HomeMy Public PortalAbout2007-11-20 PC Minutes VILLAGE OF PLAINFIELD PLAN COMMISSION MEETING RECORD OF MINUTES AMENDED DATE : November 20 , 2007 LOCATION: Village Hall Chairman Sobkoviak cal led the m eeting of the Plan Commission to order at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL: Present: Commissioners Kache l, McKay, Renzi; Bonuchi, and Sanders; Ex Officio Commissioner Cox; Chairman Sobkoviak; and the Representative from the Plainfield Fire Protection District Absent: Commissioner O’Rourke, Plainfield Park District, Plainfield School District , Library Distric t, and Plainfield Police Department Also Present: Michael Garrigan – Village Planner Village of Plainfield, Jonathan Proulx – Planner I I Village of Plainfield, Mike Schwarz – Planner II Village of Plainfield, Sara Leach – Planner Village of Plainfield, Sar a Javoronok – Planner Village of Plainfield, Carol Millan – Secretary Village of Plainfield, and Neal Eickholtz – Baxter and Woodman MINUTES: The minutes from the Plan Commission meeting of November 6, 2007 were accepted as presented. DEVELOPMENT REPORT Michael Garrigan gave the development report. He stated the Village Board approved a Text Amendment to the Stormwater Ordinance, and approved ordinances for the Annexation Agreement, Rezoning, and Special Use for the Boulevard project at their meeting on November 19, 2007 Chairman Sobkoviak stated there are 2 somewhat controversial cases. He stated the Commission will not be able to hear all of the evidence and all the information needed to make a decision in the Plainfield Village Center case in one nig ht so the meeting will be continued t o at least two meetings, if not 3 or 4 meetings. He stated tonight the Commission will hear a short summary of staff’s evaluation of the project and then hear from the two Village consultants, Bridget Lane and Mike Hof fman. The developer will then give a formal presentation of their project. The public hearing will then be closed for that project to be continued at the December 4 th meeting. There will not be any public comment taken on the Village Center tonight. N EW BUSINESS: CASE: 1335 -061507.PP.SU PLAINFIELD VILLAGE CENTER Request: Special Use for a Planned Development (Public Hearing) Preliminary Development Plan Preliminary Plat of Subdivision Location: Southwest corner of Lockport Street and Van Dyke Ro ad Applicant: Plainfield Commercial Partners
Village of Plainfield Plan Commission Minutes November 20, 2007 Page 2 of 13 TIME: 7:02 p.m. Michael Garrigan briefly summarized the staff report. He stated this project comes before the Commission pursuant to State Statute and Village ordinance in regards to a public hearing in ac cordance with all legal requirements. The applicant is requesting a special use for a Planned Development and Preliminary Plat. He stated the staff report was completed by a team effort. Staff has been working with the applicant and Village consultants for some time on this large project. The applicant is coming before the Commission for a proposed Planned Development for approximately 36 acres. The property is located just west of the Village Hall. This property has been vacant for a number of year s. It was originally annexed as part of the Wallin Woods Development. The applicant is proposing approximately 168,000 sq. ft. of commercial space and 825 residential units. Staff will give a more extensive analysis of this project at the next meeting , along with various special use standards and the PD standards. The starting point of discussion is the TENG Plan and the Village’s Comprehensive Plan . The Village Board approved the TENG Plan in 2000. It outlined basically a pedestrian oriented expansio n of the Village’s expanded downtown center. It outlined 144 residential units, incorporating between 2 and 3 stories, approximately 168,000 sq. ft. of commercial space. This project is basically broken down into duplexes along Ottawa Street, a series of townhomes throughout the middle of the subject site with two mid -size condo buildings within the site ; and three individual mixed use buildings of approximately 5 stories, which will contain comme rcial, and condos or apartments; and a stand -alone retail building at Lockport and Wallin Road. He concluded his review and turned it over to the two consultants, Bridget Lane and Mike Hoffman. Chairman Sobkoviak swore in the first consultant to talk, Bridget Lane. She stated she is a Director with Business D istrict Inc. (BDI). She stated they are an Evanston based company. She stated BDI has been in business for about 14 years and they help municipalities on commercial projects and mixed use project s . They advise the communities on the economics of the pro jects and provide a market analysis associated with the project. She has been engaged in 5 or 6 projects in Plainfield. She stated her assignment was to document the previously adopted density recommendations for the project site from an economics stan dpoint, evaluate the match between Village Center’s proposed uses and the anticipated future market, project future population differences between Village Center build out and the Comprehensive Plan build out , estimate units of restaurant, stores and servi ces supported by the density estimates, and to identify any other topics that need to be looked at in consideration of this project. She explained how she arrived at her calculations of density. She stated she did a market match. She stated today’s mark et is not the future market. It is important to note that the residential supply exceeds demand. She referred to a chart she had prepared on a slide. The average supply for the Chicago market is 10.9 months across all types of homes, all price points. She stated there is a better balance in Plainfield on the price point that probably this project would present. Even though the residential supply exceeds demand, this project makes it better than some other projects that have higher price points. She st ated there is the expectation that much of the retail in this project would be delayed until the residential development happens. She stated there have been discussions that it could be as much as 5 years. She stated it is very difficult at this time to predict what the market would be in 5 years. The applicant will have to be very careful and have flexibility with the commercial because the requirements will be different in 5 years. She
