Village of Northbrook Plan Commission met Oct. 15.
Here is the minutes provided by the commission:
1. ROLL CALL
| Attendee Name | Title | Status |
| Sandra Frum | Village President | Present |
| Kathryn Ciesla | Trustee | Present |
| Bob Israel | Trustee | Present |
| Muriel Collison | Trustee | Present |
| Jason Han | Trustee | Present |
| Heather Ross | Trustee | Absent |
| Johannah Hebl | Trustee | Present |
GUESTS
Diane Williams, BDI; Cindy Fish, Fish Transp. Group; Bridget Lane, BDI; John Harris, a5; Lizzy Kreindler, a5
2. MINUTES APPROVAL
A. Board of Trustees - Special Committee of the Whole - Sep 24, 2019 6:00 PM
RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Bob Israel, Trustee
SECONDER: Muriel Collison, Trustee
AYES: Frum, Ciesla, Israel, Collison, Han, Hebl
ABSENT: Ross
3. PUBLIC COMMENT TIME
None
4. DISCUSSION
A. Continued Review of Strategies to Achieve Downtown Land Use and Parking Goals
President Frum asked Director Poupard for a brief overview of the questions that were asked in the staff report and are included within the packet. Director Poupard’s overview included the following:
What should we do with the Grainger property? The area is 10 acres. 1/6th is separated from the main parcel by a major utility easement. The existence of the easement lends itself to dividing the parcel into two different buildings or development sites.
Moving the train station is not the silver bullet for solving the traffic issues downtown. Costs associated with moving the train station may exceed $8-10 million. Southbound trains stopped at the relocated station would cause gates to go down at the Techny Road crossing. Northbound trains would cause the gates to go down on Shermer, when the train is stopped at Grainger.
Should we move municipal to the Grainger site? Should the Grainger site be used for multi- family residential?
Bicycle and pedestrian improvements are needed in the downtown area. Northbrook has a lower percentage of people walking to the train than other communities. We offer commuter parking for $1 per day versus $2 charged by our neighbors. We do not offer full service bicycle parking areas.
Place making involves using streets in the downtown area as a platform for hosting events. Should we install attractive lighting and offer a festival atmosphere? Have traffic move around the street?
The commuter parking lots were designed to get cars in and out as fast as possible. The lots are at full capacity. The hedges are tall along Shermer are tall and safety at night is a concern for those wishing to use the commuter lot to go to businesses. Is there the need to make the walk more inviting? Look at the entire Metra system. Director Poupard said the consultants are not sure if Northbrook has to be the least expensive parking along the corridor.
To what extent should we tackle business parking? Private lots are 60% full during the day. There is a problem with on street parking on Meadow that is shared with the park. Parallel parking is not very popular.
Meadow Plaza is fully leased and there may not be much of an economic to redevelop it. Opportunities exist for a mixed use development along the river. The reality is that we have a tired shopping center but it needs to make economic sense for redevelopment.
Finally, how do we tackle the question raised by the Plan Commission about requiring ground level retail? The consultants do not recommend mandating retail. There is a frustration that there a lot of banks, realtors and other non-retail storefronts along Shermer and Meadow Roads.
President Frum asked for Director Poupard’s professional recommendation for the questions he posed for the downtown. Director Poupard stated that he liked the idea of introducing multifamily on the Grainger site. Adding more households will support businesses downtown, which is what people want. Moving the train station marginally helps traffic, but due to the high cost of moving it, Director Poupard stated he does not think it is a wise economic decision. A lot of things can be accomplished in the downtown area by adding improvements such as recommended in the Bicycle and Pedestrian plan. By getting more pedestrian friendly streets, it would help with parking issues. Business parking in the downtown area near the train station is different from the standards that we use on Skokie Boulevard. A strategy is needed to help the Lucky Fish block, which has very limited parking, but there is on-street parking nearby and the commuter parking lot empties out in the evening. Private redevelopment of the Meadow Plaza can go two ways. The 1970s style shopping center can be refreshed and a new building could be added at Meadow and Cherry. Director Poupard worries if it were a complete redevelopment that the current tenants would need to be relocated and they may never return. National chains would then occupy the retail space in the center because they can pay the higher rents. He said he is not sure that the community wants to just see chain stores that can be found in any community across the US in our downtown. In terms of the Zoning code strategies, he said that he is favors more of a free market position. If demand is there, retailers will be there. He is not sure that requiring retailers to be in spaces is the way to go. HE would much prefer to see more households added to increase demand so retailers want to be there.
