2022-22 Ordinance Granting a Conditional Use Permit in the M-2 Heavy Industrial District to allow for an Automotive Salvage Operations at 3696 Greenswitch Road

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LEGAL DEPARTMENT MEMORANDUM 2022-1 TO: Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe and City Council FROM: Scot Wrighton, City Manager Wendy Morthland, Corporation Counsel Kate Wrigley Pletsch, Assistant Corporation Counsel DATE: March 7 2022 SUBJECT: Zoning and Conditional Use Permits A petition seeking a conditional use permit has been filed and is pending with the City of Decatur. This memo will provide Council with the legal parameters required when making their decision regarding this and future requests. Zoning Amendments. The City of Decatur is charged with determining the use and purpose to which a property may be devoted. The City of Decatur Zoning Ordinance provides the following: 1. The Council may, from time to time, on its own motion or on petition, amend, supplement,or change by ordinance the regulations and districts herein or subsequently established.... Zoning Ordinance Sec. XXIX.G. AMENDMENTS TO ZONING CODE AND ZONING MAP. While the City Council has relatively broad discretion in amending the zoning ordinance, the Illinois Supreme Court has stated that such decisions may not be arbitrary, capricious, nor unrelated to the public health, safety and morals. La Salle Nat. Bank of Chicago v. Cook County, 12 111.2d 40, 46 (1957). In order to ensure a fair decision for the property owner, the Illinois Supreme Court has established a set of factors to be considered when the municipal body makes a zoning decision, collectively known as the LaSalle Factors. If a zoning decision becomes the subject of litigation, the court will examine whether the municipal body properly considered evidence pertaining to only these factors. Thus, the City Council should carefully consider the evidence supporting each factor and refer only to the evidence supporting such factors when voting on a zoning amendment. The LaSalle Factors are as follows: 1. The existing uses and zoning of nearby property. 2. The extent to which property values are diminished by the particular zoning restrictions.