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2016-07-13 - Planning and Zoning Commission - Minutes07/13/2016 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION OF THE VILLAGE OF BUFFALO GROVE HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 50 RAUPP BOULEVARD, BUFFALO GROVE, ILLINOIS ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2016 Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 7:30 PM by Commissioner Eric Smith Public Hearings/Items For Consideration 1. (ID # 1625) Consider Approval of a Preliminary Plan, Plat of Subdivision and Variations for a New 40,437 Square Foot Industrial Building at 875 Busch Parkway (Trustee Weidenfeld) Jeff Jacob (Civil Engineer), Jeff Sode (Representative from Thermflo), Cameron Treffry, and Craig Denegar were sworn in. (Commissioner Moodhe arrived at this time.) Craig Denegar from ThermFlo said that they were excited to be here and introduced the team. Jeff Sode said that ThermFlo would be the primary owner of the property. Zonatherm would be a secondary owner. He gave backgrounds on both companies. Mr. Denegar said that the minor variations were needed due to parking stall dimensions. They were requesting 18-foot stall length (instead of 18.5 feet). They were also requesting a 36-foot driveway width instead of the 35-foot as standard. The reason for the parking stall variation was to ensure that there would be sufficient amount of parking spaces needed while abiding by the setbacks. The driveway width variation would allow for a safer turning radius for the trucks coming into the facility. The parking plight was because ThermFlo parking capacity was larger due to training services offered at the facility. The driveway width allowed for safer turning lanes for the truck without impacting oncoming traffic. Mr. Denegar did not feel that the parking space and driveway width would alter the character of the neighborhood as this was a fairly common dimension. Cameron Treffry went through the site circulation; the trucking would be coming in on the west side of the site. There was an employee patio, and the tallest point of the building would be a fin panel of 32-feet. The entryway was 27-feet and parts of the building went down to 25 feet. There was also a dumpster enclosure (in pre-cast concrete). He reviewed the image of the main entrance of the building. He also reviewed the insulation that met energy code and reviewed the materials of the panels. He reviewed the different facades and elevations of the building. Jeff Jacobs said that this site was 4.3 acres, and about 53 percent of the property drained to the north, and the rest drained to the southeast corner. There was a reinforced 07/13/2016 concrete pipe to the north, and a swale to the southeast. He reviewed where the water main and sanitary services came to the site. Commissioner Cesario asked Staff about ongoing activity about the recommendations. Mr. Stilling said that the apron and parking length/driveway width were being looked at for amendments to the code; these variations were requested at Staff’s recommendation. Commissioner Cesario asked about vehicle access; Mr. Denegar said that the truck entrance and the other access point were both available. There was brief discussion regarding the parking with variation being sufficient. Commissioner Goldspiel asked about the “X” on the plan. Mr. Jacobs said that this would be trees removed from the site. Commissioner Goldspiel asked what types of trees were being removed. Mr. Stilling said that the ash trees were being removed, and the Village landscaper was supportive of the plan. Commissioner Goldspiel asked about what a trailer truck needed to turn and how this compared to what was on the plan. Mr. Stilling said that the additional median added an obstacle but he had not seen a template for this. Commissioner Goldspiel asked about painted lines being required as this would prevent traffic from meandering. Mr. Stilling said that this could be addressed with the code amendment. There was some discussion regarding space to turn. Commissioner Khan asked about stormwater management on the site and asked if this size building was anticipated when the stormwater management was installed. Mr. Jacobs said that the plan proposed was under the impervious coverage ratio that was originally predicted. Commissioner Moodhe asked about the wider driveways and was glad to see this. Commissioner Weinstein asked about the updated plans needed. Mr. Denegar said that the plans would be updated by early next week. He explained that the change was due to the Association needs and requirements. There was some discussion regarding the plan including the construction entrance. Commissioner Weinstein asked about ThermFlo taking control of the water main easement. The petitioner was aware