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1975-07-09 - Plan Commission - Minutes REGULAR MEETING BUFFALO GROVE PLAN COMMISSION Levitt - Demuth July 9, 1975 Chairman Carl Genrich called the meeting to order at 8: 15 p.m. , July 9, 1975, in the Municipal Building, 50 Raupp Boulevard. Commissioners Present: Chairman Genrich Mr. Haarr Mr. Mendenhall Mr. Keister Mr. Shields Mr. Goldspiel Mr. Jacobs Commissioners Absent: Mr. Harris Also Present: Mr. Harry Sleek, Regional Engineer, Levitt Mr. John Marienthal Mr. Arnie Seaberg Approval of Minutes Commissioner Haarr moved to approve the minutes of the June 18, 1975, Public Hearing on the Goldin Property. Commissioner Mendenhall seconded the motion. Upon vote the motion carried. Commissioner Haarr moved to approve the minutes of the June 18, 1975 Public Hearing on Levitt - Demuth and Commissioner Mendenhall seconded the motion. The motion carried that the minutes be approved subject to the following changes: On page 2, paragraph 4, change the second sentence to read as follows and delete the third sentence , "Commissioner Haarr inquired what would happen to the open space if the Park District and the Village did not want it and Mr. Sleek replied that he hoped the Village would accept it." On the same page in the last paragraph change the first sentence to read as follows, "Commissioner Haarr stated he was concerned about the street alignment where Larchmont Drive and Mayflower Court intersect with the u-shape street at Thompson Boulevard." Change the last word in the second sentence of this paragraph from "intersection" to "intersections". Commissioner Mendenhall moved to approve the minutes of the June 18, 1975, Regular Meeting and Commissioner Haarr seconded the motion. The motion carried that the minutes be approved subject to the following changes: On page 1, last sentence of paragraph 2, insert "as an exhibit" after the word "submitted". On page 2, paragraph 2, delete "was tabled" in the last sentence and add "died for lack of a second". On page 4, at the end of paragraph 2, add the sentence "The motion carried unanimously." Revised and corrected 7/16/75 Plan Commission Page 2 July 9, 1975 Committee and Liaison Reports Commissioner Goldspiel reported on the President' s Round Table Meeting he attended. The Environmental Control Commission had raised the issue of the narrow sidewalk on Arlington Heights Road between Beechwood and the high school. There was a question as to whether the fences were approved by the Plan Commission. Commissioner Mendenhall stated the sidewalks were installed during the time Mr. Thompson was on the Commission. They were put in before the fences. He added that the fences did not come before the Plan Commission. Commissioner Goldspiel also reported that Mr. Fabish is going to reactivate the Transportation Committee to look into the issue of transportation planning for Buffalo Grove. Commissioner Goldspiel stated he had expressed an interest in assisting Mr. Fabish in this regard and would be glad to serve as a liaison to that committee for the Plan Commission. Commissioner Mendenhall referred to a letter he had read in the Herald from a man in Mt. Prospect. The letter was in reference to a law against camping trailers and stated that laws are continually being added to get rid of things and eventually a person is so bound by laws that he can' t do anything. Mr. Mendenhall stated that he felt it was an excellent letter and had wanted to express his opinion on it. Levitt - Demuth Chairman Genrich asked Mr. Sleek if he and Mr. Seaberg had resolved the problem of the non-aligned streets. Mr. Sleek presented two sketches showing solutions for the intersection of Larchmont Drive and Thompson Boulevard. The second sketch was the one favored by Mr. Seaberg. On this sketch a right-turn lane was put in for traffic coming from the east onto Larchmont Drive. Larchmont Drive was then lined up to form a normal intersection. As a solution for the other non-aligned intersection, the street south of Thompson Boulevard was warped to line it up with the street across from it. Mr. Seaberg stated that he did not feel this change was necessary. If there is through traffic, streets should either be far apart or in line with one another. However, in a case like this where there is practically zero through-traffic because the street north of Thompson Boulevard is a hammerhead street the amount of off-set from one side to the other will not make any difference as far as right or left turns onto the street. He added that if this change is made the house on the southeast corner of the intersection will require a driveway onto Thompson Boulevard rather than the side street because of the change in the lot. Commissioner Haarr asked Mr. Sleek if Levitt has a house design that could be put on this lot with the garage on the other side of the house so the driveway would exit out onto the side street. Mr. Sleek replied that they may be bringing out a house that would do this but at the present they do not have one. He thought this is something that could be explored if the Commission thought it necessary. Revised and corrected 7/16/75 Plan Commission Page 3 July 9, 1975 Mr. Seaberg asked Commissioner Haarr what the rear yard requirement was according to the zoning. Commissioner Haarr replied that this was under the old PUD Ordinance which gives some latitude. Mr. Sleek stated that he would like to point out that on their plans they had a rear yard requirement of 25 feet and even with a different house this requirement could not be met if this intersection were to be lined up. Mr. Marienthal asked Mr. Seaberg if the driveway would be blind to people coming around the curve. Mr. Seaberg replied that it is a �./ flat curve so this would not be a problem. Chairman Genrich asked Mr. Sleek what had been decided concerning the use and maintenance of the open space in the southwest corner of the parcel. Mr. Sleek replied that there is a similar detention