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2004-10-20 - Plan Commission - Minutes Board or Commission: ❑ Plan Commission Document Type: 0 A e g nda 0 Minutes Meeting ate: 10/20/2004 Type of Meeting: ❑ Regular Meeting REGULAR MEETING BUFFALO GROVE PLAN COMMISSION October 20, 2004 Edward R. James Homes, proposed residential development of the Powernail property, 301 Half Day Road—Rezoning to the R-9 District and approval of a Planned Unit Development and Preliminary Plan Workshop #3 Glenbrook Properties proposed Fairview Estates residential development East side of Weiland Road south of Pauline Avenue—Annexation with R-5 Zoning and approval of a Planned Unit Development and Preliminary Plan 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. Samuels Mr. Smith Ms. Bocek Ms. Kenski-Sroka Mr. Khan Mr. Teplinsky Mr. Stark Mr. Cohn Commissioners absent: None Also present: Mr. Bernard Citron, Schain, Burney, Ross & Citron Ltd Mr. Steven Spinell, Edward R. James Homes Mr. Scott Freres, Lakota Group Inc Mr. Randall Drueck, Cowhey Gudmundson Leder, Ltd Mr. Phil McKenna, Kane & McKenna Associates Mr. Tim Doron, KLOA Mr. John Green, Groundwork, Ltd. Mr. Robert Pfeil, Village Planner Mr. Greg Summers, Associate Village Planner APPROVAL OF MINUTES Moved by Commissioner Teplinsky, seconded by Commissioner Kenski-Sroka to approve the minutes of the special meeting of September 22, 2004. Chairman Ottenheimer noted a word insertion necessary on page 12, first paragraph. All commissioners were in favor of the amended motion and the motion passed unanimously with Commissioner Smith abstaining. Moved by Commissioner Khan, seconded by Commissioner Bocek to approve the minutes of the special meeting of September 29, 2004. All commissioners were in favor of the motion and the motion passed unanimously with Commissioners Samuels, Smith, Kenski-Sroka and Teplinsky abstaining. COMMITTEE AND LIAISON REPORTS Commissioner Bocek attended the Village Board meeting on October 18, 2004 where a deferral was made to November 1, 2004 for Zee's Martial Arts Academy, a special use for a recreation facility in the Industrial District. There was also a referral of a proposed gateway center on the northwest corner of Busch Parkway and Milwaukee Avenue. This is a mixed use, 3,000-4,000 square feet for a bank, 30,000 square feet of retail office and medical, a hotel and a parking deck. EDWARD R. TAMES HOMES, PROPOSED RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE POWERNAIL PROPERTY, 301 HALF DAY ROAD —REZONING TO THE R-9 DISTRICT AND APPROVAL OF A PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT AND PRELIMINARY PLAN — WORKSHOP 93 Mr. Steve Spinell stated they have spent time with the Village Planner and Assistant Planner and the Deputy Fire Marshall to address some of the land planning issues, engineering issues and some of the issues related to fire safety. Mr. Spinell stated some of the site plan revisions include a bike path proposal along Route 22. By having sidewalks on both sides of the street there will be more than enough room within the community for people wanting to use their bikes to get into and around the community. Mr. Spinell noted there had been some concern about why there were some road widths at 26 feet, some at 27 and some at 28. He noted they now have all public roads at 27 feet per the Village code. Mr. Spinell noted the deputy Fire Marshall was emphatic about wanting 20 foot wide alley widths per Village code and that has now been included. Mr. Spinell noted the previous plan showed little bump outs for additional parking throughout the site on top of the on street parking. However, the consensus was that it really did not make sense to have that as the roads are now 27 feet wide and have ample parking on either one side or both sides. Therefore they eliminated a few of those bump outs. Mr. Spinell noted the Fire Marshall was also concerned about the emergency vehicle turning radius not only coming in off of Route 22 but also around the private roadways in back at the service drives and in between the row homes. They have now revised the turns to accommodate the Fire Department's needs on every turn in the community. Mr. Spinell stated the traffic median lengths have been reduced in order to make it easier for the fire equipment. Mr. Spinell noted the biggest change to the site plan is the change to the location of the road which has been put just east of the water and now there is a back to back relationship of the cluster single-family homes backing up to the existing community to the east. Mr. Scott Freres noted the bike trail path shown on the plans is consistent with the Village wide trail system and there will be no inbound path envisioned for this area. Mr. Freres noted there had been some question about on street parking. He stated in general they provide two garage spaces for all units on the site and that represents 344 cars. They have parking behind the garages for one car which represents another 234 cars. The Fire Marshall had alluded to some concern with on street parking on both sides of the street. However, they are contemplating parking on just one side of the street. This represents about 139 on street parking spaces and also includes a couple of off street parking spaces in some of the rear loaded service areas. This