2007-12-05 - Plan Commission - Minutes Board or Commission: ❑ Plan Commission
Document Type: 0 A e
g nda 0 Minutes
Meeting ate: 12/05/2007
Type of Meeting: ❑ Regular Meeting
REGULAR MEETING
BUFFALO GROVE PLAN COMMISSION
Land & Lakes property, Milwaukee Avenue north of Busch Parkway:
Annexation with zoning in the Industrial District with a special use and consideration of
Preliminary Plan for the East Parcel, and annexation with zoning in the B-3 District and
consideration of a concept plan for the West Parcels —Workshop #1
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
Ms. Myer
Mr. Weinstein
Commissioners absent: Mr. Cohn
Also present: Mr. James Cowhey, Jr., Land and Lakes
Ms. Mary Margaret Cowhey, Land and Lakes
Mr. Bruce Knapp, Land and Lakes
Mr. James Putnam, Jacob & Hefner Associates
Mr. Matthew Norton, Holland& Knight
Ms. Jan Merl, STS
Mr. Christopher Groesbeck, VOA
Mr. William Brimm, Village Manager
Mr. Steve Trilling, Village Trustee
Mr. Robert Pfeil, Village Planner
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Moved by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Teplinsky to approve the minutes
of the public hearings of November 7, 2007. All Commissioners were in favor of the motion and
the motion passed unanimously.
Moved by Commissioner Teplinsky, seconded by Commissioner Weinstein to approve the
minutes of the regular meeting of November 7, 2007. All Commissioners were in favor of the
motion and the motion passed unanimously.
COMMITTEE AND LIAISON REPORTS
Commissioner Khan attended the Village Board meeting of November 19, 2007 where Land &
Lakes were the presenters concerning the proposed development of the parcels on Milwaukee
Avenue that will be discussed at this evening's workshop.
LAND&LAKES PROPERTY, MILWAUKEE AVENUE NORTH OF BUSCH PARKWAY —
ANNEXATION WITH ZONING IN THE INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT WITH A SPECIAL USE
AND CONSIDERATION OF PRELIMINARY PLAN FOR THE EAST PARCEL, AND
ANNEXATION WITH ZONING IN THE B-3 DISTRICT AND CONSIDERATION OF A
CONCEPT PLAN FOR THE WEST PARCELS—WORKSHOP#1
Mr. Jim Cowhey stated this parcel is on the west side of Milwaukee Avenue that has been in the
Cowhey family for over 40 years. It has had a number of different uses from a former
construction, demolition debris landfill to yardwaste compost transfer and now to its final
development stages with annexation into Buffalo Grove. The east parcels were parcels that were
originally just homes they acquired to move an operation to that side of the property.
Mr. Cowhey noted the property is north of Busch Parkway, south of Aptakisic and just south of
the City Park development. Both properties are on Milwaukee Avenue, with the large parcel on
the west side, comprised of about 17 acres in frontage and about 41 acres in the rear. The
property on the east side of Milwaukee Avenue is about 7.34 acres and they are here tonight
relative to a two-phased operation. The first thing they want to do is get the annexation and
zoning and the preliminary plan for the east side parcel so they can move an existing business
which is now located on the west to the east side of Milwaukee Avenue and then open up that
property for future development.
Mr. Cowhey noted the east side parcel is approximately 7.34 acres to be used for a new yard
waste for landscape waste transfer station. They are bringing in yard waste in, depositing it on
the asphalt pavement, reloading it into larger trucks and taking it off to one of their compost
facilities at other locations at both Lake, Cook and Will counties. They also sell landscape
materials such as mulches, rock, sand and nursery stock. He stated they have applied to the
Illinois EPA for a permit and have received that permit. They are now here for the annexation
and zoning which will allow them to transition the west parcel operation to the east and then
open this property for future development.
Mr. Cowhey stated they have hired VOA as their architectural and land planning firm. He
pointed out the 17 acre frontage which is virgin property and the back parcel encompasses 41
acres which includes the former landfill property. They have included uses of hotels, retail, and
restaurants on the 17 acres in the front. The back parcel consists of a lot of parking and a large
center of attraction called a piazza to pull this whole concept together. The second phase of this
development would be more retail buildings on the far back piece of that property.
