1972-012ORDINANCE NO. 72 -12
AN ORDINANCE TO ESTABLISH AN APPEARANCE CODE OF THE
CODE OF THE VILLAGE OF BUFFALO GROVE, ILLINOIS.
WHEREAS, the President and Board of Trustees of the Village
of Buffalo Grove having determined that it is in the best interests
of the said Village as more particularly hereinafter set forth,
and will promote the public health, safety and general welfare
of the residents of said Village, and will protect and enhance the
property values in said Village, to adopt an Appearance Code of
said Village,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE PRESIDENT AND BOARD OF
TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF BUFFALO GROVE, COOK AND LAKE COUNTIES,
ILLINOIS:
SECTION 1. Title. This Ordinance, including any
regulation hereafter adopted, shall be hereafter know, cited
and referred to as the "Buffalo Grove Appearance Code."
SECTION 2. Intent and Purposes.
A. To promote the public health, safety, morals, comfort
and general welfare of.the citizens of said Village.
B. To enhance the values of property throughout the
said Village.
C. To protect and to stabilize the general appearance of
buildings, structures, landscaping and open areas, in
the multiple dwelling, business, commercial, planned
development, new subdivisions, public lands and indus-
trial zoning district of said Village.
D. To insure adequate light, air and privacy for property
in the multiple dwelling, business, commercial planned
development, new subdivisions, public lands and indus-
trial zoning district of the said Village.
E. To encourage and promote acceptability, attractiveness,
cohesiveness and compatibility of new buildings, devel-
opment, remodeling and additions so as to maintain and
improve the established standards of property values
within the multiple dwelling, business, commercial,
planned development, new subdivisions, public lands and
industrial zoning districts of the said Village.
SECTION 3. Appearance Commission - Creation and Term of
Office... "There is hereby created an Appearance Commission, to
consist of five members appointed by the Village President with the
approval of the Board of Trustees. The initial appointments of
members of the Commission shall be for the following respective terms:
two for one year, two for two years, one for three years. Thereafter
all appointments shall be for a term of three years.
SECTION 4. Qualification. All reasonable members shall be
residents of the Village and shall serve without compensation. All
efforts shall be made to have the membership consist of registered
architects, landscape architects, real estate appraisers and land
planners. If possible, one member shall be the owner or an officer
of a firm owning business, commercial or industrial property in the
Village.
In making appointments to the Commission, the President
shall seek to appoint as members persons who are recognized as
expert in matters of aesthetic judgement by virtue of training,
education and experience and possessing qualities of impartiality
and broad judgement. The members of the Commission shall, before
entering their official duties, severally take the oath of office
prescribed by law for Village officials. No member of the
Commission shall participate in discussions or vote on requests
of a Certificate of Appropriateness from any client he is serving
or from any business of which he is owner, or corporation officer
or employee.
SECTION 5. Chairman. The President, with the approval
of the Board of Trustees, shall appoint one of the members to
serve as Chairman. The Chairman shall have power to administer
oaths.
SECTION 6. Vacancies. Vacancies on said Commission
shall be filled for the unexpired term of the member whose place
has become vacant in the same manner in which original appointments
are required to be made.
SECTION 7. Meetings, Quorum, Records. Meetings of the
Appearance Commission shall be held at the call of the Chairman,
and shall be called whenever an application for a Certificate of
Appropriateness is submitted for consideration. Three members
shall constitute a quorum. The Chairman shall be entitled to
be counted in determining a quorum and to vote as a member.
All meetings shall be open to the public. The Commission shall
keep minutes of its proceedings and shall keep records of its
examinations and other official action. The Commission may adopt
its own rules of procedure not inconsistent with the Ordinance.
SECTION 8. Powers and Duties. The Appearance Commission
shall have the following powers and duties:
(a) To hold public hearings on and make recommendations
for an Appearance Plan as hereinafter provided.
(b) To consult with and cooperate with the Plan
Commission, other Village departments, and any
other municipal or governmental bodies on matters
affecting the appearance of the Village.
(c) To study exterior design drawings, landscape and
site plans and materials for any proposed public
works or public improvements and to make recommendations
to the Board of Trustees or Village Manager as to the
architectural or aesthetic aspects thereof.
