There will be a new billboard going up in Concordia Cemetery and a moratorium on any additional billboards in the village for 180 days.
The decisions came at the May 26 council meeting, when commissioners unanimously approved three agenda items that would allow for a two-sided LED billboard in the southwest corner of Concordia Cemetery. They also passed an ordinance saying the village would not approve new billboards for 180 days.
“With the approval of this last billboard, there seems to be limited future areas in the village,” Commissioner Jessica Voogd said before voting in support of the moratorium. “I think there’s a substantial government interest to limit them going forward, so I fully support this and I hope that we identify a reasonable way to put those limitations in place.”
Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins said he agreed with Voogd. So did Commissioner Michelle Melin-Rogovin, who said she supported the billboard in Concordia because it would help the cemetery financially.
“I supported this particular billboard because there was an interest and the ability to invest and possibility of taking care of the cemetery,” Melin-Rogovin said. Concordia Cemetery is a nonprofit that hopes the billboard will help finance future maintenance on the grounds. “But overall, I do hear residents’ concerns about the number of billboards and their impact on the town, and I do share the same concern about the government interest in finding a way to limit billboards going forward.”
According to the meeting agenda, the 180-day moratorium allows the village time to evaluate the number of current billboards in Forest Park and the regulatory framework to approve a billboard, preventing premature approvals that could conflict with forthcoming policy decisions.
In the agenda, Village Administrator Entler said she’d work with Steve Glinke, who’s head of the building department, and the new village planner — who was also approved at the May 26 council meeting — to “put in place a plan that protects our community character and ensures future zoning amendments are comprehensive and consistent with village goals.”
The Planning and Zoning Commission re-voted on the billboard last month — since the commission legally needed to vote on three separate items during a March meeting, but only voted on one. They recommended the village council do the same.
Just like the Planning and Zoning Commission, the village council approved the following: A conditional use permit that allows the billboard in the residentially zoned cemetery, since billboards are only allowed in industrial districts; A plat of subdivision makes it so a small portion on the west side of the cemetery is rezoned and not all of it; and a map amendment that reflects those changes.
New village planner
Also at the May 26 meeting, commissioners unanimously approved an agreement between the village and its new planner. Pete Losue of Teska Associates will provide professional planning and technical consulting services to the village, including support for planning initiatives involving zoning and long-term development.
According to Entler, she and Glinke interviewed four planning firms for the position.
“Engaging experienced planning consultants strengthens the village’s ability to make informed policy decisions and advance strategic planning objectives, and I strongly believe Pete and his colleagues will be able to provide support for current planning and zoning projects but also future comprehensive planning,” Entler said in the meeting agenda.
“I’ve heard great things about you and your firm from director Glinke and from the village administrator,” Commissioner Maria Maxham said to Losue at the meeting. “And director Glinke in particular is sometimes hard to impress, so the fact that he was really excited that you’re going to be working with us says a lot to me.”
Voogd asked whether zoning updates and comprehensive plan updates would be inside the scope of services Teska provides.
“I just wanted to go on the record and say that larger-scale projects, like updating a comp plan or large-scale zoning changes, would be a separate contract that is particularly outlining the scope of work on that project and deliverables and set costs, etc,” Voogd said.
“This agency clearly has the capabilities to do lots of different things that we need,” Melin-Rogovin agreed, “but we would have to execute separate agreements, which is great to have that capacity.”
The new planner was hired nearly two months after Forest Park’s last planner, Muse, quit working for the village. After 8 years under contract with the village, Muse cited the stall in multiple projects as the reason for its departure.
“Efforts including the comprehensive plan, zoning ordinance amendments, and the Altenheim redevelopment all stalled out, so there isn’t planning for us to do,” Courtney Kashima, founding principal at Muse, previously told the Review. “We are an urban planning firm and therefore want to help communities plan.”