Village of Northbrook Plan Commission met April 16.
Here is the minutes provided by the commission:
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. MINUTESAPPROVAL-April4,2019
Commissioner Elisco moved and Commissioner Jacobs seconded a motion to approve the minutes for April 4, 2019. On a voice vote, the motion passed unanimously.
3. COMMUNITY PLANNING REPORT
Tom Poupard reported that at the last Board of Trustees meeting, the Board by a four to three vote approved the Bank of America application. The rest of the meeting was spent on the Northbrook Court TIF District. There was a public hearing, although no members of the public spoke. A majority of the Board asked that the TIF District approval documents be put on the agenda for next Tuesday, April 23rd.
Chairman Franklin asked what would happen if the TIF District was not approved, but the rest of the application was. Mr. Poupard replied that given the discussions with the applicant, they would probably just withdraw their land use application.
The Board also reviewed a couple of preliminary applications. The first involving a sign for Maple Junior High and the second was an ICS rezoning request for the property on Techny Road, between the MI Homes property and the Meadow Hill Park.
Commissioner Jacobs asked if there was any movement on the corners of Dundee and Sanders or Dundee and Pfingsten, as there are some vacant properties there. Mr. Poupard replied that at Dundee and Sanders, the corner that had been a gas station, the south west corner, a Culvers is proposed. They filed this week and it will be coming to the Plan Commission after staff review. The former Citgo Station at Dundee and Pfingsten had several inquiries about making that a new gas station with a 7-11. Those discussions have been dormant for about three or four months. At Dundee and Waukegan, there is a Marathon gas station that is under construction; they are doing underground tank replacement.
Dundee and Skokie, the Marathon station, no plans at the moment, however the owner of the Rehab Institute of Chicago did purchase the Marathon station so there is an opportunity for a larger consolidated development involving the two properties.
Chairman Franklin asked if a new taco place is going in where Jar Bar was. Mr. Poupard responded that there is a new taco place called EatTaco. They are planning to open the first week in May and they do have a liquor license.
Chairman Franklin asked Mr. Poupard to explain the upcoming Dundee Road construction project. She asked if it is true that the only piece of Dundee that is technically going to be blocked is between Lee and Shermer -- yet she keeps hearing that Dundee is going to be blocked from Shermer to Waukegan or from Shermer to the highway. Mr. Poupard explained that if you decide to go east from downtown out towards Mariano's, you cannot take Dundee because the intersection of Lee and Dundee is basically going to be gone, the bridge will be out. However, Shermer Road is an option. The reason all signs say, "Take the Detour", is really directed at regional traffic not local Northbrook residents.
Commissioner Jacobs asked if anything was going on with Green Acres. Mr. Poupard responded, yes but nothing official, no plans have been submitted. He stated that he expects a preliminary application to be filed in June or July, following the seating of the new Board.
4. HEAR FROM THE AUDIENCE
None.
5. CONTINUED REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS
A. CONTINUED DISCUSSION - AMENDMENTS TO DOWNTOWN ZONING REGULATIONS
Mr. Poupard stated that as they work on zoning regulations, the biggest challenge is calibrating the proposed zoning standards to what exists, so as to not create too may nonconformities or regulations that don't work. The thought is to focus in on the core of the downtown, Meadow between Cherry and Walters, and Shermer between the river and Walters. This is the area that if we are going to require ground level retail, this is where it would be. Mr. Poupard showed a slide presentation, mapping out the area with a layout where they would like buildings close to the street, zero to five feet. A little further north on Meadow where Franz Jewelers is located, the suggestion of the Commission was to go with a five to fifteen-foot setback or "Build To" zone in that area.
Commissioner Lawrence stated that she feels it should be a retail zone, the Sunset Foods shopping center shouldn't be exempt from having retail on the first floor. Mr. Poupard agreed that the ground level requirement could expand beyond the “pedestrian zone” he described earlier.
Conversation between Chairman Franklin and Commissioner Lawrence discussed locations of first floor retail. Commissioner Lawrence stated that there is currently not enough retail to make a pedestrian shopping experience worthwhile.
Mr. Poupard stated that we have to be careful when looking at setback requirements from property lines. He illustrated the unusual property line configuration in parts of the downtown and said that it may be prudent to establish setbacks from a common point of reference, such as the centerline or curb line of the public roads, particularly along Meadow.
The minimum building height in the proposed downtown area would be two stories, thus in the pedestrian zone a new single story building would not be allowed unless a waiver were granted. It would be helpful to identify the prominent corners where we would need more significant architectural features.
Mr. Poupard pointed out that if you are in the "Build To" area your front door would be required to face the street.
The Commissioners agreed to the suggestions regarding increased heights by Special Permit throughout the VGO.
The Commission also agreed that the height of buildings 3, 4 and 5 stories should have specific requirements, i.e., proximity to single family residences.
Commissioner Pepoon asked about the river-walk concept. Mr. Poupard explained that in the Form Base Code, there was a recommendation that there be a pedestrian connection from the intersection of Cherry/Church and Keystone, and once you reach the river, there needs to be a pedestrian connection to Meadow. This design recommendation can be incorporated into the downtown plan and even specify a minimum width for a pedestrian way along the river - say 10 feet. Mr. Poupard stated that a 5-foot wide sidewalk along the river would not create the ambience desired.
Mr. Poupard noted that the Architectural Control Commission recently discussed requiring that a 3-Dimensional computer model be submitted if a new major building is proposed.
Mr. Poupard then showed the Commission a series of buildings that used the “Step-Back” requirement. He pointed out some that had a percentage of the building within the stepback and others that had the stepback completely void of building mass.
The Commission liked the design of Step-Back buildings that had a certain percentage of the building allowed, as it provided more visual interest.
In the Pedestrian Core area, it would be a requirement that the parking lots would have to be behind the building.
Mr. Poupard noted that parking has been a point of great concern to the Plan Commission in looking at redevelopment options. Next Tuesday night, the Board will be hopefully accepting staff recommendation on hiring a consultant to conduct a land use and parking analysis of downtown parking, which will look at business parking, commuter parking, existing demand, future demand and what land uses might be appropriate on the Grainger site. The study would be completed in June or July and Mr. Poupard stated that he would like the presentation to be scheduled so the Plan Commission could also attend.
Commissioner Jacobs asked about a pedestrian walk-way parallel to the tracks. Mr. Poupard stated that the issue is that if you're on the east side of the railroad tracks the grade really changes, there's a significant drop.
Commissioner Jacobs stated that he is more interested in the connection between Grainger and the Village Green Park. Mr. Poupard replied if you wanted pedestrians to get from Grainger to the park, the grade change is such that the only realistic way to do it is to go under the tracks or build a bridge over the tracks. Mr. Poupard said he feared that if a bridge were built, it would seldom be used.
Commissioner Jacobs asked what about the west side of the tracks from the existing commuter lot to the Grainger lot. Mr. Poupard replied that there it's also a grading and drainage issue, it's possible though. An idea that has been tossed around was what if three acres of the Grainger site was held back and used as commuter parking.
Members thanked staff for putting together the latest presentation as it helped them understand the issues.
6. OLD BUSINESS
None.
7. NEWBUSINESS
The next meeting will be on May 7, when the Commission will have the third public hearing for Northbrook Court on the agenda.
8. ADJOURN
On voice vote, a motion to adjourn passed unanimously. Adjourned at 8:52 p.m.
http://northbrookil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=15&ID=1412&Inline=True
Alerts Sign-up