Village of Wilmette Appearance Review Commission met September 11.
Here is the minutes provided by the Commission:
Members Present: William Bradford, Chairman
Daniel Elkins
Mason Miller
Craig Phillips
Carrie Woleben-Meade
Members Absent: Nada Andric
Guests: Cathy Pratt, 1145 Wilmette Avenue
Damon Wilson, 1135 Wilmette Avenue
Mark Goeden, 350 W. Hubbard Street, Chicago, IL
Jana Langston, 350 N. LaSalle, Chicago, IL
Jay Harron, 2115 Schiller Avenue
Mike Snyder, 1740 Lake Avenue
Staff Present: Lucas Sivertsen, Business Development Coordinator
I. Call to Order
Chairman Bradford called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
II. Approval of Minutes; Appearance Review Commission Meeting of August 7, 2017.
Mr. Phillips moved to approve the August 7, 2017 meeting minutes as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Elkins. Voting yes: Chairman Bradford and Commissioners Elkins, Miller, Phillips, and Woleben-Meade. Voting no: none. The motion carried.
III. Continuances
Ms. Woleben-Meade moved to continue Case 2017-AR-10, 808 Linden Avenue to the October 2, 2017 Appearance Review Commission meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Phillips. Voting yes: Chairman Bradford and Commissioners Elkins, Miller, Phillips, and Woleben-Meade. Voting no: none. The motion carried.
IV. Consent Agenda
Mr. Elkins moved to grant an Appearance Review Certificate for Case 2017-AR-26, 1255 Green Bay Road, CIBC, Wall and Ground Sign; 2017-AR-27, 1114 Central Avenue, Saint Mickael, Awning Sign; and Case 2017-AR-28, 1162 Wilmette Avenue, Torino Ramen, Wind Break. The motion was seconded by Mr. Miller. Voting yes: Chairman Bradford and Commissioners Elkins, Miller, Phillips, and Woleben-Meade. Voting no: none. The motion carried.
V. Cases
2017-AR-23 1145 Wilmette Avenue
North Shore Community Bank Appearance Review Certificate
Mr. Sivertsen called Case 2017-AR-23, 1145 Wilmette Avenue, requesting an Appearance Review Certificate to install a fence in the rear yard.
Ms. Cathy Pratt said the bank wished to install the fence to screen the dumpster as well as to keep garbage from neighboring businesses from blowing into their parking lot.
Mr. Bradford said the four foot fence has virtually no visual impact in its location.
Mr. Elkins moved to approve Case 2017-AR-23, 1145 Wilmette Avenue, North Shore Community Bank, for an Appearance Review Certificate to install a new fence in the rear parking lot. The motion was seconded by Ms. Woleben-Meade. Voting yes: Chairman Bradford and Commissioners Elkins, Miller, Phillips, and Woleben-Meade. Voting no: none. The motion carried.
2017-AR-24 1135 Wilmette Avenue
Gates Manor Appearance Review Certificate
Mr. Sivertsen called Case 2017-AR-24, 1135 Wilmette Avenue, for an Appearance Review Certificate to replace the existing vestibule.
Mr. Mark Goeden said he is representing the owner of the property along with Damon Wilson the architect on the project.
Mr. Bradford said the project was well received at the previous meeting and that the Commission was just looking for finish samples and some more details on how the canopy would drain.
Mr. Wilson said there would be a scupper on either side of the canopy in the same finish as the canopy. A rain chain would be used to help control the splatter off the canopy.
Mr. Goeden said the Village would be installing the fence based off the design shown in the packet.
Mr. Phillips thanked the applicant for incorporating the Commission’s comments from the preliminary review.
Mr. Goeden said the comments were all positive so they were easy to incorporate.
Mr. Miller moved to approve Case 2017-AR-24, 1135 Wilmette Avenue, Gates Manor, for an Appearance Review Certificate to replace an existing vestibule. The motion was seconded by Mr. Phillips. Voting yes: Chairman Bradford and Commissioners Elkins, Miller, Phillips, and Woleben-Meade. Voting no: none. The motion carried.
