(A) Authority.
(1) The development and administration of this chapter is based upon the division of the county into zoning districts, within which districts the use of land and buildings, and the bulk and location of buildings and structures in relation to the land, are substantially uniform.
(2) It is recognized, however, that there are certain uses that may have unique, special, or unusual impact upon the use or enjoyment of neighboring property and planned developments and cannot be properly classified in any particular district or districts without consideration in each individual case. A use may be permitted in one or more zoning districts and a special use in one or more other zoning districts. Such cases are classified in this chapter as special uses and fall into two categories:
(a) Uses publicly operated or traditionally affected with a public interest; and
(b) Uses entirely private in character but of such an unusual nature that their operation may give rise to unique problems with respect to their impact upon neighboring property or public facilities.
(B) Initiation of special use. Any person having a freehold interest in land, a possessory interest entitled to exclusive possession, or a contractual interest which may become a freehold interest of an exclusive possessory character, any of which is specifically enforceable, may file an application to use such land for one or more of the special uses provided for in this chapter in the zoning district in which the land is located.
(C) Application for special use.
(1) An application for a special use shall be filed with the Administrative Officer on a form as he or she shall prescribe. The application required by the Administrative Officer shall, at a minimum, include the substance of the applicant’s proposal. The applicant shall also disclose in writing the applicant’s interest in real estate in any of the property adjoining and adjacent to the subject site property lot lines. The applicant’s hearing presentation of the special use application shall be restricted to the general substance of the application as initially filed with the Administrative Officer. This restriction is not intended to limit the applicant’s responses during any hearing, nor is it intended to restrict the presentation of project details or other information within the general substance of the application. The filing of the application and the notices required in division (E) below shall be construed as jurisdictional requirements. The application shall be accompanied by such plans and/or data prescribed by the Zoning Board of Appeals and shall include a statement in writing by the applicant and adequate evidence showing that the proposed special use will conform to the standards set forth in division (F) below.
(2) Such application shall be forwarded from the Administrative Officer to the Zoning Board of Appeals with a request for a public hearing and report relative thereto. All documents filed by the applicant or other interested persons shall be date stamped or otherwise marked by the Administrative Officer, and the Administrative Officer shall keep a separate file of the special use application, with a docket sheet adequately describing each document filed by the applicant or otherwise submitted by objectors and other interested persons.
(D) Hearing an application.
(1) Upon receipt in proper form of the application and statement referred to in division (C) above, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall hold at least one public hearing on the proposed special use. The hearing shall be preserved in such manner as the Zoning Board of Appeals shall, by rule, prescribe from time to time.
(2) All testimony by witnesses in any hearing shall be given under oath. The oath shall be administered to each witness and shall not be administered to a group of persons. Each witness shall be duly identified on the record at the time of taking the oath.
(3) (a) The Zoning Board of Appeals shall hold at least one hearing on the application and may hold as many hearings as necessary when the nature of the application and the nature of any proposed evidence may require additional hearings.
(b) All hearings shall be conducted to assure fundamental fairness and a full opportunity by the applicant, objectors, and a reasonable number of other interested citizens to participate fully in the hearing process, including, but not limited to, the right to present witnesses on the applicable standards in division (F) below and the opportunity to question any witness of the other party. The Chairperson shall have the right to restrict repetitive testimony. Any party appearing before the Zoning Board of Appeals may exercise the right to transcribe or record the proceedings at the expense of the party. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall accommodate any request to transcribe or record the proceedings.
(4) The Zoning Board of Appeals reserves the right to control the location of recording devices to ensure the orderly nature of the proceedings. The party exercising their right to transcribe or record the proceedings shall have recording equipment and/or person(s) who will transcribe the proceedings available at the commencement of the hearing. The failure of said party to provide recording equipment and/or persons to transcribe said hearing shall not be just cause to request continuance.
(E) Notice of hearing.
(1) Notice of time and place of such hearing shall be published not less than 15 or more than 30 days preceding said hearing and at least once in one or more newspapers of general circulation in the county.