comes to about 4.17 cars per unit. Mr. Freres stated the density under their plan is 5.54. Maximum building code is allowed at 35 percent and they are at 16 percent. The allowable height is four stories at 45 feet and they are at a two and one half story maximum height. The front yard and side yard variances requested is for a 20 foot side yard instead of 25 feet. They are also proposing a 20 foot condition instead of a 24 foot condition in the side, building to building. These three variances allow a right of way condition of a 10 foot variance for a 50 foot right of way which occurs along their westernmost internal drive. As you come in it is 80 plus feet and as you come down into the site on the east drive there is a 60 foot right of way which complies with the ordinance. On the west side is where they are asking for the 50 foot right of way variance.. Mr. Freres stated they were asked by staff and the commission to come back with some rationale as to why they believe these variances are important and why they deserve them. He stated it comes back to the overall character and their mission of what they are trying to put together which is a very intimate site plan, an intimate community of a pedestrian nature. The product type is one that creates a streetscape feel that is not dominated by garage doors and driveways. With that in mind their biggest variance is the front yard setback where they are asking for 5 feet. He stated they really do not need to driveways on the front. The 25 foot front yard setback is designed around the issue of having an appropriate size driveway to park your car in the front yard. They do not have that condition. Mr. Freres noted they have petitioned the Village Board all along about the constraints and complexities of the site with its diamond shape and the adjacency to the tracks which lends itself to creative land planning and site planning and they believe they have treated that provided appropriate open spaces as well as appropriate dimensions between buildings that create this nice intimate unique character. He stated one of their rationales for the side to side condition of 20 feet instead of 24 feet was the ability along the row homes and townhomes to create a pedestrian greenway space in the center that links both sides of the site to the park and also to limit the visibility back towards the track because the bring those buildings closer together minimizing the view back toward the track. The greater width and opportunities for the green space is also achieved by the narrowing of the separation of the buildings. Mr. Drueck noted they had three engineering comments after the last meeting and one request for an exhibit to illustrate more about the tree preservation plan. The three engineering items were the drainage plan for the north side and the basic reason for this was to convey the now that comes from the west and goes to the east in a combination of pipe and swale thereby allowing them to build a berm over the pipe section so they can get some screening up there. The Village Engineer's comments to this have been positive. The second item was a water main which in the previous plan had taken the water main between two buildings because there is a connection that has to be made right by the railroad tracks. Mr. Kuenkler noted he would prefer they went around instead of between buildings which is what they will be doing. Mr. Drueck noted the third question was regarding the proposed pond. The problem was that they had to squeeze the cross section to fit it on a page and in doing that it is no longer a two scaled drawing and becomes distorted. The horizontal dimensions look small and the vertical dimensions look large. However, there is a 12 foot safety shelf which is illustrated and was on the detail from the beginning and was missed. Mr. Drueck stated the final item was the tree preservation for which they have a board exhibit. He reviewed those trees to be preserved and/or transplanted. He noted there is an area on the plat of survey which is actually a buried foundation of a building which was never built and trees have grown up through the dirt in there. That whole foundation has to be removed and all the trees will come out as a result of that. The majority of the trees on the site are not specimen trees and are mostly of low quality. He noted that by moving the road from the east property line into the site does enable them to have more flexibility in preservation of trees. Mr. Spinell stated they had some questions asked regarding what the cluster single-family homes will be. He stated they will be four sided architecture sensitive to the neighbors and good architecture. He stated they will make sure the architectural integrity is carried around the entire building. Three bedrooms, three bedrooms plus loft or den, 2 '/2 baths, basements and the availability of first floor master bedrooms will be the norm at an average sales price of mid to upper $600,000 with 3,000 square feet on average. Mr. Spinell noted the garages will not be out in front of the homes. They will be keeping the garages either with 5 feet of the front lines of the buildings or further back because they want to be able to highlight on the architectural elements not the garages. Mr. McKenna stated they had prepared a