2017-AR-25 1740 Lake Avenue
St. Joseph’s School Preliminary Review
Mr. Sivertsen called Case 2017-AR-25, 1740 Lake Avenue, St. Joseph’s School, for a preliminary review of a request to install a ground sign at the corner of Lake Avenue and Ridge Road. He explained that this request would require a sign variation for the size of the sign as well as for the video display board as currently proposed.
Mr. Jay Harron said he is with the St. Joe’s Mens Club. The project is a joint effort by the Men’s Club and parent school organization. They would like to change the image of that corner from a chain link fence and backstop to something more appealing.
Mr. Mike Snyder said he is the landscape architect for the project. He’s been asked to come up with the conceptual design for the sign as well as the landscaping and fence plan at the corner.
Mr. Elkins said the biggest thing for him would be the moving sign. He can only recall one such request from his time on the Commission. It was not favorably received by the Commission and the applicant ultimately decided not to pursue the request.
Mr. Harron said they are not wed to the moving sign.
Mr. Elkins also wondered what materials they were proposing.
Mr. Snyder said it would be stone and/or brick with a metal roof.
Mr. Elkins asked if the four foot tall piers shown were proposed all along Lake Avenue or just at the corner.
Mr. Harron said they would be going along Lake Avenue to the south to replace the chain- link.
Mr. Elkins said they will want to see a site plan showing where exactly the fence is proposed and a drawing or photograph showing the detail and finish materials of the fence. They also would like to see a brick sample, copper roofing sample if that ends up being part of the design, and additional detailing of the sign itself.
Mr. Elkins wanted more information on the video sign if that was something they will be moving forward with. He is somewhat familiar with the moving sign for Notre Dame on Dempster. That is possibly a little different because it is just scrolling text rather than a video display. He likes option #1 better because of the way it is oriented, although as a personal preference he likes the elevation of option #2 because it is lower. While the sign ordinance might limit the sign to 10 square feet in size, a larger sign would be acceptable at this intersection.
Ms. Woleben-Meade agreed she likes the orientation of option #1 better. She would like to see information on how the sign would be illuminated.
Mr. Phillips asked if they thought about how their audience would be able to see the sign. It’s only going to be seen from two directions.
Mr. Harron said he thought it would be best to have it facing southwest so it is visible to eastbound and northbound traffic just as the current temporary signs face.
Mr. Bradford asked the applicant if they envisioned people sitting on the lower wall.
Mr. Snyder said that will likely happen.
Mr. Bradford said they should lower the height to 18 inches to provide a more comfortable seating height. They wouldn’t necessarily need to lower the overall height of the sign, but at least the seat wall.
Mr. Miller said they should also consider making the seat wall depth a little larger.
Ms. Woleben-Meade said she wasn’t sure about the mansard roof option for the sign. She thinks a limestone cap might be a simpler option.
Mr. Bradford agreed a limestone cap would be a more elegant solution.
Mr. Harron said their long term thought was to possibly install a matching sign on the south side of Lake Avenue for the church.
Mr. Bradford said that wouldn’t be too dissimilar to what St. Francis Xavier did on Linden Avenue.
Mr. Miller asked what the applicant meant by manual sign.
Mr. Harron said it would be something where you could change out the letters manually rather than a digital board where you program the message.
Ms. Woleben-Meade told the applicant they might want to look at the sign done by Winnetka Covenant Church. They have a manual sign that is also backlit.
Mr. Elkins asked if all of their other marketing and signage would go away if they installed these new signs.
Mr. Harron said he’s not sure if they’ve thought that through yet.
Mr. Snyder said he heard the code limits signs to 10 square feet, but that 40 square feet might be appropriate. He wondered if there was a range that would be acceptable to the commission.
Mr. Elkins said there’s no hard and fast rule. Some of it is going to be based on the esthetics and how it relates to the intersection.