(d) To hold hearings, when required, on the issuance of
Certificates of Appropriateness as provided in
Section 13 hereof, in connection with questions
pertaining to applications for building permits
and to issue or deny such Certificates pursuant to
the provisions of said Section 13 hereof.
SECTION 9. Appearance Plan. The Appearance Commission
shall, within six (6) months after their appointment, prepare
a proposed Appearance Plan to apply to the multiple family,
business, commercial, planned development, new subdivisions, public
lands and industrial zoning districts of the Village. Said Appearance
Plan shall be based on the intent and purposes of ordinance which said
plan shall be intended as the standards or guidelines for future
physical developments, in said zoning district, and should consider,
amongst other features:
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(a) The external architectural features (as herein
defined of proposed buildings and landscaping
and site planning thereof;
(b) Existing Village ordinance and as amended, as to,
but not limited to, zoning, building, subdivision,
trees and shrubs; provided, however, nothing in
said Appearance Plan shall conflict with, modify or
alter any provisions of the zoning, building or
subdivision ordinance.
SECTION 10. Public Hearing. After agreeing on a proposed
Appearance Plan, the Commission shall hold a public hearing thereon.
A copy of the plan shall be on file in the office of the Village
Clerk for public inspection. Notice of the public hearing shall be
published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in
Buffalo Grove not more than thirty (30) and not less than fifteen
(15) days before the hearing. Written notice shall also be mailed
(ordinary mail) to each property owner /occupant within a radius of
500 feet of property involved not more than thirty (30) and not less
than fifteen (15) days before the hearing. The hearing may be
adjourned from time to time. Within thirty (30) days after final
adjournment, the Commission shall recommend a final Appearance Plan
to the Board of Trustees.
SECTION 11. Adoption by Board of Trustees. The Board
of Trustees shall thereafter at a public meeting consider the pro-
posed Plan and if it so desires may adopt the same in whole or in
part, with or without change. The Appearance Plan, as adopted, shall
be by ordinance.
SECTION 12. Amendments. The Appearance Plan may be
amended, from time to time, by the Board of Trustees or by the
Board of Trustees after receiving a recommendation from the
Commission regarding a proposed amendment. The Commission can
make a recommendation only after holding a public hearing after
notice as set.forth in Section 10 hereof.
SECTION 13. Regulatory Powers of Commission of over
External Architectural Features of Buildinc
s and Structures.
(a) After adoption of a plan, no building or other permit,
otherwise required under the ordinance of the Village,
for the erection, construction, alteration or repair
of any building or structure in a multiple dwelling,
business, commercial, planned development, public
lands and industrial zoning districts shall be issued
by the Building Commissioner except upon the granting
of a Certificate of Appropriateness by the Appearance
Commission. The foregoing requirement shall not
preclude the issuance of a building permit without
such certificate if the Building Commissioner shall
determine that no external architectural feature as
defined in Section is involved in the work for
which the building permit is sought.
(b) Certificate of Appropriateness - Preliminary Consideration.
The Appearance Commission shall, at the written request
of a prospective applicant for a Certificate of Appro-
priateness, give consideration to preliminary exterior
drawings, sketches, landscape and site plans and materials
on a specific project before a formal application is filed,
and shall provide such advice, counsel, suggestions and
recommendations on matters pertaining to aesthetics as
they may deem necessary to guide said prospective applicant
in the development of a plan which would comply with the
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requirements and purposes of the Appearance Plan;
except that the Commission shall act in an advisory
capacity only, with regard to preliminary plans, and
shall provide consultation only on projects for which
preliminary drawings and materials are furnished by
said prospective applicant, and shall not participate
in the development of the basic concept, plans or
drawings. All hearings on preliminary plans are to
be public, and are to be held in accordance with the
provisions and requirements provided for in Section
j1'/ (Final Hearings). Upon finding the preliminary
exterior drawings, sketches, landscape and site plans
and materials are appropriate to, or compatible with,
the character of the immediate neighborhood and will
tend to effect the general purposes of the Appearance
Plan, the Commission will issue a Preliminary Approval.
Said approval will be irrevocable, and makes the
issuance of the Certificate of Appropriateness mandatory
upon application, unless the final presentation does
not comply in all respects with the preliminary pre-
sentation upon which the Preliminary Approval was based.