fiscal impact analysis at the last meeting that focused principally on the impact of this proposed development to the school districts. They were asked to reach a break even point which is the point at which the total revenue is brought in by virtue of the proposed development equaled the total expenses for each of the two school districts and how many students that would translate into. The underlying data is the same as presented before. The break event point would require 74 new students to attend school in District 103. Similarly for District 125 the number required would be 65 new students. He noted they project the number of students for District 103 is projected to be 35 versus 74 and 8 versus 65 for District 125. Mr. Tim Doron stated there were a couple of issues presented by both the members of the public and by the commission. He noted what they have analyzed here is a projected buildout in the year 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. The longer the buildout takes the closer hopefully there will be the new cross section at Route 22. The developer's projections for 2005 are only to construct, build and occupy 9 units which will generate very little traffic. The following year in 2006 their projection is to construct 65 units which will generate about 30 trips in the morning and about 35 trips in the afternoon. In the year 2007 there are about 55 trips coming out in the morning and about 64 going in at night. He noted all this will not happen at once. He stated they will voluntarily close the connection to Apple Hill Lane until the full buildout of the units in 2008 or until such time the improvements occur on Route 22. For these years, with the exception of access by emergency vehicles, will be closed off. In 2008 it will be opened and hopefully by that time Route 22 will be improved and there will be much easier access onto Route 22. Mr. Doron stated they were also asked to analyze the volumes on Route 22 when Stevenson lets out. He stated they went out and counted the existing afternoon school traffic from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., which was the highest hour, and had 1,418 vehicles in both directions. Mr. Citron stated regarding the connection on Apple Hill Lane, they understand it is necessary for an emergency vehicle standpoint and so they propose something there that works for the Fire Department. If, in fact, the Route 22 improvements were completed earlier they would hope they could open that up sooner for the convenience of the two subdivisions. They are proposing this to try and address the perceived cut through traffic there until the improvements are made to Route 22. Mr. Citron stated they are hoping with the changes made addressing these issues they hope they can get a date set for a public hearing. Commissioner Samuels asked if they had analyzed what impact there would be on the unit count if they were not to require any variances. Mr. Freres stated if they were to follow the ordinances as they are they would be able to accomplish the same exact site plan but they would be moving the plan to the east and the pond along the central portion of the site would actually have a retainer wall on it on the west edge in order to be able to pick up the difference in side slope detention for that pond. By shifting it over it allows them to put 4 feet apart on the units that wrap around that area. It is not really a function of decreasing the density but one of providing a nicer open space feature. Commissioner Teplinsky asked if the variances would still be required if they reduced the number of units. Mr. Freres stated they would have the exact same condition. They would still want to have 20 foot separation. He stated he does not think they really need to have more space between the units as this has worked out nicely at other developments. Commissioner Stark asked if there have been any updates about funding for Route 22. Mr. Doron stated IDOT has indicated no updates. However, everything is in line. All the land has been assembled and all the engineering has been done and all plans are done. All they need now is the money. Commissioner Smith asked what happens to this project if Route 22 does not get redone. Mr. Doron stated going outbound would be the problem. You will have to wait for a train, cars to back up and a courtesy gap to go westbound. He noted they did a gap study and found in the morning out of the site there are 36 opportunities to make a left turn out within an hour and they project there are 30 left turns. In the evening there are only 9-10 available gaps and they project 15 left turns out of the site. It will improve drastically when Route 22 is improved. Commissioner Khan asked if there will be a sidewalk only on the north side of Route 22. Mr. Freres stated yes. Commissioner Khan asked if it would be possible to put some kind of path around the pond. Mr. Freres stated they would in some kind of a fitness path. Commissioner Khan stated he is not opposed to having a connection on Apple Hill Lane now because if Route 22 is not constructed it is needed even more. He sees it as more of benefit for everyone. Commissioner Khan stated he is still concerned with the density of this development. He noted he likes this revised site plan better than the original plan but