1979-06-13 - Plan Commission - Minutes WORKSHOP MEETING
BUFFALO GROVE PLAN COMMISSION
JUNE 13, 1979
Chairman Shields called the meeting to order at 7:40 P.M. at the Municipal
building, 50 Raupp Boulevard.
Commissioners Present: Chairman Shields
Mr. Goldspiel
Mr. Glover
Mr. Shifrin
Mrs. Sheldon
Mr. Harris
Mr. Button
Commissioners Absent: Mr. Davis
Mr. Kelly
Also Present: Mr. Bill Sommer, Assistant Village Manager
Mr. John Marienthal, Trustee
Mrs. Bobbie O 'Reilly, Trustee
Mr. Elliott Hartstein, Trustee, arrived at 8:40
Mr. Bart Delaney, Planning Coordinator
Mr. Jim Truesdell, Staff Planner
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
Mr. Sommer stated there are three stages we plan to follow in reviewing the
Comprehensive Plan;
1. Look at the goals for development to see if they are still consistent
with our policies,
2. Land use analysis will be a comprehensive review of all existing land
uses,
3. Change in land use if analysis dictates this.
Mr. Sommer said he would like to schedule a Public Hearing on July 11 to go
over the Plan Commission's goals for the Comprehensive Plan. Since the land
analysis will probably take a couple of months, it is important that we keep
to a schedule.
Commissioner Goldspiel stated he feels this is an unrealistic schedule, and
that they would need two months before the Public Hearing; one to know where
we are and one to resolve the points that we raise in the first meeting, then
another meeting after the Public Hearing and then another meeting for the final
recommendation.
Mr. Sommer said he felt between now and July 11, at least two meeting can be
fit in and one more meeting after the Public Hearing.
Mr. Delaney stated the Public Hearing does not lock us into anything. It
brings the subject before the public, and there can be workshops after that.
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Workshop Meeting
June 13, 1979
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Commissioner Goldspiel stated that he felt after we get some space in the news-
paper - probably after the first Public Hearing - we should have another chance
for the public to be heard.
Commissioner Shifrin asked Mr. Sommer if we have to confront the problem of
the Fiore property. Mr. Sommer stated this Comprehensive Plan review is
looking at our Comprehensive Plan as it exists. If the Village Board chooses
to entertain an annexation petition for the Fiore property, there will be a
separate Comprehensive Plan done for that piece of property.
Commissioner Goldspiel stated that the first thing we should do is address the
�./ boundaries of our planning area, and if we are going to have little plots here
and there, we will be where we are now with a Master Plan that is not a Master
Plan. Mr. Sommer replied that we are setting up goals for development of the
Village and if a piece of property adjacent to the Village meets these goals
and wants to annex into the Village, why wouldn't the Village Board entertain
annexation of that property?
Commissioner Shifrin asked if the major objective is to promote industrial and
commercial use to widen our tax base, and we have this massive property with
which to do this, but we really don't have this property, then we have to look
at the plan with perspective to what we do have.
Commissioner Goldspiel agreed that you need this property on the plan in order
to see what mix you are ending up with.
Mr. Sommer stated that we are not looking at land use at this particular time.
What we are looking at in the goals and objectives is do we want more industry?
Chairman Shields stated that we should define what we mean by goals, and that
his understanding of goals is that they would be good whether we are 5,000
square miles or 50,000 square miles, and land use is entirely different.
Mr. Truesdell stated the goals and policies set the framework on everything
that comes after. They sat down and looked at the existing goals we have now
and identified any problems we might have. One problem was that the goals
didn't say too much and will have to be more specific. He said Mr. Delaney
put together a set of resolutions which will give a feel of the positions the
Village Board has taken since the original plan was adopted. He stated they
also tried to get together a good set of examples from other parts of the coun-
try. Following the goals section is the larger section of policies for devel-
opment. The purpose of the policies is to outline what steps the Village feels
it needs to take in order to reach the goals established in the first section.
This is broken down further into Village Government policy which establishes
what type of government the Village is working under and the type of leadership
the Village is striving to achieve. The second section is Housing Policy which
attempts to define what the Village should do to attain the goals of adequate
diverse housing. Next is the Commercial policies. The next section is Office
and Industrial policies. The bottom of page 5 is the Environmental policies,
which details what the Village should do to maximize the areas we have and
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Workshop Meeting
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spell out things we should do in order to protect environmentally sensitive
areas. The next section is Parks and Recreation. Page 7 is Transportation
policies dealing with how we would like to see traffic move through the
Village and also tries to deal with public transportation. Page 8 are the
Economic policies which try to establish a good economic base in the Village
and make sure the costs incurred can be met. The next section is Community
Services and then Public Utility policies.
