other notice required by this Section,
26the board of appeals must give at least 15 days' notice before

 

 

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1the hearing to (i) any municipality whose boundaries are within
21-1/2 miles of any part of the property proposed as a special
3use and (ii) the owner or owners of any land adjacent to or
4immediately across any street, alley, or public right-of-way
5from the property proposed as a special use.
6    Any notice required by this Section need not include a
7metes and bounds legal description of the location for which
8the special use is requested, provided that the notice
9includes: (i) the common street address or addresses and (ii)
10the property index number ("PIN") or numbers of all the parcels
11of real property contained in the area for which the variation
12is requested.
13    The petitioner or applicant must pay the cost of the
14publication of the notice required by this Section.
15    (c) A special use may be granted only upon evidence that
16the special use meets the standards established for that
17classification in the ordinance. The special use may be subject
18to conditions reasonably necessary to meet those standards.
19    (d) The board of appeals shall report to the county board a
20finding of fact and a recommendation as to whether the county
21board should deny, grant, or grant subject to conditions the
22special use. The county board may, by ordinance and without a
23further public hearing, adopt any proposed special use on
24receiving the report or it may refer the proposal back to the
25board of appeals for further consideration.
26    (e) The county board may, by ordinance, delegate to the

 

 

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1board of appeals the authority to grant special uses subject to
2the restrictions and requirements of this Section. The
3ordinance may delegate the authority to grant all special uses
4or to grant only certain classes of special uses while
5reserving to the county board the authority to grant other
6classes of special uses. If the county board enacts an
7ordinance delegating its authority, the board of appeals must,
8after conducting the required public hearing, issue a finding
9of fact and final decision in writing on the proposed special
10use.
11(Source: P.A. 90-175, eff. 1-1-98; 91-334, eff. 7-29-99.)
 
12    (55 ILCS 5/5-12014)  (from Ch. 34, par. 5-12014)
13    Sec. 5-12014. Amendment of regulations and districts.
14    (a) For purposes of this Section, the term "text amendment"
15means an amendment to the text of a zoning ordinance, which
16affects the whole county, and the term "map amendment" means an
17amendment to the map of a zoning ordinance, which affects an
18individual parcel or parcels of land.
19    (b) The regulations imposed and the districts created under
20the authority of this Division may be amended from time to time
21by ordinance or resolution, after the ordinance or resolution
22establishing same has gone into effect, but no such amendments
23shall be made without a hearing before the board of appeals. At
24least 15 days notice of the time and place of such hearing
25shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation

 

 

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1published in such county. Hearings on text amendments shall be
2held in the court house of the county or other county building
3with more adequate facilities for such hearings. Hearings on
4map amendments shall be held in the township or road district
5affected by the terms of such proposed amendment or in the
6court house, or other county building with more adequate
7facilities for such hearings, of the county in which the
8affected township or road district is located. Provided, that
9if the owner of any property affected by such proposed map
10amendment so requests in writing, such hearing shall be held in
11the township or road district affected by the terms of such
12proposed amendment. Except as provided in subsection (c), text
13amendments may be passed at a county board meeting by a simple
14majority of the elected county board members, unless written
15protests against the proposed text amendment are signed by 5%
16of the land owners of the county, in which case such amendment
17shall not be passed except by the favorable vote of 3/4 of all
18the members of the county board. Except as provided in
19subsection (c), map amendments may be passed at a county board
20meeting by a simple majority of the elected county board
21members, except that in case of written protest against any
22proposed map amendment that is either: (A) signed by the owner
23or owners of at least 20% of the land to be rezoned, or (B)
24signed by the owner or owners of land immediately touching, or
25immediately across a street, alley, or public right-of-way
26from, at least 20% of the perimeter of the land to be rezoned,

 

 

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1or in cases where the land affected lies within 1 1/2 miles of
2the limits of a zoned municipality, or in the case of a
3proposed text amendment to the Zoning Ordinance, by resolution
4of the corporate authorities of the zoned municipality with
5limits nearest adjacent, filed with the county clerk, such
6amendment shall not be passed except by the favorable vote of
73/4 of all the members of the county board, but in counties in
8which the county board consists of 3 members only a 2/3 vote is
9required. In such cases, a copy of the written protest shall be
10served by the protestor or protestors on the applicant for the
11proposed amendment and a copy upon the applicant's attorney, if
12any, by certified mail at the address of such applicant and
13attorney shown in the application for the proposed amendment.
14Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, if a map
15amendment is proposed solely to correct an error made by the
16county as a result of a comprehensive rezoning by the county,
17the map amendments may be passed at a county board meeting by a
18simple majority of the elected board.
19    Any notice required by this Section need not include a
20metes and bounds legal description, provided that the notice
21includes: (i) the common street address or addresses and (ii)
22the property index number ("PIN") or numbers of all the parcels
23of real property contained in the area for which the variation
24is requested.
25    (c) If a township located within a county with a population
26of less than 600,000 has a plan commission and the plan

 

 

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1commission objects to a text amendment or a map amendment
2affecting an unincorporated area of the township, then the
3township board of trustees may submit its written objections to
4the county board within 30 days after the hearing before the
5board of appeals, in which case the county board may not adopt
6the text amendment or the map amendment affecting an
7unincorporated area of the township except by the favorable
8vote of at least three-fourths of all the members of the county
9board.
10(Source: P.A. 89-272, eff. 8-10-95.)
 
11    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
12becoming law.