After significant public input and in the midst of court action, the property owned by Bradley Thompson of Thompson Performance will be rezoned.
On Tuesday, September 8, 2009, the county board followed the recommendation of the Cook County Planning Commission by voting to rezone Thompson’s three Grand Marais lots on the south side of East Highway 61. The property will be changed from single family residential (R-1) to general commercial (GC).
According to Planning & Zoning Director Tim Nelson, the issue was twofold: The condition of the property needed to be addressed regardless of whether it was rezoned. Thompson repairs small engines in one of the buildings on his property, but he has also stored many unlicensed or unusable vehicles within sight of the highway.
County Attorney Tim Scannell stated that a zoning change would be consistent with historic use of the property.
Commissioner Jim Johnson said he was concerned that Thompson might not follow up his promise to clean up the property, although he added, “I’m willing to gamble on Brad because I know he has every intention of complying.”
Thompson said he could easily get rid of the vehicles, but losing the investment on the parts in those vehicles will be difficult for him. He has been in the process of taking parts out of them already and has removed many of the vehicles completely. He said he has a big incentive: he could get a year in jail and owe $4,000 for each day he was not in compliance with the court’s directive.
Commissioner Fritz Sobanja wondered how many cars Thompson could keep on his property. County ordinance does not say how many, Nelson replied, but for properties not zoned for junk or salvage yards it makes a distinction between vehicles that are inoperable or unlicensed and vehicles that are waiting at a business for repair.
Vehicles have not been a big part of his business, Thompson said. Most of them are part of his hobby of fixing them and then driving them around until they break down again.
The county board followed the Planning Commission’s recommendation to approve the rezoning request with four conditions: Vegetative screening will be encouraged, especially along the east and south sides of the property; junk vehicles will need to be removed by November 30; Thompson must comply with all general commercial zoning requirements; and the county board will write a letter to the Sixth District Court requesting that local government be allowed to resolve the issue outside the court system, although Attorney Scannell said the court system could deal with enforcement of the conditions.
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