Long Grove Plan Commission

March 2, 2004 Meeting Minutes

 

 

Chairman present:  Fred Phillips.

 

Commissioners present: Ed Acuna, Joseph Di Iorio, Michael Dvorak, Nicholas Fasano, Camy Gould, Robert Jenkins and Lisa Phillips.

 

Commissioners Absent:  None

 

Also Present: Superintendent Block, Village Attorney Julie Tappendorf and Village Planner Edmond Cage.

 

1.         Call to Order

Chairman Fred Phillips called the meeting to order at 8:00 p.m.

 

2.         Approval of February 3, 2004 Minutes

Commissioner Fasano motioned to table the February 3, 2004 minutes for later in the agenda, seconded by Commissioner L. Phillips.  Ayes, all.  Nays, none, motion carried.

 

3.         Continued Public Hearing to Consider a Petition Under the Village of Long Grove Zoning Code to Authorize a Planned Unit Development (PUD) Subdivision of the Existing Three R1 Single Family Zoning Lots (Total Net Property Size of 11.9 acres)  into Four Single Family Zoning Lots (Average Net Lot Size of 2.9 acres) located at 3332 Old McHenry Road, Submitted by Anastacio & Company. 

Jeff Braiman, representing the petitioner, gave a brief presentation of an overview of the project.  Subject to the discussions with staff the residence heights would be a maximum of 35 feet and the proposed facades and bump outs were acceptable to the petitioner.  Mr. Braiman had some concerns with the use of siding and would rather use brick and stone on the residences.

 

Chairman Phillips opened the floor to comments from the audience.

 

Barbara Turner had concerns about the wetland buffer.  Ruben Anastacio said the plans show the buffer as 20-feet and the buffer should be 30-feet.  Village Superintendent Block added that the actual buffer from the proposed residence is actually 70 feet.  Chairman Phillips directed staff and the Village Engineer to review the buffers to see if the plans comply with the Village Code. 

 

Mr. Anastacio provided some example elevations of the proposed residences at this location.

 

Resident Charlie Wachs asked what the landscape requirements are at this location.

 

Village Planner Cage read out the proposed landscape requirements, via the PUD process, per every 100 linear feet of frontage along the Old McHenry Road proposed lots and per every 150 linear feet along the proposed interior lots.   

 

Mr. Wachs stated that the proposed landscape requirements on the interior lots are not enough and that the proposed 2-inch trees along Old McHenry Road are not large enough.

 

Mr. Braiman confirmed that a trail/path is shown along the Old McHenry Road frontage. 

 

Commissioner Gould wanted to confirm the roof height a maximum of 35-feet and Mr. Braiman confirmed this.  Commissioner Gould had requested that the distance between neighboring residences be illustrated on a plan and also reiterated the concern with the access.  She also expressed that there were still concerns with the wetlands, and the existing trees along Old McHenry Road. 

 

Commissioner Dvorak also expressed concern with the location of the access road and stated that evergreen plantings along Old McHenry Road frontage would be important. 

 

Commissioner Jenkins suggested that the use of a berm at this location would be a good idea.  He also expressed  a concern with the overall scale of the proposed residences, and whether the proposed residences are too big.  He also wanted to know whether the proposed residences illustrated on the plans are a true reflection of what would be proposed at this location.

 

Mr. Anastacio replied that the proposed residences shown are 5,000 square feet to 7,000 square feet in size.  Mr. Braiman confirmed that they will follow the Village bulk regulations code.

 

Commissioner Fasano stated that the landscaping and berm were important at this location.  He requested that the petitioner work with staff concerning these issues.  Mr. Anastacio and Mr. Braiman stated that they will work with Village Staff on the existing and proposed trees and the possible use of a berm at this location.

 

Commissioner Lisa Phillips stressed the importance of character of the buildings at this location and suggested the petitioner consider more sprawling structures and that the Commission consider possibly reducing the setbacks to allow for equal square footage with lower roof lines noted.  She felt the elevation examples presented were not in character with this location in Long Grove.  She agreed that the wetland/conservancy buffer was important as well as using evergreens and the proposed size of the trees used at this location.  She requested information on the proposed tree height.  Commissioner Lisa Phillips indicated strong opposition to the use of construction and architectural materials which are incongruent with those used on surrounding structures.  She asked that the petitioner respect surrounding properties by choosing materials, architectural styles and overall scales that would be in-keeping with the neighboring homes.

 

Commissioner Di Iorio felt the maximum roof height of 35-feet was good but the use of 20% cedar siding seemed to be too high.  He felt the overall building sizes were a concern and wanted to know if the access road would be a private roadway and that this road should separate from the lots.  Village Planner Cage stated that the access road would be private.

