North Cook News

City of Elgin Design Review Subcommittee met April 23

Here are the minutes provided by the subcommittee:

The meeting of the Design Review Subcommittee was called to order at 6:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers (Located on the 2nd floor of City Hall) by Chairman Savel.

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Joey Crist, Chloe Burkhart, Carly Gorick, Krissy Palermo, Rebecca Hunter and Scott Savel

MEMBERS ABSENT:

Michael Burns

CITY STAFF PRESENT:

Christen Sundquist, Historic Preservation Planner

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Motion made by Committee Member Crist to approve the minutes of April 23, 2024.

The motion was seconded by Committee Member Hunter.

The motion passed 5-0-1 (Gorick abstained).

RECOGNIZE OTHER PERSONS PRESENT:

None

PROPERTIES ON AGENDA FOR DISCUSSION:

Old Business

New Business

1. 930 N. Spring Street – Chicken Coop

2. 180 Kimball Street - Signage

ITEMS TABLED AT TONIGHT’S MEETING:

1. 816 Brook Street – Rear Deck

NEW BUSINESS

930 N. Spring Street – Chicken Coop

Project Background:

The property owner has submitted a Certificate of Appropriateness application to maintain a 4’  x 11’ chicken coop that was built without a permit. The coop is currently near the lot line and must be relocated to meet zoning requirements. The proposed location will make it so the coop will not visible from the street.

Elgin Design Guideline Manual Specifications:

SECONDARY BUILDINGS: GARAGES, SHEDS, CHICKEN COOPS, OTHER OUTBUILDINGS

General Narrative

New construction of secondary buildings such as garages and sheds are acceptable as long as they are simple in design and sited in traditional locations. Construction materials should be similar to those of the primary dwelling.

Prefabricated (store bought) temporary sheds and chicken coops are available in many designs and materials, some are appropriate and others are not, for installation in a historic district.

Guidelines

A. should be smaller in scale than the dwelling; clearly secondary in nature.

B. should be simple in design but reflecting the general character of the associated dwelling. For example, use gable roof forms if the dwelling has a gable roof, hipped roof forms if the dwelling has a hipped roof, etc.

C. should be built at traditional locations for outbuildings in the locally designated districts.

These include at rear lot lines, adjacent to alleys, and at the back side of a dwelling;

D. should be compatible in design, shape, materials, and roof shape to the associated dwelling.

E. should be of an exterior material to match the associated dwelling such as clapboard, stucco, or brick. However, if not readily visible from the street, secondary buildings may have exterior substitute siding materials such as fiber cement board with appropriate trim and exposure and cementitious materials.

F. should be of traditional materials if readily visible. For garages, wood paneled doors are more appropriate than paneled doors of vinyl, aluminum, or steel. Wood paneled overhead roll-up doors are widely available and are appropriate for new garages. For two car garages the use of two single doors instead of one larger double door is more appropriate for use in a historic district.

G. should have windows in the garage doors, but windows may not be appropriate in every case for garage doors.

H. should have raised panel steel doors, where appropriate, and should be painted to match the house and set off the relief of the panels.

I. should be in designs that are more appropriate for use with traditionally designed structures, if prefabricated sheds are proposed to be used.

J. should not be constructed of rough sawn cedar with knots.

Staff Recommendation:

Staff recommends approval with the following specifications:

Chicken Coop

1. Chicken coop shall be painted in complimentary color to home;

2. Chicken coop to match submitted design;

3. All other specifications to follow Title 7 of the Elgin Municipal Code.

*****

Tim Wilson (Owner) was present for tonight’s COA discussion:

The commission noted that the chicken coop is too visible from the street and were not concerned that the coop would be visible from the alley way. The also noted that installing a continuous air vent at the proposed enclosed soffit would allow for the chickens to get the most ventilation while still having the coop look like it is in a finished design. The commission were also concerned about the use of Visqueen and asked that this would be removed and replaced with plexiglass, again, to provide a more finished appearance.

Motion made by Committee Member Palermo to approve with staff recommendations and with the following: 1. Give staff the authority to make any necessary changes with applicant; 2. Chicken coop shall be painted in complimentary color to home; 3. Visqueen shall not be used; plexiglass shall be used as the protective wind barrier- create frame around plexiglass to insert into coop/run when needed; 4. Installation of a continuous soffit vent with wire mesh; the rest of the soffit shall be enclosed with painted MDO; 5.Chicken coop to match submitted design; 6. Chicken coop shall not be visible from the public right of way; 7. All other specifications to follow Title 7 of the Elgin Municipal Code.

The motion was seconded by Committee Member Crist.

The motion passed unanimously.