SECTION 14. Certificate of Appropriateness - Final Hearings.
Upon the filing of an application for building permit for which a
Certificate of Appropriateness is or may be required under Section
hereof, the Building Commissioner shall immediately transmit said
application to the Appearance Commission. The fact that an application
for a Certificate of Appropriateness has been filed shall not be cause
for the Building Commissioner to delay the review of plans relating to
the building and zoning aspects of the project, while said Application
is pending. The said Commission shall thereupon fix a reasonable time,
within fifteen (15) days, for a hearing and give a written five (5) day
notice thereof to the Applicant. Upon such hearing the Commission shall
consider the application for building permit and if necessary receive
additional evidence (such as exterior elevation renderings) from the
applicant or his agent or attorney and from Village personnel or other
persons as to whether the external architectural features of the pro-
posed building or structure comply with said Appearance Plan. All
testimony given at such hearing shall be under oath.
SECTION 15. Action of Appearance Commission. If preliminary
consideration has not been requested under the terms and provisions of
Section 13, prior to making its decision the Commission may make recom-
mendations to the applicant as to changes in the exterior drawings,
sketches, landscaping, site plans and materials which in the judgement
of '.the Commission would tend to effect the general purposes of the
Appearance Plan. The Commission shall make its decision within fifteen
(15) days after the hearing is closed and shall issue to the Building
Commissioner a Certificate of Appropriateness, unless the:- Commission
finds that the said plan does not conform to the said Appearance Plan
and that the proposed building or structure will be inappropriate to,
or incomparable with, the character of the immediate neighborhood and
cause substantial depreciation in property values. If preliminary
hearings have been held on the project for which application is being
made, and Preliminary Approval has been issued by the Commission as
provided in Section 13 (b), the Commission shall issue a Certificate
of Appropriateness immediately, provided that the final drawings,
plans and materials as presented comply in all respects with the
preliminary presentation upon which the Preliminary Approval was
based.
SECTION 16. Denial by Appearance Commission. The Commis-
sion shall not deny a Certificate of Appropriateness except upon the
concurring vote of three (3) members.
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SECTION 17. Approval by President and Board of Trustees.
The Appearance Commission is an advisory commission only. All
rulings of the Commission shall be submitted to the President
and Board of Trustees for final decision. The Commission shall
file a transcript of the proceedings along with its findings with
the President and Board on or before 15 days after it makes its
decision. The President and Board may overrule, approval, modify
or amend, wholly or in part, the Commission's findings, with or
without a hearing by a majority vote.
SECTION 18. Follow -up Building and Zoning Director.
Upon the granting of a Certificate of Appropriateness, the exterior
drawings, sketches, landscape and site plans, renderings and
materials upon which said Certificate was granted shall be
turned over to the Building Commissioner whose responsibility it
shall be to determine, from time to time as the project is in
progress and finally upon its completion, that there have been
no unauthorized deviations from the evidence upon which the granting
of the, Certificate of Appropriateness was originally based.
SECTION 19. Definitions. The term "external architectural
feature" is defined to mean the architectural style and general
arrangement of such portion of a building or structure as is
designed to be open to view from a public street, place, or way,
including the kind, color and texture of the building material of
such portion, and the types of windows, doors, lights, attached
or ground signs and other fixtures appurtenant to such portion.
SECTION 20. This Ordinance shall be in full force and
effect from and after its passage, approval and publication as
provided by law.
SECTION 21. If any section, or part of a section of this
Chapter is declared invalid or unconstitutional, it shall not be
held to invalidate or impair the validity, force or effect of any
section of this Chapter.
PASSED this day of , 1972.
AYES: NAYESV O ABSENT: d
ATTEST:
Clerk'
V
PUBLISHEDe�.. -s-, , 2.
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VILLAGE OF BUFFALO GROVE
ORDINANCE NO.
ADOPTED BY THE PRESIDENT
AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE
F BUFFALO GROVE
THIS_ DAY OF 197L.
Published in pamphlet form by authority'
of the President and Board of Trustees of
the Village of Buffalo Grove, Cook and Lake
Counties, Illinois, this day of
19 72,
village Clerk
e