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
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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