New Social Sins Listed By The Vatican

Pollution is not just bad; it’s a sin, according to the Catholic Church.

The church has announced a new list of "social sins" to go along with the seven deadly sins that have been around for centuries. The new sins are a more modern concept of sinning created in the past 40 to 50 years. A Vatican official, who heads the office that issues decisions on matters of conscience, was asked by the Vatican newspaper what are the new sins. He cited creating poverty, excessive wealth, abusing drugs, polluting the environment, anonymous blogging and other social concerns. The church says that while sin used to concern the individual, today it has a social resonance due to globalization. Moral theologians stress that the Vatican official's comments broke no new ground on what constitutes a sin. Some catholic experts say the emphasis on the social sins could be a preview of issues Pope Benedict the Sixteenth will address during his visit to the united state next month.

Zoning change irks Catholic bookstore owner

From today's Kenosha News:

http://www.kenoshanews.com/article_comments/view_comments.php?articleNum=2668614

Pleasant Prairie move narrows future options for property

By Denise Lockwood PLEASANT PRAIRIE - The owner of a Catholic bookstore is upset because village officials want to change the zoning for his property. Wesley Ricchio, owner of Holy Family Catholic Bookstore, 9249 Old Green Bay Road, bought his property in 2002 in an area zoned to attract a variety of businesses. But in a 5-2 vote Monday, the Pleasant Prairie Plan Commission approved a proposal that would change Ricchio's zoning from one that allows a variety of businesses (B-2) to an institutional land use (I-1), which had recently been changed to also include religious book stores, medical clinics, banks, as well as institutional uses. John Braig and Donald L. Hackbarth cast the dissenting vote. If the Village Board approves the ordinance, it would bring the future use of the property in line with the village's comprehensive land use plan, which, per state law, has to be in place by 2010 and it would keep out any potential adult book stores.

But it would also restrict the types of businesses that could potentially move in if Ricchio were to sell. Even someone wanting to sell children's books need to get permission from the village to operate there. "The zoning change will have a negative impact on my property," he said. "The B-2 zoning offers more potential uses because it allows for more potential buyers." Some Plan Commission members had troubles with the decision, saying they "didn't feel right" about making the change, but staff lobbied for the change because the area would not be consistently zoned. Jan (sic) Werbie, the community development director for the village, said the property should have been included in an areawide rezoning, but it was an oversight that needed to be corrected. "We wanted to make sure that we were developing a certain type of character for this particular area of the community with respect to the other uses," she said. Werbie referred to the heavy residential area that surrounds the area, which did not want to see an adult bookstore going in, which would be an allowed use under the current zoning. She also told the Plan Commission that the land use plan changed because the village didn't want several large tracts of land serving as business districts that would be competing with one another. And that concerns Ricchio because the comprehensive land use plan in 2002 called for the area to be a business use." I understand their motive ... but my concern is that these land use plans keep changing," Ricchio said. "If they are so changeable, then what's to stop them from changing it nine years from now? "Ricchio lobbied to have the B-2 zoning when he purchased the property and even sunk $200,000 into the property between the land acquisition costs and updating the property at the request of village and state officials. Hackbarth asked if a business could move in that didn't fit the institutional use, if the zoning could be changed back to a business use. Werbie said staff would not recommend a zoning change. However, if a business similar to the Catholic bookstore would come forward, officials could evaluate that.

Your Comments

This proves it ... another GOOD reason for not living in PP.
hollydrMarch 11 - 02:04:01

Another example of Village is always right and you're wrong even when the Village changes their mind. Nobody has a backbone anymore and is willing to step out of their protective shell. Why not let him have his B2 with restrictions? Jean (not Jan) Werbie herself said that she can overrule and consider something else so why bother changing? I don't buy their reasoning. No exceptions? Anyone hear of a variance? The Village constantly allows variances from the procedures. This person followed the rules and then the Village changed them. This was the Village's mistake but they want a law abiding citizen who followed their rules to pay for it. Sound familiar? I'm sure this is a future lawsuit and you'll be seeing a lot more against the Village real soon.sov

"More Permanent Temporary cul-de-sac"

This was the phrase used by Community Development Director Jean Werbie when describing a change to the ordinance related to Temporary cul-de-sacs. Should we change permanent cul-de-sacs to Temporarily Permanent cul-de-sacs? Too funny.

Sheridan Road Closed at 91st Street

In case you weren't aware, Sheridan Road is closed due to high water at 91st Street next to the Drive in. Not sure what County is doing about it. Illinois usually scraps up ice and piles dirt along road to stop flooding. There always seems to be water along Sheridan Road in that area year round. Not sure what the problem is but traffic diversion for such a main highly travelled stretch of road is not good.

FYI--Remember in one of my recent blogs where I stated what would happen if Hwy 165 was shutdown? Emergency traffic would have to go all the way to 91st or Russell Road to get to most homes in Carol Beach in a timely manner. Here's a situation where I hope nothing happens on Hwy 165.

