1980-12-03 - Plan Commission - MinutesP
REGULAR MEETING
BUFFALO GROVE PLAN COMMISSION
Buffalo Grove Zoning Ordinance Revision
December 3, 1980
Chairman Shields called the Regular Meeting to order in the Municipal Building,
g
50 Raupp Boulevard, Buffalo Grove at 7:4+3 P.M.
Commissioners Present: Chairman Shields
Mr. Goldspiel - arrived at 8:00 P.M.
Mrs. Sheldon
Mr. Davis
Mrs. Reid
Mrs. Kaszubowski
Commissioners Absent: Mr. Button
Mr. Shifrin
Mr. Glover
Also Present: Mr. S. Stone, Trustee
Mrs. B. O'Reilly, Trustee - arrived at 8:20 P.M.
Mr. D. Knaak, Appearance Commission
Mr. R. Heinrich, Zoning Board of Appeals-arrived 8:15 P.M.
Mr. F. Hruby, Jr. , Director of Building and Zoning
Mr. J. Truesdell, Village Planner
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Commissioner Davis moved approval of the November 5, 1980 minutes. Commissioner
Reid seconded the motion. The minutes were unanimously approved.
COMMITTEE AND LIAISON REPORTS
Commissioner Kaszubowski - I attended the Village Board meeting on
December 1, 1980. At that meeting both the petition for annexation and the
preliminary plan for the Northwest Community Hospital Medical Arts Center
were approved.
PROPOSED REVISION TO THE BUFFALO GROVE ZONING ORDINANCE
Mr. Truesdell briefly went through his memo dated November 28, 1980 to the
Appearance Commission, Plan Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals titled
Proposed Revision to the Buffalo Grove Zoning Ordinance.
Buffalo Grove Plan Commission
Regular Meeting
December 3, 1980
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I Need
Mr. Truesdell stated that this revision was proposed to obtain a clear, conise
document that would be easier to use than the present one.
II Procedure
The Plan Commission, as Mr. Truesdell further stated, is responsible for the
review of the Zoning Ordinance and to hold a public hearing and make a recommen-
• dation to the Village Board with the exception of amendments to Article XIII.
The Zoning Board of Appeals and the Plan Commission, using the same process,
is responsible for the remainder of the ordinance. The Zoning Board of
Appeals and the Appearance Commission were invited to our meeting. This will
continue throughout the process and they will receive all the documentation.
The staff will prepare a draft of the ordinance. If we have a major revision
we will bring it back to the Commission. After the workshops the Village
Attorney will have to review the draft ordinance. Regarding the public hearing,
this is one ordinance with two bodies in charge. What we would like to do is
advertise the public hearing but in two separate ads. The hearing will be
held at the same time and place and be a joint public hearing. Both bodies
can vote on it at the same time. Although not mandated in the ordinance, the
Appearance Commission will also receive all materials and will be invited to
all meetings due to the fact that zoning regulations have a direct impact on
the overall appearance of the Village.
III Specific Areas of Review
Article I - Title
No change
Article II - Rules and Definitions
Mr. Truesdell - We will go through and make sure they are clear and that they
meet the intent of the ordinance.
Article III - Use Districts
No change
Article IV - General Provisions
No changes anticipated other than format.
Article V - Non-conforming Uses
No change anticipated
Article VI - Special Uses
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Regular Meeting
December 3, 1980
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Mr. Truesdell - This is the first one that I would consider has major changes.
A major format change is proposed which would add permitted special uses to
each individual district rather than in this one area. It will avoid con-
fusion. Another major proposal is to shift review authority from the Zoning
Board of Appeals to the Plan Commission for the special uses section. The
reason for the shifting of special uses is that they have actually been re-
view by the Plan Commission in the past. It has to do, not so much with the
bulk requirements, but the actual use of property.
Mr. Hruby - I concur with what has been said by Jim. I cannot speak for
the Zoning Board of Appeals however.
Mr. Stone - I do not know how the Zoning Board of Appeals is going to react
to that but this is a logical way to go about it.
Mr. Truesdell - I think we should get a poll from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Commissioner Goldspiel - I really could see a table at the end of a section
that you can look at then have a special uses and zones.
Mr. Truesdell - What I am afraid of is that if someone goes into the ordinance
they would be changing it here and not changing it there.
Article VII - Accessory Buildings
Mr. Truesdell - There are some additional regulations to regulate as to what
an accessory building is.
Mr. Hruby - We propose to regulate all accessory buildings.
Article VIII - Signs
Mr. Truesdell - This is about a page and half now in our regulations. We
propose to take those two pages out. We do have a sign code.
Article IX - Driveways and Off Street Parking and Loading Facilities
Mr. Truesdell - I am looking at a format change since it is currently very
disjointed. It needs to be straightened out so that it flows more easily.
The parking regulations need to be modified in order to relate to the total
gross floor area wherever possible.
Mr. Hruby - Something like this will probably be done in a table format.