Village Manager Nahrstadt stated that the parking fund is pretty much out of money. The parking lots need refurbishment. Fees need to be increased or funds are needed from another source.
The consultants stated that we are subsidizing behaviors that we don’t want to subsidize. Metra parkers create the least amount of vitality for the downtown. Walkers to the station create vitality. The consultants recommend focus more on place making and experiences and less on adding more parking. The money to move the train station does not achieve vitality goals. Folks want a better event space and a more vital and attractive downtown. The consultants recommend a formal program for succession planning for downtown retailers. Some communities have ordinances in place that limit the amount of non-retail space in a specific area.
President Frum is not interested in moving the train station or setting the Grainger site aside for any long term public facility. Bicycle and pedestrian improvements are important to her. She likes the idea of making Meadow Road and Cedar Lane pedestrian friendly by narrowing the roadway and adding amenities. She would raise the commuter parking fee. She would wait on the Heitman property and go with a free market approach. The Grainger property will be discussed in Executive session. President Frum wants the Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan and place making concepts in the CIP.
Trustee Ciesla says “Yes” to the Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan and says to find a way to do it. Move robustly. It is important to her to make sure that things are accessible to folks with disabilities as we move forward. She concurs with business parking and wants to offer different zones with premium parking up front. She wants to wait and see on private development in the area. She likes the concept of Shermerville Commons behind the Village Hall. She wants to use train station parking for events. She states that we can, maybe, lease Village Green for 20 - 25 years and operate it. She wants to bring people downtown. She wants to light up the downtown all year long with LED lights, even using colored lights.
Trustee Israel agrees with President Frum and largely with Trustee Ciesla. He does not want to move the train station and wants to talk about Grainger off line. He says “Yes” to the Bicycle and Pedestrian plan. This ties in with leasing commuter parking places and have covered bicycle parking. Link these together. He doesn’t know about taking over the Village Green. He states that the Village Green is a resource and can’t be overused. On business parking, Trustee Israel states that, “People don’t like to see people park, and then walk across the street”. He suggests fostering co-use and encourages cooperation. He wants all walks handicap accessible.
Trustee Collison is not in favor of moving the train station or placing municipal at Grainger. She is curious about the current 7/11 location. She is an advocate for raising the parking fee and that it would help solve some issues. She is in favor of making the area bicycle and pedestrian friendly before spending money. Trustee Collison feels strongly about Northbrook having its own event space behind the Village Hall. She is not interested in leasing Village Green and favors getting “our own space”. She understands the issues with Meadow Plaza, but it needs to be properly maintained. She believes in making property inviting. She would like to require retail on the 1st floor in certain areas. She feels that the American Legion property location and credit union type shops are not attractive or places that people want to go. She likes the idea of making street space by Meadow Lane (Leonidas and the drycleaners). She states that even if the study states that there is parking, it doesn’t feel like there is convenient parking. Parking is not in the right spots.
Trustee Han believes in the benefit of using the consultant’s matrix to evaluate options. The matrix shows that expanding connectivity would deliver the best return on investment. He is in favor of Director Poupard’s idea of making the train parking lot feel safer. He would invest $10 million in Shermerville Commons, but not the Grainger Property. He does not want to move the train station but thinks we should have Shermerville Commons.
Trustee Hebel votes no to moving the train station. She is in favor of raising commuter parking to $2 with 11 spots having incentives for carpoolers. She believes in succession planning and sited Trattoria Oliverii as an example. She is not sure about Shermerville Commons. She would like to see street activity with pickle ball competitions and would like to do things with private investment like the park district program for purchasing a tree in the name of a loved one. She does not want to require ground level retail.
President Frum will take the question of how to dispose of the Grainger Property into Executive session. In summary, she wants to focus on the bicycle and pedestrian improvements, place making, commuter parking, making it friendlier for non-drivers, possibly increase commuter parking rates in 2020. She is in favor of lighting the downtown and doesn’t want a long wait. She would like staff to develop some numbers for the space behind Village Hall. She wants Director Poupard to look at what type of events could be accommodated in that space.
