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2008-04-16 - Plan Commission - Minutes Board or Commission: ❑ Plan Commission Document Type: 0 A e g nda 0 Minutes Meeting ate: 04/16/2008 Type of Meeting: ❑ Regular Meeting REGULAR MEETING BUFFALO GROVE PLAN COMMISSION April 16, 2008 Affinity Healthcare, Lots 95-99 of the Corporate Grove (west of 1500 Busch Parkway)—Preliminary Plan for a proposed medical office building in the Industrial District —Workshop #2 Chairman Ottenheimer called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. in the Village Council Chambers, Buffalo Grove Municipal Building, 50 Raupp Boulevard, Buffalo Grove, Illinois. Commissioners present: Chairman Ottenheimer Mr. Smith Ms. Bocek Mr. Khan Mr. Teplinsky Mr. Stark Mr. Cohn Mr. Weinstein Commissioners absent: Ms. Myer Also present: Dr. Susan Nelson, Affinity Healthcare Mr. Mark Tritschler, McShane Construction Mr. Ronald Plonka, Ives/Ryan Group, Inc. Mr. Jerremy Foss, Manhard Consulting Mr. Michael Hartke, Affinity Healthcare Ms. Renee Solomon, ECD Company Mr. William Brimm, Village Manager Mr. Robert Pfeil, Village Planner APPROVAL OF MINUTES Moved by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Weinstein to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of March 28, 2008. All Commissioners were in favor of the motion and the motion passed unanimously with Chairman Ottenheimer abstaining. COMMITTEE AND LIAISON REPORTS Commissioner Weinstein attended the Village Board meeting on April 7, 2008 and stated there was nothing to report to the Commission. AFFINITY HEALTHCARE, LOTS 95-99 OF THE CORPORATE GROVE (WEST OF 1500 BUSCH PARKWAY) — PRELIMINARY PLAN FOR A PROPOSED MEDICAL OFFICE BUILDING IN THE INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT—WORKSHOP#2 Dr. Susan Nelson stated one of the issues of concern to the Commission and the Village Board was the access road to the property to the north. She noted they now have an agreement between all three parties involved in that process and they are taking responsibility for that. There will be no additional cost for that project by the Village. Mr. Mark Tritschler of McShane Construction reviewed the changes made since the last meeting. The access road will now serve all three properties as well as a 30 foot utility easement which is on this property for utilities that will serve the Land & Lakes development. Another issue brought up last time was additional landscaped islands in front of the building and a walkway through those. They have now added additional islands in a walkway through the parking lot. They also added additional islands to facilitate larger trees on the side of the building. He did note they were at the proper counting count originally but with these changes they are 11 parking stalls short and will require a variance. He stated the retaining wall that was added is only 3 feet in height and made out of a landscape material. Mr. Tritschler stated the front elevation has been cleaned up and taken out the island that was inappropriately placed there. The landscaping now matches what is on the landscaping plans to give the right size and location of everything. He noted they have added landscaping around the corner with additional trees. Mr. Tritschler reviewed the west side of the facility where they have added more pop in the middle. It gives them more glass and breaks up the elevation even more. It also gives them an opportunity for a door on the east side if they need it in the future. Mr. Tritschler noted the only place for EFIS on the building is at the cornice. They added more glass and more movement in and out with the precast and glass. There is a section at the high portion of the building which is where the cornice is and where the standard building is. At this point the building itself is acting as a roof screen (parapet) which will screen all roof top equipment. The roof will be a white fully adhered TPO for good reflective value. Mr. Tritschler stated they enlarged the sign which will have a metal top precast with Affinity's name. Mr. Tritschler stated their lighting plan meets the requirements of the code. The type of lighting to be used is a 25 foot pole, single header, two headed fixture. He noted in the center are double headed poles with single headed poles on the perimeter. Mr. Tritschler reviewed the color samples to be used for the building. The clear anodized metal is for the window frames. All of the metal is their sunscreen, fascia and canopies. Mr. Jerremy Foss of Manhard Consulting reviewed engineering plans. He stated all drainage is coming from the east flowing to the west to the detention pond. Detention has already been accommodated for this site. They have continued that drainage to the detention pond following Village code. The retaining wall has been added to accommodate compensatory storage because of the flood plain elevation which has changed since it was originally done. Mr. Foss stated they will be working with the other property owner to address some of the grading issues they have. Mr. Foss stated utilities are available to the site. They have existing water main connections at Busch Parkway and existing sanitary sewer service at Busch Parkway and they are extending the sewer north to the north property line as well as the water main for future expansion. The storm sewer drains the parking lot to the existing detention pond. Mr. Ron Plonka of the Ives/Ryan Group reviewed the landscape plan noting the basic structure of the plan is the same as the one previously presented. He noted they saved a group of existing trees along Busch Parkway on both sides of the entry. They screened the parking in addition to that and as you drive up the main aisle they have upsized all the trees in front of the building to 3 '/2-4 inch trees. All the interior islands are landscaped with shrubs, perennials, grasses and trees. They made a minor change on the building landscape for plantings on the bumpouts. This was to accentuate the bumpout and the other reason there is glass down to ground level and now they will not have to be mowing up to that lawn area. Mr. Plonka stated the biggest change to the plan is the retaining wall which they want to soften and bring into scale. They propose a wet basin prairie or detention basin mix so no mowing will be needed. It will contain taller plant material once it starts to mature and will help soften the wall. There is some space on top of the wall along the parking to fit some ornamental grasses in to help soften the fronts of the cars as seen from Busch Parkway. At the corner there is also some room for ornamental grasses, evergreen trees and some shrubs to help hide the proposed transformer and trash enclosure. Commissioner Khan noted the elevation from 642 to the top of the wall is 646.5 which makes the wall 4 '/z feet deep. Mr. Tritschler stated that is correct and the 3 feet is the high water level. Commissioner Khan noted that anytime a wall goes higher than 4 feet he gets nervous and asks the