Winthrop Harbor City Zoning Code

SPECIAL USES

§ 154.280 PURPOSE.

The principle objective of the Zoning Code is to provide for an orderly arrangement of compatible building and land uses and for the proper location of all types of uses required for the social and economic welfare of the village. To accomplish this objective, each type and kind of use is classified as permitted in one or more of the various districts established by this subchapter. However, in addition to those uses specifically classified and permitted in each district, there are certain additional uses which it may be necessary to allow because of their unusual characteristics or the service they provide the public. These "special uses" require particular consideration as to their proper location in relation to adjacent established or intended uses, or to the planned development of the community. The conditions controlling the location and operation of such "special uses" are established by the following provisions of this subsection.

(Ord. 1999-O-13, passed 5-18-99)

§ 154.281 AUTHORITY.

The Village Board of Trustees shall have authority to permit the uses of land or structures, or both, set forth below in § 154.282 subject to conditions contained herein, and those in the individual use districts, if it finds that the proposed location and establishment of any such use will be desirable or necessary to the public convenience or welfare and will be harmonious and compatible with other uses adjacent to and in the vicinity of the selected site or sites. Notwithstanding any general descriptions contained in any of the permitted uses set forth in any of the zoning districts or any other provision of this Code, none of the uses so set forth in § 154.282 shall be erected, allowed or permitted to exist upon any property within the village unless and until a proper permit has been obtained as set forth in this chapter.

(Ord. 1999-O-13, passed 5-18-99) Penalty, see § 154.286

§ 154.282 PERMITTED SPECIAL USES.

(A) Auditorium, stadium, arena, armory, gymnasium or other similar places for public events, in any public, B-2 or industrial district, on a site of at least 10 acres.

(B) Bingo parlors and other places where legalized gambling is conducted in any form in any public or B-2 District.

(C) Bus terminal, railroad passenger station, or any other public transportation terminal facility in any public, B-1, B-2 or industrial district, provided the site has direct and convenient access to a major arterial street.

(D) Automobile car washes or auto laundries in any B-2 district, provided that:

(1) There shall be a water recovery system which will recover no less than 80% of the water used when the car wash uses village water;

(2) Solid matter shall be removed by chemical or mechanical means before any effluent from the car wash facility is discharged into the sanitary sewer. All solids so removed shall be collected periodically and disposed of in an authorized disposal area. All effluent discharged into the sanitary sewer from the car wash facility shall be within the limits of pH 6.5 and 9.0;

(3) No less than 90% of the water shall be removed from the car before it moves out of the facility;

(4) An attendant shall be present during all business hours.

(E) Automobile service stations, full service and self-service, in a B-2 District.

(F) Cemeteries, crematories or mausoleums only in a commercial, industrial or public use district provided:

(1) There shall be a minimum lot size of 50 acres, except where all grave markers are flush with the ground level;

(2) The site of said use shall have direct and convenient access to a major arterial street;

(3) All burial buildings shall be set back not less than 80 feet from any street bounding the cemetery, and shall be set back not less than 55 feet from any other property line. A burial building is any building used for the interment of bodies or other remains of persons who have died, including mausoleums, vaults, or columbaria;

(4) All graves or burial lots shall be set back not less than 30 feet from any street bounding the cemetery and not less than 25 feet from any other property line;

(5) Said use shall be fenced and screened from public view, walls, berms, plantings or any combination thereof.

(G) Convention, meeting or assembly halls in a B-1 District.

(H) Hospitals or sanitariums, public and private, only in a business or public use district provided that:

(1) There is a direct and close access to a major arterial street;

(2) All incidental and related uses shall be located on the same property as such hospital or institution or within 300 feet of said property;

(3) Front, side and rear yards shall be provided with a depth of not less than 50 feet each;

(4) The lot area covered by buildings shall not exceed 40% of the total lot area.

(I) Institutions for the care of the insane or feeble-minded, public or private, in any public use district subject to the following requirements:

(1) There shall be a front yard with a depth of not less than 100 feet;

(2) There shall be a side yard on each side of the building at least 75 feet wide;

(3) There shall be a rear yard of at least 100 feet;

(4) The area covered by buildings, including accessory buildings shall not exceed 40% of the total lot area.

(J) Municipal recreation building, police station, fire station, post office, library, museum, art gallery or community center in any public, B-1 or industrial district.

(K) Nursing or rest homes only in a business district.

(L) Public or privately owned and operated fairgrounds, carnivals, or other similar amusement centers in any public, B-2 or industrial district provided:

(1) The site shall have direct public and close access to a major arterial street;

(2) The use shall have a site of at least 10 acres.

(M) Cellular telephone transmitting or repeating antenna towers, landline transmitting or repeating antenna towers, radio and television transmitting or antenna towers (commercial) and other electronic equipment requiring outdoor structures and including antenna towers used for sending private messages, but not including private receiving aerials or antennas in any public, B-2 or industrial district, provided:

(1) The tower shall be set back from all lot lines at least one and one-half times its height so that the public safety and welfare will not be endangered;

(2) The operation of the tower will not cause electronic interference which will impair the use and enjoyment of electronic equipment owned or operated by others in the vicinity of said tower.

