Kendall County committee postpones plans for Boulder Hill informational meeting

YORKVILLE – The Kendall County planning, building and zoning committee's plan to host an informational meeting in Boulder Hill has been postponed, according to county officials.

Kendall County Board member Matt Prochaska, who chairs the committee, said during a Wednesday, Sept. 9 meeting some logistical issues came up as county officials attempted to schedule the session. For example, he said one potential location for the meeting in the unincorporated subdivision between Oswego and Montgomery had quoted the county $2,145 for cleaning costs for the location.

"I don't think we're going to be doing that anytime soon," Prochaska said.

County Board and committee member Matt Kellogg said he agreed that the county can't justify the cleaning expenditure right now.

"We could do an outdoor meeting somewhere in Boulder Hill some summer when we can not have to pay $2,000 to clean a park bench," Kellogg said.

Prochaska said the original impetus for county zoning officials to hold one of their public meetings in Boulder Hill was to go over a few of the zoning related ordinances that they've had for the subdivision, since the county receives the bulk of its complaints from Boulder Hill. He said he also wanted to give residents an easier opportunity to voice any ideas or other zoning-related concerns without having residents have to drive to Yorkville for a meeting.

"But the big issue right now is finding an adequate space to have the meeting," Prochaska said.

Prochaska said the Boulder Hill meeting location possibility has been discussed by county officials since before the COVID-19 pandemic started earlier this year.

Zoning officials said during the Wednesday meeting the Boulder Hill meeting, when scheduled, is intended to better explain to residents which parts of Boulder Hill would be under which local government jurisdiction, further emphasize county zoning policies that allow residents to call in complaints anonymously and to introduce the county's newer code enforcement officer under friendlier circumstances. Overall, they said, it was meant to be a public relations move on the county's part to improve outreach for a large part of the county that has been neglected in the past.

Committee members said they never had any complaints from Boulder Hill residents about zoning ordinances and processes themselves, but the complaints were more pointed at how long it would take for some issues to be addressed.

Kellogg brought up an example of a home in Boulder Hill that had burned up due to a house fire and how it took two years for the house to be torn down due to some bureaucratic zoning issues.

"That pushed me to get some of these changes ... better streamlined," Kellogg said.