Commissioner Goldspiel - The Transportation Commission was talking about
an incentive for allowing use for parking for persons driving to public transit
stops parking was not needed by the facility. This Plan Commission was talking
about that at one time also. It was in connection with the Town Center The questions
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Regular Meeting
December 3, 1980
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raised were what kind of requirements would you have and how could you inforce
them.
Mr. Truesdell - That is a possibility that we will look into. We do have a
problem with front yard parking. We have inconsistancies in the ordinance.
We are going to try to address that as we review it.
Mr. Truesdell - Regarding construction standards we feel that they do not
belong in a zoning ordinance. We would like to put them in the municipal
code.
We would like to move the definition of recreational vehicles to the definition
section. We have no intent of making any changes in the definitions.
Article X - Residential Districts
Mr. Truesdell - Staff would, to the extent possible, like to put them in
table format.
Commissioner Sheldon - Could you color code each section?
Mr. Truesdell - You mean color the pages of each section a different color. Yes
we would be able to do that.
With regard to swimming pools, at present they are not allowed in Buffalo Grove.
Mr. Hruby - Swimming pools are listed as a permitted obstruction. The build-
ing code determines how you build one. We would list that as a permitted
yard obstruction in the ordinance. Staff feels it sthuld be in a catagory of
its own under accessory buildings and structures.
Mr. Truesdell - I have seen ordinances that call it an accessory use.
Our rear yard requirement needs to be provided for reverse corner lots.
That has to be worked out.
In Section 6. 4-2 dealing with encroachment of an attached garage into the side
yard there must be some clarification.
Mr. Hruby - It is ambiguous. The language has to be cleaned up. What we have
done in the past has been in accordance with the ordinance.
Mr. Truesdell - Sections 9. 5 and 9.6 are basically in the R 8 and R 9 districts.
The way it reads now is difficult to administer. It should really be replaced
with some specific standards which do not depend on building code requirements.
We have been administering the more stringent requirements. My feeling would be
to adopt this rather than say 25% of the light and ventilation required by
the building code.
Buffalo Grove Plan Commission
Regular Meeting
December 3, 1980
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Mr. Heinrich - The ordinance itself is at times almost impossible to administer.
Commissioner Davis - A lot of the new heating systems are outdoors. We do not
have anything to control the sound of air conditioners and heat pumps.
Mr. Hruby - Modern compressors are very quiet.
Mr. Heinrich - I have some thoughts on Article VI - Special Uses. I would
think the zoning ordinance should be a comprehensive review and the PUD should
be a catagory in itself and not a special use. Our feelings were to review
the entire ordinance and look at the whole ordinance in its context and what
it should be for the Village.
Mr. Truesdell - We are going to do a comprehensive review.
Mr. Heinrich - Right now we are worrying about what should be in it. I
appreciate staff's input. The ordinance has not been reviewed in many years.
We have made bandaid changes over the years. I worry about what is in it
contextwise.
Mr. Truesdell - The one problem we have is under state statutes the planned
development is required to be a special use. Staff says it has to be a special
use.
Commissioner Goldspiel - Even if it has to be a special use you could require it
to conform to all the standards of the underlying zoning districts.
Mr. Truesdell - Then it is not a PUD any more.
Commissioner Davis - I feel the more specific our ordinance can be the more
guidance we can give a developer. The less problems we will have.
Mr. Truesdell - We have to be a little careful in a PUD, the theory behind it is
that a developer is allowed the flexibility to do something different when
conditions warrant. It is understood in a planned development it takes
additional review. If you do not have flexibility it is not a planned develop-
ment.
Mr. Heinrich - From what I have seen in our planned developments, i.e. the
Crossings, Commons and four houses on Weiland Road where the developer folded,
have been a disaster. The developers paint rosy pictures when they come here
but they never seem to look like that.
Commissioner Davis - From the film I have seen on planned developments, they
did not vary the ordinance. I think that there are things we should not trade
off. If we put it down in the ordinance it is very clear to them what we
want.
Buffalo Grove Plan Commission
Regular Meeting
December 3, 1980
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Mr. Truesdell - I think this is something we are going to have to look into
very carefully when we do the PUD's.
Mr. Heinrich - I think that the ordinance, forgetting about who has juris-
diction, effects the entire municipality. I would look at a committee
comprised of a representative of each group drawing up a document and then
coming back to his committee and presenting it.
Commissioner Davis - Unfortunately, by law it is our responsibility. The
way to go is let staff make its recommendations so that there is somewhere to
go from. Then the three commissions review it and submit their comments and
then have a joint meeting. Then the board will review it. We are not re-
writing the ordinance. We are just clarifying it. Otherwise we could be
at this a long time.
Mr. Heinrich - The review of an ordinance of this type would take a year to
two years.
Commissioner Goldspiel - I agree with what Commissioner Davis is saying.
I would not want to work on a committee formed for this purpose.
Mr. Heinrich - The Zoning Board of Appeals does not want it any other way.
Mr. Truesdell - Under the present format we are talking about a draft for
April or May.
Mr. Hruby - We also discussed using a committee approach. We figured
approximately one year to one and a half years.