Village of Plainfield Plan Commission Minutes November 20, 2007 Page 3 of 13 also stated office uses could fill space and add spending power through their employees. These office spaces could get replaced as the population grows and the demand for retail grows. She stated you also need to look at the population projections. The maximum population projection is 1,730 people. You get great er spending power with this population. This is about 3 times what the Co mprehensive Plan build out is. She explained this project is not going to support itself; it will have to draw from the outside. That is why parking and the types of tenants are im portant. She also stated there is an opportunity to provide some commercial at Wallin and Lockport. She stated there might be the possibility for a small Fresh Market or other neighborhood oriented retail, such as a café, a coffee shop, some personal s ervices, etc. She also stated because of the way the market presently is , the residential absorption could be a bit slow on this project and that is why the retail would be delayed. The mixed use commercial space needs to stay flexible because it is so mething that will not be built to the requirements of today’s tenants. The added rooftops are going to benefit both the vintage and the extended downtown. There may be a current opportunity concurrent with the development of the residential for more prop osed single story retail space that satisfies the needs of the neighborhood. She concluded her presentation. Mike Hoffman gave a presentation next. He gave his background. He stated he is employed with Teska Associates, a community planning and landsca pe architectural firm. He has an office in Plainfield and in Evanston. He stated he has helped the Village develop their Comprehensive Plan, Zoning Ordinance update. He is very familiar with the community and lives in Plainfield. His background is in l andscape architecture. He has a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture and is a registered Landscape Architect. He is also a certified Planner by the American Institute of Certified Planners. Chairman Sobkoviak swore in Mike Hoffman. He talked abo ut design and planning issues. He talked about some design issues particularly as they relate to the market report that Bridget Lane presented. He looked at different downtown environments of other suburbs. He wanted to relay experiences that work well. He wants this piece to fit into the overall fabric of Plainfield. He observed that shopping works best when it is on both sides of the street. Pedestrian connectivity is really the key to making these areas work well, both in terms of convenient parkin g, accessib ility and visibility to your destination. There should be a good pedestrian circulation throughout the area. Some of the concerns are the large blocks that are at the northern end of this site. They possibly s hould be broken up somewhat. He showed some examples of that on slides. He stated the overall streetscape of the project needs to be lively and fun. The landscaping needs to be quality. The building materials need to be quality. It is completely different when a person is walking . A t that scale , they really do see the details and the quality of the materials, as opposed to when a person is just driving by a site. Paving also makes a lot of difference. He stated he would like to see some public art integrated into the project. Th at is something that a lot of downtowns are now doing. Elements such as that can make the area a unique element to the community and make it some place that people want to go to. There should be things to draw people to the site. Lighting, signs, banner s, go along with that. He stated with the taller buildings of 4 and 5 stories, shadows of the buildings are an issue that should be considered. . He went on to say that mixed use environments like this are great. This puts people out on the streets and makes it a more vibrant, active place. He stated he has seen in other towns that mixed use buildings can be very challenging. While the mixed use environments work great where there are combinations of areas for
Village of Plainfield Plan Commission Minutes November 20, 2007 Page 4 of 13 people to live, shop, work, trying to put all of those elements into one building often is very difficult. He showed examples of architecture of similar developments in other towns . He stated having the appropriate scale along Ottawa Street will be a very critical element for this project. The road network will be critical. He stated whatever is happening at this site, he would envision being flipped over to the other side of Lockport. He stated it is really important to consider the context of this site particularly since it is an infill and is one that is challenging from putting all of these pieces together, but also a very exciting project. He stated what the developer is proposing is generally consistent with the Village’s Comprehensive Plan and the TENG Plan. The residential densit y is higher. He stated if there is any place in town where higher density is going to be supported, this is probably the site. It is in proximity to the downtown area. He thinks there are a lot of positive elements to the proposal, but probably does nee d a little bit of tweaking based on some of staff’s recommendations and the comments made tonight. He concluded his presentation. Commissioner Renzi asked if service uses should be avoided and the focus should be more toward retail. Mike Hoffman stated he has experienced that sometimes people think if you add all of this space it is going to produce all kinds of retail sale s tax for your community. It is going to help the balance sheet a lot. It is not going to do that. He thinks those uses are import ant to provide services to those residents that live in that area and the immediate area and as