Scary--Snooping far too typical

Click here

Tobin Creek supposed third entrance from Mapquest

Village Board meeting

Some interesting discussion last night:

On the proposed variance for a cul-de-sac beyond current 800 foot limit; some thoughts and observations after Board tabled the measure for now:

• Citizen comments, especially Mike Wilkom(sp?) hit it right on the head. He and his wife own 8 plus acres and went to Village and reviewed the land use plans for The Orchard area before they purchased their land and built their home. Since the current rules only allow 800 foot cul-de-sac from main road, he and his wife thought at most there would be 8 homes of about 2 acres each (similar size to current properties in the area) because they would need other land to make a through, connecting road for two entrances. Now developer comes along and wants a variance so he can maximize the number of homes for one entrance (19 with 20 being max--Developer originally proposed 20 homes but had to give up some land for ponds). So Mr. and Mrs. Wilkom did the right thing, but if Village allows a variance, then their due diligence was wasted and the comments from Village staff that you should know what will happen with a property before you buy is now a questionable comment at best. The Village made this same comment during discussions about Bike Trail crossing to Prairie Trails West residents, but if a prospective homeowner went to the County, they would have found out the Village had no permit and would likely not receive one.
• Rick Renzuli (sp?) also spoke and had pictures of what he has had to deal with for last nine months while a new home was being built accross the street (28th Avenue) and was concerned how magnified this would be with a whole subdivision worth of construction traffic passing by his house; garbage, muddy road (he mentioned he has cleaned the road of dirt 22 times), cement trucks dumping their waste in drainage ditches...etc. (Pictures speak a thousand words and if you see someone doing something wrong, by all means get it on film. Village inspectors can't be everywhere). Rick proposed that a temporary road connection occur from Prairie Trails East to the Orchards through one of the cul-de-sac lots. Great idea since they already have to run sewer and water through same and would also make emergency access significantly shorter. One problem; The Orchard developers would have to work with PTE developer (sounds like this has already been a problem) and PTE has final plat approval and doesn't have to make any changes unless their permit expires (could sue if Village forces changes). Clyde Allen did the right thing by proposing a motion that would require a permanent connection occur instead of temporary road but he was quickly admonished by Mr. Pollocoff and his motion was not seconded and died (I think Clyde got off lightly considering the way Mr. Lauer and Mr. Tiahnybok were treated by Mr. Pollocoff and Mr. Kumorkiewicz in the past for similar issues). Clyde took it pretty well and it was nice to see some discussion about this issue by all members of the Board and staff.
• Monica Yuhas asked whether there were similar cul-de-sacs like the proposed one and both Jean Werbie and Mr. Pollocoff said many (greater than 40). What neither added was the streets they mentioned are mostly old streets that currently don't terminate in a cul-de-sac and most will eventually connect as through streets. How many times has this type of variance been granted where a permanent cul-de-sac was intended? And how many of the current streets will permanently terminate in a cul-de-sac? I'd like to see the answer to those questions before one claims 'many'. And, if there have been 'many' such grantings, then the whole idea of a variance is also questionable since these are supposed to be one time uses and not 'whenever we feel like it'. Mr. Braig, who is a current Plan Commissioner, was sitting in the audience shaking his head so one might think this variance idea isn't that great.
• Steve Kumorkiewicz asked about putting No Construction Traffic signage at 116th Street and 28th Avenue. When Addition 1 went into PTW area with similar signage, the trucks still rumbled down our street even though the road didn't go through. They had to back up and turn around by the pond and field where all the kids play and go back down the street to the required entrance (my wife videotaped a few times--scared the crap out of them!). Make the fine for violating an attention getter if you really want compliance.

Another question is what will happen during the proposed road improvements on 116th Street, slated for 2010 and 2011? What affect will this have on The Orchard and Prairie Trails East construction, along with the areas existing residents access to their homes (both 26th and 28th Avenues plus Tobin Woods), since nothing for The Orchard can happen until PTE has been started and the roads are in place? Is there a chance all this could be ongoing at same time? If so, it would put quite a strain on the one entrance from Russell Road for residents, trucks, busses,...etc. I also remember that when PTE proposed similar cul-de-sacs greater than allowed length years ago, Village said that it shouldn't happen (both Chief's didn't like the idea) and that's why they needed the Kenosha County Bike Trail road crossing. So I was fairly surprised to see no concerns raised from either Fire Chief or Police Chief since the proposed emergency Bike Trail crossing won't really help due to the current proposed road configuration to get to The Orchards as it is quite long and out-of-the-way with current approved final plat for PTE (down 39th Avenue to 122nd Street and all the way through and around pond in Prairie Trails West, across the bike trail--but first have to wait for emergency access only gate to open--East through PTE to near 26th Avenue, North on 26th, then over to 28th Avenue on 121st, up 28th Avenue to 120th Street and all the way to the end of 120th Street to the cul-de-sac) In addition, coming from 116th is a crapshoot at best with such a narrow road. But in the end, I'll bet developer will get his variance without a permanent road or even a temporary one based on past experince with issues raised by residents before Plan Commission and the Board.

Mr. Pollocoff presented about Snow removal and associated costs and where the Village currently is financially. See RAG's comments (click here) for more discussion or video (click here)/audio files (click here) when available. Just one clarification in Mr. Pollocoff's presentation, the symbol for Magnesium Chloride is MgCl2 (the two should be a subscript), not Mgcl (used to help salt melt ice and snow).

I had to leave after item D so can't say much about any of the other items, but I did here there was an issue with the Consent Agenda raised by Mr. Allen.