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1976-09-15 - Plan Commission - Minutes REGULAR MEETING BUFFALO GROVE PLAN COMMISSION Elston Builders, Phoenix, Grand Spaulding September 15, 1976 Chairman Carl Genrich called the meeting to order at 8:15 p.m. in the Municipal Building, 50 Raupp Boulevard, Buffalo Grove, Illinois. Commissioners Present: Chairman Genrich Mr. Mendenhall Mr. Harris Mr. Keister Mr. Goldspiel Mr. Jacobs Mr. Kandel Commissioners Absent: Mr. Shields Mr. Kuenz Also Present: Mr. Thomas Strey, Koenig and Strey Mr. Ronald Dahlquist, Dahlquist and Associates Mr. Weldon H. Cook, Elston Builders Mr. William Cook, Elston Builders Mr. Edward Koenig, Koenig and Stray Mr. Ken Rodeck, Phoenix Development Mr. Robert Bogart, Trustee Mr. John Marienthal, Trustee Mr. Carl Rapp, Acting Village Engineer Mr. Chuck McCoy, Director of Public Works Mr. William Whited, Administrative Assistant Approval of Minutes Commissioner Keister moved that the minutes from the Regular Meeting of September 1, 1976, be approved subject to changes or corrections. Commissioner Kandel seconded the motion. The motion carried. There were no changes or corrections. Elston Builders Shopping Center Mr. Stray stated that he was one of the principles in the firm of Koenig and Stray, a real estate company operating primarily on the north side of Chicago. He introduced Mr. Koenig, Mr. William Cook, Mr. Weldon Cook and Mr. Ron Dahlquist. He added that Mr. George Anderson from George Anderson 1 and Associates would be doing the engineering on the project. Mr. Stray stated that Koenig and Strey is a residential and commercial real estate brokerage. They also have Koenig and Stray investment Properties, Inc., a leasing, management and development arm of the business. There is also Koenig and Strey Securities which deals in 1 Plan Commission Page 2 September 15, 1976 limited partnership. This property being discussed tonight is a limited partnership. Koenig and Strey Investment Properties, Inc., will be developing the property. Mr. Stray added that the shopping center does not have a name as yet. They have been calling it the Elston Builders Shopping Center. Mr. Strey presented a color rendering of the project and also a colored copy of the site plan which had been distributed earlier- to members of the Plan Commission (Exhibit 915-1)• A professional traffic appraisal report (Exhibit 915-2) and fact sheet were also distributed. Mr. Stray stated that they do not build strip shopping centers. They are building a specific shopping area for a specific class of tenant. The shopping center is under 20,000 square feet. They have a commitment for two of the units, one of which will be occupied by Koenig and Stray. The shopping center is of French Country architecture. It is made up of two separate buildings with a total of 19,864 square feet. Mr. Stray stated that they have tried to diversify the size of the units. They have also recessed the doors so there is not a row of glass. There are brick pillars which will also break up the row of glass. There is full-length glass in all of the shops. All of the sidewalks will be in exposed aggregate and interspersed with paving bricks. The windows will have wood frames instead of anodized aluminum. The frames will be painted in light bluish-gray. The cedar shake roof will be off-steel gray. The brick will be painted white and interspersed with flagstone throughout. Under the overhang will be neon lights which will be hidden by a mesh so the tubes will not be visible. There will be formal planting areas between the front of the units and the curb. They have put in four bay windows. Also, there is a fountain in the middle with plantings around it. The project will be extensively land- scaped and will have parking for 76 cars. Commissioner Mendenhall asked what the west side of the long building will look like. Mr. Strey replied that there will be a buffer zone of landscaping. The sidewalk will wrap around the north end of the building and the glass will come around the building so the real.estate office will have glass on all three sides. The west side of the building will also be white brick. They would like to find a white face brick to match the front. If they could do this, it would not have to be painted every couple of years like the front. Commissioner Mendenhall asked if they had given any thought to eliminating the parking in the front (north) of the real estate offices. Mr. Strey stated that this parking is mainly for the sales people and their customers. They were thinking of the convenience. Commissioner Mendenhall asked if it would be possible for them to open up the west side and share the parking with Poppin Fresh. Mr. Strey stated that they would be willing to