What Does The Public Health, Solid Waste and Zoning Do?

The Public Health, Solid Waste and Zoning committee's job is to oversee all matters pertaining to county planning, zoning and subdivision, (but not related to highways, roads and bridges) and work with the Zoning Office and the Sangamon County Regional Planning Commission on these land-use matters.   The Committee also has jurisdiction over public health within the county including animal control.  Recently, the Committee also took  on additional oversight of Solid Waste Management, such as land-fills and hazardous waste disposal.

When someone wants to use their land for a particular purpose other than its current designated use they have to get it zoned for that purpose.  Say you bought some farm land and wanted to build several houses on it, or maybe open a bait store.  Depending on how intense your development of that land will be, you would have to apply to the zoning office to have it zoned for that purpose.  The Committee would review that process.

Often, the Committee looks a zoning policy to determine if the use of the land makes sense from a growth perspective, especially if there's something new on the horizon, like wind farms.  The Committee then works with Regional Planning to help developers and builders follow the plan of how land should be used in the County.  For example, you may not want a bean-canning operation right next to a residential subdivision.

There are many zoning classifications, but mainly you have: Agriculture, Residential,
Business, and Industrial.  Each has it's own restrictions and permitted activities (uses).

In the area of Public Health and Safety, the Committee works with the Health Department in overseeing its budget and hiring process.  Again, where policy issues are involved, the Committee provides input to the Health Department Director.

During my previous time on the Board, we were instrumental in helping the Health Department consolidate its locations into the renovated "Cub Foods" building at 2833 South Grand Avenue East, Springfield.  This is now the location for all the Public Health Department Offices.


The Public Health Department does MANY things, too numerous to detail for this single blog post.    From inspecting restaurants and water-wells to giving flu shots, to tracking serious illnesses in the County. So for now I'll cover that another time in more detail.  But here's their site and their office hours below.
(217) 535-3100
Mon & Thr:  8 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.;
Tues, Wed, & Fri:  8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Until next time,

That's my view from the County!
tim






Meeting Dates: The committee meets on the third Thursday of each month at 6:15 p.m. in Room 201.