Bridget had commented a lot of that space may eventually fill up with offices. If you put offices on the ground level, it doesn’t create that strong shopping e nvironment. Commissioner Renzi asked Mike Hoffman if the area does fill up with services would that then bring in additional bodies that could support the neighborhood retail, for instance if you had offices just the other side of the river, do you thin k that would enhance the businesses that are existing in downtown Plainfield because people could walk to those businesses. Mike Hoffman said yes. Commissioner Renzi asked Mike Hoffman if he felt it was prudent to add more office uses when there are so m any that are vacant going down Van Dyke and Rt. 59. Bridget Lane stated you cannot solve the problems of another area by not developing this area. Commissioner Renzi had a question on traffic issues. He asked if someone would be talking about traffic. Michael Garrigan stated Eric Gallt, the Traffic Engineer, would be at the December 4 th meeting. Commissioner Renzi asked that it be explained to him what kind of problems there would be if there were 4 or 5 stories as far as scaling. He asked if it c an be addressed with setbacks, architectural design. Mike Hoffman stated you do look at all those things. He stated his comments were focused on what the character of Plainfield is – how has development been occurring here in the past. There are not 4, 5, 6, or 7 story buildings in Plainfield. Some towns, such as Evanston, this would be appropriate and 3 stories would be too small. The scale does not feel right to have 5 story buildings on both sides of Lockport Street in Plainfield. He felt if you ge t above 3 stories, maybe 4, you would get out of scale for the area. He was not concerned about the height of stuff on the interior. He pointed out on the slide a section where if the buildings were 5 stories they would cast a big shadow and not be a fri endly pedestrian environment. Commissioner Renzi asked if the problem was the height. For instance, is it lighting and could the shadows be addressed through design, streetscape, lighting; or is it that it is too high creating shadows and that is a probl em. Mike Hoffman stated it is not that clear cut. He stated the shadows is one issue in terms of the character of the area , the other issue is the sense of scale when you are walking through it as a pedestrian. In Chicago, for instance, you expect to be walking among towers. In Plainfield you do not expect that. Chairman Sobkoviak stated that would be debated at lengths at a later time so he wanted to move on.
Village of Plainfield Plan Commission Minutes November 20, 2007 Page 5 of 13 Commissioner Kachel stated there is a streetscape and a townscape. There really haven’t be en any tall buildings like that in Plainfield . Chairman Sobkoviak asked if the consultants would be available at the next meeting. Michael Garrigan stated staff could work with them on their schedules. Commissioner Sanders made an observation that th e Commission should focus on the pedestrian nature of the scale. Mike Hoffman agreed. Commissioner Sanders went on to say in this way no problems will be created when you build on a theme, which is basically the pedestrian scale. Mike Hoffman agreed. C ommissioner McKay asked if they could see a copy of the TENG Plan. Chairman Sobkoviak asked staff to explain the TENG Plan and talk about the nationwide contest that the Village had to develop the TENG Plan. Michael Garrigan showed a slide of the TENG Pl an. The TENG Plan is in different sections. It also includes a vintage or a historical downtown and the expanded downtown. The expanded downtown area encompasses the applicant’s site area. Commissioner McKay stated it seemed to her there is a great d eviation from what is being proposed to the TENG Plan. She stated height is an iss ue and she heard some conflicting information as far as the mixed use and retail. Plainfield needs to consider what the best use of this space is in long term planning. Ca ution needs to be taken when looking at this because it abuts a neighborhood, a historical downtown. She asked if it was going to be a business park with large densities and large amounts of residences, or is it going to be a commercial retail center. Sh e asked if the Village is going to make sure the first floor is retail. She stated by saying the Village needs to be extremely flexible, allows the Village to fall into the trap of what is happening in the downtown. The Village was so flexible that now t he Village is trying to bring back retail to the downtown. A lot of thought needs to be put into this project. Commissioner Cox asked how many developments shown on the slides with this much density had two lane roads with one lane of traffic in each dir ection. Mike Hoffman stated in general most of the communities on the slides did have fairly narrow streets. Commissioner Kachel stated most of the towns shown on the slides already had their train stations in place before any of these evolved, as far as bigger buildings and large densities . Bridget Lane stated the transit piece is very important to the residential, but not as important to the retail. That is one of the problems you see in communities where they thought the train would bring shoppers be cause it doesn’t. Commissioner Sanders asked if the consultants are working with staff. Michael Garrigan stated that was correct. Commissioner McKay had a concern with the densities. Bridget Lane stated it is important to understand very few of these projects balance the residential density with the amount of retail that it offers. You are always going to look at your larger market. She stated she did not see a match between the amount of commercial space and the residential as being something you c an achieve if you are going to have your ground floor be commercial. General commercial and office commercial adds a daytime population that can be very important to the success, particularly of restaurants. Commissioner Renzi stated if the development came to the Commission today, his recommendation would probably be for denial. He asked staff if it would be a correct statement to say staff would be attempting to do a redesign of the proposed plan. Michael Garrigan stated that was a fair statement. He referred to the
