Douglas County Plat and Planning Committee talks building permits
By Jim Allen
The Plat and Planning Committee met on March 5, 2021 at 9:00 with Chair Tom Hettinger, Dick Hein, and Jim Mikeworth present. Cindy Baer, Supervisor of Assessments was also present.
Baer’s report showed $875.00 building permits issued for the month. Three violations were cited for buildings that had not been permitted. Baer will be continuing work to remedy the violations. It was noted that permits were required not only for taxation purposes, but to ascertain whether a building would be in a flood plain or if it would violate current zoning.
As an example, one building that had no permit was being built in a flood plain. A notice of violation was given, and and an order to stop construction was given. The building will need to be moved or the floor raised so it is out of the flood plain. The builder had asked about the flood plain, however they built at the site even with this information. A permit will allow a builder to determine proper elevations and can prevent delays.
Discussion of building permits then moved to the disposal of waste from the dog kennels in the county. At present there are 25 kennels that are devoted to breeding puppies for sale. Of note among these there are 2 50’x100’ kennels with multiple levels of cages. This would equate to 10,000 square feet of floor space. This is one of 25 registered kennels. The number of unregistered kennels, if any, is not known. One example of numbers of breeding females indicated that there were 40 in one kennel. As previously mentioned, the waste from the kennels was a matter of discussion since they fall under Department of Agriculture.
It was noted that the inspector for Douglas and Moultrie Counties is Dr. Ballman who works for the Illinois Department of Agriculture. I hope to contact him in regard to the number of inspections performed in Douglas County, the last inspection of facilities, and the frequency as there seems to be concern regarding the kennels in the area.