 

Commissioner Acuna asked if a maximum square footage could be set within a Planned Unit Development.  Village Attorney Tappendorf said that there are no specific square footage requirements in the PUD regulations of the Village Code and that the regulations are contained in the underlying zoning district regulations.

 

Commissioner Acuna asked staff to locate the revised path location.  He also felt that the use of evergreens at this location was important, as well as the size of the proposed homes and would like to review the worse case scenario.

 

Mr. Anastacio asked for the maximum square footage for a residence and Village Superintendent Block replied that for a three acre parcel, the maximum is 11,000 square feet. 

 

Mr. Braiman stated that they would be willing to work with staff on restrictions for the 2.88 acre lot.  Mr. Anastacio stated that the proposed rear lots would be limited to 7,000 square feet in size.

 

Barbara Turner asked what type of septic system would be used at this location.  Village Superintendent Block replied that Lake County will review the septic system.

 

Charlie Wachs wanted to know if the size of the proposed residences could be reduced and make the proposed residences more sprawling in nature.

 

Commissioner Jenkins felt that the number of lots is the key point and that three lots rather than four would be better.

 

Commissioner Acuna preferred the use of a PUD rather than a variance.

 

Chairman Fred Phillips said that both the visual size of the proposed residences and the proposed landscaping are important at this location.

 

Village Planner Cage summed up the outstanding issues:

 

Ø      The petitioner’s engineer is to review the site plans to incorporate the comments made this evening.

Ø      Staff will update the proposed PUD conditions in association with the petitioner.

Ø      Petitioner will provide staff the proposed sizes of the residences and the associated elevations.

Ø      The revised site plans will show the revised trail location, surrounding properties and the residences to scale and the driveway locations.

 

Commissioner Lisa Phillips motioned to continue this agenda item to the next available meeting, seconded by Commissioner Dvorak.  All ayes, no nays.  Motion carried.

 

4.         Public Hearing to Consider a Request for the Approval of an Application under the Village of Long Grove Zoning Code to Amend an Existing Special Use Permit Approving a B-2 Commercial Planned Unit Development and any other Zoning Relief Necessary to Allow the Proposed Commercial Development of the Property Located at the Northwest Corner of Old McHenry Road and Route 22, Submitted by the Cloverleaf Group. 

Representatives for the development group who were present:  Mike Bassofin, Bob Pugliese, Christopher Kidd, M. Zigler, Mike Mondiss, John Marianni, Cynthia Phillips, Barbara Cading, Cindy Freese, and Anne Lazarz the National City Bank representative. 

 

Mr. Bassofin introduced his Cloverleaf staff that were present and gave a brief presentation of the project. The following were presented:

 

Ø      Public hearing legal notice return receipts.

Ø      Annexation agreement of 1992.

Ø      PUD Agreement made in 1994.

Ø      B2 Zoning – the plan is to sell some lots and lease the remaining lots.

Ø      Wetlands, buffer areas and sizes.

Ø      Types of uses, drive-throughs and outdoor dining.

Ø      Request to expand B2 use list for some revenue generating sales tax businesses.

 

Ms. Freese handed out a comparison between the 1994 plan and the 2004 proposed plan.

 

Mr. Kidd presented the site plan and the following items were discussed:

 

Ø      100-foot wetland buffer and a 50-foot no grading setback.

Ø      4-sided architecture, village green concept.

Ø      Maintain and preserve the trees at specifically the corner location.

Ø      Pedestrian pathways with scored concrete walkways by the buildings and the use of gravel/limestone paths elsewhere on the site.

Ø      Using the Historic Downtown Architecture as a basis for the design of this center.

Ø      Streetscaping examples were presented.

Ø      Landscaping plans were presented, more details will be provided at later date.

Ø      Elevations were presented with details.

Ø      Porches will be included on the buildings.

Ø      One drive-through lane is planned for a coffee shop.

Ø      Restaurant (building 6) includes an outdoor dining area.

Ø      The main ground sign is 33 feet high which includes a clock.

Ø      Trash enclosures will match the buildings.

 

Mr. Bassofin spoke on the proposed uses of the buildings:

Ø      National City Bank.

Ø      Dry Cleaners.

Ø      Hair salon.

Ø      Coffee shop interest.

Ø      Sandwich shop.

Ø      Medical office.

Ø      The traffic numbers at the site are good.

Ø      The access and curb cuts are a major restraint on this site.

Ø      The plans are for 18-20 tenants.

Ø      A mixture of uses are planned including sales and office uses.

