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the Homer Horizon | April 19, 2018 | 7
Homer Glen Village Board
Discussion regarding zoning code
changes the focal point of meeting
Jessie Molloy
Freelance Reporter
The Homer Glen Village
Board reviewed proposed
amendments to the Village
zoning code for the first
time at its April 11 regular
meeting, as well as some
minor changes to the proposed
2018-2019 budget.
As part of the ongoing
strategic planning process,
Village staff has been reorganizing
land use tables and
have added uses to certain
zoning districts. As the process
continues, the Village
will also be reviewing the
current land use map and
re-evaluating the zoning on
some locations.
The amended tables list
land uses in clusters by similar
functions and indicate if
each function is permitted
in a zoned area, or allowed
with a special use permit.
The zoning categories in
questions are C-1 through
C-6 commercial zones, I-1
Industrial zones and P-1
governmental and school
zones. No zoning changes
have been made to agricultural
or residential areas at
this time.
While many of the new
designations were put in
place to clarify or limit uses
which had previously not
been addressed, such as offtrack
betting facilities, others
expanded the zones in
which certain types of business
could potentially be established.
Several of these expansions
drew criticism from
Trustee Sharon Sweas, who
expressed the concern that
the uses were too “intense”
to have near residential areas,
in C-1 areas or in the
village at all.
Some of the designations
she opposed were billiard/
pool hall/bowling alleys,
health/sports clubs, dry
cleaning/laundry establishments
and crematoriums
being permitted or specially
permitted in the C-1 zones,
which are deemed “neighborhood
commercial” areas.
She also questioned the
designations which would
allow tattoo/body piercing
shops and pawn shops in
the village at all. Under the
old regulations, pawn shops
were a category which was
never specifically designated,
and tattoo and body
piercing establishments
were allowed only by special
use permit in the C-5
(office or research park)
zones.
The new guidelines
would allow for pawn shops
to be opened with a special
use permit in the C-3 zones
(general business) and for
body piercing and tattoo
parlors to operate with a
special use permit in the
C-2 (local business) or C-3
zones.
“I’m just not sure that’s
the kind of business you
want near a residential area
or in the village at all,”
Sweas said, suggesting that
the businesses could bring
in a “bad element.”
Mayor George Yukich
countered Sweas’ argument,
noting that “you have to be
18 to get a tattoo.”
“It’s a personal thing, and
there’s a point where we
can’t tell people what they
can and cannot do,” Yukich
said.
Sweas said that not allowing
the businesses in the
village did not prohibit residents
from patronizing them
elsewhere, but Yukich stood
by his assertion.
“What if someone wants
to get their ears pierced?”
he asked. “Technically,
that’s a body piercing, and
there should be no objection
to that in a neighborhood
business. If you want to get
a piercing somewhere else
on the body, they’d have to
do it in a more private area.
You don’t know who gets
[tattoos]. It’s their right.”
Sweas also questioned
letting massage establishments
into the village if
they were not part of an existing
salon or spa.
“I have no problem with a
salon that does hair or nails
also offering massages as
a service, but these places
where you walk in and
that’s their whole business,
I’m not sure of,” she said.
Again, Yukich disagreed,
stating that chains like
Massage Envy are “everywhere.”
“Why would we not allow
them in the village if
they wanted to open a shop
here?,” he asked.
Sweas continued the argument
that if they allowed
the establishments, they
should be prohibited from
being built in the C-1 zone,
citing her “too intense”
reason from the other businesses.
Off-track betting facilities
were another issue
which prompted discussion
from the board. Village Director
of Planning & Zoning
Vijay Gadde explained that
the designation had been
added on the advice of the
State. Since the State of Illinois
has the power to issue
OTB licenses, not the
local governments, it was
necessary to establish zoning
guidelines for such an
organization.
Essentially, State licensing
requires all Cities and
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