Ever Petition for Zoning Change in Des Plaines, IL or Other Surr. Burbs? Cell ..

Updated on December 02, 2010
A.F. asks from Des Plaines, IL
4 answers

My neighbors and I are planning to Petition that property that was changed from Residential R-1 Single Family Home Zone to Institutional I-1 Zone for the purpose of putting a fire station on the property BACK TO R-1. The reason -- no fire station is going up due to insufficient funds and now a cell company is seeking to put a 100+ foot lattice style cell tower behind my across the street neighbors' property line by only 56" (requires Special Use Permit and a Variance). In our opinion, if there will be no fire station --change it back! We do not want a cell tower in our backyards, it is aesthetically horrible (about 4 times the height of an average 2 story home), increased risk of cancer to the tune of 3 times was found in independentally funded studies in Germany and Israel (the German one studied the areas for 10 years and found 3 times increased risk, earlier development, etc. if you are within radius of 800 feet!) AND, here is the biggie -- because of where they want to put the stand alone tower and the building that is needed to support the related equipment there will NEVER be room for a fire station there! Come on people -- seems quite ridiculous to us! Any help is greatly appreciated. We are going to oppose and fight strongly the Petition of T-Mobile before the Zoning Appeals Board but we would also like to file our own petition to return it to R-1.. I am an attorney but this is way outside my practice area. Any help, greatly appreciated!

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So What Happened?

TAM K- I am the one (along with my husbad) that argued at the August 2008 meeting and got them to recommend rezoning I-1 for the fire station and RECOMMEND AGAINST ever allowing a cell tower there. AllisonF is for F.. Thanks for looking into it though.

More Answers

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T.K.

answers from Chicago on

In a quick google search, I noticed that this property appears to have been rezoned for the fire station with a cell tower as an accessory use since 2008. However, it appears that, at that time, staff and the Plan Commission had reservations about permitting the cell tower. If you haven't already reviewed, http://www.desplaines.org/referencedesk/AgendasandMinutes..., do so. Perhaps you can review the internal staff and PC communication to better understand these concerns.

You might contact the Illinois Chapter of the American Planning Assocation to see if pro bono assistance might be available for your case. Here is the website: http://www.ilapa.org/index.html.

Good luck!

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W.M.

answers from Chicago on

I'd advise you to meet with someone in the Community Development Department (assuming you haven't already). That's usually where these ideas originate and where the zoning ordinance change was drafted. These are also the people you're going to want to have on your side since they will be the ones giving the zoning board of appeals a "staff recommendation".

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D.N.

answers from Chicago on

T-Mobile wanted to put a cell tower (somehow hidden) in the park in Berwyn. It was somehow going to look like a flag pole. The neighborhood had petitions signed and many people went to the zoning meetings. The town did not allow it because all the neighbors did not want it. That would probably be your first step. Any kind of variance also has the right to be fought by the neighbors of the property.

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S.E.

answers from Chicago on

We had something sort of similar happen a few doors down from a summer home property that's been in our family for decades. It's in another state, so I wasn't privy to all that happened, but I do know that my dad went door to door with a letter he'd written to let everyone know what was going on and encourage them to get involved. Surprisingly, many did not know but once they did they took action. Letters were written and many, many people showed up at the town meeting where this matter was being discussed and decided on. We spoke about how when we bought the property in a residential area, it was with the understanding that it would remain that way. We highlighted the environmental dangers (which you could certainly do), the denigration of the lake, the reputation of the town, the unfairness to property owners as the value of their property would surely plummet. The sheer number of protesters brought the whole thing to a halt and the property has now, happily, been purchased by a family who is building a home there. We had a similar experience going up against a mining company in CO -- they thought it was just a bunch of mountain folk that could be railroaded, but the organization of the whole town shut them down. I don't know all the legal aspects, but I do believe a room full of citizens armed with well thought-out letters and the will to not let this happen to their neighborhood goes a long way. Good luck to you!

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