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2007-10-17 - Plan Commission - Minutes Board or Commission: ❑ Plan Commission Document Type: 0 A e g nda 0 Minutes Meeting ate: 10/17/2007 Type of Meeting: ❑ Regular Meeting REGULAR MEETING BUFFALO GROVE PLAN COMMISSION October 17, 2007 Lord's Love Community Church, 1250 Radcliffe Road— Review of special use ordinance concerning uses at the property 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. Stark Mr. Cohn Commissioners absent: Mr. Teplinsky Mr. Podber Also present: Mr. Kim, Pastor of Lord's Love Community Church Mr. Rob Sherman Ms. Betty Haag-Kuhnke, Director, Betty Haag Academy of Music 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 Bocek to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of October 3, 2007. All Commissioners were in favor of the motion and the motion passed unanimously with Commissioner Khan abstaining. COMMITTEE AND LIAISON REPORTS Commissioner Bocek attended the Village Board meeting on October 15, 2007 stating there was an approval for the special use in the Industrial District for the outdoor storage area on the Prime Source building products facility with a 10 foot fence instead of a 17 foot fence and with 59 parking spaces in lieu of the required 64. LORD'S LOVE COMMUNITY CHURCH, 1250 RADCLIFFE ROAD — REVIEW OF SPECIAL USE ORDINANCE CONCERNING USES AT THE PROPERTY—WORKSHOP#1 Mr. Kim stated the church went through a zoning review in 2005, they have done their best to follow Buffalo Grove regulations. Mr. Jonathan Sherman stated he is a parent of two children who have studied and are studying at the academy. He stressed that the Betty Haag Academy is an extraordinary academy. He noted this is not a typical music school you might find in a neighborhood. This is a group that has received national and internal acclaim. They tour regularly throughout the United States and have appeared on television and radio. He stressed the Village should be thrilled to have something like this in its midst. Students come from wide areas to study with Mrs. Haag. Her students go on to study at the finest universities and music programs. Mr. Jonathan Sherman stated the use that is taking place now at the Lord's Love Church is entirely consistent with the use that was prescribed in the ordinance. That ordinance approved the use of the building for music education for church students. The students who come to this academy are performing the same activities that the Board or the Plan Commission approved when it passed that ordinance two years ago. There is nothing inconsistent with the use that is taking place. He stated the hours are complied with, most of the classes being conducted after public school ends. He stated that from first hand experience there is zero impact on the adjoining neighborhood. He stated he could not exit the parking lot of the church onto Radcliffe Road because there is a locked gate at that exit. He comes out of the church parking lot via Arlington Heights Road. He further noted he is unaware of any other parent or student who does go through the adjoining neighborhoods. The impact is nonexistent or minimal, the hours are complied with and this group is performing a wonderful service for students throughout the Buffalo Grove area and surrounding neighborhoods that have the opportunity to study with such a fine and outstanding teacher. Mr. Sherman noted if there is a concern somehow that the use of the school in some way conflicts or does not meet the letter of the ordinance that was passed, he noted he is sure that Mrs. Haag would be happy to try to work with the Commission to modify or amend the ordinance so that we are in compliance. Nobody wants to be an irritant to anyone and they would only like to see the school continue to function and operate and to focus on making music. Mrs. Betty Haag passed out a chart of the hours taught and the number of staff members at the school. She noted she has been teaching for 40 years in the Arlington Heights and Mt. Prospect areas. She was formerly affiliated with Roosevelt University and when she went on her own she chose the Buffalo Grove area to teach in. She noted they have quite a few students in this area. She noted the children give of their time and talent to play many community service areas. Chairman Ottenheimer asked Mr. Pfeil to reiterate the reason for this meeting. Mr. Pfeil noted that Ordinance No. 2005-28 includes language in Section 3.A. that prohibits commercial uses at the property. This section reads as follows: "The facility shall operate as a place of worship and religious education as the principal uses. Accessory uses are allowed as listed as `Proposed Uses' on Exhibit B hereto subject to review and approval by the Village. Commercial use of the Property is prohibited." He noted Exhibit B lists a number of activities and things such as music and instruction and daycare are included on that list. The sentence concerning commercial use of the property needs to be reviewed. The Village staffs approach is to change the language to make it inclusive enough to allow the uses that are there now including the music academy and the child daycare center. In staff s opinion these uses are