[OCT. 11, 2005] LOGAN
COUNTY -- the Logan County Regional Planning Commission juggled a
variety of issues at their monthly meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 5.
Various members provided updates on the Comprehensive Plan, County
Ordinances, Geographic Information System (GIS) development, the
Legends Subdivision progress
Comprehensive Plan progressing
Chairman Bill Glaze reported that the Comprehensive Plan focus group
that meets the fourth Wednesday of each month is going well. They
hope to be ready for a public hearing in January.
The group used the results of the survey that was taken this past
summer for their direction. Those results can be viewed at http://www.surveymonkey.com/DisplaySummary.asp?SID=1074062&U=107406217184
Glaze said that a few additional survey’s came in but they did not
alter the results.
Zoning Ordinances in need of updating
Logan County Planning and Zoning chairman Dale Voyles said that
County Coordinator Dewey Colter has recommended a review of county
ordinances pertaining to property regulations. As zoning officer
Colter has encountered a number of issues that are restrictive or
inadequate to citizens needs today. He says that the ordinances need
to be brought up to date.
Some of the work in necessary to meet state mandates and needs to be
in our new Comprehensive Plan. Such as, there needs to be decisions
made about manufactured housing and where it will or will not be
permitted.
The county is seeking a manner in which this can be done. It was
recommended to form focus group of citizens to review the ordinances
and make recommendations. Phil Mahler would assist the group.
At one time there was a staff of four handling the zoning office.
That has dwindled in recent years to one and one-half people, Phil
Mahler and Dewey Colter now manage the same workload.
Voyles said he plans to go to the county board and ask for $8,000
that is already a line item to give to the Regional Planning
Commission. He would like for communities to be approached to
contribute to this work also. With the funds the Regional Planning
Commission could add some part-time staff to the office to bring it
up to date again.
GIS
A meeting has been scheduled to decide the parameters of the county
GIS is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Tuesday, October 25. Mayors of the
county are encouraged to attend.
The county has a candidate to oversee the project. The first and
most essential phase of aerial digital photography was completed
last spring. The maps are now ready for parcel mapping. This base
information is required by the State of Illinois for land assessment
and taxation and is due to be completed by 2006.
Many options exist to overlay this base with information that would
allow Logan County to market itself, just as many other counties are
doing already.
The county has been collecting fees to support the GIS development,
however the rate at which the funds are needed cannot be met.
Additional funding, such as by raising fees will be need to be
sought.
Legends Subdivision
Work at Legends Subdivision continues to progress according to
acting county engineer Bret Aukamp. He said that utilities have been
installed and rough grading, oil and chip are complete.
An 8-inch tile and concrete inlets will need to be reworked. They
were not installed correctly.
The engineer is responsible for seeing that all phases of new
construction are completed and correct. This helps avoid future
problems for neighbors and the county, such as flooding related to
improper drainage.
Phase one of the subdivision must be completed by Nov. 18, 2005 and
phase two by May 18, 2006.
A few homes are already occupied in the subdivision built by Keith
Hasprey. It is located Northeast of Lincoln.
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