talk about this. Plan Commission Page 3 September 15, 1976 Commissioner Kandel asked how the stores in the building on the west would be serviced. There is no service road, just sidewalks. Mr. Strey stated that this is why they put in sidewalks. There will not be any delivery by trucks, just hand delivery. Commissioner Kandel stated that they will have a problem with the neighbor because refuse and delivery trucks will use the neighbor's drive. Mr. Strey stated that it is a matter of educating the people. He added that they had planned on having professional offices in this area. Commissioner Kandel asked if it wouldn't be better to have an office building. Mr. Strey stated that office buildings are a bad investment today and it would be impossible to get a mortgage on one. Commissioner Kandel asked what type of stores they expect to have in the center. Mr. Strey replied that they would like a jeweler, custom wallpaper, photographer, travel agency, a good women's sport shop, unisex barber, custom draperies, lighting fixtures, office supplies, Butcher Block, dentist, doctor, etc. He added that they would like a five-year lease but will have a minimum of three. They will furnish the lighting for the ceilings, concrete floors and dry wall. The tenant will have to spend a considerable amount of money before he opens his door for business. He further stated that they would like to have a uniform sign policy on the order of Lieberman's. Commissioner Jacobs asked if they had a specific type of lighting in mind for the parking area. Mr. Stray stated that they would not like to have lighting in the parking area. They have to meet the street light requirement at the entrance and this plus the light from over the sidewalks will be tremendous. They hope this would be enough light for the parking area. Commissioner Mendenhall questioned the necessity of the 3 foot buffer strip on the west. After considerable discussion, it was left as shown on the plan. Mr. Bogart asked if they had considered a two-story building. Mr. Strey replied that they had considered it but it wouldn't work. 4* office building today is a ♦ery risky thing. Mr. Rapp stated that the following are problems that will have to be resolved through the engineering reviews 1. Parking cannot be allowed directly in front of the building. There has to be an open fire lane. 2. Sidewalks will be required across Dundee Road and along Old Buffalo Grove Road. 3. There will have to be some definite: changes in the parking lot dimensions. The 20' off-set for two-lane traffic makes an impossible turning radius and there should not be parking at the end of a sidewalk (at the north end). These changes will modify the parking. Mr. Rapp stated that he would recommend diagonal parking. Commissioner Harris stated that they will not meet the requirements with diagonal parking. Mr. Whited stated that with different used the requirement will change. Plan Commission Page 4 September 15, 1976 Commissioner Kandel stated that his main objection is the protrusion of Building A. He asked if it would be possible to make the center U—shaped. Mr. Stray stated that it would not be good from a retail standpoint. Commissioner Harris asked how they will handle trash. Mr. Stray stated that they can't specifically answer this yet. There is a solution because there are other projects like this. Some study will have to be done on this point. There was a discussion between Commissioner Harris and Mr. Whited regarding parking requirements and whether parking for employees is mentioned in the ordinance. Mr. Whited will check into this. Commissioner Harris stated that he cannot picture a US delivery man walking down the sidewalk in back to deliver a package. He asked how they will get stock into stores 2, 3, and 4. Mr. Strey stated that an alternative would be to go through the front. There are shopping centers that do this. He added that economically they cannot cut down on store space for a service drive. Commissioner Goldspiel asked if there has been some preliminary discussion. "a1/4"°e'n"' Te�cwater problem. Mr. Stray replied that it has been discussed 1010o0(P many times and he believes they have almost reached a conclusion on what is to be done. Chairman Genrich asked if the resident on the south side of the center will be screened from the center regardless of the slope of the land. Mr. Dahlquist stated that the land slopes quite a bit as it goes south but they will be bringing in quite a bit of fill. Chairman Genrich suggested that they leave the 12' buffer area the way it is and not fill it in all the way to the property line. Chairman Genrich asked where the project's curb cut was in relation to Bonanza's curb cut. Mr. Dahlquist replied that he has no answer to that yet. Chairman Genrich asked that the following points be considered: 1. He would like the developer to check with Poppin Fresh to see if there might be any opportunity for cooperation in terms of parking, appearance, service drives, etc. 2. The developer, his engineer should meet with the Village Staff in terms of %heir parking suggestions, their -comments about the fire lane, diagonal parking and the widening of the 25' access. 