County Board outlaws parking in front yards
Last Updated on Monday, 31 March 2008 22:02 Written by Administrator Monday, 31 March 2008 21:51
The Lake County Board has banned parking personal vehicles in front yards in unincorporated areas.
The new zoning regulation adopted Tuesday requires that personal vehicles in front of residences be parked on a pad or on driveways of gravel, pavement or otherwise improved with "hardscape."
BY CRAIG PETERSON Special to the News-Sun
The debate surrounding the adoption of a diluted amendment that bans parking of personal cars, trucks and vans on front lawns illustrated the diversity of the county, with members representing rural districts opposing it and urban district members prevailing.
They prevailed because the issue was given the unusual consideration of two public hearings and because proponents insisted this was the only way to respond to residents who park junk and inoperable vehicles in front yards.
After a second public hearing nearly two months ago, in which nearly all the speakers opposed the regulation, the Planning, Building and Zoning Committee revised the previous draft and lifted a provision to include recreational vehicles, boats and snowmobiles in the ban. It also exempted vehicles for "nonresidential uses permitted in residential zones," effectively allowing it for business vehicles.
But that revision was not enough for nine members, including Bonnie Thomson Carter of Ingleside, who moved to send back the amendment through another public hearing a third time.
The committee made the revision unilaterally, Carter said, "and now it's in front of the board here six weeks later" with different provisions than it had at the public hearing.
Diana O'Kelly of Fremont Township supported the amendment in principle, but also supported a third public hearing because "this is totally different" than what was presented to the public.
The regulation provides the only recourse for unincorporated residents whose neighborhood is blighted by long-term parking of unsightly vehicles in front yards by offending neighbors, said Ann Maine of Lincolnshire. She reported that all the responses she received from her constituents supported the measure.
Steve Carlson of Grandwood Park lives in an unincorporated area and said he sent e-mails to 300 constituents about the regulation. He received 41 responses, all but one supporting it. This complaint-driven measure is "only for the worst offenders," Carlson said. "It's for civilized behavior."
Holding a third public hearing would result in the same people testifying the same way, said Robert Sabonjian of Waukegan.
"What we've written is as fair as it can be," he said.
When including the overwhelming majority of county residents living in municipalities, there is a silent majority supporting this measure, said Stevenson Mountsier of Lake Barrington.
"There are a lot of people in support of this that we haven't heard from," he said.