Mr. Delaney stated that these resolutions are ones the Village has adopted
between the time of the 1970 plan and today.
Commissioner Goldspiel stated he would like to see more of a goal in public
transportation.
Chairman Shields stated he would like to discuss the Town Center Committee
and their plan review authority.
Mr. Sommer said they are working with our consultant in improving the B5
Ordinance, and one of the recommendations we have is to use the Business
District Development Commission as the plan review agent for the Town Center.
When the new B5 Ordinance is completed then the Business District Development
Committee will have to come before the Plan Commission for Public Hearings
and the whole planning process.
Commissioner Goldspiel stated he would like to register an extremely strong
protest to the concept of splitting plan review between the Plan Commission
and any other commission. We get into trouble when we do this. It under-
mines the planning process to split off that power.
Chairman Shields stated the Plan Commission would not be shut out because
there are two Plan Commission members who are members of this Commission.
Mr. Sommer said he felt Commissioner Goldspiel 's concern was addressed in the
ordinance that created the Committee. Plan Commissioners have two of the seats
on the Committee appointed each year by the Chairman of the Plan Commission.
The Committee has taken great care in getting personnel on the Committee who
have been involved for many years in the Village planning process. Another
safeguard is part of the B5 Ordinance we are proposing will be a general land
development plan as an exhibit of the B5 Ordinance so this body will have to
act on a general development plan for the site so when this Committee acts on
a project, they will have a standard that you set up.
Commissioner Sheldon suggested the meeting date for the Business District
Development Committee be included in the Plan Commission Agenda.
Commissioner Goldspiel said he could see the Village Board tending to ignore
the Plan Commission.
Chairman Shields stated that Mrs. Clayton had written him a letter addressing
this point because several Plan Commission members had spoken to her concern-
ing their feeling that the Committee would take over the job of the Plan
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Workshop Meeting
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Commission. She said that is not the intention of the Committee. They review
planning concepts on a pre-application basis and monitors activity on projects
but is not to get into planning review. These conferences always took place,
only they took place with the Village President, so instead of having one per-
son handling it, there will be two people which should be a step up from the
old process.
Commissioner Sheldon stated she did not see how one commission can do everything
effectively, but she stressed communication between the commissions to keep
everyone informed.
Commissioner Button asked if it was mandatory that two Commissioners attend
these Committee meetings, and if one member could not make the meeting, could
another member fill in. Mr. Sommer said there are two Commission members
appointed for a term of one year and they are the voting members. No one can
vote for them.
Commissioner Goldspiel suggested there be a time limit set on the Committee's
effectiveness. Mr. Sommer agreed.
Chairman Shields asked for a straw vote on how the Commissioners feel about
the separate review process. The vote was as follows:
Harris, Button, Sheldon, Shifrin, Glover - Yes
Goldspiel - No
The vote was 5 "Yes", and 1 "No".
Chairman Shields asked for a vote on the inclusion of the sunset clause or
limited power of the Business District Development Committee. The vote was
6 "Yes".
GENERAL DISCUSSION
Chairman Shields asked if there were any other matters to be discussed.
Commissioner Sheldon stated that a couple of weeks ago at the Village Board
meeting there was a discussion of the Happ Farm. She said she would like to
reiterate the policy that was established by the Plan Commission concerning
commercial development on Dundee Road. We have permitted a great deal of
commercial development and as a result we have created a traffic problem.
It has cost the Village a great deal of money to cope with this problem and
through the planning process, perhaps we can prevent future problems of this
nature. She stated she would like to see the Plan Commission adopt a policy
for the development along other roads in the Village, such as Highway 83 and
Lake-Cook Road.
Commissioner Harris stated that we should consider a review of our policy on
Dundee Road because there are two developments coming up, both of which have
asked for some commercial along Dundee Road.
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Workshop Meeting
June 13, 1979
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Mr. Sommer stated that when the Plan Commission reviews the goals on the Master
Plan, they could set a policy minimizing curb cuts.
{ Commissioner Shifrin made a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Goldspiel seconded
the motion. By voice vote the motion passed unanimously. The meeting was
adjourned at 9:00 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Astrid Hasley7
Recording Secretary
APPROVED:
Patrick Shields, Chairman
1
Buffalo Grove Plan Commission
Workshop Meeting
June 13, 1979