Barrington Hills board debates horse boarding plan

Barrington Hills trustees sent a controversial horse boarding plan back to the village's zoning board Monday night for clarification on 11 points before they take a vote.

The board's action came after more than 2½ hours of public comment and board discussion before a large group of residents in the Countryside Elementary School gymnasium.

The horse boarding plan was written by Barry LeCompte, a Barrington Hills resident and the owner of a farm where horses are commercially boarded.

Critics of the plan, which would allow landowners to board three horses for each acre of property, said it did not receive the proper scrutiny of the zoning board.

Steve D'Amore, a Barrington Hills resident, said the zoning board had no justification to approve the plan. As he spoke, D'Amore held up a large poster he made with text from the zoning board's website about how the board must act in a careful, deliberate manner.

"'Hasty actions in many cases lead to future problems for the village'," D'Amore read off the poster. "The zoning board did not heed its own advice."

A large portion of the crowd applauded D'Amore and the other members of the public who spoke against the plan, such as Pamela Cools.

"I would like to remind everyone here that the next village election is 197 days away, so vote wisely tonight," Cools said. "If you don't rest assured, we will vote wisely in April."

After public comment, the board discussed the plan for an hour before sending it back to the zoning board for clarification.

Village President Martin McLaughlin said he wanted the board to provide a solution to the horse boarding problem that will stand the test of time.

"The last thing this issue needs to be is a political Ping-Pong ball," McLaughlin said. "If we do it the right way it will stay on the books for 50 years."

The trustees made a list of 11 issues for the zoning board to address in the plan. Among them were the number of horses a resident should be allowed to board, if the plan would open the door to nonresidents boarding horses in the village, if the plan would affect residential property taxes and if there could be a deadline for action so the process doesn't drag on for years.

The next regular meeting of the zoning board is in Oct. 20, but a special meeting could be set before then.