Commissioner Goldspiel - I have two thoughts about PUD's regarding a separate
PUD zoning. The problem with that is sometimes you have single family and
sometimes multi-family PUD's. You might think about bringing it to rest in
a variety of zoning. The other idea is that this PUD has only been around
eight or ten years. It is a relatively new district. It does seem to me
the trend in the PUD area has been tighter control. It might be a good idea
to look at the literature and see what it says.
Commissioner Kaszubowski - I know a lot of communities have special PUD
ordinances. I know a number of communities have regular PUD ordinances. I
still think that there have to be controls. A properly done PUD can be very
attractive and very beneficial to the Village.
Mr. Heinrich - Our ordinance is very loose on PUD's.
Article XI - Business Districts
Mr. Truesdell - In the proposal transitional yards require a twelve foot
buffer with landscapping six feet high. We have had problems with that.
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Regular Meeting
December 3, 1980
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It appears looking at the facts that it hasn't been working the way we
anticipated it would.
Mr. Heinrich - I think what a transistional yard is should be looked into
rather than saying we need a fence rather than screening.
Commissioner Goldspiel - I do not think it would be a good idea to say in
all cases you have to have a six foot high fence. I think we should give
the Village an option saying the Village could require a fence.
Mr. Hruby - I think the present sign code that we have mentions that all
fences have to be adequately maintained in the Village. I don't think we
have to worry about fences that fall down. Some flexibility should be
incorporated regarding the transitional yards.
Mr. Truesdell - With respect to B 3 and B 5 Districts setting up parking re-
quirements, we want parking requirements to be one and the same.
Commissioner Goldspiel - What about the loading zone problem that we have
had from time to time?
Mr. Truesdell - That will also be reviewed.
Article XII - Office and Industrial Districts
Mr. Truesdell - We do not see any real major problem here.
Article XIII - Zoning Board of Appeals
Mr. Truesdell - We have discussed this and it is going to be reviewed by the
Zoning Board of Appeals.
Articles XIV through and including Article XXI
Mr. Truesdell - We are going to look at them to make sure everything fits in.
I see no problem here.
Mr. Heinrich - Regarding the fees in the ordinance that we now have, I wonder if
we would want to require fees out of it altogether and in the municipal code.
Mr. Truesdell - There does seem to be a problem with procedure. Staff looked
at a zoning commission.
Commissioner Davis - It is necessary we review the proposed ordinance and that
the other two commissions review it. Then taking each commission's recommen-
dation, putting everything back into writing seems to be easier to handle.
Mr. Heinrich - You do not get the cross pollination of ideas.
Buffalo Grove Plan Commission
Regular Meeting
December 3, 1980
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Commissioner Davis - After the staff makes a summary of all the input the
three commissions can get together and discuss it.
Commissioner Reid - I would like the staff to go through that book, remove
the problem areas and put it into logical form and ordinance. Together we
will all be working from the same basis. But right now we need a good clean
document and I think staff are the ones to do that original draft.
Chairman Shields - We have to do some house cleaning and we should proceed
from that point.
Commissioner Sheldon - How long would that take, to give us a basis to work
with?
Mr. Truesdell - My original projection of a draft for the Commission was
by about April.
Commissioner Reid - Who specifically on staff, will be working on this?
Mr. Truesdell - Frank Hruby and I will be doing the basic ground work.
Mr. Hruby - We could do it by section and we could meet again and go over
the parts we have finished.
Mr. Heinrich - Our accessory building section needs to be done now.
Commissioner Goldspiel - The trouble with that is some sections are interrelated.
After some discussion it was decided that staff would bring back to the
Commission a revised draft ordinance for review.
Mrs. O'Reilly - If all three commissions come up with different variations,
how will they be presented to our Board?
Mr. Truesdell - My feeling is that everyone would work together on it.
Everyone would give all their input to the Plan Commission and the Plan
Commission would sort out all the information, hold a public hearing on the
ordinance and make the recommendation to the Village Board.
Mrs. O'Reilly - Could you provide a vehicle so that if they do not agree
with the final recommendation they can have a vehicle to express their views?
Mr. Truesdell - I feel that could be done.
Chairman Shields - The differences of opinion would be in the records.
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Regular Meeting
December 3, 1980
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Mr. Truesdell - I feel that everyone who objects to the ordinance should be
able to file a report. If the Zoning Board of .'Appeals is unhappy with any
section they would make a recommendation or file a report to the Board
stating what and why they disagree with.
FUTURE AGENDA
Mr. Truesdell - December 4, 1980 the Buffalo Grove Business Park should be
ready for review. They informed me they would have their materials in for
that meeting. Those papers are due in the Village offices by December 10, 1980,
if they want to get on the agenda for the meeting of December 17, 1980.
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Commissioner Sheldon moved adjournment. Commissioner Davis seconded the motion.
Chairman Shields adjourned the meeting at 9:20 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen Comer
Recording Secretary
APPROVED BY:
Patrick Shields
Chairman