appropriate for this property, and have community—oriented aspects that are valuable to the children and people who reside in the community. Chairman Ottenheimer asked if there was a miscommunication in thinking that these ancillary uses or other special uses identified in Exhibit B would be church run as opposed to having outside entities come in. Mr. Pfeil stated he believes that is a basic part of the misunderstanding or miscommunication. In a large congregation it might be feasible to support enrichment courses and a child day care facility. Lord's Love, however, is not a large congregation, and it would be improbable that there would be enough people involved in the congregation to be the sole support for the types of uses listed in the exhibits to Ordinance No. 2005-28. Mr. Rob Sherman, 778 Stonebridge Lane, Buffalo Grove, compared the accessory uses permissible in a home and noted that just because he is allowed to do laundry in the basement, that does not give him the right to rent out the basement to a laundry service in order to bring in business. He further noted that just because one room in the house is used for exercise, he would not be allowed to run a health club operation there. He further noted he could bring in Mrs. Haag to teach his children music lessons but that does not mean he could rent out his living room to the Betty Haag Academy and bring in 10 cars every half hour, 100 cars per day, and 500 cars per week. Mr. Rob Sherman stated the issue here is the impact on the neighborhood. He stated if the church wanted Betty Haag to come in and give music lessons to their church members it is permitted accessory use. But they cannot rent out the second floor to an outside business and start bringing in all this commercial traffic. Mr. Sherman stated that when Lord's Love Church was approved in 2005, there were certain provisions in the special use. He noted the same thing was done with the previous owner, the JCC. No tenants other than affiliates of the Jewish Federation of Chicago. This is a continuation of the same type of restriction. Columbia College tried to come into the JCC facility, and they were told they could not do that as it is not zoned for that. To rent out the second floor for a high intensity usage in a residential neighborhood was not agreed to. There are people coming and going up and down Thornton Lane all the time. There are 26,000 additional trips in and out yearly. Mr. Sherman presented a picture he had taken that evening from one of the houses on Radcliffe Road. This picture shows the parking lot in front of the home is almost full with cars constantly going in and out. Chairman Ottenheimer summarized Mr. Sherman's objection, noting that the use as it exists now is detrimental to his neighborhood. Mr. Sherman read a letter from his neighbor, Ron Mraz, 1259 Radcliffe Road, stating, "he cannot attend tonight's meeting. He knows Lord's Love Community Church has special use in the R5 District for a place of worship and religious school and related uses. He did not know that they could let a tenant use the building, not being affiliated with the church. I live directly across the street from the building. I thought this property was not for commercial use." Mr. Sherman stated there are four reasons why this use is inappropriate here: 1. Traffic 1. Impact on property values which have a commercial business across the street 1. Vacant commercial strip malls in surrounding areas which pay property taxes whereas the church does not pay property taxes 1. Strip malls depend on traffic and this enterprise would enhance that endeavor for other businesses Chairman Ottenheimer stated the issues of taxes raised by Mr. Sherman cannot go into any consideration by the Plan Commission. He noted that is the purview of the Board. Mr. Betty Haag stated Mr. Rob Sherman came into the property in August and intimated one of her teachers. He proceeded to tell everyone in the waiting room that she was running an illegal operation within the church. She noted that he then called the studio and noted he wanted to enroll his daughter in her school and wants to meet with her. She informed him she could give him all the information over the phone. He came to her room at 8:00 p.m. and proceeded to warn her about all of these things that are taking place. Mrs. Haag noted that not a single person goes into the Mill Creek are when they come to the school. They come up Arlington Heights Road from both directions to get to the school. She further noted there is only one teacher who teaches every night until about 9:00 p.m. She further stated the condominiums across from the school are having their parkway tarred and those cars are parking in the church parking lot and are not Betty Haag customers. Chairman Ottenheimer noted this is not the proper forum for he said/she said. This is a workshop only and there would be no more comments. Commissioner Smith asked for an idea of how many people are actually coming through in a day. Mrs. Haag stated many times a teacher may have a family of four children which means one car. If there are five teachers teaching in one day they have possibly one car every hour. At the most there would be five cars per