MARSHALL, Ill. (WTWO/WAWV)– When Aman Morgan first read about an ordinance being considered by the Marshall City Council, he was confused.
“I just, I don’t understand it,” he said. “I don’t see where the benefit is for it, where I’m at.”
Morgan is one of hundreds of property owners located just outside of the city limits who would be affected. The proposed ordinance would allow the city to extend it’s zoning rules to land up to a half mile outside the city’s limits, without annexing it. Illinois state law allows for municipalities to extend their zoning rules to land up to 1.5 miles outside its limits.
Morgan said he doesn’t think it’s fair that he has to follow their laws while not having a vote.
“It basically makes me subject to a lot of their rules but I don’t get any benefits, you know?” Morgan said. “I won’t get a tie on to any city utilities for it, I won’t get the benefit of the city police, I won’t get a vote in the city elections, but yet I’m subject to their rules.”
Mayor John Hasten said he’s sympathetic to those concerns. He said the city’s main priority is being able to have a say on businesses that will be directly outside their limits.
“The idea is, we want to prevent nuisances from adhering to the edge of the city. We think it’s for the general welfare of our public,” Hasten said. “We think it’s something that can benefit the people in the city of Marshall.”
Hasten referenced a situation that took place about 25 years ago, when the city spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to get an adult bookstore moved, as it was just outside city property.
“We think it’s for the benefit of all the citizens in Marshall, and for those surrounding the edge. I do understand the argument of, ‘We don’t get to vote for you, you can’t control us,’ I understand that, but I think the needs of the greater whole outweigh that part of it,” he said.
Hasten said existing businesses will be grandfathered in and will not be affected by the proposal.
“We want to protect those people and their occupations that are already there,” he said. “It’s the people wanting to come in and put in something that would be a detriment to the community.”
For example, a farmer like Morgan will have their land considered to be an agriculture zone, and he will not have to go through the city to continue his current operations.
Morgan said he still had concerns on what the process would be to expand what he does on his property. He recently invested in two grain bins, and hopes to add more in the coming years.
“I’m assuming everything I want to build from now on, I would actually have to go through the city and get a building permit for it,” Morgan said. “What happens, if I can’t expand to my operation I already got going, and I want to add another grain bin, what happens if they tell me no?”
Hasten said he was unclear of how expansion would work, but he believed those existing businesses should be allowed to expand as they see fit.
“That’s something I’m going to have to talk to the attorney about,” he said. “Expansion, in my opinion, if you have a business and you want to expand, you should be allowed to expand your business that’s already there.”
He added another reason they wanted to expand their zoning limits was to help accommodate businesses that may come in the future.
“We need the ability to plan our infrastructure to make sure we have the appropriate utilities in the right place so that we set things up for them,” he said. “We know where the general business area is going to be, that kind of thing is important for us too.”
A public hearing will be held with the Marshall City Council on Monday, Oct. 24th at 5:30 local time. Hasten said the city will look to vote on the ordinance at the council meeting held after that hearing, or possibly at the next one.