_________________________________________________________

180 Kimball Street - Signage

Project Background:

The property owner has submitted an application for a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) to replace the existing monument signage from a manual gas pricing change panels to electronic copy numbers.

The owner noted that due to the height of the sign (monument) that the manual numbers get stolen. Due to this, he is requesting to have the numbers be electronic. This will also make it easier to run his business.

Elgin Design Guideline Manual Specifications:

SIGNS AND GRAPHICS – RESIDENTIAL AREAS

A. should also follow regulations subject to the provisions of Chapter 19.50 of the city’s zoning ordinance.

B. Should be kept to a minimum with preferably a maximum of two per commercial business or community facility.

C. Should have no more than three colors and use colors that coordinate with the building colors.

D. Should be anchored into the mortar, not the masonry.

E. Should be of traditional materials such as finished wood, glass, copper, or bronze, plywood, plastic, or unfinished wood.

F. Should not cover or obscure architectural features.

G. Should not be backlit or internally lit.

H. Should not be illuminated with visible bulbs, flashing lights, or luminous paints, but with remote sources.

SIGNS AND GRAPHICS – COMMERCIAL AREAS

A. should also follow regulations subject to the provisions of Chapter 19.50 of the city’s zoning ordinance.

B. Should be preserved, maintained, and repaired, especially those from the pre-1945 era, such as painted wall signs or those of metal and neon.

C. Should be of traditional materials such as wood with ornamental copper or bronze letters, if new. Sandblasted wood signs are also appropriate. Plastic substrate signs or signs of unfinished wood are not recommended.

D. Should be sized in propose to the building and not oversized.

E. Should have concealed lighting, if lit. Spot or up-lit lighting for signs is recommended. Internally-lit and flashing signs are not appropriate for the commercial areas.

F. Should resemble logos or symbols for businesses.

G. Should have colors coordinated with overall building colors.

H. Should have traditional lettering such as serif, sans serif, or script lettering.

I. Should be placed at traditional sign locations including storefront belt courses, upper façade walls, hanging or mounted inside windows or projecting from the face of the building.

Staff Recommendation:

Due to the non-contributing status of the structure, the location of the monument sign - near a commercial corridor and not facing single family homes, staff would recommend approval of the Certificate of Appropriateness with the following conditions: Signage

1. The pricing section of the sign is the only electronic item on the sign that is able to change;

2. All other details match the submitted drawings.

*****

Babu Joseph (Owner) was present for tonight’s COA discussion:

The commission noted that the request was reasonable as long as the cage around the numbers was to be removed. The owner noted that the cage will be removed as there would be no need for it with electronic numbering.

Motion made by Committee Member Palermo to approve with staff recommendations and to give staff the authority to make any necessary changes with applicant.

The motion was seconded by Committee Member Crist.

The motion passed unanimously.

_________________________________________________________

TABLED ITEMS AT MEETING

816 Brook Street – Rear Deck

The property owner has submitted an application for a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) to build a rear 16’ x 22’ deck.

Historically there were concrete steps leading out of the rear door with no landing. The proposed rear deck will be 24 inches off the ground and will not be visible from the street. As the height of the deck will be only 24 inches off the ground, a guardrail is not proposed to be installed.

Elgin Design Guideline Manual Specifications:

DECKS

I. should be located at the rear of dwellings only, where they are not readily visible from the street.

J. Should be stained with an opaque stain or painted to blend with the colors of the dwelling.

K. Should be kept simple in design. Wood decks are recommended to have traditional style wood balusters complimentary to the design of the building.

Staff Recommendation:

Staff recommends approval of the Certificate of Appropriateness with the following conditions:

Rear Deck

3. Decking shall be 5/4 x 6 (AC2) pressure treated deck with ¼ spaces.

4. All rear porch details shall match the attached drawing. 

5. All rear porch details shall be painted or stained with an opaque (solid body) stain.

*****

Owner was not present for tonight’s COA discussion.

Motion made by Committee Member Crist to table this request due to no owner representation.

The motion was seconded by Committee Member Gorick.

The motion passed unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS:

None

OTHER:

None

ADDITIONAL STAFF COMMENTS:

Staff asked the commission to please RSVP no later than April 29th for the 2024 Mayor’s Awards as she needs a headcount for the food order. Staff also noted that on Thursday, May 2nd that Commissioner Hunter will be speaking at the Gail Borden Public Library on Sears Homes.

CORRESPONDENCE:

None

Motion to adjourn was made by Committee Member Palermo.

The motion was seconded by Committee Member Crist.

The motion passed unanimously.

The meeting of the Design Review Subcommittee was adjourned at 6:30 p.m.

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