(N) Recreation places, including billiard and pool rooms, bowling alleys, dance halls, skating rinks, establishments with ten or more pinball and/or amusement machines, or similar places of amusement when operated for a pecuniary profit in any B-1 or B-3 district.

(O) Motels, hotels, inns, bed and breakfasts, rooming houses and other transient or temporary lodging in a B-2 District.

(P) Telephone exchange, antenna towers, and other outdoor equipment essential to the operation of the exchange, in any business or industrial district.

(Q) Automobiles and trucks, trailers, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, mobile homes, boats, agricultural and other equipment, new and used, sales, rental and service (except service in an automobile service station) in a B-2 District.

®) Kennels in a B-2 District.

(S) Buildings supply and lumber yards, if any business activities are conducted outside an enclosed building and within 500 feet of a residential district, in a B-1 District.

(T) Indoor archery or gun shooting ranges.

(U) Public utility, public services and private uses, including electric sub-stations, gas regulator stations, telephone transmission equipment structures, microwave relay towers, water reservoirs or pumping stations, windmills, and other similar facilities.

(Ord., passed 2-18-64; Am. Ord. 1995-O-17, passed 10-17-95; Am. Ord. 1998-O-7, passed 2-17-98; Am. Ord. 1999-O-13, passed 5-18-99; Am. Ord. 2016-O-1, passed 1-5-16)

§ 154.283 STANDARDS.

No special use shall be recommend by the Planning and Zoning Board unless such Planning and Zoning Board shall find:

(A) That the establishment shall be recommended by the Planning and Zoning Board unless such Planning and Zoning Board shall find:

(B) That the special use will not be injurious to the use and enjoyment of other property in the immediate vicinity for the purposes already permitted, nor substantially diminish or impair property values within the neighborhood;

(C) That 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 district;

(D) That adequate utilities, access roads, drainage and/or necessary facilities have been or are being provided;

(E) That adequate measures have been or will be taken to provide ingress and egress so designed as to minimize traffic congestion in the public streets; and

(F) That 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 Board of Trustees after considering the recommendations of the Planning and Zoning Board.

(Ord., passed 2-18-64; Am. Ord. 1999-O-13, passed 5-18-99; Am. Ord. 2016-O-1, passed 1-5-16)

§ 154.284 CONDITIONS.

The Planning and Zoning Board may recommend and the corporate authorities may impose such conditions or restrictions upon the construction, location, and operation of a special use, including but not limited to provisions for off-street parking and loading, and shall be deemed necessary to secure the general objectives to this chapter and to protect the values of property in the neighborhood.

(Ord., passed 2-18-64; Am. Ord. 1999-O-13, passed 5-18-99)

§ 154.285 PROCEDURE.

The procedure to be followed in considering applications for a special use shall be as follows:

(A) Application. An application verified by the owner or authorized agent of the owner of the property involved, shall be filed with the Village Clerk for the attention of the Planning and Zoning Board upon a form prescribed therefor, which shall contain, or be accompanied by all required information.

(B) Public Hearing. Upon receipt of such verified application, the Village Clerk shall notify the Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Board, or in his or her absence, the Secretary, who shall give notice of public hearing in the same manner as provided for hearings on the reclassification of property, as contained in § 154.295. A record of pertinent information presented at the public hearing shall be made and maintained by the Planning and Zoning Board a part of the permanent record relative to the application.

(C) Determination. The Planning and Zoning Board shall then make its findings and recommendations to the Village Board of Trustees within 30 days following the close of the public hearings of each application. The Village Board of Trustees may then authorize a “special use” as defined herein by special ordinance, provided the evidence presented is such as to establish:

(1) That the proposes use at the particular location requested is necessary or desirable to provide a service or facility which is in the interest of public convenience, and will contribute to the general welfare of the neighborhood or community;

(2) That such use will not, under the circumstances of the particular case, be detrimental to the health, safety, morals, or general welfare or persons residing or working in the vicinity, or injurious to property values or improvements in the vicinity; and

(3) That the proposed use will comply with the regulations and conditions specified in this subchapter for such use, and with the stipulations and conditions made a part of the authorization granted by the Village Board of Trustees.

(Ord. 1999-O-13, passed 5-18-99; Am. Ord. 2016-O-1, passed 1-5-16)

§ 154.286 PENALTIES.

Any person, corporation or other entity violating § 154.281 by permitting any use to be erected or exist upon real property owned, leased or controlled by him or her, it shall be subject to all remedies existing at law or in equity for the abatement and prohibition of illegal or unpermitted land usage, including but not limited to injunctions and restraining orders, and he, she or it shall further be subject to a fine not to exceed $500 per day for each day that such illegal or improper use exists or is allowed to occur on the said property.