St. Charles weighs ending residency rule for plan commission

The days of St. Charles being a city split into east and west by a river are numbered, at least when it comes to making significant development plans.

Aldermen gave tentative approval Monday night to a change in city code that would allow Mayor Ray Rogina to appoint members to the city's plan commission without regard to where the appointees live. The commission serves as the volunteer review board for major development projects in the city, providing a first line of input on everything from the First Street redevelopment project to the large rental complex subdivisions recently approved by city officials.

City code calls for nine members to sit on the commission. No more than five of those members can come from either the east or west side of the city. Currently, the commission has five members from the west side and four from the east side. Rita Tungare, the city's director of economic development, joined Rogina in calling for an end to that rule.

"It is counterintuitive to the city's interests of bringing the community together and not using the river as a dividing line," Tungare told aldermen.

The plan is to keep some of the language about having a geographic balance on the plan commission. However that wording will only be a guideline, not a rule.

Alderman Rita Payleitner said the city council will continue to serve as a check against the plan commission developing a bias toward either side of the city, as it is only an advisory body and all appointments to the commission must be approved by the city council.

"If we don't agree in terms of the balance, we can say something," Payleitner said.

Rogina said the idea to change the city code comes from recent problems in filling vacancies on the commission. It's not uncommon for there to be highly qualified candidates, Rogina said, but those candidates are often put on a waitlist because of the geography requirement while the vacancy lingers. Rogina said geographical balance is important but not at the sacrifice of having the most qualified appointees on the commission.

"I know we've got an east side and a west side, but we are one community," Rogina said. "We need quality candidates for one of the most important, if not the most important, commissions we have.

The city council must take a final vote before the change takes effect.