he would still like the lake behind the single family homes. Commissioner Bocek stated she agrees with Commissioner Khan that this project is way too dense and does not feel that R-9 is necessarily the right zoning. Commissioner Samuels stated he thought the Village has a rule against carriage walks and there is one on the 24-foot private street near the single family houses. Mr. Pfeil stated he would have to check with the Village Engineer to see if a carriage walk is a variation on a private street. A private street is generally not used as heavily by pedestrians as a public street, where conventional parkways and sidewalks are required by Village ordinance. Commissioner Samuels asked how long this development would take and how would it be phased if the reconstruction of Route 22 does happen during this development. Mr. Spinell stated they specifically had this conversation with the State. He noted they are willing to make the temporary improvements but they see no reason to make those temporary improvements in 2005 if, in fact, they come out in 2006 and do the improvements themselves. If they get an indication from the State that they will not be doing those improvements until 2007 they will be more than happy to put those improvements in right away while they are doing their earthwork at the beginning of the project. Commissioner Samuels asked how it will affect traffic flow on Route 22 if Edward R. James constructs the improvements and how long will it take. Mr. Spinell stated he does not have a specific answer. If they do the improvements along Route 22 they will just do granular base and asphalt and no curb and gutter. It will not be a big improvement and he does not see needing more than one month to execute it. Mr. James stated that realistically it will take about 90 days. Commissioner Samuels noted traffic would be disrupted for 90 days and again when the State starts its improvements. He stated this is the frustrating thing about the timing of this development. This should probably not start until the commitment is there from the State to do the widening. Chairman Ottenheimer stated he agrees that this project is just too dense and R-9 may not be the appropriate zoning. He noted he appreciates the inclusion of some single-family homes as he had requested. He was hoping there would be a few more single-family units and less of the multi-family. He said the project is ready for public hearing but he still has some reservations because of the density. Commissioner Kenski-Sroka stated that she too agrees with the other commissioners and is not happy with the density on the project which is just too much for this particular location. Commissioner Cohn concurred with the commissioners regarding the density. He stated he hopes the developer comes in with a new development proposal that is more consistent with the Village's goals concerning the amount of various housing types. Mr. Pfeil stated the R-9 is a function of how many units are in some of the buildings. If the plan proposed four units or less per building, the Building Commissioner indicates that R-8 zoning would be the applicable designation. Concerning setbacks, 25 feet is the minimum front yard standard for both the R-8 and R-9 Districts. Mr. Pfeil asked the commissioners to clarify their comments concerning density to give the petitioner some guidance concerning whether there are specific changes that could made to the plan to address their concerns. Chairman Ottenheimer stated the Commission as a whole does not take favorably to variations but he does think the variations being proposed are minor and he does not feel they are negative in any respect. Mr. James stated they have done as much as they can to be responsive to the Commission's comments and questions and some excellent points. He pointed out there has been a transformation of this plan from 196 units down to 172. There is a certain margin in any development proposal beyond which the project becomes economically infeasible. The Commission's tone and statements tonight after three meetings was surprising. The development team has spent three meetings thinking they were making progress and now they feel they are going backwards. Mr. James stated they do not feel this is just another dense subdivision. This is rear loaded product with design elements that cannot be appreciated until they are built. This reflects 10-12 years of their working with these concepts. There have been many awards and recognition to the things they have done. Mr. James stated you cannot just say that the plan is way too dense or that the development should wait until IDOT completes the Route 22 improvements. The owner of this land will not wait and the development team cannot afford to wait. Mr. James stated a good quality development requires a certain level of density and if you start cutting the density too much they will not be able to do what they want to do here and it will be just another subdivision. Chairman Ottenheimer stated there is no magic number of units that necessarily means it is too dense or not. He asked the Commission to clarify what they meant by that. Commissioner Teplinsky stated density has always been an issue on this project from the first workshop and it has been apparent that this has been observed by the developer