Mr. Knapp stated Land and Lakes has been running multiple compost facilities for a very long
time. He reviewed the type of operation procedures they follow. You have private landscapers
and lawn maintenance companies hauling lawn clippings and brush. They bring the material into
the facility up to the scales where it is weighed. They are given a ticket from the clerk who
inspects the materials to make sure it is yard waste and then they bring the material around to be
dumped. There is an operator on the front end loader that picks up the material. Semis are
parked along the wall sitting on a scale which is then loaded to their maximum legal capacity
and the material is hauled off the site to one of their composting facilities. The reason they have
gone to a transfer station here versus active composting is because of how much the area here
has been built up. Any kind of odor became intolerable to the people who operate in this area.
He stated they have been operating a transfer station on the opposite side of the street for about
three years now and since they switched from active composting to the transfer station they have
had zero complaints about odors.
Mr. Knapp pointed out where they will be storing their landscape materials. Small landscapers
who drop off grass and leaves come over here to pick up landscape materials and then bring
them back over to the scale house, pay and exit the facility. He pointed out the entrance to the
facility where they believe IDOT is proposing the traffic signal.
Commissioner Khan asked if there would be two access drives off Milwaukee Avenue, one with
the signal and one without.
Mr. Knapp stated yes. He further noted the middle access is an existing curb cut and they
included it in the design. It is very possible and likely that IDOT will require that one to be
eliminated which is fine with them.
Commissioner Khan noted that his concern is the speed limit on Milwaukee at 45 mph and the
slow moving landscaping trucks with trailers in the back who wish to make left turns would not
be a good situation.
Mr. Knapp stated he agreed with that assessment.
Commissioner Teplinsky asked if there is a use contemplated or proposed for the rear portion of
the parcel which appears to be fairly dense with trees and abuts the Des Plaines River.
Mr. Knapp stated they are using the front portion of that where the trees do not exist as detention
for stormwater. The back portion they will leave wooded. There is a walking and bike path
along the river there and there will be a good screening of vegetation between them and the path.
Commissioner Stark asked if there would be big piles of compost left or is it taken away right
away.
Mr. Knapp noted their permit from IEPA requires the yard waste be transferred with 24 hours of
receipt so there will be piles overnight that will be transferred out first thing in the morning but
that is the maximum amount allowed.
Commissioner Stark noted this new proposed facility appears about eight times smaller than
what they have now.
Mr. Knapp stated in reality has an area set aside as the transfer area and it is actually about the
same size.
Chairman Ottenheimer asked if the current transfer station is a 24 hour facility.
Mr. Knapp stated no as none of them are 24 hour facilities.
Chairman Ottenheimer asked what happens on weekends.
Mr. Knapp stated they are open Saturdays and Saturday night it must all be gone.
Chairman Ottenheimer asked if there have been any citations, complaints, inquiries, etc. on the
current facility from the Illinois EPA.
Mr. Knapp stated no.
Commissioner Khan asked if the facility is gated.
Mr. Knapp stated yes and pointed to the gates and assured all that access would be restricted.
Commissioner Teplinsky asked what exists just south of the parcel.
Mr. Knapp stated that area is a private business which is a roll off garbage collection dumpster
type of operation.
Commissioner Teplinsky asked if there any residents just to the south and east of that.
Mr. Putnam stated there are two homes, one immediately south of this parcel which is the roll off
operation of basic construction type containers and that house is used apparently as some type of
guard house. The same situation exists on the parcel immediately south of that parcel which is
another company called the Mulch Center which has another home. The workers who work at
that facility live in that facility.
Mr. James Putnam stated they have been in conversation with Mr. Kuenkler and worked with
him and can iron out any issues he had. He has approved the site plan for the detention in the
back as well as the flood plain, compensatory storage and everything associated with it. They
have preliminarily submitted other plan on the west side to Mr. Kuenkler and he has approved
the layout for detention and everything else.
