This blog printed on 100% recycled electrons.
The Lake County Commission passed its lengthy zoning ordinance update on Tuesday. Already, county residents are circulating petitions to put the revisions to a vote. An eager reader says my friend and Madison resident Paul Nordaune just came by asking for signatures.
Nordaune and fellow petitioneers (expect a strong Winfred contingent) need to collect and submit 457 registered voter signatures (that's 5% of the total counted at general election last month) within 20 days of the ordinance's publication to put the matter to a public vote.
Now I generally say "Yahoo, democracy!" to referral drives. However, let me put this zoning ordinance into perspective. I sit on the new Lake County Water Quality Committee. We spent some of our meeting time reviewing the zoning ordinance, discussing impacts on water issues, and making some style and form recommendations (this grammar teacher loves that stuff). In a series of hour-long discussions over maybe six meetings, we barely got through the first fifth of the ordinances, and that was just the definitions.
The zoning ordinance is a big, complicated piece of local legislation. It has to be, to anticipate all possible legal challenges and complications that new development and cranky lawyers could raise. It does not lend itself easily to popular discussion. Every voter will be able to identify one small provision or another that he or she finds objectionable... and the only option at the ballot box will be to discard the whole thing.
But so be it. I will not stand in the way of neighbors calling for participation in the local political process. I'm betting my neighbors will almost certainly reject the zoning ordinance changes. The county commission will then have to get input, find out which provisions torqued off the most voters, and then write up a new version that addresses enough of those issues to pass muster with the public.
And in the process, we'll have learned a lot more about our local zoning rules. Keep on circulating, Paul!
Say here's a thought: if the petitioneers get the job done quickly enough, could Lake County save some tax dollars by scheduling the election on February 1, the same day as the school district's bond election for the new gym and high school renovations? And if they did, could coupling the two votes impact the turnout for the school election?
F’ing USD
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So a friend of mine made this rap a few years back, and I have to tell you
I have friends over the years who went there and tell the same boring
stories, LOL.
7 hours ago
Paul is circulating the petition for one reason, and one reason only. His friend, Charlie Scholl, doesn't like some of the new zoning regulations that affect his junk/salvage business. They've attended the meetings and candidate forums together, and while they have a right to refer the regulations to a public vote, it makes no sense to throw the baby out with the bath water just to appease one person over one issue. Maybe Paul and Charlie just want to antagonize commissioners and stir up the water? If there's something in those ordinances regarding a salvage yard or junk yard that these two don't like, they should address those items in the public meetings, rather than waste taxpayer dollars trying to force taxpayers into paying for an unnecessary election. A large number of people spent many hours refining our zoning regulations.
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