Ø      The bank has estimated 500 users per day, which highlights the need for the bank at this location.

 

Resident Sharon Koenig expressed a concern with hours of operation and neon signage.  Mr. Pugliese said the hours of operation will be as stated in the existing original PUD and that there would be no neon signage at the location.

 

Charlie Wachs asked about eastbound traffic that needed to make a left turn, would there be a left turn lane? 

Mr. Zigler stated yes there would and that it would be required by IDOT.  There would also be full access on Route 22 to the west and the median will run to the intersection from the full access point. 

 

Barbara Turner stated that she thought it was a good plan to open up the access to the wetlands with paths and asked what is the size of this property?  Mr. Pugliese said that the total land area of this project is 19.8 acres and the Village owns the other 27/28 acres to the north.

 

Barbara Turner asked if the developer had worked on any similar developments to this one?  Mr. Bassofin answered that there were no examples like this specific development.

 

Commissioner Acuna felt that the plan was generally a good one although he had concerns about traffic and about litter/garbage impacting the wetlands.  Mr.Bassofin said they would work with the covenants and the association to deal with that problem. 

 

Commissioner Di Iorio agreed that it was a good plan but had concerns about any use of the second floor areas. He also asked whether cement board was allowed by code.  Superintendent Block answered that it was allowed. 

 

Commissioner Di Iorio also had some lighting concerns.  Mr. Kidd said decorative lights would be used for paths and other lighting sources would illuminate the buildings. 

 

Commissioner Lisa Phillips questioned the overall size of the wetlands and why it had changed.  Mr. Mondiss said that the wetland was designated approximately 1 ½ years ago and this area might have grown in size.  Commissioner Lias Phillips said she would like the trail to connect to the forest preserve to the southwest.  Mr. Bassofin said he would look into the possibility of this. 

 

Commissioner Lisa Phillips questioned that there were no doors shown on building one and Mr. Kidd replied that the windows on building one could be changed into doors if so required.  She also asked if the drive-through lanes for the bank were included in the overall impervious lot coverage.  Mr. Kidd responded that this area has been included in the overall impervious lot coverage percentage.

 

Mr. Marianni described that the majority of trees at this location (hardwood) are oaks, ashes and cheery with lots of buckthorn.  There are approximately 11,000-12,000 caliper inches of trees at this location and that the replacement of only 400 caliper inches was required with the landscape plan.

 

Commissioner Lisa Phillips asked if the coffee shop was included in the fast food definition.  Mr. Mondiss answered that this was not the case.  Commissioner Lisa Phillips had a concern with garbage and litter at this location.  She also asked where the sanitary sewer was located.  Mr. Modiss said the sanitary sewer would connect to Salem Lake Drive with a lift station.

 

Commissioners Fasano thought that the mixed commercial use is a good blend at this location and feels that it is a positive plan. 

 

Commissioner Jenkins also liked the plan, he had some concerns with lighting, the dumpster enclosures, water and salt runoff from the parking lot into the wetland.  He thought that by keeping the present character of the corner by preserving the existing trees was a good idea and that additional trees should be added along road frontage.  Mr. Bassofin stated that this is not highly visible plan and more of a destination location.  Mr. Pugliese said that trees will be added within the buffer yard and that they will preserve most of the existing trees.

 

Commissioner Jenkins had a concern about the height of the ground/pylon sign.  Mr. Bassofin answered that the ground/pylon sign will look much better surrounded by the existing and newly planted trees.

 

Commissioner Dvorak agreed that the plans were a good start but had a concern with the access from Old McHenry Road.  He was concerned about traffic backing up to Route 22 with ingress and egress to this site.  Mr. Bassofin answered that he has reviewed the access in detail with Lake County Department of Transportation.

 

Commissioner Gould asked about the time frame for the project in relation to Route 22 widening project and whether a right in/right out access configuration by the bank is a concern for cut-thru traffic.  Commissioner Gould suggested extending the public hearing notices to the homeowner associations on Old McHenry, White Oaks and both sides of N. Krueger Road.  Village Planner Cage said he would address this. 

 

Commissioner Gould felt that sales tax revenue projection data would be helpful.  Mr. Bassofin said he would provide that information in a few weeks.  Commissioner Gould said she was concerned with a mixture of sales and non-sales tax establishments.  Commissioner Acuna didn’t think this would be a problem or we could levy a charge per non-sales tax revenue. Commissioner Fasano thought we could control the uses through the PUD, Village Attorney Tappendorf said that was a possibility.  Village Planner Cage said Business Districts, Inc will provide an analysis on this issue.  Commissioner Lisa Phillips stated that this site is not a big revenue generating site.  Mr. Bassofin stated that as this site was not very visible, that a blend of uses is expected at this location.