Village of Plainfield Plan Commission Minutes November 20, 2007 Page 6 of 13 TENG Plan. He stated staff would have some concerns with this proposal. He stated this was the starting point for discussion. He stated staff feels there is an opportunity to create the visual terminus between what is being propose d for this project and to the Olsen property to the north terminating into the Fairfield Ridge project. Staff would look for some additional open space, pocket parks. Commissioner Renzi wanted the residents present in the audience to know staff had conce rns other than just densities. Michael Garrigan also stated staff has concerns about the amount of surface parking for this plan and perhaps the scale of the proposed buildings on Lockport Street. Overall, staff would have some concerns about this plan a nd would be looking for some additional features and some different approaches to this general plan. Chairman Sobkoviak explained the TENG Plan. He stated it received a lot of notoriety. The final product was a dream and it was put together by people who were students of planning and architecture and urban design. They tried to put as many neat things and as many desirable things as they possibly could into a rather small package. He stated it was not a blueprint for the future. It is like a big sta ck of all kind of goodies and the Commission should be picking out goodies. There is no good way that every good feature could be used. Chairman Sobkoviak swore in the petitioners. There was Paul Mitchell, Stephen Bus, Joe Safin, and Terry Smith. St ephen Bus spoke first. He stated he was from the Plainfield Commercial Partners. He stated this is a mixed use. He gave 10 goals for the Village Center. He said the key goal was creating a sense of place. They want to create a project that will draw p eople from Oswego, Yorkville, and Plainfield and really make this a destination. They want to create a pedestrian oriented project that will be sensitive to how it will be perceived to the pedestrian. He stated it will be an extension of the Village core west of the traditional center. He stated the TENG Plan is a horizontal mixed use plan. He stated the project in the long run will generate about $4.7 million in annual revenues to the Village. He stated this project will not be de veloped overnight. Paul Mitchell spoke next. He stated the petitioner is requesting a special use for a PUD, approval of the preliminary subdivision plat, and approval of the preliminary PUD plat. He pointed out there is a 1994 Wallin Woods Annexation Agreement covering t his site. It covered 161 acres, including the proposed site, Dreyer Medical Clinic, Village Hall, and the First Midwest Bank. That annexation agreement is still in effect. It has another 7 years to run on the 20 year term. Most of the annexation agreem ent had to do with the Wallin Woods single family development. The petitioner is not saying they want to develop it in accordance with the annexation agreement. This property is already zoned B -5. The annexation agreement states all of the property coul d be developed under B -5. The annexation agreement also states there can be up to 15 acres of the property, up to 120 units, for residential purposes and this is not just single -family. In fact, it goes on to say the only limit is that you can have no mo re than 8 units per building. There is clearly a hint of multi -family use, not just detached single -family. Paul Mitchell stated the petitioner is not coming forward with the annexation agreement or the TENG Plan. They are coming forward with a differ ent plan saying they think this is a better product for consideration. He stated there is a 20 page staff report on their proposal, but if someone came in with the TENG Plan today he felt there would be at least a 20 page staff report on that. His client s have owned this property since 1995. They have cooperated with the Village. There is a 40’ sewer easement that the Village needed on the south side of Lockport Street and the petitioner gave 40’ to the Village. When the School District wanted to devel op the site along Wallin Drive, the petitioner chipped in their share of the road along with the Village
Village of Plainfield Plan Commission Minutes November 20, 2007 Page 7 of 13 and the School. Densities are needed to support the amenities in a downtown project. He made a comparison between the petitioner’s project and the TENG Plan. He stated when looking at the TENG Plan all you see is the surface parking. He felt if the TENG Plan came in today, there would be a lot of problems getting it passed. Paul Mitchell stated the project would be built in phases. The first ph ase would be the south phase, probably the duplexes along Ottawa Street and the residential area. Probably in the future, 5 or more years, there would be commercial development. He stated the one parcel that could possibly be developed is the no rthwest corner, which is Wallin and Lockport Street. They envision that as something like a Trader Joes . Commercial looks at demographics and headcounts – the number of people within a half mile or mile radius. They envision the commercial being developed proba bly 5 years into the future. He stated the need for flexibility is critical. He stated Jonathan Proulx in a meeting suggested that they should propose their residential development and then come in on the commercial only with certain design parameters . This could leave a lot of the decision making to the future. He stated for instance the design parameters could be there is a certain amount of density that would be allowed, a certain amount of building height which would be allowed. There would be bu ilding envelopes that would generally be shown on a drawing and maybe requiring the buildings along Lockport to face Lockport in accordance with the TENG Plan. He stated their proposal would be going ahead with the residential phase I. The petitioner wil l give the Village parameters. The Village