that the water main ran through the property; the agreement with the Village was that if this needed to be accessed, ThermFlo would be responsible for the above-ground restorations. Chairman Smith entered the staff report from Ms. Woods as Exhibit One. There being no further comments or questions from anyone else present, Chairman Smith closed the public hearing at 8:01pm. RESULT: RECOMMENDATION TO APPROVE [UNANIMOUS] Next: 7/18/2016 7:30 PM AYES: Smith, Moodhe, Cesario, Cohn, Goldspiel, Khan, Weinstein, Au ABSENT: Scott Lesser Regular Meeting Other Matters for Discussion 07/13/2016 1. Workshop- Proposed Woodman’s Development on the Berenesa Plaza Property (Trustee Berman) Mr. Stilling introduced the developer for Woodman’s. He reviewed the site and said that multiple inquiries and proposals had come to the Village. Staff was confident in the project moving forward as the development was anchored by the grocery store and gas station. The Village Board had provided preliminary feedback, and Staff wanted to get preliminary comments from the Commission as the plans were being changed. Gary Fox said that he was the architecture designer for the Woodman’s project. This would be Store 17 and would be over 240,000 square feet. He reviewed the dimensions of the plan - including the gas station across the street. There would be brick and pre-caste features on the facades as well as canopies. The gas station would be a duplicate of the larger building but would be real block and brick; the tones would be the same. There would be a membrane highly- insulated roof. Designs were in process, and plans were sent to IDOT. They wanted to start construction next Spring if possible; however, this would depend on the timing of IDOT approval. Lake County was not anticipated to take long to approve as the county had been supportive. Mr. Stilling said that based on preliminary plans, just about all parking would be outside of the flood plain; however, engineering was still in process. Commissioner Cesario asked if this was intended to be open 24 hours. Mr. Fox said it would but was not sure about the gas station; the lube center and car wash would not be 24 hours. Commissioner Cesario asked about parcel pickup. Mr. Fox said that this was the traditional out front parcel pickup, but there would be a separate area anticipated for online pickup. Commissioner Cesario said that this was well off the road from Deerfield and made sense to have a higher elevation; he was not concerned about this. Mr. Stilling said that the east elevation where the Woodman’s sign was planned could be broken up if desired. He also noted the picture of the latest Woodman’s store in Wisconsin. Commissioner Cesario asked about how this would interact with the development to the south. Mr. Stilling said that there was an annexation agreement with the development to the south, and Staff was looking for mutual cross -access. Commissioner Goldspiel asked about full access off of Deerfield with a proposed signal. Mr. Fox said that initial reports did not indicate a problem with this. Commissioner Goldspiel asked if any others were full access; Mr. Fox said that there was also a full access to the rear of the store; other accesses were right- in/right-out. Commissioner Goldspiel said that the rear perspective was very long and visible; to the west was open space as this was a retention area. He had hoped that the elevation might be able to be broken up; it was noted that this was being worked on in the revisions. Commissioner Goldspiel asked for confirmation that there was not a flood plain issue; Mr. Stilling said that there was still a flood plain, but very few (if any) parking spaces would be in the flood plain. Commissioner Goldspiel asked about the cross-hatched marking for carts. It was confirmed that this was a walkway for carts, and there was a brief discussion regarding how grocery pick-up would work. Commissioner Goldspiel asked where the pickup was and if stacking space was required for this. Mr. Fox said that there were three lanes for pickup, so there could be up to nine cars under the canopy with possibly another nine available for stacking. Mr. Stilling said that 07/13/2016 the drive aisles were also very wide which would allow for vehicles to get around any stacking. Commissioner Goldspiel asked about handicapped parking; Mr. Fox showed where these would be and noted that there were no curbs to allow for handicap access and carts. Commissioner Au asked about the parking spaces facing the other way; Mr. Fox said that this developed from the store in Kenosha. They were told that this allowed for a landscape buffer and easier access; the plan had been successful so it was incorporated into future plans. Commissioner Au asked about Deerfield Road getting backed up and asked