(2) The Administrative Officer shall also cause service of written notice not less than 15 nor more than 30 days prior to the hearing in person or by mail, upon the Township Supervisor and the County Board member representing the township or district of the subject site, and to all property owners whose property adjoins the subject site property lot lines, and to any other person or entities required by law to be notified and to all persons or entities entitled to object to such special uses.
(3) In the event that property adjoining the subject site is owned by the applicant, notice will be sent to the owners of property which adjoin such other property owned by the applicant, if such property is not more than 1,500 feet from the subject site property lot lines. The owners shall be identified as those persons or entities which appear upon the authentic tax records of the county in the County Supervisor of Assessment’s office as of January 1 of the calendar year of the filing of the special use request.
(4) The calculations of the distance and the determination of adjoining and adjacent property owners shall exclude all public roads, streets, alleys, and other public ways.
(5) In computing distances, the Administrative Officer is entitled to rely on the property records as such exist as of the date the applications is filed. The written notice shall contain the date, time, and place of the hearing, the name and address of the applicant, location of the proposed site, the nature of the special use and a statement that persons have a right to participate in the special use hearing. The notice to the Township Supervisor and County Board Member, and adjacent and adjoining property owners, shall include the above referenced information.
(F) Standards.
(1) No special use shall be granted by the County Board unless such Board shall find:
(a) The establishment, maintenance, or operation of the special use will not be detrimental to or endanger the public health, safety, morals, comfort, or general welfare;
(b) The special use will not be injurious to the use and enjoyment of other property in the immediate vicinity for the purpose already permitted, nor substantially diminish and impair property values within the neighborhood, and will be located and operated to minimize incompatibility with the character of the surrounding area and to minimize the effect on the value of the surrounding property. The applicant need not demonstrate complete compatibility, but the applicant shall demonstrate reasonable efforts to minimize incompatibility;
(c) The establishment of the special use will not impede the normal and orderly development and improvement of the surrounding property for uses permitted in the districts;
(d) The adequate utilities, access roads, drainage, and/or other necessary facilities have been or are being provided;
(e) The adequate measures have been or will be taken to provide ingress and egress so designed as to minimize traffic congestion in the public streets;
(f) The plan of operations for the special use is designed to minimize the danger to the surrounding area from fire or other operational accidents; and
(g) The special use shall, in all other respects, conform to the applicable regulations of the district in which it is located, except as such regulations may, in each instance, be modified by the County Board.
(2) (a) After a special use permit has been granted, the Administrative Officer or any person whose property is being, or may be adversely affected by operation of the special use, may file a petition in writing with the Zoning Board of Appeals requesting that the special use permit be modified or revoked.
(b) The petitioner shall specifically allege the violation of the conditions under which the permit was granted or facts which would justify modification or revocation of the special use permit.
(3) If the petition is filed by the Administrative Officer, the matter shall be set for hearing. The provision of divisions (D) and (E) above pertaining to hearings and notices shall be applicable. The hearing shall be held within 60 days of the filing of the petition. The petitioner and the holder of the special use permit must be notified. Copies of the petition shall be sent to the holder of the special use permit along with the notice.
(4) In the event the petition is filed by persons other than the Administrative Officer, the petition shall be first referred to the Administrative Officer for investigation. Within 45 days after the petition has been filed, the Administrative Officer shall report his or her findings and conclusions to the Zoning Board of Appeals. Within 15 days after receiving the Administrative Officer’s report, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall set the matter for hearing within 60 days or shall recommend to the County Board to dismiss the petition. If the petition is dismissed, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall state its reasons for dismissal and notify the petitioners and the holder of the special use permit accordingly. In the event a hearing is scheduled, division (D) and (E) above pertaining to hearing and notice shall be applicable. The petitioner and the holder of the special use permit shall be notified. The holder of the special use permit shall be sent a copy of the petition with the notice.
(5) Prior to filing a petition with the Zoning Board of Appeals, or reporting findings and conclusions to the Zoning Board of Appeals, pursuant to the section, the Administrative Officer shall give the holder of the special use permit a reasonable period of time to correct violations. The other time requirements of this section shall not be stayed during the period of time the holder of the special use permit is given to correct violations.