because they have tried to bring their experts and lower the number of units in order to address this issue. However, the tone of the Commission is that they are not yet convinced. He stated he feels there are too many homes here and that this is a tough parcel in a very difficult part of the Village in terms of traffic accessibility. He noted he understands the economics behind this development which is why he wants to see them do what they can while keeping in balance all of the Commission's concerns He noted that too many housing units are proposed and the buildings are too close together. He is very concerned about the amount of additional traffic that will be created in an area that already experiences nightmarish traffic problems. Commissioner Cohn stated he feels there is inadequate green space. He noted the project has pocket parks but he feels there should be a bigger, more central area. He is also concerned about the integration of neighborhoods. He noted this feels like it will be its own little community and it does not tie in to the surrounding communities which will not be good for the Village. Commissioner Bocek stated that what makes the plan look much denser is all of the roadways. There are many more roadways than would be typical in a development such as this. The southernmost part of the plan and the single family homes are fine. What bothers her most is the center core with all of the units which seem to be stacked up between the tuckunder homes and the detention pond. Commissioner Stark stated he echoes Commissioner Bocek's comments and he would like to see single family homes in the central core of the plan. Commissioner Khan stated if they could eliminate some of the roadway between the detention pond and in front of the single family homes, it would free up some open space which could be used to widen the alley behind the buildings adjacent to the railroad. That would not only provide for better circulation of traffic but also give some spacing between the railroad tracks and the tuckunder units. In addition, the rowhomes appear to be too dense and he would prefer duplex or single family homes there. Commissioner Samuels stated he has seen the product in other locations; it works well and is very nice, but he has not seen it in a location which is analogous to this one. This is not the place for this product. Here it is isolated and it does not diffuse into the traffic system well. So it is not the density that is an issue for him but rather trying to make it work on this site is the problem. In addition, timing is a significant factor here because it will inconvenience many people for a significant period of time twice. GLENBROOK PROPERTIES, PROPOSED FAIRVIEW ESTATES RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT, EAST SIDE OF WEILAND ROAD SOUTH OF PAULINE AVENUE — ANNEXATION WITH R-5 ZONING AND APPROVAL OF A PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT AND PRELIMINARY PLAN—WORKSHOP#1 Mr. John Green stated Glenbrook Properties has assembled five parcels on the east side of Weiland Road. These parcels extend from the north end of the Schwaben Center up to Pauline Road. This creates an opportunity to increase a road width and provide two way traffic on a road that services a whole quadrant of the community that only has one lane out. The land to the north is unincorporated Horatio Gardens which is single family. The land to the east and south are multi-family and the Schwaben Center. It is a series of R-7, R-8 and R-9 developments that surround this parcel. Mr. Green stated they are proposing a Planned Unit Development which would be under the R-5 single-family zoning with a PUD on top of that. He noted they have tried to address some of the issues brought out by the Village Board such as cut through traffic. By moving the roadway that extends north/south to skew and go parallel to Weiland and to T that into the road that intersects at Weiland moving east/west they have eliminated those concerns and potential problems while still providing for an opportunity for a road network to extend through onto the Schwaben site. Mr. Green stated they have taken advantage of the site's trapezoidal shape and staggered the proposed homes. He noted they have been advised that a 25 foot dedication will be needed along Weiland Road for potential future development. The plan reflects a 33 foot right of way along Pauline. They understand there may be some need for some portion of that to be 40 feet which they will continue to explore with engineering and planning staff. He noted they have created a zigzag fence along Weiland Road which allows them to create a lot of open space on both sides of the fence. They have also tried to create a pattern with that fencing that defines yards behind these villas. These are villa houses which are maintenance free units with other spaces common space. The buildings are also further away from Weiland and the skewing of the buildings away from Weiland means that no one is looking directly back to it. Their average distance from the property line is actually about 42-43 feet. Mr. Green stated they have worked with how the front of the buildings will work on both sides of that street so that they can create a nice streetscape. They have also created a standard envelope which is