teacher. Commissioner Smith asked if there have been complaints by residents in the area. Mr. Pfeil stated he is not personally aware of any complaints. He noted that the Police and Fire departments were asked to comment concerning complaints and community impacts, and no significant issues were identified. He noted that staff has not seen a pattern or any evidence of undue impact on the neighborhood. Commissioner Smith asked if there had been many complaints back when this building was owned by the JCC. Mr. Pfeil said he would have to consult other Village departments to determine if there were complaints regarding the JCC facility and related uses. Commissioner Smith stated he feels the current issues relate to the wording of the ordinance for Lord's Love concerning commercial use. He said he was been involved in the JCC when it operated at this property, and he cannot see how Lord's Love and the other uses such as the music academy are anywhere near the intensity of what the JCC operation. Therefore he feels the technicalities of commercial use need to be addressed, and a change of wording for the ordinance would be most appropriate. Ms. Haag stated from early June through August they do not have a full staff of teachers and there is hardly anyone there. Chairman Ottenheimer noted the Plan Commissioners were present during the workshops and public hearing for this project. He read from the minutes of April 20, 2005 noting that Mr. Sherman stated "it seems that the proposed uses are appropriate but he has concerns about the hours of operation. Then the minutes say, "Mr. Skora stated that any leasing they do will be solely for the purpose of accomplishing the objectives they have in the petition and are programs or services that the church itself would provide if they had the resources to do so." Chairman Ottenheimer then stated he is not sure why this is a surprise to anybody that they are leasing these spaces out for ancillary uses that the church would do if they could themselves. Chairman Ottenheimer stated he agrees with Commissioner Smith and a public hearing is needed on this issue to decide if the ordinance requires amending or not. Mr. Rob Sherman stated the difference is if the church was doing it themselves it would be only for their members. But this music school has 300 participants in her program coming from all over the metropolitan area. When the church is done with their use for the day, it should be quiet at night without all the traffic. He stated he has no problem with the church having a music program for their parishioners only. Chairman Ottenheimer stated he understands the point but there seems to have been a miscommunication or misunderstanding and there was absolutely no intent to deceive or misrepresentations made. He noted however, that the minutes clearly noted "any leasing they will do," which to him means they are not going to lease to themselves but to an outside entity. Commissioner Smith stated he understands what Mr. Sherman is saying but when the building was the JCC it had several hundred members and he does not see how the numbers from the music school is adding that much more intensity than what it was before. Mr. Sherman stated it is adding more intensity because what the JCC was brining in was basically during the daytime and at night it was a quiet residential area. The promise to the community is that this is not a commercial office building and the second floor should not therefore be rented out to a high intensity use. Commissioner Bocek stated she agrees with the rest of the Commission. There is some clarification that needs to be made to the ordinance. However, the use is very complimentary to the current church. Commissioner Bocek asked for some clarification about the number of five teachers at one time with five students meant only 25 cars. Mrs. Haag stated it is hard to say there are 500 cars. If one teacher teaches 1 '/z hours she would probably have one car. If there were five teachers the most you could have in an hour's time would be a car every half hour for those five teachers. Commissioner Bocek asked approximately what the maximum number of cars would then be at any given time. Mrs. Haag stated she was not absolutely sure but if a teacher teaches five hours there would be three cars during that five hours and then it is necessary to add up each of the five teachers teaching that day. She further noted that if there are 11 teachers there are 11 cars every half hour. Chairman Ottenheimer noted that there was absolutely no evidence before the Commission to make any decisions or opinions. The Commission, he noted, is here solely for a fact finding only. Commissioner Stark asked if there is a definition between commercial and educational use in the code. He noted the music program is commercial but it is also educational. Mr. Pfeil said the Zoning Ordinance does not address the commercial aspects of educational facilities, other than to allow these uses in certain districts. In the business districts a number of commercial uses and business uses are listed, including certain types of schools and training facilities. In residential districts certain special uses are allowed, including