 

Commissioner Gould questioned the traffic study during peak hours of 6:00 pm to 7:15 pm.  Mr. Mondiss said this was the peak hours done on a 1-day basis in September.  Commissioner Gould also was concerned about too much signage on the buildings and with the height of the proposed ground/pylon sign.  She was interested in decreasing the drive-thru numbers and decreasing the parking around the bank building.  The bank representative, Ms. Lazarz, stated that the drive-thru would have an estimated 25 customers per hour with peak hours being 11:00 am – 12:00 pm; 2:00-4:00 pm.  The ATM peak hours were 6:00-7:00 pm.

 

Commissioner Dvorak stated that he has used National City Bank’s drive-throughs and congestion has not ever been a problem.

 

Commissioner Gould overall feels that the project is a positive one for the community, but had concerns with the trash areas, handicapped parking access, opening hours and site illumination and would provide a list of issues.

 

Charlie Wachs asked if trash could be regulated through the owner’s association.  Mr. Bassofin said users will have to conform to overall plan. 

 

Village Planner Cage said he would provide a staff review on this project for the next Plan Commission meeting.

 

Commissioner Gould motioned to continue the agenda item to the next available meeting, seconded by Commissioner Di Iorio, all ayes, no nays.  Motion carried.

 

5.         Approval of February 3, 2004 Minutes.

Commissioners Gould, Jenkins and Lisa Phillips noted some changes to the February 3, 2004 draft minutes.  Commissioner Acuna motioned to approve the minutes with changes, Commissioner Fasano seconded, all ayes, no nays.  Motion carried.

 

6.         Public Hearing for the Consideration of a Text Amendment that would allow the Modification of the Special Use Standard Requirements.

Village Attorney Tappendorf outlined the issue and the proposed text amendment.  Commissioner Lisa Phillips discussed the three-year business plan being a standard time frame. Village Attorney Tappendorf stated that the financial data would not be disclosed to the public and/or plan commission.  This type of application would be reviewed by the Village Treasurer and not disclosed to the public or the Plan Commission.  Commissioner Fasano noted that the word “certain” should be eliminated on page 2.  

 

Commissioner Fasano motioned to approve a text amendment that would allow the modification of the special use standard requirement with the noted changes, seconded by Commissioner Gould.  All ayes, no nays.  Motion carried.

 

7.         Continued Public Hearing for the Consideration of Text Amendment that would allow the Modification of Driveway Requirements. 

Village Planner Cage outlined the issues within the staff report.  Discussion followed regarding the need for illustrations, modification to reflect all setbacks from lot lines and property lines.  Discussion on Circular driveways and linear footage requirements followed. 

 

Village Superintendent Block stated that for Indian Valley circular driveway requirements would need to be added within the PUD process and that no circular driveways are permitted.  Village Attorney Tappendorf stated that as currently drafted, on small lots, variances for circular driveways would not be permitted and Village Superintendent Block added that 100 feet of frontage is required for a circular drive.  It was decided to remove 5-23-3 section from the Zoning Code and to add this to section 7-1-1-1 of the Subdivision Ordinance. 

 

Commissioner Gould motioned to approve the text amendment regarding driveway requirements with the noted changes.   Commissioner Lisa Phillips seconded.  All ayes, no nays.  Motion carried.

 

 

 

8.                   Continued Public Hearing Regarding Non-Retail Uses in Commercial Districts within the Village of Long Grove and to Discuss a Comprehensive Evaluation and Amendment to the Use Regulations within the Commercial Districts in the Village of Long Grove. 

Commissioner Lisa Phillips motioned to continue this agenda item to the next available meeting, seconded by Commissioner Acuna.  All ayes, no nays.  Motion carried.

 

9.      Next Meeting

Commissioner Gould motioned to change the next regular Plan Commission meeting date from April 6, 2004 to April 20, 2004.  Commissioner Di Iorio seconded.  All ayes, no nays.  Motion carried.

 

10.  Other Business

There was some discussion regarding attendance by Plan Commission representatives attending Village Board meetings.  It was agreed that the representatives must attend the meetings or contact Chairman Fred Phillips if they were unable to attend.

 

11. Adjournment:

                              Next Regular Meeting, Tuesday, April 20, 2004, 8:00pm 

 

Motion to adjourn by Commissioner Jenkins, seconded by Commissioner Acuna.  Ayes, all.  Nays, none, motion carried.  Meeting adjourned at 11:58 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted by,

 

Edmond Cage

Village Planner

Village of Long Grove