VI. Special Zoning Committee Hearing
2017-SZC-04 3207-3223 Lake Avenue
Westlake Plaza Text Amendment
Mr. Bradford opened the Special Zoning Committee meeting.
Mr. Sivertsen called Case 2017-SZC-04, 3207-3223 Lake Avenue, for a text amendment to the Westlake Plaza local sign ordinance to permit the display of two multi-tenant directory signs. The application has further refined their design and responded to some of the Commission’s comments.
Ms. Jana Langston said they have reoriented the westernmost side so that it is perpendicular to Lake Avenue. They had to lose one parking space to accommodate this request, but they are still above the required amount of parking per Village code. They reversed the colors of the shopping center name as recommended at the previous meeting. That helped to make the center name stand out from the tenant names.
Mr. Phillips asked about the open area at the bottom of sign #1.
Mr. David Kennedy said it was done to help improve visibility for motorists.
Mr. Elkins asked the applicant to clarify which signs they should be viewing. The architectural plans and sign company plans are slightly different.
Mr. Kennedy said the plans from the sign contractor, Parvin Clauss, are more up to date.
Mr. Sivertsen said he could work with the Village attorney to come up with language for the text amendment based off the plans, but wanted to know if there was anything specific the commission would like included in the language. He was thinking of things like total height, overall size, letter height, fonts, colors, and spacing.
Mr. Bradford said the sign contractor drawings can be used as the basis for drafting the text amendment language.
Mr. Phillips said the panel where North Shore Kitchen and Bath is drawn is 1’-11” in height. If the next tenant who comes in only has two words should they be stacked or on one line and possibly increase in letter height.
Mr. Kennedy said he thought they should remain 7 inch letters and be centered on the panel.
Mr. Phillips asked how tenants with longer names should be treated on one of the shorter tenant panels. Would they all be crammed into in the panel or have the sign shortened.
The sign font would not change in those cases. They would need to find a way to abbreviate their name.
Findings of Fact-
The Commission found the proposed amendment promotes the public health, safety and welfare of the Village. The signage will help clarify which tenants are located in the shopping center. The proposed amendment adds clarification to existing sign regulations in that multi-tenant signs are permitted elsewhere in the Village. The amendment adds language for sign height relative to the property’s location at the intersection of Lake Avenue and Skokie Boulevard.
Decision-
Ms. Woleben-Meade moved to recommend granting a text amendment for Case 2017-SZC- 04, 3207-3223 Lake Avenue, as submitted. The motion was seconded by Mr. Phillips. Voting yes: Chairman Bradford and Commissioners Elkins, Miller, Phillips, and Woleben- Meade. Voting no: none. The motion carried.
Mr. Elkins moved to authorize Chairman Bradford to prepare the report and recommendation from the Appearance Review Commission for Case 2017-SZC-04. The motion was seconded by Ms. Woleben-Meade. Voting yes: Chairman Bradford and
Commissioners Elkins, Miller, Phillips, and Woleben-Meade. Voting no: none. The motion carried.
Mr. Phillips moved to grant an Appearance Review Certificate to install landscaping as submitted. The motion was second by Mr. Phillips. Voting yes: Chairman Bradford and Commissioners Elkins, Miller, Phillips, and Woleben-Meade. Voting no: none. The motion carried.
Mr. Bradford adjourned the Special Zoning Committee meeting.
VII. Public Comment
There were no additional public comments.
VIII. New Business
Mr. Sivertsen stated the Commission will likely be reviewing St. Francis Xavier School project at their next meeting. The Women’s Club construction is still proceeding, but he did not have an update on an anticipated completion date.
IX. Adjournment
At 8:29 p.m., Mr. Elkins moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Phillips. Voting yes: Chairman Bradford and Commissioners Elkins, Miller, Phillips, and Woleben-Meade. Voting no: none. The motion carried.
https://www.wilmette.com/download/agendas_and_minutes/arc/minutes/2017/ARC-09-11-2017-Minutes.pdf
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