Mr. Matt Norton stated the Village currently does not have in its zoning code a landscape
transfer station as a permitted or special use so they would need a text amendment to the zoning
code. He stated that Village staff would agree that the Industrial District is probably the
appropriate place for a special use for a landscape waste transfer station. They have included in
the application a proposed text amendment. They have used as a basis for the text amendment
the language that already exists in the Illinois Environment Protection Act that defines some of
the terms. The text amendment would include a couple of components such as to simply add
landscape waste transfer station as a special use in the Industrial District. Then they would want
to define some of the terms so they would add a couple of definitions. The definition of
landscape waste is based on the definition of that term under the Illinois Environmental
Protection Act: any accumulation of grass or shrubbery, cuttings, leaves, tree limbs or other
materials accumulated as the result of lawn, shrubbery, vines or trees. Finally a definition of
landscape waste transfer station which is a site or facility that accepts landscape waste for
temporary storage or consolidation and further transfers to another site facility or vehicle.
Commissioner Weinstein asked if the word "temporary" itself was defined.
Mr. Norton stated it is not.
Chairman Ottenheimer asked if that would be something that would need to be put into the
Village" text amendment.
Mr. Norton stated it could be done as a part of this definition or include it as a condition to the
special use permit.
Chairman Ottenheimer noted it may be better as a condition to the special use permit.
Mr. Putnam stated they have a meeting set up with IDOT to discuss the traffic signal and
location with the north access point which was predetermined by IDOT. That also ties with the
west parcel. They will find out more details at their next meeting with IDOT on how to proceed.
Commissioner Khan stated he is looking at the geometrics of the intersection where the signal
will go and asked if there will be an exclusive right turn lane for the east parcel and a left for the
west parcel and two through lanes. If that is the case, he asked if more right-of-way may be
required then for the widening of Milwaukee Avenue.
Mr. Putnam stated that is something they will definitely bring up with IDOT and see what they
will need.
Commissioner Weinstein asked if they anticipate any increased use of the facility with the move
to the west side.
Mr. Cowhey stated they are basically looking at the same operation and volume of business.
Mr. Cowhey stated the new proposed Lake County Forest Preserve trail is depicted on the very
east portion of their east parcel. They have sold off to them at their request approximately just
under an acre of property for the portion of land that abuts their property. He noted he does not
think they have all the pieces as yet to put that together, although it is their intent to connect that
from the north and south along the river. He noted they are looking at an opportunity to connect
their east parcel to that trail. It would certainly make sense although they are not as yet sure
about the IDOT traffic signal. It would seem to make sense that if they could connect where the
traffic signal connects, it would be ideal but they are still going through discussions with IDOT.
However, it is their intent if they can put the traffic signal at the north property line of the east
side which is just about equal distance in the middle of the west parcel.
Commissioner Bocek noted that property with frontage along Milwaukee Avenue has potential
for commercial development, so why is the transfer facility being proposed for the East Parcel
instead of at the rear of the West Parcels, where it would not be highly visible.
Mr. Cowhey stated they have tried to come up with the best plan possible. One of things they
tried to do was to maximize the use of the West Parcels. The west area is better suited for
commercial development than the East Parcel. He noted that the East Parcel is encumbered
because of the flood plain/flood way issues, and relatively little land is available for buildings. In
the overall planning for the west and east properties, it makes the most sense to relocate the
landscape waste transfer operation to the east side of Milwaukee Avenue.
Commissioner Bocek asked why the two areas being shown aren't mover farther back so that it
is more presentable from Milwaukee Avenue.
Mr. Putnam noted that nothing that would block the flow of water east of the flood plain line can
be built.
Mr. Cowhey reviewed the west parcel and noted the elevation changes which are approximately
15 to 20 feet in difference between the frontage 17 acres and the rear parcel. He stated there are
two reasons for the phasing. First it is logical and easy to do the frontage 17 acres. It is virgin
land right on Milwaukee Avenue and lends itself easily to starting this development. The rear
parcel has one area of concern which is the former landfill which is in post closure care which is
a 15 year period of time the property is monitored and maintained. They have been doing this
now for about 12 '/z years and they have about 2 '/z years left on that time period. This does not
prevent them from fully developing the area but it does prevent them from entirely developing it.
