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(A) County Board action.
(1) In order to promote the public health, safety, comfort, and general welfare, the County Board may from time to time amend the regulations imposed by this chapter.
(2) These amendments shall not be adopted without the advice of the County Engineer.
(B) Standards for amendments. Amendments to this chapter shall demonstrate compliance with the following standards:
(1) The proposed amendment to this chapter shall state in particular the chapter, section, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, and word sought to be amended.
(2) The proposed amendment shall contain the specific language of the proposed amendment and shall recite the specific reasons for such a change.
(3) The proposed amendment shall be consistent with the intent and purpose of this chapter and with its various rules, regulations, and specifications.
(4) The proposed amendment shall not be detrimental to the safety, operation, or capacity of a county highway.
(5) The proposed amendment shall in no manner limit, restrict, alter, diminish, or unduly impede the county in its, or the County Engineer in his or her, statutory authority as it relates to county highways.
(Ord. 20-231, passed 7-16-2020)
Minimizing congestion and delay, ensuring the safety of the traveling public, and protecting the county's ability to maintain and improve the county highway system are among the objectives of this chapter. Under conditions of practical difficulty and extraordinary hardships, it may be difficult to strictly comply with the requirements of this chapter. The purpose of a variation is to provide relief from strict compliance with the regulations and requirements of this chapter so long as the objectives of this chapter are not compromised.
(A) General.
(1) Where the County Engineer finds that extraordinary hardships or practical difficulties may result from strict compliance with this chapter, the County Engineer may approve variations to the requirements of this chapter so that substantial justice may be done and the public interest subserved thereby, provided that such variations shall not have the effect of nullifying the intent and purpose of this chapter.
(2) The County Engineer may require that a traffic impact study or other information, studies, or data be submitted when reviewing a request for a variation from the provisions of this chapter.
(B) Variation requests. A petition for any variation shall be submitted in writing to the County Engineer by the permittee. The permittee must prove that the variation will not be contrary to the public interest and that a practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship will result if it is not granted. In particular, the permittee shall establish and substantiate that the variation conforms to the requirements and standards as set forth in § 56.030.
(C) Standards for variations. No variation in the strict application of the provisions of this chapter shall be granted unless it is found that the following relevant requirements and conditions are satisfied. The County Engineer may grant variations whenever it is determined that all of the following have been met.
(1) The granting of the variation shall be in harmony with the general purpose and intent of the regulations imposed by this chapter and shall not be detrimental to the safety of the traveling public using the county highway.
(2) There must be proof of unique or existing special circumstances or conditions where the strict application of the provisions of this chapter would deprive the permittee of reasonable access. Circumstances that would allow reasonable access by a road or street other than a county highway, circumstances where indirect or restricted access can be obtained, or circumstances where engineering or construction solutions can be applied to mitigate the condition shall not be considered unique or special.
(3) There must be proof of practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship. It is not sufficient to show that greater profit or economic gain would result if the variation would be granted. Furthermore, the hardship or difficulty cannot be self-created or self-imposed; nor can it be established on this basis by the owner who purchases with or without knowledge of the provisions of this chapter. The difficulty or hardship must result from the strict application of this chapter and it must be suffered directly and solely by the owner of the property in question.
(4) The variation is the least deviation from the provisions of this chapter which will mitigate the hardship or practical difficulty.
(D) Action by the County Engineer. Upon receipt of the required variance application form, all supporting documentation, data, studies and other requested information and all related variance fees, the County Engineer shall review and render a decision in writing to the owner. The County Engineer may, in the decision for a variation, stipulate conditions or impose requirements in granting of a variation from the provisions of this chapter. The written decision of the County Engineer is valid for a period of six months.
(Ord. 20-231, passed 7-16-2020)
(A) Access Control Officer. All objections to any action or decision concerning access shall be filed in writing with the Access Control Officer. The Access Control Officer shall consider the objections, and after a decision has been made shall inform the permittee in writing of the action taken on said objection.
(B) County Engineer. If the permittee is dissatisfied with the action or decision of the Access Control Officer, a written objection may be filed with the County Engineer. The County Engineer will consider the objection and formulate a response, which will be communicated in writing. The County Engineer may modify or overturn any previous action or decisions.
(Ord. 20-231, passed 7-16-2020)
(A) All fees required for this chapter shall be established by the County Engineer. Information regarding the required fees for each type of permit application shall be provided in the Technical Reference Manual.