area in the Strathmore section and he showed this to Mr. Crosland stating that the same type of thing would be done in the area in question. It is constructed as a dry detention area. Under normal situations it may take water three or four times a year. The area in Strathmore has contained water only once. After discussing the situation with Mr. Crosland he informed Mr. Sleek that at this time neither he nor the Park District Board would be interested in it. Mr. Sleek added that he has since written a letter to Mr. Crosland asking that both he and the Park District members come out and see what they have done and see if it couldn't be used as open space. Mr. Crosland has agreed to come back and look at the area. Mr. Sleek stated he had also talked with Mr. McCoy and he did not say the Village would accept it. Mr. Seaberg stated that on the original revised plan it was proposed and approved that it be an area for natural wildlife and the swamp land remain. It could be maintained on a smaller scale with dry land around the sides if the Park District would be able to maintain this type of facility. .Y Mr. Sleek stated that he felt the land is very usable. He has talked to some of the residents in Strathmore Grove who would be backing up to this park and they seemed to approve of a very small open area. Mr. Seaberg stated that the question is whether the Plan Commission wants the open area to be left in a seminatural state or if they want it to be drained dry and partially filled in so it can have a hard playing surface which may be hard to do. Mr. Sleek asked the Plan Commission if they would react favorably to rezoning the entire piece of land to commercial. Commissioner Goldspiel stated that he would be very reluctant to say we should extend the commercial up to the houses. Mr. Seaberg stated that on a technical basis this property does have some use to the Village. It can and will serve as a retention area for the area south of Thompson Boulevard. It is lower than the property to the south and right now this area drains into it so it could serve II i �./ Plan Commission Page 4 July 9, 1975 as a retention facility for any commercial development to the south. He added that this would help to avoid having another one put in on a commercial property. There are two drains there now and all they would have to do is connect these. Commissioner Goldspiel stated he is concerned about having too many retention ponds around. Commissioner Haarr made a motion that the Plan Commission recommend approval of rezoning of the Levitt - Koelper-Demuth Parcel as per Exhibit A dated May 30, 1975, with the intersection revisions as per �✓ Exhibit B and C dated July 9, 1975. Commissioner Keister seconded the motion and the following vote was taken: Commissioner Haarr yes Commissioner Shields yes Commissioner Mendenhall yes Commissioner Goldspiel no Commissioner Keister yes Commissioner Jacobs no The motion carried. Commissioner Goldspiel stated he felt the character and nature of the open space is more of a problem than the intersections. Commissioner Haarr made a motion that the Plan Commission alert the Board of Trustees about the potential problems relative to the use and responsibility for maintenance of the open area in the southwest corner of this parcel. Commissioner Keister seconded the motion and the following vote was taken: Commissioner Haarr yes Commissioner Shields yes Commissioner Mendenhall yes Commissioner Goldspiel no Commissioner Keister yes Commissioner Jacobs no The motion carried. Mr. Sleek stated that as a developer, unless there is some Master Plan it is hard to come up with a plan at this stage that shows open space. He would like to see if the Plan Commission could make some recommendation as to the planning of the area. Commissioner Goldspiel moved that the Plan Commission recommend that the parcel be maintained in a natural state. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Haarr. The following vote was taken: Commissioner Haarr yes Commissioner Shields no Commissioner Mendenhall abstain Commissioner Goldspiel yes Commissioner Keister no Commissioner Jacobs abstain The vote was tied and Chairman Genrich broke the tie with a "no" vote. The motion did not carry. Mr. Marienthal stated that the Park District was supposed to make a Master Plan and pick sites out on undeveloped land. This Master Plan has not been received. Plan Commission Page 5 July 9, 1975 Village Center Chairman Genrich stated that the Village Center consultants are going to make a presentation of the next phase of the Village Center study to the Board, Plan Commission, property owners and public on July 21. He and Mr. Larson had met with the consultants earlier in the day and it was his opinion that they seem to be "on target." He added that he was going to recommend to Mr. Fabish that after this presentation is made July 21 the consultants come back for a Public Hearing before the Plan Commission so we can get some public input before we make a recommendation to the Board. Chairman Genrich distributed a summary of a survey made of the citizens. There were 7,000 surveys mailed out and about 800 returned. Plaza Verde Parking Lot Commissioner Keister asked Mr. Seaberg what Plaza Verde planned to do about the condition of their parking lot. Mr. Seaberg replied that they had tried to use a chemical stabilization process and it was supposed to set for two weeks before use. They did not do this with the result being the present condition of the lot. They plan to finish the parking lot on the east side and when this is done they will use it while they resurface the west side. Plaza Verde Plat The Plaza Verde Plat met the requirements of the Plan Commission and was signed. Adjournment Commissioner Keister made a motion to adjourn and Commissioner Shields seconded the motion. The meeting adjourned at 9:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, AaAlt,-; inda Isonhart, Recording Secretary APPROVED: Carl Genrich, Chairman