would be totally protected because they would have to come in with a PUD plat in the future when a plan was in mind. There would have to be a Site Plan Review in the future. He wanted to have entered into evide nce the Traff ic Study, Physical Impact Study, and the BDI Report. Chairman Sobkoviak asked if he was proposing to separate this parcel into two tracts – one for commercial and one for residential. Paul Mitchell stated somewhat. He stated the problem is the development of these 3 larger five story buildings and also that commercial site on the northwest corner. Nobody knows for sure what is coming in there. The petitioner’s proposal is to move forward on the entire site, but only have design parameters on those 4 north buildings that face Lockport because they will probably be 5 years in the future. Chairman Sobkoviak asked Michael Garrigan what he thought of that proposal. Michael Garrigan stated they have discussed that on a very general perspectiv e and there may be some merit to that approach. Chairman Sobkoviak then asked the commissioners how they felt about that approach. Commissioner Sanders stated it would be difficult to have a line of demarcation, but there may be some transititional thing s that can be done rather than saying there is a hard line of demarcation. Commissioner Kachel stated the fact that this is a PUD , the Commission would be looking at the whole thing. It can be separated, but when the Commission looks at the whole PUD , th ey also look at densities. Sometimes things are given on the density to get more commercial in one way or another. Chairman Sobkoviak stated there seems to be agreement among the Commission. Michael Garrigan stated there would have to be certain design parameters for the future commercial/mixed use. Staff would still have to negotiate certain general design parameters with the petitioner. Commissioner Renzi felt this was similar to the decision for the Shops at the Polo Club. Terry Smith, representati ve for the petitioner, spoke next. He spoke about the land plan. He stated they tried to emulate not on the TENG Plan, but the Village’s Comprehensive Plan. There is a layering of the land use intensity with intensive development to the north and that w ould transition to some mid -rise residential, three story townhomes in the middle, and then two story duplex row homes to the south. There will be 4 development clusters, 3 of which will comprise mixed use buildings with four levels of residential
Village of Plainfield Plan Commission Minutes November 20, 2007 Page 8 of 13 and o ne story of commercial. This will occur on the east, west, and north sides where there is visibility from Lockport Street. On the back side, the residential will go down to the first floor. This will all be wrapped around a parking garage. The 4 th blo ck will be a 30,000 sq. ft. stand -alone commercial center. The rest of the site plan is comprised of three story row homes, the condominiums, and the two story duplexes. There will be a courtyard plaza off of Lockport Street, which will have a vehicular connection that will tie into the loop street. They want to enhance a very strong north/south pedestrian connection. They want to create a community that is walkable. They want to design as much flexibility to the commercial as possible. Joe Safin s poke next for the petitioner. He showed architectural features. He stated the challenge to a large building is to try and break the scale of that building down and tie it into the context of the street. He stated there will be a variety of masonry. The re could be stones of alternating colors with brick up top and stucco all the way further up on the elevation. The idea is to try and break the mass of the building down. They make a boomerang shape of a building so it helps break down the length of the plane of the building. The parking would be half in the ground and half out. He showed the layouts of the buildings and detail of the townhomes. The 3 story row homes have turrets, and masonry of different heights that add some variety to the elevation. They wanted to break the scale of these buildings as they move south to the existing residential community. They break the building down so on the end there is a smaller two story unit that tends to blend in with the residential community across the str eet. He stated there will be two story row home duplexes along Ottawa to tie in with the residential community across Ottawa to make it compatible. Chairman Sobkoviak asked the commissioners what they would change on the proposed plan. Commissioner Co x felt there was a harsh transition along Ottawa Street to the existing residential in Wallin Woods. He would change the row of two story row home duplexes along Ottawa Street to single family homes and a more delicate transition into the multi -family dev elopments beyond that. Commissioner Bonuchi agreed with Commissioner Cox’ comments. She wants to see a traffic plan. Commissioner Renzi was not adverse to higher density, but he felt there should be softer transitions. Commissioner Kachel agreed. He w ants to see more for commercial and was concerned about traffic. Commissioner McKay also wanted to see a better transition. She also had concerns about the talk of more flexibility of the commercial. She stated flexibility causes worry. Commissioner Sa nders had two concerns: 1) Change the gateway at the northeast corner and not have a box there and try to integrate that more into the neighborhood and community. 2) The proposed duplexes along Ottawa Street – he has seen where they have been done tastef ully in other communities where they have had ridge lines as high as 35 feet and he felt that might be a good transition. He asked the petitioner if there were any curb cuts onto Ottawa. Commissioner McKay asked about the Impact Study to the School Dis trict. Michael Garrigan stated there is a Physical Impact Study, which was outlined in the staff report by Jonathan Proulx. He stated staff can supply a more specific summary. Chairman Sobkoviak asked that be put into the next packet. Commissioner Renz i also requested the exhibits for the Traffic Study.
