Plan Commission

APPROVED PLAN COMMISSION VILLAGE OF DEERFIELD The Plan Commission of the Village of Deerfield held a Public Hearing Meeting at 7:30 P.M. on November 12, 2015 at the Village Hall, 850 Waukegan Road, Deerfield, Illinois. Chairperson Oppenheim called the meeting to order. Present were: Mary Oppenheim, Chairperson Larry Berg Alan Bromberg Jim Moyer Stuart Shayman Absent: Bob Benton Elaine Jacoby Also present: Jeff Ryckaert, Principal Planner Dan Nakahara, Associate Planner Public Comment on a Non-Agenda Item 1. Request for a Class A Special Use for the Proposed Escape Beauty Salon in the building located at 711 Orchard Street (Dr. Al LaPelusa, DDS LTD and Jasmine Metz) Proof of notification was presented to Chairperson Oppenheim. The legal notice was published in the Deerfield Review on October 22, 2015. Jasmine Metz has been a hair stylist for approximately 44 years and has had her business in Northbrook, Illinois for the last 11 years. Due to redevelopment of her current location, Ms. Metz would like to locate her business at 711 Orchard Street. She will be the lone stylist and will have two part-time nail technicians that will alternate days and a part-time shampoo helper. The business hours will be 9:00AM – 5:00PM closed on Sundays, Mondays and every other Wednesday. Chairperson Oppenheim noted that there were some questions from the prefiling conference meeting dealing with parking and access into the parking lot. She noted that there was a question regarding the property owner roping off and restricting access to the adjacent properties. Dr. LaPelusa, owner of 711 Orchard Street, commented that he tried very hard to keep the access open. He noted he set up meetings independently with Marshall Mall ownership and the American Legion as well as the Village facilitating meetings. The discussions were not successful. Dr. LaPelusa noted that the reason why access was Public Hearing Meeting November 12, 2015 Page 2 restricted was because of the semi-truck traffic cutting through his property. He stated that his parking lot could not sustain and it was going to be very costly for the maintenance from the semi-truck traffic going through his property. Dr. LaPelusa reiterated that he tried to keep it open but the ownership from Marshall Mall did not want to share the cost of the maintenance to upkeep the parking lot. In the end, he noted that it became a financial decision to restrict the access. Dr. LaPelusa commented that the parking lot is blocked off by concrete planters which will still allow for pedestrians and bicyclists to move through his property but it will restrict vehicles. Access to Dr. LaPelusa’s building is still provided through Orchard Street. Chairperson Oppenheim asked if there is any type of easement that requires access to remain open. Mr. Ryckaert commented that there is no easement and noted that the Village Manager tried to help facilitate discussions. Chairperson Oppenheim confirmed that 20 parking spaces are required for this property and there are 22 parking spaces on the subject property. Commissioner Bromberg noted that in addition to the planters, there is a rope blocking off the property. Dr. LaPelusa commented that the rope will not remain and it will come down once all of the planters are in place. Dr. LaPelusa will also be putting up parking signs as well. Chairperson Oppenheim noted that the rope can be a safety hazard and commented that the Commission’s interest in this issue is about safety. Dr. LaPelusa feels that restricting access to his parking lot also increased the safety for his patients. Chairperson Oppenheim asked if he has thought about putting up a “No Cut-Thru Traffic” sign instead of closing off access. A discussion ensued on how this would be difficult to enforce on private property. Dr. LaPelusa stated that he would have loved to have kept the parking lot open but he could not afford the maintenance from the truck traffic. Mr. Ryckaert noted that he is not aware of any complaints from residents that this access should remain open. Chairperson Oppenheim commented that it seems that the majority of the traffic that passed through this property was truck traffic and not vehicular traffic from shopping. Dr. LaPelusa shared that he wanted to rejuvenate the parking lot and bring it back to where it needs to be and share the costs to keep the parking lot open. He envisioned setting up an escrow account with Marshall Mall and the American Legion so the parking lot would be maintained in the future. The meetings with Marshall Mall did not go well and they did not want to take part in his plan. He did note that the Essence Pilates business was willing to share in a small portion of the costs. Dr. LaPelusa stated that emergency access is available to his building, and noted the Fire Department was just there recently for an insection. There being no further discussion, Commissioner Berg motioned to close the public hearing and Commissioner Bromberg seconded the motion. Respectfully submitted, Daniel Nakahara  APPROVED PLAN COMMISSION VILLAGE OF DEERFIELD The Plan Commission of the Village of Deerfield held a Workshop Meeting at 7:30 P.M. on November 12, 2015 at the Village Hall, 850 Waukegan Road, Deerfield, Illinois. Chairperson Oppenheim called the meeting to order. Present were: Mary Oppenheim, Chairperson