Wilt letter: B-3 overlay committee should stick to northern IL

On Oct. 24, 2011, County Council Chairwoman Kathy Sistare appointed Councilmen Larry McCullough and Larry Honeycutt and Councilwoman Charlene McGriff to a committee to look into reworking the 88 permitted uses in zoning classification B-3 and applying the revised categories to the northern Panhandle (Indian Land) area.
After meeting several times in secret, the committee did come up with a means of subdividing the B-3 classification into smaller classifications. A Freedom of Information request opened the meetings up to the public at the last meeting, where it became clear that rather than applying the new classifications to the northern Panhandle (Indian Land) area, the committee was turning to consider the zoning of the southern Panhandle (Van Wyck) area, a topic beyond its charter.
This committee is currently composed of the three council members named above, together with Chris Karres, county director of planning; Penelope Karagounis, county planner; Keith Tunnell, president of the Lancaster County County Economic Development Corp.; and an additional friend of McCullough’s from the Indian Land portion of the Panhandle. There is not a single individual on this committee who lives in the southern Panhandle. Prior to the Freedom of Information request, individuals from the southern Panhandle were not even allowed to attend the meetings.
This group is called the B-3 Overlay Committee, and it has plenty to do to apply the new B-3 classifications to the northern Panhandle (Indian Land) area. It has no business at all getting involved in rezoning the southern Panhandle (Van Wyck) area, which is almost entirely residential.
If the zoning of the southern Panhandle’s is to be considered, which is not really necessary at the moment. a new committee composed of residents of the area should be formed to do the considering. What is happening is a little too similar to the aristocracy getting together to divide up the property of the peasants for my taste.
J.R. Wilt
Van Wyck