Village of Plainfield Plan Commission Minutes November 20, 2007 Page 9 of 13 Jonathan Proulx stated the petitioner did provide a Physical Impact Study. It was his recollection that the study estimates that the total projects a build out would generate approximately 82 schoo l age children. The revenue through property tax to the School District would be on the order of $3.3 million. The expenses would be approximately $440,000. The project at build out would generate an annual surplus of revenue to District 202 of approxim ately $2.9 million. Chairman Sobkoviak reminded the people in the audience that the case will be continued to December 4 th . At the December 4 th meeting, the Commission will be taking public comment. Commissioner Renzi asked the petitioner for a concep tual drawing showing the houses on the south side of Ottawa Street looking north. The petitioner stated they can do this. At 9:14 p.m. Commissioner Sanders made a motion to continue the subject case, including a continuation of the public hearing, to the December 4, 2007 meeting of the Plan Commission. Commissioner McKay seconded the motion. Chairman Sobkoviak called for a vote by roll call. Aye: McKay, Renzi, Bonuchi, Sanders, Kachel, Chairman Sobkoviak Nay: 0 The motion is carried 6:0 At 9:15 p.m. Chairman Sobkoviak recessed the meeting. At 9:25 p.m. Chairman Sobkoviak reconvened the Plan Commission CASE: 1322 -052907.SU HERON POINT OF PLAINFIELD Request: Major Change to PUD (Public Hearing) Location: Southeast corner of U.S. Route 30 (Lincoln Highway) and Renwick Road Applicant: Paul Hemmer Companies John F. Argoudelis, representative TIME: 9:25 p.m. Jonathan Proulx summarized the staff report. He stated this case has been before the Commission before and advanced to the Village Board. Subsequent to direction from the Village Board, this case is now being returned to the Commission. Staff directed the petitioner to publish for a new public hearing because the plan has changed somewhat. All of the appropriate notices ha ve been posted and published in accordance with State Statute and local ordinances. The project is located at the southeast corner of U. S. Route 30 and Renwick Road and involves approximately 6.75 acres in total. The petitioner did obtain approval of a PUD and a plat of consolidation in 2005 . The PUD does allow for a gas station to be included in part of the project; however, the original PUD approval did limit the gas station use and prohibit it from the hard corner. The primary objective of the major change to the PUD would be to eliminate the land area restriction to allow the gas station anywhere on the site. The second element of the PUD request is to allow for an alternate dedication of right -of -way. The original PUD called for a 60’ dedication of ROW from
Village of Plainfield Plan Commission Minutes November 20, 2007 Page 10 of 13 center line on US Route 30. Working with IDOT, the petitioner has received indication of support for a 50’ dedication from center line with a 10’ easement that would be granted up front and additional provisions to allow that 10’ easement to be converted into a public ROW dedication at a future time. This project was before the Commission in the past and was considered concurrently with a concept plan review for a Gas City gas station proposal . Both the concept plan and PUD request were dis cussed before the Village Board and the prior PUD request had some additional components that were specific to the gas station proposal. The Village Board ultimately did support a gas station use at the corner by vote. However, all aspects concerning the specific site design relative to the Gas City concept plan or any site design aspects were deferred; and therefore, the PUD request has been simplified to eliminate any of those site plan considerations. The developer’s main objective is to confirm the g as station use will be permitted at the hard corner . Jonathan went through the findings of fact for the special use to support a recommendation for approval of a major change to allow the gas station on the hard corner. Staff also has received correspond ence from IDOT in support of the requested modification to the ROW dedication along U.S. Route 30. Chairman Sobkoviak stated the request is for a major change to a PUD and asked if this implies that subsequent to this hearing there will be a request for a Site Plan Review. Jonathan Proulx stated that was correct. The final plat of subdivision was considered earlier this summer by the Commission and the petitioner is intending to present that to the Village Board concurrently with this case upon the Commi ssion’s recommendation. The formal Site Plan Review for Gas City will likely follow. John Argoudelis spoke on behalf of the petitioner, Paul Hemmer Companies. He stated that Matt Gauntt from Paul Hemmer Companies would like to give some brief comments. Chairman Sobkoviak swore in both John Argoudelis and Matt Gauntt. Commissioner Kachel asked Jonathan if he had seen the information from IDOT that they agree with the ROW. Jonathan Proulx stated the petitioner did provide this information. Matt Gauntt spoke. He stated one of the items is just basically bookkeeping, changing some of the addresses Village Hall has made. That change is in the PUD modification. He stated they had heard the Commission last time and one of the things they heard was that th e Village Board had set a policy in terms of the gas station on the hard corner. There was some concern in terms of the Commission making a vote when the Village Board had already set a policy against that vote. The Village Board recently made a vote reg arding the gas station on the hard corner and had voiced their support. As well, the request is simplified in that the Site Plan that had previously been a part of the PUD modification is no longer in the requested modification. Gas City will be coming f orward at some time in the future for a Site Plan Review for a preliminary application and the Commission would have the opportunity at that time to fully review their application and vote on their specific site plan. He also stated in terms of IDOT, th ere is a letter in the Commission packet. The petitioner submitted the information to IDOT. The petitioner would grant 50’ of dedicated ROW to IDOT on US Route 30, plus additionally there will be a 10’ highway grading and utility easement. When IDOT is rea dy to expand US Route 30, they will have a full 60’ to work with in terms of grading, working with utilities, putting storm sewers in, modifying the slope of the land. The ROW itself would be just the 50’ half width.
