Several Lake County Board members are angry over a provision slipped unexpectedly into the latest version of the county’s Unified Development Ordinance that could force payments to developers for lost economic opportunities.
The highly controversial idea, called “takings relief,” has been debated nationally. Under the proposed provision, a developer or landowner could be compensated for money lost as the result of a governmental body blocking development plans.
“I was absolutely astonished,” said County Board member Al Westerman (R-Waukegan). He said the idea had never been raised in months of public discussions conducted by the county’s Department of Planning and Development.
The latest version of the ordinance is dated Aug. 20 and was handed to County Board members about a week later, after hundreds of revisions.
It will be the county’s master building and zoning document, intended to guide development into the next century.
“This one scares me,” Westerman said of the amendment. “This could open a big can of worms.”
Under the provision, anyone who believes the county has deprived the owner of economically beneficial use of land can appeal to the County Board. The Lake County state’s attorney’s office would be required to make a preliminary determination within 30 days of the appeal.
“The biggest question is how to compensate them,” said Westerman. “If you have 20 acres of wetlands that you are not allowed to develop, how do you compensate for that?”
Builders and land speculators would benefit most from the takings relief provision, said Martha Marks (R-Riverwoods).
“If you have a takings provision,” said Marks, “the landowner can say, `I was going to get X amount of money from the developer, but you (county officials) stopped it. So you owe me that much money, or you have to let me do it because it is my right to get the highest dollar for my land or I can go to court to do it. It is zoning by threat of lawsuit.”
County officials routinely turn down building and zoning proposals if they feel the changes would threaten public welfare or natural resources.
Marks, who is president of Republicans for Environmental Protection, a national organization with branches in 47 states, said many environmental protection proposals by board members also have been ignored in the ordinance.
“There is property that sometimes should not be built on,” said Carol Calabresa (R-Libertyville), citing a report issued by the Openlands Project in Chicago that showed the metropolitan Chicago area sprawls across Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
The report said land development has grown by 165 percent between 1950 and 1995, while the region’s population has increased by 48 percent.
Suzi Schmidt (R-Lake Villa) fears the takings relief provision makes county officials targets for litigation.
“It’s like saying, `Come and get us,’ ” she said.
Board members said the ordinance revision, spearheaded by the Planning, Building and Zoning Committee, is on a fast-track to get it adopted before the November election changes the political makeup of the board. Many board members complained they have not been given much time to study the new version of the ordinance.
“The county should not be in the position to have development plans approved by the state’s attorney,” said Sandra Cole (R-Grayslake). “I’m not comfortable with deciding whether a developer is making enough money on a piece of property.”
Pam Newton (R-Vernon Hills), chairwoman of the board’s Building and Zoning Committee, said the takings relief provision was inserted by James Duncan and Associates, a growth-management firm that is drafting the ordinance.
“It’s a hot new thing around the country,” she said. “It is part of the trend in land use.”
The provision is an attempt, Newton said, to retain jurisdiction in local zoning matters.
Nationally, she said, home builders are “pushing to skip the local process” and appeal unfavorable local zoning decisions directly to state supreme courts.
Though the measure requires study by the Lake County state’s attorney’s office, she said, it could “help keep local land issues local and in the community.”
Michael Waller, Lake County state’s attorney, said his office is reviewing the draft of the development ordinance and his proposed role in the takings relief provision. Waller noted that the ordinance is subject to a series of public hearings, which probably will take several months.
