Plan Commission

APPROVED PLAN COMMISSION VILLAGE OF DEERFIELD The Plan Commission of the Village of Deerfield held a Workshop Meeting at 7:30 P.M. on July 23, 2015 at the Village Hall, 850 Waukegan Road, Deerfield, Illinois. Chairperson Oppenheim called the meeting to order. Present were: Mary Oppenheim, Chairperson Bob Benton Larry Berg Alan Bromberg Jim Moyer Stuart Shayman Absent were: Elaine Jacoby Also present: Jeff Ryckaert, Principal Planner Public Comment on a Non-Agenda Item There were no comments. (1) Prefiling Conference: Special Use for Verizon Antennas to be Located on the Village Water Tower at 700 Kates Road (Village of Deerfield) Andrew Lichterman, Assistant to the Village Manager, Village of Deerfield, explained that the Village received a proposal from Verizon Wireless last year to install antenna facilities on the Kates Road water tower, a Village owned property. Mr. Lichterman explained that at that time the proposal went to the Cable and Telecommunications Commission which went through a due diligence process to verify the need for the antennas. On July 6, 2015, the Cable and Telecommunications Commission presented a favorable recommendation to the Board of Trustees to accept the tentative lease terms and the lease agreement. The lease agreement is subject to the land use process and the reason the Village and Verizon is here before the Plan Commission. Arthur Chavez, Site Acquisition Manager and Brian Barrett, Director of Site Development, Creospan, representing Verizon, are proposing six antennas at the 80’ level with ancillary equipment (amplifiers) and a ground shelter and ground radios. Mr. Chavez realizes that this is a sensitive site being a water tower and the security measures that will be required both during construction and for ongoing periodic maintenance of the antennas. This will be the second set of antennas on the water tower and Verizon is very familiar with construction of this type of setup. Mr. Chavez noted that it will take approximately 60 days to build and install the antennas and installation should not be intrusive. Workshop Meeting July 23, 2015 Page 2 Chairperson Oppenheim recalled that this water tower was scheduled for repainting. Mr. Lichterman stated that the water tower is scheduled to repainted in 2017 and that there are provisions in the lease for the existing equipment on the water tower during the repainting. The same provisions are in the tentative lease agreement for the Verizon antennas. The provisions allow for a 30-day notice prior to the painting and allow for a temporary structure for the antennas while the water tower is being painted. The lease provisions are identical to the T-Mobile lease. T-Mobile antennas have been on the water tower since 2007. Commissioner Benton noted that the Kates Bridge is scheduled for reconstruction in 2017, and is concerned with the repainting during the bridge reconstruction. Mr. Lichterman acknowledged the bridge work scheduled 2017 but commented that the water tower repainting is tentative and they will defer to the Village engineers for potential conflicts. He noted that the repainting can be rescheduled if it will alleviate potential conflicts with the bridge construction. Mr. Lichterman commented that the different Village departments have been privy to the lease negotiations to mitigate any potential future conflicts. Chairperson Oppenheim commented that the petitioner is not requesting any special access to the water tower, but are requesting an easement for access to their proposed utility building. Other than these requests the site will not be disturbed in any other way. Mr. Chavez confirmed these requests. Mr. Chavez stated that they will be painting their antennas to match the color of the water tower to make their equipment as hard to see as possible for the residents. Mr. Chavez noted that there will be three sets of 2 antennas on the water tower. Chairperson Oppenheim asked staff to clarify any variations that will be needed for the proposed height of the antennas. Mr. Ryckaert noted that the petitioner’s materials classified the antennas on the water tower differently from how the existing T-Mobile antennas are currently classified. The existing T-Mobile antennas are classified as a Lesser Impact Facility (LIF), which is what the Verizon antennas will be classified as well. The proposed antennas will not need any variations. Mr. Ryckaert also noted that as a LIF, the color will match the water tower and will have to be as least obtrusive as possible. The petitioner meets the requirements of a LIF. Commissioner Benton commented that at one time there were donation boxes near the water tower but recalls that they were to be removed. Mr. Ryckaert noted that the donations boxes have been removed. Mr. Lichterman asked if it would be prudent to meet with the residents of Coromandel prior to a public hearing. He noted that if the Plan Commission feels it is necessary they will meet with the residents. Chairperson Oppenheim felt that a neighborhood meeting with the Coromandel residents is a good idea. Chairperson Oppenheim noted that the amount of emissions that the additional antennas on the tower will give off should be Workshop Meeting July 23, 2015 Page 3 addressed and noted that they will not be harmful to the residents. She also noted that they should address that the additional antennas will not hinder the residents’ access nor will the additional antennas be visually obtrusive. Chairperson Oppenheim asked the petitioner if they were on any time constraints. Mr. Chavez commented that they would to wrap this up in a timely manner, but understands that they will take the time to make the petitioner right. Mr. Lichterman noted that he will coordinate a neighborhood meeting with the Coromandel residents. He also asked the Plan Commission that a question