Village of Plainfield Plan Commission Minutes November 20, 2007 Page 11 of 13 Before the Commission are two m ajor items. The Village Board has already voted on one in ter ms of the policy decision. The Village Board support s re moving the restriction for a gas station on a hard corner. The Illinois Department of Transportation has voiced their support for the pl an before the Commission. Chairman Sobkoviak asked if there was anyone in the audience who cared to ask a question or make a comment regarding this project. There was no response from the audience. Commissioner Bonuchi referred to the finding of fact th at state s the special use will not be injurious to the use and enjoyment of other property or diminish its value . Her concern was the car wash business directly across the street. She stated she believes this will affect that person’s business. Jonathan Proulx stated there could be alternate findings and she was on point that there is potential that a car wash could diminish the adjacent property’s business. He further stated a car wash is a permitted use in the zoning district. Chairman Sobkoviak subm itted that with the development of the entire Heron Point parcel and the subsequent development of the Boulevard further down on Route 30 that it is only a matter of time before the property that the car wash sits on becomes more valuable than the car wash . It is very likely that the owner will be able to realize a large profit merely by selling the property. He also stated you cannot use zoning to reduce or remove competition. That is illegal. Commissioner Kachel stated he had a concern since this was brought before the Commission as a PUD and the fact that certain considerations were given due to the fact that it was a very sensitive area. The gas station was not put at the corner because the Village wanted something different at that point. He state d he thought that corner was suppose to be an entry point and was suppose to be something special. He asked if anything had changed on the plan. He stated it had been mentioned that in New Lenox , Gas City was doing something different because the city ha d requested different architecture. He had a hard time with the change in the PUD. Chairman Sobkoviak stated the Village Board had changed their position and allowed the gas station on the corner. Commissioner Kachel stated incentives were given out bef orehand as far as development. Chairman Sobkoviak reminded Commissioner Kachel that this is not a Site Plan Review. Matt Gauntt addressed the concerns of Commissioner Kachel. He stated Gas City has made a number of changes to their plan. He believes the Commission will find that they have tried to come closer to providing a better product to the Village. He also stated the ROW incentives have been reduced fairly significantly from what was originally there. Primarily the tap on fees were going to be credited to the petitioner in exchange for the ROW dedication. The petitioner’s incentives in terms of the tap on fees have been removed unless, at some point in the future, the ROW is needed. He further stated that since the time the PUD was first envi sioned , the improvement cost to both the IDOT facility and the Will County facility, Renwick Road, have gone up rather significantly. The incentives were to help defray part of the cost of roadway improvements. The roadway improvements have increased qui te a bit more than the petitioner will be getting back in incentives. Commissioner Renzi stated he had concerns about finding “a” of the findings of fact relating to not being injurious. He stated he had concerns about the st acking of vehicles, the num ber of bays, the lighting, the site access, the buffering to the rookery, and all of the other environment issues. He also had a problem with findings “c” and “d”. He stated to the west there are two gas stations, to the south there are two gas stations, to the east there are two gas stations, and to the north there is a gas station. He stated he felt the gas station might siphon gasoline customers away from existing gas stations . He also agreed with Commissioner Kachel, but also understands that the Village Board made their decision. He cannot agree with the findings of fact.
