A. Pre-Application Notices.
1. The applicant shall meet all notice requirements as required by 415 ILCS 5/39.2 et seq., as amended from time to time, including, but not limited to the following:
a. No later than 14 days before the date on which the County Board receives a request for site approval, the applicant shall cause written notice of such request to be served either in person or by registered mail, return receipt requested, on the owners of all property within the subject area not solely owned by the applicant, and on the owners of all property within two hundred fifty (250) feet in each direction of the lot line of the subject property, said owners being such persons or entities which appear from the authentic tax records of the County in which such facility is to be located; provided that the number of all feet occupied by all public roads, streets, alleys and other public ways shall be excluded in computing the two hundred fifty (250) feet requirement, provided further, that in no event shall this requirement exceed four hundred (400) feet including public streets, alleys and other public ways.
(1) Such notice shall state the name and address of the applicant, the location of the proposed site, the nature and size of the development, the nature of the activity proposed, the probable life of the proposed activity, the date when the request for site approval will be submitted to the County Board, a description of the right of persons to comment on such request as hereafter provided and any other information as may be required by § 39.2 et seq. of the Act, the Articles of Rules and Procedures for the McHenry County Pollution Control Facility Committee, and this Ordinance.
b. The applicant shall also serve, within fourteen (14) days prior to a request for location approval, such written notice upon members of the General Assembly from the legislative district in which the proposed facility is located and this notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation published in McHenry County. Such notice shall state the name and address of the applicant, the location of the proposed site, the nature and size of the development, the nature of the activity proposed, the probable life of the proposed activity, the date when the request for site approval will be submitted to the County Board, a description of the right of persons to comment on such request as hereafter provided and any other information as may be required by the Committee Rules and Procedures.
2. The applicant shall file proof of all notice requirements with the County Clerk as part of the record made in the siting process. Failure to include said proof will cause the application to be incomplete and not accepted by the County Clerk’s office.
B. Application Filing.
1. In order to request approval of a proposed Pollution Control Facility or expansion of an existing Pollution Control Facility in unincorporated McHenry County, an applicant must file one (1) original and thirty-six (36) copies of the application with the McHenry County Clerk, in the form described in the Articles of Rules and Procedures. The applicant is encouraged to use paper containing post-consumer recycled products. Said Articles of Rules and Procedures may be obtained from the Office of the McHenry County Clerk.
2. The applicant must file with the McHenry Comity Clerk a filing fee of $250,000 (Two Hundred Fifty Thousand and 00/100 Dollars) when applying for site approval of a Pollution Control Facility, except that a filing fee of $400,000 (Four Hundred Thousand and 00/100 Dollars) is required if said facility is designed as a Hazardous Waste Treatment or Disposal Site. The costs and fees deposit, as applicable, is intended to defray the reasonable and necessary costs of processing the application, including, but not limited to: space rental, hearing officer(s), court reporter, transcription costs, public notice, staff review times, security, State’s Attorney and County consultants (including tests, exhibits and testimony, if any, provided by said consultants), any other relevant costs incidental to the consideration of an application, and the costs of preparing the record for appeal, if any appeal of a County Board decision is made to the Board.
a. Should there be any additional costs incurred by the County in excess of the initial filing fee (including, but not limited to, fees and costs associated with appeal of any County decision on the application through and until a final, non-appealable order is entered on such matter), the applicant shall bear any and all additional costs. If the balance of the initial costs and fees deposit is reduced to a figure less than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00) at any time prior to the conclusion of the application review, hearing, decision and appeal(s), if any, of the application, the applicant, upon notice from the County, shall contribute an additional twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00). The applicant shall pay, to the County, the amount requested by the County to supplement the initial costs and fees deposit within five (5) business days of receiving such notice.
b. In the event the applicant files an amendment in accordance with § 39.2 (e) of the Act and the Articles and Procedures of the Pollution Control Facility Committee McHenry County, Illinois, an additional fee of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00) shall be delivered to the Clerk at the same time as the filing of the amendment.
c. Any portion of the costs and fees deposit that remains unexpended at the conclusion of the local siting process (including all appeals and resolution of any applicant challenge to costs and fees), shall be returned to the applicant.
3. The application must be answered completely with information provided for each question, accompanied by all site plans, exhibits, maps and documents as specified in the Articles of Rules and Procedures. The determination of the quality and quantity of information to be included in an application is, ultimately, the applicant’s to make, it being applicant’s burden to demonstrate that the siting criteria set forth in § 39.2 of the Act and this Ordinance are met.
4. At any time prior to completion by the applicant of the presentation of the applicant’s case in chief, the applicant may file not more than one amended application upon payment of those additional fees provided for herein pursuant to § 39.2(k) of the Act and this Ordinance, and, in such event, the deadline for the County Board’s decision shall be extended for an additional period of ninety (90) days.
5. An applicant may not file a request for local siting approval which is substantially the same as a request which was disapproved, pursuant to a finding against the applicant under any of criteria 1. through 9. of § 8.52.090A. of this Ordinance and of § 39.2(a) of the Act, within the preceding two (2) years.
C. The County Clerk, upon receiving an Application, shall do the following:
1. Accept for filing and date stamp as filed any application that is filed with the correct number of copies as required by§ 8.52.040(B)(1), in the form described in the Articles of Rules and Procedures, and accompanied by the application fees as provided in § 8.52.040(B)(2). The date, as stamped by the County Clerk, shall be considered the official filing date for all time limit purposes. Receipt and acceptance of an application by the County Clerk is pro forma, and does not constitute an acknowledgement that the applicant has complied with all requirements of the Act or this Ordinance. Should the application be presented to the County Clerk without the correct number of copies, in the incorrect form or incomplete, or without the correct fee, the petition shall be rejected by the County Clerk.
2. Upon receipt of a completed application, and payment of the deposit fee, the County Clerk shall date stamp all the copies and immediately distribute the copies of the application to the following parties in the following numbers:
a. Twenty-six (26) copies to the County Board;
b. Three (3) copies to the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office;
c. Two (2) copies to the McHenry County Department of Planning and Development;
d. One (1) copy to the hearing officer;
e. Two (2) copies to the nearest public library to where that facility is proposed; and
f. The original application and two (2) copies shall be maintained by the County Clerk.
3. A copy of the application and all related documents or other materials on file with the County shall be made available for public inspection in the office of the County Clerk during normal business hours. Members of the public shall be allowed to obtain a copy of said request or any part thereof upon payment of actual cost of reproduction and proper request as outlined in the Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140/1 et seq.)
D. Public Hearing Notice.
1. The applicant is to cause to be published a notice of the public hearing in a newspaper of general circulation published in McHenry County not later than fourteen (14) days before said hearing.
2. Notice of such hearing shall be served in accord with the provisions of § 39.2 of the Act.
(Ord. O-200411-12-134, passed 11-16-2004)