3. Add the required sidewalk. 4. Resolve the matter of the loading area and define it better. This includes not only the problems of trucks and trash but also how the rear of the center will be constructed and how it will relate to the building to the south. �� i� - -- Plan Commission Page 5 September 15, 1976 5. Provide a drainage and retention plan. 6. The Staff will review with the police whether there are any problems. 7. The Staff will look into the zoning ordinance as it relates to parking requirements for employees. Phoenix Mr. Rodeck stated that he was present tonight to see if a Public Hearing could be scheduled on this project and when. Chairman Genrich stated that the developer has been informed that the Plan Commission is interested in him .providing park land or recreational consideration and there has been no feedback from him on that. Commissioner Mendenhall asked if the Park District has stated whether they want land or cash funds. Chairman Genrich replied that no formal request has been made of them but they would like to have it. In response to Commissioner Kandel, Mr. McCoy stated that this is a PUD development so it does not have to meet the width requirements on the streets. Commissioner Harris asked if the developer has talked with Surety regarding the width' of tit street. Mr. Rodeck stated that they have talked with them but the problem is that the property to the east is already planned, and they would have to juggle some lots around. Commissioner Harris stated that he would like to have a definite statement on this before the Public Hearing. After further discussion the Public Hearing was-:scheduled for October 20 with a Workshop Meeting on September 29. Chairman Genrich asked that the following be donsiliered -before the .Public Hearing: 1. Provide an engineering statement on the area shown. 2. What are they willing to do about providing recreation in some way? 3. Respond to p any other problems that the Staff identifies. Prior to the meeting on the 29th, Mr. Rodeck stated that the developer and his engineer will meet with the Staff. \./ Chairman's Report Chairman Genrich reported on the Village Board meeting he had attended on Monday night and indicated what happened in terms of the Long Grove Agreement and the proposed motion on the Village Center. He expressed his concern that perhaps the Plan Commission could do a better job of communicating with the Board although the communication has improved over the last several months. He wondered if the Plan Commission Plan Commission Page 6 September 15, 1976 assignmentsthe we ekly were picking up their to attend d Village Board meetings and also expressed concern that maybe the Plan Commission's motions to the Board should be more detailed so they understand the logic or reasons behind them. Discussion followed and no action was taken. Chairman Genrich reported that he had some meetings with the Staff and also a meeting including Mr. Fabish relative to the Zale project. One of the reasons for the meeting was that there were a number of problems and he did not feel the developer's second presentation had improved over what was first presented. He reviewed this with the Staff and as a result some suggestions were made and it looks as if we will have a better plan. Commissioners Harris and Goldspiel expressed their dissatisfaction with the way Chairman Genrich handled this. Chairman Genrich indicated that he was sorry they felt this way as he had gotten some feelings from Mr. Zale in the Plan Commission meetings and had some indications from the Village Board that there might be one or two key issues that would have to be met head-on in terms of street width and the improvements on the two bordering streets if the plan was to be approved. He felt it was more important to clear these issues up from the standpoint of the Village Board and the developer and move the project along rather than risk losing the project through inadequate communications. Grand Spaulding Dodge Chairman Genrich and Commissioner Mendenhall signed the Final Plat for Grand Spaulding Dodge. Adjournment • The motion was made and seconded that-:the meeting be adjourned. The meeting adjourned at 10:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, r L nda Isonhart Recording Secretary APPROVED: Z0,1 Carl enrich, Chairman