RESPONDING TO GROWTH
By SCOTT BERG and TOM SWAN, Trustees, Lake in the Hills
The Village of Lake in the Hills has recently undergone a period of significant growth. Over a period of five years, building permits increased from 26 to 740.
To address this issue, Village officials reviewed a
number of different growth management ordinances
adopted by municipalities as diverse as Crystal Lake,
Illinois and Petaluma, California. Finally, we settled
upon a three-part approach to address this issue:
A. We adopted a growth management ordinance.
This ordinance applies to all new subdivisions, resubdivisions of existing subdivisions, new planned unit developments, revisions to existing planned unit developments, new annexations and any amendment to existing
annexation agreements. It differentiates subdivisions
and planned unit developments by house size as follows:
1. Subdivisions consisting exclusively of 2800
square foot houses or larger — no restrictions on
build-out.
2. Subdivisions consisting exclusively of house
sizes between 2100 to 2800 square feet — limited to
20% build-out per year.
3. Subdivisions consisting exclusively of house
sizes below 2100 square feet — limited to 15% build-out per year.
The distinction determined by house size is based
on the fact that larger homes have less diverse fiscal
impact on local government. Further, the ordinance
provides criteria by which the Board of Trustees may
increase these build-out limitations if the reasons for the
increase are set forth in writing and the increase is
approved by two-thirds of the corporate authorities.
Finally, it requires the building inspector to monitor
and enforce these restrictions and annually report the
build-out in each subdivision within the municipality to
the corporate authorities.
B. Secondly, we adopted the following growth
management policies:
1. The Village will encourage commercial and
industrial growth, which affects the tax base in a
positive manner. It will also encourage slower, controlled residential development unless the development standing by itself or if proposed in conjunction with commercial and/or industrial development can demonstrate that it provides a positive
impact on the tax base of the Village and on all
other local taxing districts affected by any future
annexation.
2. The Village will control residential growth at
a rate which will enable it and other affected local
governmental units to provide and maintain the
current level of services to new and existing residents.
3. The Village will maintain ordinances which
will promote controlled and orderly growth.
4. The Village will maintain procedural requirements for development which
a) promote
controlled and orderly growth,
b) provide due
process to the applicant, and
c) serve to inform its
residents of developmental proposals.
5. The Village will maintain and improve its
collector and arterial roads to accommodate
growth in the region.
6. The Village will promote open space and
preservation of environmentally and historically
sensitive areas in its growth plans.
7. The comprehensive plan provides a guide to
development, both within the Village and outside
the Village but within the Village's planning area.
The Village will adhere to the comprehensive plan
unless specific reasons require deviation from it.
8. The Village acknowledges that the problems
of growth are regional and promises to seek intergovernmental cooperation among the various units
of local government affected by growth.
9. The Village will request that units of local
government regularly:
a) Conduct a "needs assessment" which
considers the impact of new growth; and
b) Adopt a plan for acquisition of land
and capital facilities to accommodate that
growth.
C. Lastly, we adopted growth management
procedures. One will note that the numbering of the
May 1995 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 23
growth management procedures correlates with the
growth management policies and provides the procedures by which the growth management policies can be
implemented. Those growth management policies that
the Village Board adopted are:
1. The Plan Commission and Economic Development Committee will annually recommend, and
the Board of Trustees will annually approve, a one-,
three-, five-, and ten-year growth plan for the Village.
2. The building inspector will, each January,
provide the Board of Trustees and all department
heads a forecast of new housing in the Village for the next fiscal year. Department heads will thereafter, as part of the preparation of their annual proposed budgets, provide an analysis to the Board of Trustees as to how their departments will accommodate the anticipated residential growth and provide and maintain the current level of service to new and existing residents.
3. Annually, in July of each year:
a) The building inspector will review the
building code; and
b) The Plan Commission will review the
Subdivision Ordinance; and
c) The Zoning Board of Appeals will review the zoning ordinances; and
d) The Village Board of Trustees will review all fees, charges, donations and exactions required in the developmental process.
Upon receipt of the recommendations of the
building inspector, Plan Commission and Zoning
Board of Appeals, respectively, the Board of Trustees will enact necessary changes in these ordinances, to further the growth management policies
of the Village.
4. The Board of Trustees, Plan Commission,
Economic Development Committee, Zoning
Board of Appeals and Building Department will
faithfully follow the procedural requirements of
the Village's ordinances regarding the approval
process for developments.
5. Staff and the Plan Commission will prepare a
comprehensive traffic analysis and plan which will
accommodate the growth projections.
6. Staff, the Plan Commission and Zoning
Page 24 / Illinois Municipal Review / May 1995
Board of Appeals will recommend changes to Village ordinances to promote open space and preserve environmentally and historically sensitive areas.
7. When a proposed zoning or plan action by
the Board of Trustees is determined to be inconsistent with the comprehensive plan for the Village, the Board of Trustees will take separate action to
amend the comprehensive plan and address the
impact of the change.
8. Staff and the Board of Trustees will initiate
contact with all other units of local government
affected by growth in the Village including the
school, park, library and fire districts as well as the townships and county. Thereafter, regular growth forums will be instituted to foster intergovernmental cooperation and regional planning.
9. The Village will encourage affected school,
park, library and fire districts to conduct needs
assessments and adopt plans for acquisition of land
and capital facilities needed to accommodate
growth. Based upon the needs assessment, each
district will be encouraged to provide the Village
with an acquisition plan for park, school, library
and fire lands and capital facilities including funding sources and tax impact on residents affected by the plan. The Village intends to request an updated
needs assessment and plan for acquisition of land
and capital facilities from the districts at least semi-annually.
While the growth of any community places an
added burden on it, it also provides an opportunity and
a challenge. We found that the adoption of a growth
management ordinance and growth management policies and procedures were important steps in answering
that challenge.
May 1995 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 25
|