DIXON – The Lee County Zoning Board is concerned but trying to find a solution after discovering that an Amboy businessman has expanded his operations for years without the proper permits or zoning to do so.

Lee County Zoning Administrator Dee Duffy recently presented information to the board that Jerad Zellhofer, owner of Triple Z LLC and ZBest Enterprises at 1749 Winding Road, has 20,884 square feet of buildings on his property, but legal permits for only about half that space – 10,695 square feet.

Duffy went through two decades of records for the land, on which 14 structures and a house has been built since 1998.

Zellhofer started with a lawn and landscaping business and expanded to steel roofing and construction for agricultural buildings.

Duffy said there’s a consistent history of building without permits and operating outside of agricultural use into industrial use.

“I feel that clearly this is an industrial use of land and does not follow the comprehensive plan, which in this area is rural agricultural,” Duffy said.

The land is zoned agricultural with a special use for the lawn and landscaping business, and Zellhofer is asking the board to approve a special use to continue operating his construction and farm equipment business until they can be moved.

Duffy said the board should reject the proposed special use, and Zellhofer should be required to move his operations elsewhere.

Zellhofer said that he has paid property taxes on all of his buildings, including those built without permits, and he’s committed to working with the county on a solution.

“I’ve tried to cooperate every step of the way,” he said.

Zoning Board Chairman Bruce Forster said as a business owner, he’s offended that Zellhofer did not get the required building permits, and in any other county, he would be told to tear down those structures. With the construction company, clients also could be fined because he’s not in compliance.

Board member Glen Hughes said he thinks the permit issue is problematic but can be worked out.

“My bigger concern is we basically have a manufacturing operation, and we have more employees at this facility than allowed by ordinance,” Hughes said, adding that the special use would be inappropriate for that land.

Zellhofer said that he employs 12 to 20 full-time workers, and that he’s given thousands of dollars to support the school district and other organizations. He also said that he’s concerned about being able to afford his property tax payments if he has to shut down operations.

“You’ve put yourself between a rock and a hard place in that you’ve violated ordinances,” Hughes said.

The board told Zellhofer that he needs to consult with his lawyer and come up with proposals on how they can fix the issues within a reasonable timeline.

The goal would be to move operations to 1688 Mormon Road, former railroad land off of U.S. Route 52 southeast of Amboy, which is attached to 7.6 acres he already owns and for which he has a purchase agreement.

He approached the county 2 years ago to zone that land industrial, and was successful, and the zoning board gave a favorable recommendation Thursday for zoning the rest industrial.

The problem is that much of the land is too skinny to build on and meet setback requirements, and there are large slopes on both sides that make development difficult, Zellhofer said.

Hughes questioned the feasibility of that plan.

The board will continue discussions at its April 1 meeting.