(B) Existing agreements that have alternate permit fee schedules shall remain in effect until and unless those agreements are expired, are terminated, or are renegotiated, and are approved by the County Board.
(C) The County Engineer shall have the authority to waive any fees or charges imposed by this chapter if said fees and charges are for a permit to perform work within a county highway right-of-way that is needed due to a county improvement or maintenance operation. The County Engineer may also waive fees for permits for local government agency work. Application fees will be charged when work is for the promotion of future development and for which work is being performed by the developer and not under local government agency contract.
(Ord. 20-231, passed 7-16-2020)
(A) Whomever shall construct, or cause to be constructed, any access-related improvements or any utility or facility within the right-of-way of any county highway, or whoever shall repair, relocate, revise, modify, enlarge, remove, reconstruct, or abandon any existing utility or facility within the right-of-way in violation of the requirements of this chapter shall be subject to a fine of not less than $50 and not more than $500 for each access location so constructed as
outline in ILCS Ch. 605, Act 5, § 9-117. Each day that the access location is in place in violation of this chapter shall constitute a separate offense, subject to the above penalties. A violation shall also include any access-related improvements or any utilities or facilities within the county highways built without approval, and a permit as required by this chapter as well as approved improvements built with substandard designs and specifications.
(B) The Will County Division of Transportation shall have the authority to stop any and all work that it determines is proceeding in an unsafe or substandard manner, or poses any danger to the public or the county highway. In the event any aspect of the permittee's construction, placement, maintenance, repair, use or operation of the county highway at any time violates or is forbidden by any law, statute, rule, regulation, order, or requirement of any governmental authority, the permittee shall immediately discontinue such operations and, at its own expense, take all necessary corrective action.
(C) Whenever a violation shall come to the knowledge of the County Engineer, the County Engineer may take any action as deemed appropriate and as set forth in the Illinois Compiled Statutes, as amended. The provisions of this chapter shall not be deemed exclusive and shall not be deemed to prevent the maintenance of any other action or proceeding in law or equity to enforce the provisions of this chapter or to vacate and remove any improvements constructed in violation of this chapter.
(D) Whenever it shall come to the knowledge of the County Recorder that any of the provisions of this chapter have been violated, as they relate to plats, it shall be the County Recorder's duty to notify the County Engineer and the State's Attorney.
(E) The County Engineer shall have the authority to delay the issuance of permits to an applicant due to the failure of the applicant to comply with the provisions of other permits issued to the applicant. The County Engineer shall also have the authority to delay the issuance of permits if the property served by the permitted work or facility is in violation of or has not complied with the provisions of this chapter or any other ordinance, statute, regulation or administrative order that may apply to such property. The County Engineer shall also have the authority to revoke any active permit issued to the applicant due to the failure of the applicant to comply with the provisions of other permits or the failure of the applicant to comply with the provisions of this chapter.
(Ord. 20-231, passed 7-16-2020)
(A) An application for any permit under this chapter will be considered inactive if no response is provided by the applicant, their agent, or their engineer within six months from the date of the last written review comments received from WCDOT.
(B) If that time period has lapsed, the application will be considered invalid and the applicant must reapply and comply with any and all new conditions, policies, standards or ordinances that may be in effect at the time of the re-submittal. If more than one year has passed from the date of the last written review comments, application fees must be paid as if it was a new submittal. It shall be the permittee's responsibility to contact the Will County Division of Transportation to determine the status of any permit submittals.
(Ord. 20-231, passed 7-16-2020)
(A) The permittee and contractors shall indemnify and save harmless and defend the WCDOT and the county, its officers, agents, and employees against all loss, damage, or expense that it or they may sustain as a result of any suits, actions, or claims of any character brought on account of property damage, injury to or death of any person or persons, including all persons performing any work under the permit, which may arise in connection with the work to be performed under the permit.
(B) The permit is not intended by any of the provisions of any part of the permit to make the public or any member thereof a third party beneficiary of the permit, or to authorize anyone not a party to the permit to initiate or maintain a suit for personal injuries or property damage pursuant to the terms or provisions of the permit. The duties, obligations, and responsibilities of the parties to the permit with respect to third parties shall remain as imposed by law.
(Ord. 20-231, passed 7-16-2020)
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