They can put parking on the back which they are showing and they can do the piazza and a
number of things in and around it but they must wait the 2 '/z years to the rear buildings.
Mr. Jan Merl stated one way they will take advantage of the remaining time of the post closure
period will be by doing some ground improvements. There are issues from potential settlement
and when you add additional load on it there will be more settlement. She stated there things
that can be done to get around settlement problems. The foundations will be important and need
to be designed so if there is differential settlement you don't have cracking. You want to keep
the structural loading as low as possible which can possibly be achieved through smaller bay
sizes so you do not have light spans between columns which would add more tributary area to
load the foundations. They can also do some proactive engineering by preloading the soil by
placing concrete blocks and add weight out there. They can also do the soil berms and just
increase the load temporarily so that the landfill material has time to settle. Then you take that
out and you can start your building over it and it helps reduce the amount of settlement. Another
approach would be to do some compaction which would help support the building and reduce
differential settlement. Another engineering issue would be handling of gas. She noted they
encountered a lot of lumber and when you have organic matter decomposing it gives off methane
gas and carbon dioxide. When you build over that you want to make sure that you vent this gas
away. She noted it is very possible to engineer the building so that you could vent off this gas.
The final issue to consider here is the grade change and getting up to that back parcel. You will
need to construct some ramps to get back up there. Any time you add soil on top of soil you are
preloading it significantly. She stated they need to look at preloading and possibly using lighter
weight fills when it is constructed.
Commissioner Khan asked if there is something called continuous footing which designs the
footing for all the building which are contiguous to each other rather than just having a footing
for each building.
Ms. Merl stated one type of foundation they are looking at would build a structural box with
walls, floor and ceiling and inside you would ideally leave it hollow. This would be constructed
below the existing grade. This way the hollow space would eliminate extra loading from the soil
that was there. You would eventually remove the soil that is there, put in a structural box and
since that space would be open you would be able to facilitate the removal of the gas that could
collect underneath the building. You could conceivably construct that across for all three
buildings but it probably would not matter too much as long as each building had its own
structural box. It could possibly be more of an issue if you have grade changes between the
three buildings if they are not exactly at the same elevation.
Commissioner Khan asked if there is a possibility of excavating this fill and bringing in clay to
make sure the foundation and its structure is steadier.
Ms. Merl stated it would be very costly to remove any of the waste and haul it off site. It is not
very good environmentally either because you increase fuel costs and you are just moving waste
from one location to another. There are ways to engineer around waste.
Commissioner Stark asked about the soil borings and asked if different areas will have different
engineering issues. He asked if there might be some engineering hang ups without solutions.
Ms. Merl stated composition in waste varies but they did not see a lot of debris.
Commissioner Smith asked for a review of the parking elevation issue and how that will work as
well as the negatives of that situation.
Mr. Cowhey stated they can discuss this better at a later point.
Chairman Ottenheimer asked what is planned in terms of the commercial uses there.
Ms. Cowhey stated they still feel their name is attached to this re-development and they want to
come out with a quality product. One of the things that is a great advantage is that this is in
Buffalo Grove which is a great socio-economic area. It has all the characteristics for bringing in
high end retail. When they look at this site they note there will be increased costs of
development due to its nature but they think with these demographics they can bring in the high
end that will help to payoff the additional costs. She noted one of the reasons they have gone
with VOA as their planning firm is their incredible architectural division and their planning
department has a reputation for creating a destination location. Here with the 20 foot elevation
from the frontage which cannot be ignored they felt they wanted it to be made into an asset. She
noted this is such a prime retail area and could be more of a retail tax base for the Village.