if this would help or hurt traffic. Mr. Stilling said that this was one of the worst intersections in Lake County; the improvements planned included dual left-turn lanes to help alleviate bottlenecks. There were also plans for widening and median work to avoid left turns out. Commissioner Khan said that he travelled on I-94, and he asked how the store size in Kenosha compared to this one. Mr. Fox said that Kenosha’s was 250,000 square feet; the proposed site would be slightly smaller. Commissioner Khan asked how this compared to Costco; Mr. Stilling said that a typical Costco was approximately 130,000 square feet. Mr. Fox explained that the Woodman’s model was based on each store also being a warehouse; there was no distribution center. Commissioner Khan asked if this was a membership type store; Mr. Fox said no that this was not membership and was not a bulk store. He noted that Woodman’s did not accept credit cards and was a debit and cash only business. Commissioner Khan asked about the proposed traffic signal on Deerfield - and there was a note that this would be constructed by others. Mr. Stilling said that this note was not for the Village but rather for design responsibility. Commissioner Khan asked how confident the petitioner was, when the final plans were approved, that IDOT and Lake County Highway would not disrupt this. Louis Schreiber (Shore Development) said that the preliminary design to IDOT was for a larger vehicle capacity. He said that confidence was high with the lower traffic count of the Woodman’s plan. Commissioner Weinstein said that on the north side there was a note about landscaping; there did not seem to be any on south side. He was in favor of putting in more setback and landscaping if there was parking capacity to do so. He also asked about gas service on both sides; Mr. Fox said that one station was unattended and the other was attended with a lube service and wash. Commissioner Weinstein wanted to be mindful about the car wash backing up to a residential area, knowing the distance and noise effects. Commissioner Weinstein also asked if this was consistent with all or most recent Woodman’s stores. Mr. Fox said that this was consistent with almost all of the stores; Woodman’s was working on getting all stores to reflect this model. Commissioner Weinstein asked about the signage; 26-feet by 15.5-feet was the biggest sign proposed. Mr. Stilling said that the Village had received 60 sign variances over the past few years, so the Village Board was looking to review the code. There was some discussion regarding the ratio to the building size and the number of signs. Commissioner Moodhe asked if the light setup on Deerfield would be similar to the Garden Fresh set-up. Mr. Monaco agreed that this would be timed with the main light on Milwaukee and Deerfield. Commissioner Moodhe said that he felt that the parking layouts seemed safer; Mr. Fox agreed that there were not cars coming down aisles and turning in front of the store. Commissioner Moodhe said 07/13/2016 that he anticipated a sign issue particularly as this was competing with businesses up and down a major road. He also said that he did not notice a snow removal plan; Mr. Fox said that this would generally be pushed to the outside limits for the parking lot. If it was too much, the snow would likely be moved off property; Mr. Fox said that employee parking would be along Deerfield Road. Commissioner Moodhe said that the gas storage tanks were situated on the edge close to the lake; he was concerned about that. Mr. Fox said that they could look at moving this if it was a concern. Commissioner Cohn asked what was going on in the southeast corner by Riverwoods. Mr. Stilling said that nothing was on the corner piece; to the east of that, a storage facility was being constructed. Riverwoods owned the parcel and was marketing it for commercial, so it would probably become a small commercial area. Commissioner Cohn said that he shared concerns about the proximity of the storage tanks to the surface water; he also said that for cars coming out and going east - there would be gas stations on both sides of the road. He was not sure if that much fuel was needed; Mr. Fox said that lines had gotten long at other stores with only one fuel station due in part to competitive pricing. Mr. Stilling said that this could end up being one of the highest grossing gas stations in the Midwest. However, he was sensitive to how this looked and could try to help soften it. Commissioner Cohn asked for a possible drawing or rendering of what this would look like from the east. Commissioner Weinstein asked if the gas, lube, and car wash was 24 hours. Mr. Fox said no, this was attended and probably closing at 9pm. Mr. Stilling said that this could be stipulated in the plan because