Zoning and Economic Development Committee Discusses Home Occupations

[June 04, 2025]  On Monday, June 2nd, the Zoning and Economic Development committee of the larger Logan County Board met for their regular monthly meeting. Four of the five committee members were present. This included Chairman Michael DeRoss, Vice Chairman Kathy Schmidt, Joseph Kuhlman, and Bob Sanders. Hannah Fitzpatrick was not in attendance. Also present were board members Lance Conahan, Kevin Knauer, and Jim Wessbecher, Zoning Officer Al Green, Chris Buse with Lincoln Rural Fire, and Assistant State’s Attorney Hilary Heinsdal.

After attendance was taken and all guests had introduced themselves, the committee jumped immediately into old business. This started with an update on energy projects from Green, followed quickly by an update on battery storage. He informed the committee that there are two new solar projects coming up, but stated that he would give more information on them later in the meeting during his Zoning Officer Report. He also stated that there have been some inquiries into setting up battery storage facilities in Logan County. The county currently does not have any ordinances regarding this. Green shared that he has been working with a Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) member from Clinton to create an ordinance regarding this, as Clinton is also being approached about this same issue.

Green gave two more updates, the first being that Top Hat is going to be looking into rerouting the entrances to three of their towers soon. He also shared that maintenance and insurance reports were due on June 1st for all wind and solar projects in the county. Notice had been sent out months prior, but the zoning office had received none by the time this meeting took place. Green disclosed that these had not been submitted previously even though they were required by their permits.

This brought the committee to new business, which ended up being the majority of the meeting. The first item was about the new home occupations ordinance. At last month’s committee of the whole meeting, having people with home occupations disclose what kinds of items they have in their home was a bit of a contentious issue, with some board members calling it “overreach” on their part. The issue of whether or not to include in-home daycare in ordinance. Some argued that, with daycares specifically, there was already so much oversight by groups outside of the county that putting them in the ordinance was not necessary. The board members also discussed that, if daycares should be included in the ordinance, whether it should be only certified daycares, or all daycares regardless of certification. This issue was sent back to this committee to be worked out.

Heinsdal added some clarification on the issue of licensed vs non-licensed. She stated that if there are eight or more kids in the home, it is considered a daycare. Also, if there are three or more children not related to the adult in the home, this requires the individual watching them to be licensed.

Buse then spoke to give the perspective of firefighters and first responders. Buse argued that information on the daycare, such as how many kids are there, can be important when first responders are called to this home. Knauer supported this idea, saying that it can help in keeping first responders safe. Buse then continued, giving an example. He stated firefighters were in the 4CL Mower Shop building conducting regular business recently. During their time there, Buse and his team were shown where they store fuel. Buse continued, stating that having that knowledge is very important if there is a fire due to the flammable nature of fuel.

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Kuhlman then asked if an ordinance is the only proper way to get information to first responders. Buse stated that he was not sure if it was the only way, but that putting it in an ordinance would make it mandatory. He then shared that any information given to dispatch is relayed to the first responders when they get the call. When dispatch gets a call, the database they use pulls up all available information on a location that needs emergency services present. He gave two examples, stating that it may tell the dispatcher that the location is a daycare or that one of the people living in the home is wheelchair bound.

DeRoss spoke next, bringing up concerns over how to enforce such an ordinance. Conahan asked Buse how many people comply with requests for information that would be given to dispatch. Buse stated that if the business is a public one, then it is required by state law. If the business is out of someone’s home, then it is “hit or miss.” He stated that they currently take people at goodwill, but that this is not always perfect. Buse stated that he has had propane tanks blow up near some of his firefighters as well as ammunition go off when they were responding to a call. Any amount of information the first responders can get helps keep them safe.

Conahan then asked what other counties are doing with similar ordinances and how they are enforcing them. Green stated that Champaign County has ten pages of enforcement rules regarding parking alone. Some other counties have nothing. Tazewell County has an enforcement branch in their zoning department. This is something, Green said, that Logan County does not have nor will it ever have. Green continued, stating that this is part of the reason why the Logan County ZBA left the ordinance vague. The main goal is to protect the county from litigation.

Wessbecher then painted a picture as to why this information is important to have. He stated that, if there is a fire at a daycare and when the firefighters arrive, the kids are hysterical and there are parents trying to pick them up, then who is going to fight the fire?

After a bit more discussion, DeRoss made the call that he does not believe the committee is ready to propose or take a vote on anything regarding this matter. His suggestion was to have all members come up with wording they would like to see in the ordinance, and then email this information to one another before July’s committee meeting. That meeting would then be the one where they discuss specific wording and verbiage. Heinsdal then stated that she would put something together for the committee members to be able to compare their updated verbiage with what the current ordinance states.

For a breakdown of the rest of this meeting, including things such as the energy omnibus bill and the energy transition grant from the Viper Mine closure, please see LDN’s other article on this meeting.

[Matt Boutcher]

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