public, private, trade, business and commercial schools. The intent in the residential districts is that certain types of community—oriented uses such as churches and schools are appropriate, and impacts are addressed by special use restrictions. Judgment concerning what is appropriate for a specific property is applied by the Plan Commission and Village Board in considering a special use. Commissioner Cohn commented that when he looks at the ordinance, it identifies a certain class of activity that can take place and that entire class is commercial activity. There is a broad prohibition of a whole class of activity. However, the ordinance then enumerates certain activities that can take place and those include a music school. What we have is a situation where in a very general way we ban an entire group of activities and in a very specific way identify certain activities that can take place. It seems it is an issue of ordinance interpretation and he feels that when the ordinance is more specific about what can take place, the specificity would prevail over the general ban. He stated he would like to see this brought into the public hearing as perhaps evidence. In addition he noted that in Exhibit B which lists the type of activities that can take place, music is listed with athletic programs. Athletic programs are not a commercial activity but rather a program. Mr. Pfeil said that the next step in the review process would be a public hearing. Commissioner Bocek asked if the public hearing is only if the ordinance needs to be amended. If, however, we believe the ordinance is satisfactory with its current language would a public hearing still be necessary. Mr. Pfeil stated the Village attorney has determined that a public hearing is necessary to consider the issue of amending the ordinance. Mr. Rob Sherman stated there still seems to be confusion about the difference between commercial use and the articulated uses such as a music school. From his perspective the confusion stems from the following. When it says commercial use prohibited it does not mean a money making operation. That means a tenant that is other than the Korean church which means you cannot have commercial tenants regardless of whether the activity is sports or music. Commercial use is when you bring in an outsider to run a business there. Mr. Sherman further stated the impetus of the objection is that this commercial use took place despite the ordinance saying no commercial tenants and without a hearing or review. This decision was made by Lord's Love Church and the Betty Haag Academy without impact from the residents, the Plan Commission or the Village Board. Chairman Ottenheimer noted disagreement because the issues just brought up are clearly reflected in all the minutes. He stated discussions were held on parking, hours of operation and all these issues. There is a problem with the ordinance which needs to be amended which will either help the church or hurt the church. He stated the Commission is not in a position to make that decision yet until they get some evidence. Mr. Sherman stated either decision is a good decision but it should be the Plan Commission and the Village Board with input from the residents as opposed to solely the church and the music academy. Commissioner Stark noted he remembers some type of commercial uses at the JCC and asked for data on that. Mr. Sherman stated on example of that was the Kumon Learning Center and they too, went in there without permission and they were asked to leave because no tenants other than affiliates of the JCC were allowed. Chairman Ottenheimer noted there was a different ordinance in effect then as opposed to the present ordinance. Mr. Kim stated that the church ministry means an involvement within the community and sometimes we hire people to facilitate these kinds of activity. This kind of thing happens in every church. We are often asked to rent out for various community activities and we sometimes do that in response to community requests. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Chairman Ottenheimer commented that to avoid quorum problems, commissioners should call or send an e—mail to him or Mr. Pfeil if they are unable to attend a meeting. He noted that he recently discussed Plan Commission matters with Bill Brimm, Village Manager, and Mr. Pfeil. One outcome of the discussion was to offer training for the commissioners. A workshop or series of workshops will be programmed to focus on topics including redevelopment and infill and appearance review. Chairman Ottenheimer said that there have been some interviews recently with potential candidates to fill the vacancy on the Plan Commission. Chairman Ottenheimer asked the commissioners to think about whether there is interest in having a holiday party for the Commission. FUTURE AGENDA SCHEDULE Mr. Pfeil noted the next meeting will be held on November 7, 2007. STAFF REPORT—None NEW BUSINESS—None ADJOURNMENT Moved by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Cohn and carried unanimously to adjourn. Chairman Ottenheimer adjourned the meeting at 8:42 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Fay Rubin, Recording Secretary APPROVED BY: LESTER OTTENHEIMER, Chair