HomeMy Public PortalAboutWorkshop 03.14.05Minutes of the Committee of the Whole Workshop of the President and the Board of Trustees Held on Monday, March 14, 2005 Mayor O’Connell called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Present were: M.Collins, J.Dement, S.Thomson, J.Waldorf, P. Fay and K.O’Con nell. Also Present: S. Janik, Village Clerk, T.L.Burghard, Administrator; C.Minick, Management Services Director; J.Testin, Community Development Director; A. Persons, Public Works Director. There were 16 people in the audience. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Di rector Testin brought before the Board changes to the Comprehensive Plan identified by the Board. He also sought input on whether specific percentage weights should be assigned to criteria that will be used to determine the density allowed for a developmen t. Criteria including open space, architecture, road improvements and historic preservation will affect a development's density. The Trustees felt it would be best not to assign specific points to amenities. Trustee O'Connell felt it should not be too s tructured because it will end up monotonous. Trustee Dement felt the need for general improvements to landscaping and garages, but also felt that the added percentages might not be manageable. The intent is a great idea, but I don't believe it's workable . He also suggested the institution of a Development Committee perhaps made up of 3 to 4 people. The goal of revising the comprehensive plan is to establish more consistency in how developments are reviewed by administrators, the plan commission and vill age board. Trustee Fay feels that the clearer we can be in our directions, the easier it will be for developers to get through the process. Village Trustees unanimously backed the principles of requiring higher standards of all developers, based on use of 16 different elements. Thos elements include the use of more brick and higher quality vinyl on homes' exteriors, consistent use of window styles; eve lines on all sides of homes, and discouraging the practice of having garage doors dominate a home's f açade. One section of the plan was revised, "to support the school districts, the village shall plan land use in new annexations and developments that provide for growth in the schools, without raising taxes." Trustees decided that the phrase, "without raising taxes" should be removed. The Board unanimously agreed that Village administrators and builders should negotiate amenities and density of housing developments using direction provided by elected and appointed officials. The plan commission is s cheduled to consider the amended Comprehensive Plan during a meeting scheduled Tuesday, March 15, 2005. 8:30 p.m. break 8:40 p.m. CHATHAM SQUARE (PULTE) The applicant, Pulte Homes, their attorney, Land Planner and Landscape Architect gave a presentatio n and was looking for input from the Board on their proposed residential project that would contain a total of 322 residential units on 145 acres. The subject site is located on 127th Street, just north of Grande Park and west of Heggs Road. They are pro posing 218 single family homes and 104 townhomes. The proposed gross density is 2.22 units per acre. Since the plan commission approved the project in June 2004, the developer has made significant changes. They have lost a total of 34 units; the proposed park space has been increased in size to a total of almost 10 acres. The developer expects to donate the existing Stewart farmstead to the Oswegoland Park
District and they in turn plan to preserve that. They have made arrangements with Mrs. Stewart who has lived on the farmstead for more than 90 years to be allowed to continue to reside in the farmhouse. The Board generally agreed that there was improvement, and has come a long way, they applaud the developers for keeping the homestead, love the open space and the layout of the streets and landscaping, and fe el it is a good use of the land. Trustee Dement had concerns with the garages on the townhomes. On a motion from Trustee Waldorf and seconded by Trustee Dement, the meeting was adjourned to an Executive Session for the purposes of land acquisition, not to reconvene. Roll call was taken: Dement, yes; Thomson, yes; Fay, yes; Waldorf, yes; Collins, yes; O'Connell, yes. 9:40 p.m. The Minutes were prepared by Sue Janik, Village Clerk