Pair of Special Use Permits Approved
By Randy Pierce
Special use permits authorizing the location of residential mobile homes on Princeton Avenue in unincorporated Collinsville were approved by the Madison County Board at its meeting held on Wednesday, November 16.
The mobile homes are located in an R-4 residentially zoned district and require these permits in order to continue their existence at 3104 and 3116 Princeton Avenue in the Nameoki Township/State Park Place area of Collinsville.
Each approval, recommended unanimously by both the county’s zoning board of appeals and the county board’s building and zoning committee, has been granted for the specific use of the current occupants of those structures for a period of up to five years, but may be extended beyond that point if there is no change in occupancy.
At 3104 Princeton, Danielle Mitchell and her family have lived in the single-wide mobile home for about a year with her having told the zoning board the previous occupant was an older man who passed away, his special use permit having therefore expired.
Mitchell stated she had not been aware, until notified by the county, that she was required to procure a new special use permit so that she could reside there.
For the 3116 Princeton Avenue dwelling, Luis Campos and his family are the occupants who were represented at the zoning board hearing by his mother, Maria Luisa Magana Avalos who owns the property jointly along with Jose Raymundo Vega Berlanga. The Campos family, including Luis, his spouse, Alondra, and their son Jorge, has been living in this single-wide mobile home a little less than a year. Magana Avalos, like Mitchell, told the zoning board she was unaware of the need for the special use permit.
In the case of both situations, in keeping with zoning board operating policies, neighbors around each of the properties were notified of the special use permit hearings and there was confirmation that no pending violation citations existed.
Over the past 15 years, the zoning board has received over 300 requests for special use permits for mobile homes, including both new placements and existing ones such as these with nearly all of them being approved.
In taking into account such requests, the zoning board considers factors such as the impact on traffic, streets, adjacent properties, public utilities and schools, along with numerous other conditions including the character of the neighborhood where the sites are located.