Ms. Cowhey stated with the piazza idea that VOA has come up with you will have from the stop
light a view up to the top. What they are trying to do is create the piazza look with some of the
teaser parking that gets people to come in that have more of the parking garage system on that
elevation where you would have sky bridge kind of access over to the frontage area. Right now
they are looking at themed development up front. The three frontage spots will probably be
restaurants. Every major restaurant company on the high end of the market has contacted them.
The rear will be retail especially more of a themed retail. Possibly high end home stores that are
going for green products which can be tied into the bike trail.
Ms. Cowhey noted the variable settlement that will take place on the rear portion needs to be
worked on to be as settled as possible and then they can see how large a footprint can go there.
By then they should be able to identify more of the retailers that would be interested.
Ms. Cowhey further noted that between the first row of retail and the frontage there is a street
that goes through and the idea is to have the street connect through the theaters in City Park and
connect down to Busch Parkway right between the building that is at the light there.
Chairman Ottenheimer noted that nothing can be built for at least another 2 '/z years.
Ms. Cowhey stated the frontage could be developed immediately. From the time that approvals
would start they are not so far out from getting the structure in. As soon as the yard waste
transfer is moved to the east portion, they can then start doing things such as dealing where the
ramps are going to go, putting some of the surcharging on and the parking area to service the
frontage. With infrastructure development which can start immediately after approvals they are
probably looking at getting the first outlot moving pretty quickly on the frontage but they will
not be building on the far rear until the post closure runs in 2 '/z years.
Chairman Ottenheimer noted they will not be able to build on the far rear portion even after the 2
'/z years.
Ms. Cowhey stated they have heard from the engineers that the sizes they have projected are
likely but it is going to come down to how much it has settled and how much does it cost. It
changes the tenants that you will have in there. It is definitely all feasible but is a question of
what tenant is going to pay for that. There are certain tenants in the market place that actually
want the idea of being on a redeveloped site.
Chairman Ottenheimer asked if Land and Lakes has been involved with developing other
parcels.
Ms. Cowhey stated over the last 15 years they have done several residential subdivisions and
they also build big box industrial warehouses. They are also doing a town center development
which is 80 acres in Pleasant Prairie right now.
Chairman Ottenheimer asked about the proposed hotel.
Ms. Cowhey stated they definitely have hotel interest on the site which is one of the things staff
had mentioned. They have been referred to a lot of hotel brokers by Village staff. This will
depend again on where the market is as it is developed. The interest they are finding is from the
business hotel line. The types of hotels that have contacted them have been business hotels or
suite hotels where they are looking to catering to the business customer. They generally do not
have a restaurant enclosed and want to see restaurants on the out parcel. They are looking at
about 150-200 rooms at about 4-6 stories which works well if you are going to have parking for
the hotel be across the bridge. She stated they have not made any commitments to anyone but
they have gotten dozens of calls from either brokers representing hotel chains or from the chains
themselves. Their concern is if they want to go high end retail they must have the hotel that
matches that.
Commissioner Bocek stated when you do a site plan you have to have an idea on who you are
appealing to. However, she stated it sounds as if they are trying to appeal to the high end
specialty retailer and that concerns her because she does not think it is conducive to that kind of
retailer. The back area is probably much more destination oriented and there are probably bigger
box users for this. She stated the area still has a kind of strip center feel in her mind. There are
really two separate developments and she does not think anyone is going to park in this back
area and then walk all the way around to the front of the retail spaces. She stated they might want
to think a bit more on whom they want to appeal to and make some modifications that way.
Ms. Cowhey stated one of the things that is very popular in this market are some of the furniture
stores further north and the rear here might actually fit the Restoration Hardware and Pottery
Barn type stores. Some of those stores are already two-story stores. This site may be fit for some
of the mid line types of things for home purchases. Given the fact that they have different sizes
they are going to be able to find main line retailers with the high end cache. The parking issue is
something they will keep on designing and figuring out a way to make it more accessible.
Commissioner Bochek asked if they had actually shown this plan to the Restoration Hardware
type people.
Ms. Cowhey stated they have talked to all of those kinds of stores through brokers. Their broker
reps have said they want this location and they have told them the sizes of the footprints they
usually like and have said they are interested in being here and it is a question of when it comes
on the market and where else they are then. These sizes would accommodate a mix of those
types of retailers.
