After years of going over them with a fine-tooth comb, the Palos Park Village Council was finally able to make the final comprehensive update to its planning and zoning codes.
The council voted on April 13 to approve the many changes to codes — a project that was started in 2023.
“It’s a long time coming,” said Commissioner Mike Wade, who has been overseeing the project for a majority of the timeframe.
Commissioner G. Darryl Reed remembers when he helped get the ball rolling on the project when he was the building commissioner before Wade.
“My mantra at the time was to blow up the code and start it all over again,” Reed said. “I’m glad to see that the recommendation was taken.
“They blew it up and this is a much cleaner, concise document that will allow residents to fully understand what their responsibilities are and what the village’s responsibilities are as well.”
Mayor Nicole Milovich-Walters was also happy with the completion of the project, which included adopting a zoning ordinance, an updated zoning map and a subdivision ordinance that advance the goals of the village’s Comprehensive Plan policies.
“It’s really rooted in cleaning it all up because the code was, I believe, pretty much from the 1960s,” she said. “Things would be added in different sections, and it was an arduous task not only for professionals but for homeowners.
“These changes are going to be wonderful in that setback requirements are really going to be spelled out. We took into consideration that there are a lot of lots that aren’t an acre and created a new heading for them called ‘legacy lots’ which allowed consideration for what people can do with their property.”
Wade said the updated regulations address zoning districts, permitted uses, parking standards, loading standards, landscaping and buffering requirements, signage regulations, administrative procedures and subdivision standards including street design requirements.
During the citizen’s comment portion of the meeting, Plan Commission Chairman Ed Marcyn praised the council and the Camiros planning firm for getting the job done.
“It’s been a three-year episode and I’m so happy the council passed to hire the consultant and got the right company to do it,” Marcyn said. “At the end of the day they came together and compromised. It needed to be done.”