about 38 feet wide and 55-56 feet deep. They have used a 25 foot minimum point from the right of way line for the closest point to those buildings. The result is that the shortest driveway is 25-27 feet. Twelve of these are over 30 feet. Mr. Green stated the detention/retention is now located on the low part of the site which falls about 5 feet from Weiland Road back toward the east. The lowest spot is where the detention is located. They have also added a feature by making the retention a semi-formal amenity. It would be a wet pond with transitions so that it steps up to a bikepath that would run from the north end of the site to the south end of the site and swing back to the rear site of the Schwaben parcel. As you continue south on the Schwaben parcel along the east lot line there is a small park. If you go through that park to the east you come to Pritchett school which has a very unique opportunity here to make a connection and a flow for kids to get back and forth. Mr. Green stated the plan shows 26 units which will be 14 feet apart and staggered. He noted he has a 37 foot building width and a 55 foot buildable depth. They have a 25 foot front setback and 14 foot separation as well as a 35 foot rearyard with 35 foot perimeter setbacks. Mr. Green stated the units are programmed to be about 2,325-2,625 square feet with 3-4 bedrooms. There are three unit plans for 26 units and there will be two elevations for each unit with master down plan. Commissioner Khan noted Pauline Avenue at the intersection will require more than the 66 feet of right of way dedication proposed if Weiland becomes four lanes in the future. He stated it is his experience that 66 feet of right of way is not enough to accommodate the three lane cross section at the intersection. Mr. Green stated it is his understanding that at least for part of the way from the west end of the site towards the east Pauline needs to be 40 feet from their center line. That will cut into the corner somewhat. He noted he has already set the fence off from the lot line 3 feet. He has a 15 foot deep recess in that so even if he ends up a foot off and changing the recess on the fence from 15 feet to 10 feet, he has the seven feet along that line. He understands that ruins his 35 foot right of way and will need to discuss how to handle that because they are prepared to make the 33 foot dedication and if they have to go to 40 for part of it he will be glad to show the Commission how that would work. Commissioner Stark suggested more benches around the gazebo than the four on the plan. Commissioner Teplinsky asked if there will be a homeowner's association. Mr. Green stated it is like a condominium association and all land is under the association ownership and they have all the same responsibilities to ensure that all of the unit exteriors are maintained. Commissioner Cohn asked why it was chosen to do this project as common ownership instead of lots. Mr. Green stated there is a growing segment of the population that does not want to maintain the land. They realize they need the space but do not want to take care of the land. Commissioner Cohn asked the price point of the units. Mr. Green stated they will be between $400,000 and $600,000. Commissioner Samuels noted this is the right development in the right place. He asked if the offset at the intersection at Pauline and Weiland is due solely due to the lack of the additional right of way on the south side of Pauline. Mr. Green stated there is only half of a right of way now. Commissioner Samuels asked if the intersection will line up directly with the new dedication. Mr. Green stated that is what he is told. He further noted that when the lights were done a few years ago they were done with the anticipation of it being able to expand. Commissioner Samuels asked what would have to happen to complete the improvements to Pauline. Mr. Pfeil stated he will have to ask the Village Engineer what the proposed development can accomplish in terms of the overall road improvements that may be necessary. Commissioner Samuels asked if the possibility of clustering the homes was looked at. Mr. Green stated with only eight homes in a row he felt by minimizing it it made some sense to leave them. He felt staggering was a key feature. He noted he paired the driveways and by doing that he can even make the stagger work better. Commissioner Samuels stated he agrees with the staggering but staggering with some clustering would be even more interesting. Mr. Green stated he can look at that. Commissioner Khan asked if the garages are heated because every unit seems to have a room above the garage. Mr. Green stated it would be an available option but he does not necessarily push to heat garages. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT—None FUTURE AGENDA SCHEDULE Mr. Pfeil asked the Commissioners to check their personal schedules relative to the tentative schedule for future meetings. The next scheduled meeting is November 3, 2004. STAFF REPORT—None NEW BUSINESS—None ADJOURNMENT Moved by Commissioner Kenski-Sroka, seconded by Commissioner Khan and carried unanimously to adjourn. Chairman Ottenheimer adjourned the meeting at 9:53 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Fay Rubin, Recording Secretary APPROVED BY: LESTER OTTENHEIMER, Chair