Commissioner Bochek asked how the two story retail works.
Ms. Cowhey stated some of it might be a false second floor appearance. She stated her
preference is to have the same retailer on both stories.
Commissioner Smith asked what is a reasonable time frame to get going on the front portion.
Ms. Cowhey stated they have been discussing annexation and development issues with the
Village, and if the annexation agreement is finalized soon, they could start doing the
infrastructure improvements late this spring. The next point would be IDOT approvals. The
transition from the west side to the east side would happen immediately once there are approvals.
Commissioner Smith asked for details on the piazza concept.
Mr. Groesbeck stated the intent here is the overriding architectural content. The activity based
environment makes people want to come here. He stated as they started to look at this site they
are trying to grasp a sense of the community as every community is different. He noted they also
look at what makes developments successful around the area. He noted that if you create a great
place to come where people know it by the collection or entire environment they will come to
that place and will have knowledge of the stores. The architectural environment would say a lot
about this particular place that starts to say it is a good place to hang around, good place to
circulate. That is not something that is done overnight but rather developed and it is a real
synergy between the planning of the architecture. Once you create that place then you create the
value in the front parcel which will create value in the back parcel and everyone identifies it as
an area. One example is the Oak Brook shopping center. You cannot see the stores from the
outside. You must park and go inside but since it is such a nice place to go, you go there and
keep going there.
Mr. Groesbeck stated many of the town centers are basically based on just getting the ability to
see something on the street and go in. The concept is to create an activity based environment
that attracts visitors.
Mr. Groesbeck noted that part of their strategy is to raise the elevation on the west parcel so that
the separation between the back parcel and the front parcel is minimized. This design would
work with well—directed circulation focused on activity areas.
Mr. Groesbeck stated that a very important principal they are trying to address is visibility from
Milwaukee Avenue. They are trying to create a connection between the stores, allowing an
intense pedestrian experience that would be seen from Milwaukee Avenue. The coordination of
design, landscape and ultimately the architecture of this place would give it thematic appeal that
works both on an iconic level but also on an activity level. The entrance area should allow
people to see the other components of the development. They think the issue of seeing activity,
being visible and having an overall architectonic character are the components that will make
this particular site successful.
Commissioner Smith asked for Mr. Groesbeck to define the piazza concept.
Mr. Groesbeck stated the piazza concept is a place that caters to a very comfortable pedestrian
experience as connections between the different places in the stores. It is a place where if there
were restaurants people would sit outside when weather permits and it is a place that would be
comfortable with families with children to walk between stores. It is also the connecting theme
between all the components of the development.
Commissioner Smith asked if any banks or pharmacies are slated here.
Ms. Cowhey stated they are allowing space for one bank and one office, etc. If the idea of a
hotel dries up within the next year it might become an office building with a bank. But this plan
does not include any specific spots for a bank.
Commissioner Myer noted that when you look at this plan with the total amount of square
footage that is proposed with respect to the three restaurants, the two story retail and the
potential of a hotel it seems rather congested. She stated it is congested simply from a parking
standpoint. Also, part of the pedestrian experience is how close one parks to a destination and
she asked how the parking component would be adequately addressed, knowing that we also
have some climate factors that need to be taken into consideration.
Mr. Groesbeck stated that most new developments actually accept the idea of congestion and
closeness. As long as you know where you can go when you do not see a parking space and it is
very clear as to where parking is going to be it is not that much of a problem.
Chairman Ottenheimer asked how serious they were about opportunities for buildings to be
designed for the LEED "green building" certification.
Mr. Groesbeck stated he is a LEED certified professional There is actually one category that
covers retail and mixed use. The components of LEED that this would fit into is the fact that they
are reusing a site that was once a landfill site, the way they handle stormwater can be done in
such a way that would certify for LEED and then the way they construct the buildings. More and
more retailers are realizing the importance of lighting and energy.