developer to consider putting some kind of a railing at least on the side where there is parking. This would ensure no cars go sliding into the detention pond. In addition he usually likes to see a structural engineer" sign off on the wall. Mr. Tritschler stated they will be happy to do that. Commissioner Khan noted the plan for water has been extended from Busch Parkway going north toward the Land & Lakes property with a stub there for future connection but he does not see the water main having been looped around the building and he is concerned that if there is a water main break just east of the access to the site, there would be no water available for a 60,000 square foot building. He is asking them to consider bringing the water down south and loop it back to Busch Parkway. Mr. Foss noted they can look at that. Commissioner Khan noted the detention pond is not all contained on this parcel. He asked who owns the adjacent parcel and what arrangements have been made. Mr. Foss stated he believes there is an easement that splits the lots and that is the agreement between the two properties. Mr. Tritschler noted that when the park was set up they have common area easements that are set for all the ponds and detention. Commissioner Bocek asked if there was a possibility of relocating some of the good quality trees that will need to be removed. Mr. Plonka stated that was a possibility and he could look into that. There is one tree at the southwest corner of the building that he has already proposed be transplanted. Commissioner Bocek stated there seems to be quite a difference between the rendering and the actual samples. The rendering gives a lot of contrast between the grays but the actual samples appear a very cold gray. How much flexibility is there in tweaking some of the outside finishes as far as color. Mr. Tritschler stated that when you do a rendering it is very hard to put colors in. They are going for a tint in the precast with a sandblasted finish so they get the aggregate exposed. Commissioner Bocek stated she feels they can perhaps do a bit better in the contrast or it will be too monochromatic. She noted they have the glass metal and the precast and then the gray. If some slight color variation was used it would be warmer. Commissioner Bocek stated if the stain was one version of gray and the metal canopies were perhaps slightly different in color value it would help. Mr. Tritschler noted they have the medallions and sunscreens there to do that. They can additional colors by adding a darker metal possibly. Commissioner Teplinsky noted there will be a need for a variance in the number of required parking spaces. Mr. Tritschler stated yes due to the additional landscaped islands and walkways. Commissioner Teplinsky asked for a reason that this project will be able to handle the parking demand with fewer spaces than required under the ordinance. Mr. Michael Hartke of Affinity Healthcare stated the parking for a medical office building is 5 per 1,000. With this size facility and based on their records they see no issue. They went through this with Affinity at their existing locations and they have the flexibility. They do not want to be underparked and are comfortable with their decision. Commissioner Teplinsky cautioned them to consider winters when spaces are taken up with snow removal and urged them to give it more thought as to adequacy. Commissioner Stark asked if there has been any thought to energy efficiency (LEED certification) for this building. Mr. Tritschler stated the proposed building will have significantly higher insulating values than what is required by code. The precast is an R-12 and the inside will be an R-11 for a total of R-23 where code is R-10. The roof will have an R value of 20 and a typical building has it at 14.7. They are using gas heat on the rooftop even with electric air conditioning. The thermostats are all tied together for setback at night and other times. Commissioner Cohn inquired if the review should include the property at 1500 Busch Parkway. Chairman Ottenheimer noted that ECD commented at the previous workshop that they have no plans to redevelop the 1500 Busch Parkway building, and when they are ready to develop the parcel, they will be asked to integrate their plans to be compatible with the Affinity building and site plan. Ms. Renee Solomon of ECD Company stated they are interested at some point in going forward with retail/commercial development on the property but they do not know when that will be. They need to wait until market conditions are such that it becomes an advisable development for them. At such time they would be very interested in having a coordinated architectural and landscaping plan. She stressed they want to do something that will have a nice appearance on Milwaukee Avenue along Busch Parkway that will fit in well with the other development. Specifically, however, if they were to go forward, there would be some re-zoning involved because now the area is zoned industrial versus the use they anticipate going forward with in the future. Mr. William Brimm, Village Manager, stated the points addressed by Ms. Solomon addressed some of the concerns the Board had raised. The direction of the Board is to review the Affinity petition and plan with the standard Plan Commission process. ECD is on record as to their intent for the 1500 parcel, and the Village Board is satisfied that ECD will cooperate and support coordinated planning and development for the properties in this area. The Plan Commission consensus was that the Affinity petition should proceed to a public hearing. Chairman Ottenheimer noted the following items should be addressed for the public hearing: 1. Preservation and relocation of larger trees 1. Consider modifying the proposed colors for some of the exterior building materials 1. Consider a safety barrier railing along the edge of the parking lot near the retaining wall for the stormwater pond, and provide looping for the water main Chairman Ottenheimer noted that while the Commission discourages variations of the zoning standards, this is a situation where a variation should be considered if additional landscaping in the parking lot creates a small deficiency in the number of off—street parking spaces. It is a tradeoff, and if the developer is satisfied there will be no issue with the loss of 13 parking spaces, it appears the Commission's preference is to keep the additional landscaped islands as proposed on the revised plan. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT—None FUTURE AGENDA SCHEDULE Mr. Pfeil said the next meeting is scheduled for May 7, 2008. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS—None STAFF REPORT—None NEW BUSINESS—None ADJOURNMENT Moved by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Khan and carried unanimously to adjourn. Chairman Ottenheimer adjourned the meeting at 8:18 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Fay Rubin, Recording Secretary APPROVED BY: LESTER OTTENHEIMER, Chair