that has come up at the staff level was how many more antennas can go on the water tower and how will they handle future requests on the water tower. Mr. Lichterman stated that they would answer that question by the amount of capacity that the structure can hold, but more importantly it should be decided by the ground space needed to accommodate the ground facilities. He noted that there is not a lot of ground space at the water tower location. Commissioner Shayman asked if there are any antennas on the Corporate 500 buildings. Mr. Ryckaert confirmed that there are antennas on the roof of the buildings. Mr. Ryckaert asked the petitioner how the proposed antennas will be installed. Mr. Chavez noted that the antennas will be installed by a crane. Items from Staff Mr. Ryckaert noted that in preparing for the 2016 budget, he wanted feedback from the Commission on utilizing IPADs for Plan Commissioners submittals going mostly paperless for petitioner’s submissions and using paper plans only as needed. The Village Board of Trustees currently uses IPADs to receive their documents. Former Village Trustees and current members of the Plan Commission, Chairperson Mary Oppenheim and Commissioner Bob Benton were asked for their input. Chairperson Oppenheim noted that she and Commissioner Benton had similar concerns with using an IPAD. She commented positively on the portability of an IPAD and how much electronic devices are more and more a part of the workplace. She is concerned with using an IPAD to view large plans especially since a lot of their work deals with scaled drawings. Sometimes larger plans can be harder to view on an electronic device when you want to see the entire plan. It would be Chairperson Oppenheim’s preference to get printed copies of plans when larger detail is needed. The supplemental plans would be in addition to the electronic devices whenever necessary. Mr. Ryckaert commented that paper copies of plans would be for landscape plans, site plans etc. can be provided by the applicant. Mr. Ryckaert also noted that the distribution date would not change and the submittal would still go out to the Commissioners on the Friday prior to the Thursday meeting. Keeping the distribution date the same would give the Commissioners the time to request large copy of the plans, if needed. Generally the site plan and landscape plan will be provided to the commissioners either full–size or in 11”X17” format. Commissioner Shayman is fine Workshop Meeting July 23, 2015 Page 4 with the narrative portion being electronic, but prefers a hard copy of some items. Commissioner Shayman likes to look at 2 plans at the same time and this will not be possible on an IPAD. Commissioner Benton noted that when he was a Trustee and he would request a portion printed out, it was not a problem. He commented that receiving the submittals on the Friday before the Thursday meeting gives the Commissioners time to review the material and ask for copies as needed. The lead time between the distribution and the meeting also helps to alleviate any transmission problems with the electronic documents or electronic device. Chairperson Oppenheim asked if they would be able to notate, underline, highlight on the submitted material. Mr. Lichterman noted that all of these things are possible with the IPAD explaining that anything that can be done with a pencil and paper can be done with an IPAD. He briefly explained the functionality of the notations. Mr. Lichterman explained that the goal of this discussion is to see if there is a strong interest in using IPADs for the Commission and if so they will take this request through the budget process. He added that there is no guarantee the Commission will get IPADs at this point. Commissioner Moyer asked if there is a cost savings that will go along with using IPADs versus the paper submittals that they currently receive. Mr. Lichterman believes that there is a cost savings in the time that staff puts into preparing, copying, and distributing the necessary material. Commissioner Moyer thought that this was a good idea, especially if they are able to request specific documents to be printed. He asked how much it would cost. Mr. Lichterman noted that the IPAD with the software capabilities that will be needed, keyboard, and case would be approximately $700-$800. Chairperson Oppenheim can see an additional advantage of being able to archive plans and referring to the plans at a later date. Mr. Lichterman gave the Commissioners a quick tutorial of the functionality of the annotation software for the IPAD. The Commissioners in attendance were in agreement that having an IPAD to receive the petitioner’s submittals is a good idea and were in favor of having them. Mr. Lichterman explained that the Village will plan to budget for the IPADs and see if this request survives the budget process. He added that even if this request does survive the budget process they will ask the Plan Commission again if there is still strong interest in using the electronic device. Commissioner Moyer asked what the Village’s social media efforts are. Mr. Lichterman commented that they are planning to budget for a website redesign because the current website is old. This would be the first step in moving toward social media and communication. Chairperson Oppenheim asked about the occupancy of the Woodview and AMLI buildings and if there is a possibility for the Plan Commission to tour the apartment buildings before they open. Mr. Lichterman commented that Woodview already has approximately 40 occupants and 60 plus leases. He also noted that he will reach out to both developments to set up a tour for the Plan Commission. Workshop Meeting July 23, 2015 Page 5 There being no further business to discuss the meeting adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Daniel Nakahara