Trustee Israel suggested raising parking fees at a later date in conjunction with bicycle parking improvements. The consultants suggested that the Village go after grant money with the RTA for bicycle and pedestrian improvements.
8. Review of Communications Audit and Plan
John Harris and Lizzy Kreindler from a5Branding & Digital began with background information on how the Village communicates. An audit with 42 different individuals was conducted. Nineteen one on one interviews took place and four focus groups with 23 people. Communications materials were reviewed from nine other communities. Existing communications materials to date were reviewed. Mr. Harris highlighted the best things that were heard. He highlighted what could be better i.e., communication with local businesses, small business relationships, downtown improvement etc. He stated that the Village website since being upgraded is better than before but has no brand or story and it is not the go to source for communication. The Village newsletter is still valuable but outdated. The Northbrook Tower came up as a main source of information.
Social media does not have a high awareness. It is not bad but not compelling enough. We have some good events i.e., Northbrook Days, Friday Night Flights, Plein Air. He reviewed some features of other municipal web sites, such as carousel images, volunteer recognition, and feature stories.
Who is the voice of the downtown? There is an opportunity to create stronger communication during the daytime. Target the audience, internal and external to Northbrook. Everyone needs to tell the same story.
Northbrook Notify is a digital news system for news, events and emergency notifications. Send it out on Thursdays. Northbrook Notify needs to be timelier. All communications need an intended goal and audience. Metrics need to be created.
The communications plan needs ways to more effectively communicate. It needs to be engaging, interesting, well written, accurate and timely. Show that the Village is “on it”.
Tell stories with a purpose. Simplify and clarify communication channels, measure programming, tell one story on multiple platforms (Instagram, print, website), revamp Northbrook Notify sign-up form, create a brand.
Play up Northbrook’s strengths i.e., education, community, park district. Create a sense of place with photography and video. Have a repository.
The Briefing memo is long and cumbersome. Simplify or do away with.
The print newsletter needs vision. It needs an editorial calendar. Send six times per year. Keep the president’s news piece. Keep the most important news on the front and back cover. Highlight individuals.
On the website, tell stories with purpose. Use images of people in the community. Let them enjoy seeing themselves. Rotate the images every six seconds. Live, Shop, Dine needs to be revamped. Give it a new identity. Track viewership and demographics on Northbrook Cable TV.
Social Media posts should contain a link. Share and promote local events. Create “Events” on Facebook for all Village events. Set Facebook goals, advertising. On Twitter grow the number of followers. Monitor and retweet. Launch Instagram and Hootsuite.
Use the water bill effectively. Use a branded buck slip. Change four times per year. Offer a new resident packet, digital and analog.
In response to Trustee Collision’s question, Mr. Harris noted he is in favor of using Save Ferris on the water tower despite the cost.
Have a proposed Village annual calendar. Offer three Friday Night Flights throughout the year.
Recommendation is to appoint a communications lead.
President Frum does not want to wait until next year to get started. There is money for communications and outreach. Branding has to be real and authentic. Branding can begin and the Village can look to hire a new person. The website has to be disability friendly. President Frum asked if there were any questions before she turned over the material to staff. Trustee Collison was not comfortable with “North Shore location without North Shore attitude”. Trustee Israel liked, “Move here for the schools; Stay here for the people”.
5. REMARKS FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER
President Frum stated that Cannabis would be the topic at the October 22, 2019 Board Meeting. She expects a large crowd. Individuals will be allowed three minutes to speak, with a 30 second wrap up. They are asked to give their name and the name of the town where they live. There is no cut off time for the meeting. Everyone will be offered the ability to speak. The Village attorney will be present at the meeting. Trustees were advised to acknowledge the comments, thank the individual for their participation, but to refrain from engagement.
6. CLOSED SESSION
Trustee Ciesla moved, seconded by Trustee Collison to go into closed session under Section 2(c) 3 of the Open Meetings Act. On voice vote, all were in favor.
7. ADJOURN
Trustee Ciesla moved, seconded by Trustee Han to adjourn the meeting at 9:05pm. On voice vote, all were in favor.
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