ELGIN (Illinois) COURIER-NEWS

May 23, 2008

 

Kane weighs migrant camp rules

By STEVE LORD Staff Writer

GENEVA -- Not that it's a big issue in Kane County, but the county board wants better regulation over migrant labor camps.

The board's development committee this week looked at a potential change in the zoning ordinance for the definition of migrant labor camp building.

"It would give us better control," said Phil Bus, the county's development director. "It gives us better compliance with public health issues and the migrant labor camp code."

The contemplated change would match the county's definition of a migrant labor camp with what is in the state migrant labor code. It would define a labor camp as one or more buildings with 10 or more workers living in it, or four or more families.

Many other counties have larger, commercial agricultural facilities and farms with a lot of seasonal workers, Bus said. But there are at least two camps in Kane County that would come under the definition, both of them horticultural nurseries.

The current county regulations define a migrant camp as five unrelated persons in a building.