Mr. Cowhey stated they believe there is an aspect of this that can be green and LEED is a big
part of that. If they can do parts of it as they look into it.
Commissioner Myer noted that often, especially with LEED type buildings or buildings that
incorporate some of those elements, there is not necessarily a big cost differential to embrace
some of those opportunities up front. She stated she would encourage the developer to make sure
that they are doing right by the environment.
Chairman Ottenheimer noted the plan provides for essentially less parking spaces than the
requirement.
Mr. Groesbeck stated the plan provides 1,318 spaces for the first phase. For the first phase they
would be building part of the parking lot in the back which they can do right away and together
that would give them the 1,320 spaces required for the development.
Chairman Ottenheimer asked if there was any intention on the part of the developer to ask for a
variation in the number of parking spaces required.
Mr. Groesbeck stated no.
Commissioner Smith asked the developer to review the elevation of the parking lot.
Mr. Groesbeck noted there are a lot of challenges with an elevation difference. That is why they
felt it was important to have a pretty comprehensive piazza system that connects everybody. He
reviewed the proposed plan which is still in developmental stages.
Chairman Ottenheimer asked about the internal pedestrian sidewalks and paths.
Mr. Groesbeck stated they will work with the Plan Commission to determine what the best way
to connect pedestrian activities. They could create a setback and a defined walkway in front
along Milwaukee Avenue or as they develop this system they could bring it back and through
within the development and integrate it with the development itself. There are a couple of ways
of approaching that and as they get into more detail part of that will be what the Commission is
best for the community.
Chairman Ottenheimer asked for some detail on vehicular access connections to the adjacent
properties.
Mr. Groesbeck stated there is a potential development to the south that is actually looking to see
what happens here before those plans are solidified. Then there is the development to the north.
One of the issues is where they actually make this connection so that they can get people off the
street and have this cross connection. They are looking at combining the connection to the
properties on the north and also possibly where they are servicing some of the stores so that they
can bring people up and through this development and then make it clear that it connects to that
roadway system and people can be brought in and out of this development at any one point.
Commissioner Khan noted that some kind of cross easement access will be necessary from the
parcel owner on the north and to the south and he asked if the developer has spoken to them
about connection to the north.
Mr. Cowhey stated yes. He noted they have had numerous conversations with Scott Greenberg
who is the owner/developer of both City Park and the parcel immediately south of them. They
have been talking for a number of years and he is receptive to their plans and it is to the benefit
of both of these properties to make these connections and make them work because they will
have a new signal somewhere in the middle of their property serving both east and west parcels
and there will also be a signal that he has with the connection that comes out onto Aptakisic
Road. There is also a signal at Busch Parkway. It really makes a lot of sense to connect them all
and to have the ability for anyone to traverse through the three properties.
Chairman Ottenheimer asked where IDOT is in terms of right—of—way for future improvements
to Milwaukee Avenue.
Mr. Putnam stated they will meet with IDOT and advise the Plan Commission of IDOT's
comments at the next meeting.
Chairman Ottenheimer asked about opportunities for connections to bus and rail facilities for
employees traveling to the property.
Mr. Cowhey stated VOA has looked at this as it makes a lot of sense and if there is an
opportunity or way to have a bus stop internally in there it would be nice. He noted there is a
shuttle right now that runs northeast of this property on Milwaukee Avenue that shuttles back
and forth to the Buffalo Grove Metra station. There might be a way to connect a shuttle
including the City Park property, Land & Lakes and the parcel at Busch Parkway.
CHAIRMAN'S REPORT—None
FUTURE AGENDA SCHEDULE
Mr. Pfeil noted that the next regular meetings are December 19d'and January 2nd, and he will
advise the Commission if these meetings are canceled.
PUBLIC COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS—None
STAFF REPORT—None
NEW BUSINESS—None
ADJOURNMENT
Moved by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Bocek and carried unanimously to
adjourn. Chairman Ottenheimer adjourned the meeting at 9:33 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Fay Rubin, Recording Secretary
APPROVED BY:
LESTER OTTENHEIMER, Chair