Aurora is looking at combining the Planning Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Creation of the Planning and Zoning Commission could streamline issues for both residents and developers, city officials said.
The City Council Rules, Administration and Procedures Committee recently unanimously recommended the combination, as well as changing the membership a bit to include one more Aurora area school district.
Ed Sieben, city planning and zoning director, said that since 2015, both boards have had overlapping membership. That year, the City Council approved making the seven at-large members of the Planning Commission – which has 13 total members – also be the seven members of the Zoning Board of Appeals.
“Therefore the membership does overlap,” Sieben said. “There is redundancy of review. Combining them would band together meeting efficiency for citizens and the development community, without lessening review.”
The Planning Commission meets regularly, at least once a month, but the Zoning Board meets on demand. Neither board has met since the lockdown began for the coronavirus pandemic.
The Planning Commission has seven at-large members, with the other six members representing the East and West school districts, Indian Prairie School District 204, Aurora Township, the Fox Valley Park District and the Fox Metro Water Reclamation District.
The committee recommended adding Oswego School District 308 to the Planning Commission, taking away one of the at-large members.
Ald. Edward Bugg, 9th Ward, pointed out that 95% of his ward, which is in the southeast corner of Aurora mostly in Will County, is in School District 308. That means the 9th Ward has been largely unrepresented on the Planning Commission, Bugg said.
“I think it’s good to have all entities represented,” he said.
Ald. Carl Franco, the committee chairman, said it “makes sense to include them.”
The question of the merger and membership change will go to the full City Council for discussion.
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