Village of Plainfield Plan Commission Minutes November 20, 2007 Page 12 of 13 John Argoudelis responded to both Commissioners Renzi and Kachel. He stated from a general standpoint, the findings of fact have been met. Specifically , as far as the site pl an that Gas City will present, the Commission will be the judge as to whether or not they are specifically consistent with these findings. He stated if the gas station is done right, the findings can be met. Commissioner Renzi agreed with Mr. Argoudeli s as far as finding “a”. However, he would disagree as far as findings “c” and “d”. He stated they can agree to disagree on those points. He stated the findings are not the strongest points to say they are findings of fact. Commissioner Sanders made an observation . He asked staff about the annexation agreement. He believed it stated 8 islands are allowed under the ordinance. He asked how many pumps per island. Jonathan Proulx stated the term “pump island ” was intended to reflect a physical pump encl osure. It could have two handles so one person could be fueling on one side and one on the other side. Chairman Sobkoviak stated there really is only one pump that can be turned off in an emergency. He stated with 8 islands, there are probably 16 points of dispensing. John Argoudelis stated they are not proposing to make any changes to the PUD in regard to the pumps. Commissioner Sanders reiterated whether it had been defined as to how many pumps can be put on islands . Jonathan Proulx stated staff, th e petitioner, and Gas City are all in agreement or have a common understandin g of what the term “pump island”, as used in the PUD, means. Jonathan Proulx stated for reference, the concept plan that was reviewed for Gas City proposed 5 conventional auto “p ump islands”. T here were 2 for truck diesel , and there was a specialty fueling area. When the formal site plan is submitted, there will be a clear understanding of how many of these physical “pump islands” are proposed. They will be allowed 8 of these ph ysical enclosures per the existing PUD. Commissioner Kachel stated that under the original PUD, the gas station was away from the corner. There is a rookery across the street and it is a sensitive area . A gas station right there at the focal point is al most like a gas station right there and not the rookery. He thought the corner could have just a little bit more. He realizes the site plan might do it, but did not feel a gas station would accomplish the look. Commissioner McKay wanted to point out tha t the Commission has been directed by the Village Board. A few PUD’s have come through recently that have been altered or changed and the Commission needs to outline all the things that are important to the Commission. Commissioner Cox concurred with Commissioner Kachel and had higher hopes for this corner also. It seemed to him, especially with the proposed truck islands, that all that was really accomplished was to move the truck stop down from where it used to be to Renwick Road. He felt there wou ld be more truck traffic down that road with a greater impact to the natural environment around it. Chairman Sobkoviak felt it would not be a big semi truck filling station like the Clark station. Commissioner Cox stated he brought it up because unless G as City was redesigned from the previous concept plan, there were islands specifically designed for trucks. Chairman Sobkoviak stated there will be some truck traffic. Commissioner McKay added there is a bunch of empty commercial space. A t this point th ere is an empty corner and she did not have a problem with a gas station on the hard corner because she felt it fits with what is already there. She felt this corner has potential as there are car dealerships, restaurants, and the proposed Boulevard where there will be more traffic coming down Route 30. She felt while a gas station might not be the most beautiful thing to look at from the Heron Rookery or may not be how the plan originated, she did not have a problem with a gas station on the hard corner at this point.
Village of Plainfield Plan Commission Minutes November 20, 2007 Page 13 of 13 Commissioner Sanders stated the sensitivity is that Gas City has done a great job of image building with its branding and h ow it is built. Visioning that in this location is one of the sensitivities that the developer and Gas City need to be aware of. Gas City has a very p owerful image of yellow and red backlit with fluorescent, with down lights on their islands so a person can see to get their gas caps off and such . H e thin ks that visualizing that on this corner , not only by the Commi ssion but also by residents, is the problem. John Argoudelis stated Gas City has addressed those very issue s with the changes they have made . He stated Commissioner Sanders’ comments are well taken because they are held by quite a few people. He state d Gas City ’s changes to architectural elevations have addressed those specific concerns that have been expressed Commissioner Kachel stated what he has stated so far is not only his feelings. He has had a lot of people approach him with their concerns re garding this particular corner. He stated most of it has been sensitivity. They do not want to see something like this at this corner. They wanted something softer and something that would blend in. At 10:05 p.m. Commissioner McKay made a motion to a dopt the findings of fact outlined in the staff report as the findings of fact of the Plan Commission and, further, move that the Plan Commission recommend approval of the requested major change to the Planned Unit Development of the project commonly known as Heron Point of Plainfield, located at the southeast corner of U.S. Route 30 and Renwick Road. Commissioner Sanders seconded the motion. Chairman Sobkoviak called for a vote by roll call. Aye: Bonuchi, Sanders, McKay, Chairman Sobkoviak Nay: Kachel A bstain: Renzi The motion is carried DISCUSSION: Chairman Sobkoviak reminded the Commissioners to hold onto their materials from the Village Center project for the next meeting. Since there was no further business before the Plan Commiss ion, Chairman Sobkoviak adjourned the meeting at 10:10 p.m. _________________________________________ R espectfully Submitted Carol Millan Planning Secretary – Village of Plainfield