Village Board Passes Planning Code Changes

The Village Board approved modifications to the village's planning code at Tuesday night's meeting at , setting new parameters for a building's height, lot coverage and its setbacks. The changes will go into effect on March 4.

The approval of local laws were met with acrimony from some village residents — most of whom had renovation projects that may now need to be altered to fit the new village code — who felt there wasn't enough communication between village officials and residents to inform them of the new modifications.

"I think more people will be affected than you think," said village resident Patrick O'Brian. "I just don't think it's right."

The modifications lessen how tall a home can be, changes the proximity to a neighboring property, as well as how much lot space it can take up. For a more thorough look at the changes, .

Mayor Mary Bossart explained that the Planning Board had presented the proposed modifications in September, and it was posted on the village's Web site in December. "The Planning Board did an exhaustive amount of work," she said, noting that members of that board have worked on the proposal for more than a year.

The original intent of the modifications was to address complaints of some residential building projects being too large for its property and looking out of scale when compared to surrounding homes.

John Bender, a village resident who spent the last year working on renovation plans for his home, said he thinks the board should extend the grace period for when plans can be submitted to the building department before the changes are implemented. "This took me 12 months," Bender said of designing and finalizing his renovation plans. "To start over, I lose the contractor and the $10,000 I spent on an architect."

The gripe most residents at the meeting had was that they spent months trying to have their home renovation plans comply with village code, and changing it now brings them back to square one.

Trustees reiterated that besides posting the changes on the village's Web site, broadcasting the meetings on the village channel, and spreading the word through local media, there isn't much more they can do to inform residents of change.

"We endeavor to tell as many people as we can," said Trustee Ed Oppenheimer.