Village of Long Grove

Plan Commission Meeting Minutes

October 2, 2001

Present: Commissioners DiIorio, Walter, Lisa Phillips, Jenkins, Borawski, and Gould, Village Manager Doughty and Planner Kendig

Absent: Chairman Young, Commissioners Coffin and Fred Phillips and Secretary Bendoff.

Note: In Secretary Bendoff’s absence, Commissioner Gould was appointed Acting Secretary.

In the absence of Chairman Young, motion to appoint Commissioner Walter as Chairman ProTem was made by Commissioner Jenkins, seconded by Commissioner Borawski. Ayes all. Motion carried.

I. MEETING GAVELED TO ORDER.

Meeting called to order by Chairman ProTem Walter at 8:02 p.m.

III. MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 4, 2001.

Corrections:

Page 1, Last paragraph, 6th line: “...tress...” should be changed to “...trees...”

Page l, Last paragraph, 7th line: “Village Planner Doughty...” should be changed to “Village Manager Doughty...”

Page 2, 1st paragraph: insert words indicated in italics: “Commissioner Lisa Phillips concurs with Commissioner Gould regarding unbuildable land, clustering and lot sizes and comments further that the developer needs to address the issue of clustering with regard to home size versus lot size and the use of septic versus sewer; and that the Comprehensive Plan should be followed or amended with respect to the septic/sewer issue and cited the Village Board reaffirmation of septic over sewer excepting special circumstances.

Page 2, Paragraph 4, Line 6: change “...septic...” to “...sewer...”

Page 2, Paragraph 7, Line 4: change “...water table...” to “...bottom of the trench...”

Page 3, 2nd full Paragraph, Line 5: change “...party...” to “...part...”

Page 4, Last Paragraph, 1st Line: change “Village Planner Doughty...” to “Village Manager Doughty...”.

Page 5, Item IV.B., Line 3: change “...revise...” to “...review...”

Motion to approve the minutes of September 4, 200l, as amended, made by Commissioner Lisa Phillips, seconded by Commissioner Di Iorio. Ayes all. Motion carried.

III. OLD BUSINESS.

A. Housing Design Standards.

Village Planner Kendig reviewed with the Commission his memorandum on Monotony Code passed out at the meeting, explaining the need for new regulations in light of the trend of production builder developments in the Village and his proposed recommendations. The Commissioners discussed the recommendations, indicating general agreement for the need for updated regulations, but some concern about limiting true architectural creativity, the increased time and cost for staff and/or consultants to enforce the regulations, the fact that even purely custom homes by separate builders can still look the same and that the eight inch minimum overhang should be changed to 12 inches.

The Commission also discussed obtaining developers’ and/or architects’ input on the proposed regulations and the need to move this process along to have new regulations in place in anticipation of future development.

Motion to hold a public hearing on November 2, 2001 for the purpose of reviewing a proposed Monotony Code for Housing made by Commissioner Borawski, seconded by Commissioner Lisa Phillips. Ayes all. Motion carried.

*****NOTE: At this time, Chairman ProTem Walter suggested moving up discussion of the Park District Buffalo Creek Park Special Use Amendment from New Business to accommodate those waiting for that item.

I.V. A. Park District Buffalo Creek Park Special Use Amendment.

Village Planner Doughty gave an overview of the proposed amendment that would supersede and replace a Special Use granted to the Long Grove Park District under Ordinance 93-0-16, explaining that the changes pertained to supervision by the Park District and the use of sound systems at Buffalo Creek Park events.

Commissioner Lisa Phillips noted that condition #6. would limit the Park District’s ability to add winter activities if so desired and recommended that that condition be deleted. Since it was desirable that the Park District not be unreasonably limited, there was additional discussion on whether the language in the proposed amendment was sufficiently broad to allow flexibility, with the consensus being that it was.

Motion to hold a Public Hearing on November 2, 2001 for the purpose of considering a proposed amendment to Ordinance 93-0-16 granting a special use to the Long Grove Park District made by Commissioner Lisa Phillips, seconded by Commissioner Borawski. Ayes all. Motion carried.

B. Bulk Housing Regulations

The Commission reviewed the chart provided by Planner Kendig indicating Lot Area, and existing and proposed Floor Area Ratios. Village Manager Doughty also suggested the possibility of standards based on cubic feet of a building instead of square feet, which is what the Village uses in issuing building permits. Discussion followed.

Chairman ProTem Walter stated he would like to see examples of various house sizes on various lot sizes for visual comparison

Commissioner Gould indicated favor of the idea of including attics and garages in determining total footage and noted that using cubic footage would allow more flexibility in home styles such as ranches or split levels as opposed to increasing setbacks which could have the potential downside of all homes being built up as two-stories.

Commissioner Borawski raised the issue of whether limiting building size would result in decreased lot value, which Planner Kendig indicated was a likely result.

The Commissioners asked that staff identify various examples of home sizes for visual inspection and provide further information on using cubic footage, combined with Site Volume Ratio for further discussion.

C. Undeveloped Land Map.

Village Manager Doughty noted that each Commissioner had received his or her list of parcels to be reviewed and that the reviews should be turned into him as soon as possible in preparation for discussion at the December 4, 2001 meeting. For timing purposes, only those parcels identified as desirable to develop other than as currently zoned or planned would be presented for the initial discussion. It was noted that the Park District had received a copy of the memo and would be submitting their comments also.

D. Long Grove Station Sub-Area Plan.

Village Manager Doughty and Village Planner Kendig reviewed for the Commissioners the background and an overview of the Long Grove Station Planning Sub-Area Plan. Discussion followed, particularly on the status of the variables that would have an affect on the Plan, such as whether Long Grove would be designated as a rail stop, the proposed Route 53 extension and the plans of other communities along the line. It was the general feeling of those present that the Sub -Area Plan should be considered and discussed further, including a possible public hearing to get input from Long Grove residents.

E. Lake Cook Road and Route 53 Sub-Area Plan.

Noting the late hour and the absence of Commissioners who had indicated interest in further discussions of this Sub-Area, it was suggested that this item be moved to the next meeting.

IV. NEW BUSINESS.

A. Park District Buffalo Creek Park Special Use Amendment.

This item discussed after Item III.A. above.

B. Comprehensive Plan Amendment Consideration Concerning Septic vs. Sanitary Sewer Systems.

Commissioner Gould distributed a three-page memo of questions on issues such as capacity, environmental impact, land use, cost, fairness, and future need and asked Village Manager Doughty to identify those questions that were easily answered and where to go for those more complex. She advised that Jim Frayne, Vice President of Manhard Consulting, who does a great deal of septic and sewer planning and engineering in Lake County had graciously offered his assistance on our questions and those present agreed his expertise would be welcomed and appreciated.

V. COMMITTEE REPORTS - none.

VI. PLANNER’S REPORT.

A. This item tabled for the next meeting.

VII. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT - none.

VIII. ADJOURNMENT OF MEETING.

Motion to adjourn made by Commissioner Borawski, seconded by Commissioner Di Iorio. Ayes all. Meeting adjourned at 10:59 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Camy Gould

Acting Secretary