Kendall Co. Plan Consortium Minutes 2007 11-15-07 Planning Commission Consortium
Yorkville Public Library
November 15, 2007
Attendees:
Anne Lucietto, Chair Yorkville Plan Com. Travis Miller, Yorkville Comm. Dev.
Charles Wunder, Yorkville Planner Stephanie Boettcher, Yorkville Sr. Planner
Stephanie Sheetz, Conservation Foundation Dan Lobbes, Conservation Foundation
Richard Scheffrahn, Yorkville Facade Com. Sandy Bell, Big Rock
Jim Brownlee, Village of Minooka Glen Schieberl, Village of Minooka
Betty Langeland, Village of Plattville Margaret Sheehan, Village of Oswego
Doug Kissel, Village of Millington Chet Zmarzlanski, Village of Plattville
June McCord, Village of Plattville Robyn Sutcliff, Yorkville alderwoman
Valerie Burd, Yorkville Mayor Paul Burd, Yorkville resident
Jerry Dudgeon, Kend. Co. Building/Zoning Jerry Friel, Plattville Mayor
Jerry Tokars, Big Rock John Hegeler, Yorkville Plan Com.
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by Anne Lucietto, Plan Commission
Chairwoman from the United City of Yorkville. Welcomes and introductions of the
speakers, Stephanie Sheetz and Dan Lobbes, from the Conservation Foundation, were
made.
Ms. Sheetz thanked the group for the invitation and shared that The Conservation
Foundation's goal is to preserve natural areas and open space, protect rivers and
watersheds, and act as stewards of the environment. The Conservation Foundation has
4500 members and works with public agencies, private landowners and local
environmental groups.
Conservation easements are legal agreements that permanently restrict the amount and
type of development on a property, tailored to the land's character and specific to what
each landowner desires. These easements are monitored and enforced by public
agencies. Landowners may qualify for income tax deductions, reduced property taxes
and reduced estate taxes.
Easements are used: 1)to preserve habitats or species; 2) provide access for outdoor or
recreation education; 3) must be identified in the Ill. Natural Area Inventory; 4) be part of
a local, state or federal policy to conserve, restore and protect wildlife or scenic areas;
5) must be monitored by a nonprofit land conservation agency.
Deed restrictions, as pointed out by Mr. Lobbes, are not monitored regularly and do not
require land stewardship. A conservation easement is a separately recorded document,
referenced on the plat and any entity cannot hold a conservation easement on land it
owns. Two funds must be established for good project management: 1) one for
monitoring and enforcing the project, including legal fees, which the developer is
encouraged, up front, to give the entity; and 2) management of ongoing funds by the
Home Owners Association, and secondly, with a dormant back-up SSA. It was urged by
Mr. Lobbes, that any easement management plan be implemented by a contractual
agreement, determined for as many as 5 years, to qualified companies.
Plan commissions can be involved by evaluating which tool is appropriate for their
community, relevant to the development, and involving The Conservation Foundation
with educational issues, as needed.
Ms. Lucietto asked those in attendance if they had questions. The following are
information items, discussed by Ms. Sheetz and Mr. Lobbes; 1)the HOA has specifically
designated accounts which keep monies for upkeep by the contractual agency;
2) landowners receive a benefit of more control, ultimately, for the use of their property,
even though by including an easement the overall price of the property may be lower;
3) Mr. Lobbes stressed the importance of the dormant SSA's, as a funding and
management mechanism that is always available, but are put in place by the Villages;
4)the minimum area of a conservation easement is not regulated, as long as it meets all
the criteria; 5) a conservation easement can be added after an annexation is completed, if
the commitment is attainable by all parties; 6) The Conservation Foundation holds the
maintenance contract and executes it, with the by-laws of the HOA establishing the
easement documentation and establishing the funding.
The next Planning Commission Consortium meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January
24, 2008 at the Yorkville Library. The topic will be historic preservation. Anyone
interested in hosting a meeting or suggesting speakers is encouraged to contact Ms.
Lucietto.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 pm.
Minutes submitted by Annette Williams