(6) The County Board shall be guided, but not controlled, by the findings and conclusions of the Administrative Officer. After a hearing, the Zoning Board of Appeals may recommend to the County Board to deny the prayer of the petition, or if the evidence so warrants, recommend to the County Board to revoke the special use permit or modify the conditions of the permit. The burden of proof shall be on the petitioner.
(7) The hearing shall be governed under the general standards as described in division (D) above. Any decision of the County Board under this section shall be final.
(8) Special use permit applications for rural residential building lots shall be deemed to meet the requirements of this division (F), provided the Board finds:
(a) The parcel contains 43,560 square feet (one acre);
(b) The property shall have 165 feet of frontage;
(c) Access to the property (the driveway) shall be directly onto an asphalt or concrete roadway maintained by either the State Department of Transportation or the County Highway Department (no township roads, private roads, gravel, or chip and seal);
(d) Efforts shall be taken to reduce the amount of farm ground removed from production while realizing the minimum lot size;
(e) The parcel shall be adequate for two complete septic systems (one now, and one for replacement upon failure of the original), with written confirmation from the County Health Department;
(f) Signed acknowledgment of the “Rock Island County Rural Living Contract;”
(g) Land evaluation site assessment score of less than 225;
(h) The property shall have no buildable area in a floodplain as delineated on the flood insurance rate maps (FIRM) for the county, as adopted;
(i) Where determined to be necessary by the Zoning Administrator, a 60-foot wide area
shall be left between parcels for future road access to properties lying behind the subject property, with the intent to maintain the possibility of long term development. Appeals of the Administrator’s decision shall be heard by the Zoning Board of Appeals, said decision being final; and
(j) The property shall be in an area where the proposed lot size does not meet the requirements of the current the county land use map.
(G) Conditions and guarantees. Prior to the granting of any special use, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall recommend to the County Board such conditions and restrictions upon the establishment, location, construction, maintenance, and operation for the special use as it is deemed necessary for the protection of the public interest and to secure compliance with the standards specified in division (F) above. In all cases in which special uses are granted, the County Board shall require such evidence and guarantees as it may deem necessary as proof that the conditions stipulated in connection therewith are being and will be complied with.
(H) Effect of denial of a special use. No application for a special use that has been denied wholly or in part by the County Board shall be resubmitted for a period of one year from the date of said order of denial, except on the grounds of new evidence or proof of change of conditions found to be valid by the Administrative Officer.
(I) Revocation. In any case, where a special use has not been established within one year after the date of granting thereof, then without further action by the County Board, the special use or authorization shall be null and void, unless otherwise specified by the County Board. The provisions of division (F)(7) above pertaining to modification or revocation of special use permits shall be applicable to special use permits or special use permits previously issued by the Zoning Board of Appeals under prior versions of this chapter.
(J) Action by the County Board. The County Board shall not act upon a proposed special use until they have received written report and recommendation from the Zoning Board of Appeals on the proposed special use.
(1) The concurring vote of three members of a Board consisting of five members is necessary to recommend to the County Board to approve the petition.
(2) The County Board may grant or deny an application for a special use, provided, however, that in case of a written protest against any proposed special use, and signed and acknowledged by the owners of 20% of the frontage to be altered, or by the owner of 20% of the frontage immediately adjoining or across an alley therefrom, or by the owner of 20% of the frontage directly opposite frontage proposed to be altered, or in the cases where the land affected lies within one mile of the limits of a zoned municipality, by resolution of the corporate authorities of the zoned municipality with limits nearest adjacent, filed with the County Clerk, such special use shall not be passed except by the favorable vote of two-thirds of all of the members of the County Board. In such cases, a copy of the written protest shall be served by the protestor or protestors on the applicant for the proposed special use and a copy upon the applicant’s attorney, if any, by certified mail at the address of such applicant and attorney shown in the application for the proposed special use.
(Ord. passed 5-16-2023)