Bucky’s was open until 10pm. Commissioner Goldspiel asked about sidewalks on Milwaukee Avenue and Deerfield as he noted that there was bus service in the area. Commissioner Goldspiel said that this could be warehousing for other Woodman’s stores since each store warehoused for other stores; he asked how tractor trailers would access the warehouse portion of the building. Mr. Fox said that if trucks were coming from Kenosha, they would likely be coming down Milwaukee. From the north, they could access on the northerly drive; there were also truck turnarounds. From the south, they would turn left onto Deerfield and come into the store entrance or go up to the gas entrance. Commissioner Goldspiel asked if this was the 66-foot radius circle; Mr. Fox confirmed this. Commissioner Goldspiel was concerned about how this would work for trucks coming from the south. Mr. Fox said that this was not preferred and hoped to have a better access off Milwaukee by the gas station. There was some discussion regarding the exits. Commissioner Goldspiel asked about the compactors; Mr. Fox said that these were closed compactors with room for additional trucks to pass by. Commissioner Goldspiel asked if this was truly an unattended gas station; Mr. Fox said that yes and that there were emergency shut offs if needed. Mr. Stilling said that a final revision would come back with a public hearing around September. Chairman Smith asked if the surrounding stores would be part of this. Mr. Stilling said that it would for a full review. Mr. Schre iber said that there was a plan on the southeast corner was well. Retailers were interested again, and he was expecting six or seven quick service restaurants and stores throughout the center. They were in talks with a sit-down restaurant as well as a financial institution. Mr. Schreiber said that he would address the landscaping plans and concerns on the proposal. Mr. Stilling said that he expected this to be 07/13/2016 high quality like their other properties. Mr. Schreiber said, regarding the office component, he was expecting the Shorewood Development group to use the office space above. Commissioner Cohn asked if there had been feedback from the community. Mr. Stilling said that there had been a lot of feedback. Ms. Woods said that she had fielded numerous calls on this, and they had all been positive. Mr. Stilling said that notices had not gone out, but they had not heard from any neighboring properties yet. Commissioner Cohn asked if there were any other unattended gas stations in Buffalo Grove. Mr. Stilling did not believe so. Commissioner Cohn wanted to make sure that this was safe. Mr. Stilling said that they would talk to the petitioner about how to get signage and knowledge to the patrons of these stations. There was brief discussion regarding a callbox. There was brief discussion regarding the stores on the preliminary plan for the southeast corner. Mr. Schreiber said that since then, a cross access was added to the PJ’s and McDonald’s property. This was in discussions but would be installed. Richard Silverman (Potbelly) said that he was in favor of this development. He urged the council to continue to push the cross-access as this was mutually beneficial. He said that he had some concern about signage as his property had been pushed to an 18-foot sign. Commissioner Goldspiel said that a gas pump had gotten stuck in an incident, and he wanted to reiterate the safety issues. Approval of Minutes 1. Planning and Zoning Commission - Regular Meeting - Jun 15, 2016 7:30 PM Commissioner Cesario moved to approve the meeting minutes from June 16, 2016. Commissioner Cohn seconded the motion. Commissioner Goldspiel said that on page 3D1 (first page of the minutes) it was noted that Commissioner Goldspiel referred to “payment widths”, and it should be “pavement widths”. RESULT: ACCEPTED [7 TO 0] AYES: Smith, Moodhe, Cesario, Cohn, Goldspiel, Khan, Weinstein ABSTAIN: Amy Au ABSENT: Scott Lesser Chairman's Report Chairman Smith welcomed Amy Au to the commission. Committee and Liaison Reports Commissioner Goldspield attended the June 20 Board meeting. There were a few items of possible interest - the Woodman’s matter brought forward and the appointment of planning and 07/13/2016 zoning commissioners. There had been a comment from Trustee Berman that the Planning & Zoning Commission should do their duty when the Woodman’s project came through as it was not a done deal. Staff Report/Future Agenda Schedule The meeting on July 20 would be cancelled. The next meeting was anticipated to be August 3. There might be some text amendments on the agenda. Public Comments and Questions None Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 PM Chris Stilling Director of Community Development APPROVED BY ME THIS 13th DAY OF July , 2016