Larry Berg Alan Bromberg Jim Moyer Stuart Shayman Absent: Bob Benton Elaine Jacoby Also present: Jeff Ryckaert, Principal Planner Dan Nakahara, Associate Planner (1a) Discussion of Special Use for Proposed Beauty Salon The Plan Commission believes the Special Use standards are met for the proposed use. The Plan Commission discussed the access issues in the public hearing and they understand the rationale for closing the access. Commissioner Bromberg motioned to approve the request for a Class A Special Use for the proposed Escape Beauty Salon in the building located at 711 Orchard Street. Commissioner Berg seconded the motion. The vote was as follows. Ayes (5):Berg, Bromberg, Moyer, Shayman, Oppenheim Nays (0):None This petition will go to the Board of Trustees meeting on December 7, 2015. (2) Prefiling Conference: Text Amendment and Class A Special Use for the Proposed Massage Services Establishment at 687 Waukegan Road (Andreas & Kathy Eliopoulos and Anna Chen, Lavender Spa) Anna Chen, lives in Chicago and would like to open a massage spa in Deerfield. Carrie Chiu, relative of Anna Chen, and Gary George, friend of Ms. Chen presented the petition for Ms. Chen. Mr. George has a vast amount of experience in retail merchandising and site selection and feels that he can offer help in the merchandising and marketing of Ms. Chen’s proposed business. Workshop Meeting November 12, 2015 Page 2 Ms. Chiu noted that Lavender Spa is a sole proprietorship conceived by Ms. Chen; an Illinois licensed massage therapist in Chicago for the past 5 years. Ms. Chen’s specialized massage experience in Chicago has led to her expanding her services to start her own therapeutic massage spa in the Village of Deerfield. She feels that this is a great opportunity to bring her professionalism, experience, and this path to wellness to Deerfield. The petitioner is requesting a text amendment to allow a massage services establishment to the C-1 Village Center District. The proposed massage spa would be located at the 687 Waukegan Road building in an 805 square foot tenant space. The petitioner feels that this spa will add to the diversity of services provided in central business district. Ms. Chiu reviewed the floor plan with the Plan Commission noting that there would be three private rooms each with a massage table, laundry/storage area, gender neutral restroom, shower room and employee lounge. She noted that the shower room is for clients. The variety of massage services will provided in a professional environment. The length of the massage will range from 60-90 minutes depending on the type of massage being offered and client’s preference. The petitioner noted that they will employ 2-3 Illinois licensed massage therapists and a receptionist to cover the day to day functions. The massage spa will be open 7 days a week from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM, appointments will be encouraged but they will welcome walk-in customers. The petitioner will only offer massage services and will not have any ancillary services or retail sales. The petitioner also noted that any exterior signage will comply with the property and the Village requirements. Ms. Chiu went through their responses to the special use criteria. Ms. Chiu stated that due to the modest size of their business they feel that parking and traffic will not be impacted significantly. She noted that parking demand will not exceed parking capacity. The petitioner asked for a waiver of the parking and traffic study and commented on the parking and traffic analysis they completed as part of their submitted material. The proposed massage service establishment will share a parking lot with three other businesses. The parking lot has 21 parking spaces including one accessible parking space. The petitioner spoke with the managers of the three businesses all of whom shared with the petitioner their peak times, peak parking capacity, and employee parking. With this information, the petitioner counted occupied parking spaces during each businesses peak times and determined that parking capacity exceeded actual parking demand. Ms. Chiu added that the store managers that she spoke with commented that parking is rarely a problem and unlikely due to the high frequency customers of the Baskin Robbins store and Merit Cleaners, customers arriving in groups or carpooling and customers coming from neighboring parking lots. Mrs. Chiu referenced that customers use the adjacent auto repair lot. Chairperson Oppenheim asked if there was any legal agreement with the neighboring lot that customers are allowed to park in that parking lot and asked the petitioner to look into this issue. Ms. Chiu was not aware of any type of formal agreement. A discussion ensued on the peak parking times for Baskin Robbins being from 1:00PM – 3:00PM and 5:00PM – 7:00PM. Commissioner Bromberg commented that this petition is a low volume type business and is not sure what other type of business would have a lower parking volume on this site. Commissioner Berg pointed out that this property received a variation for 22 Workshop Meeting November 12, 2015 Page 3 parking spaces when it was developed and he doesn’t believe there are that many spaces provided. Mr. Ryckaert commented that it appeared that one of the spaces was lost to striping and possibly another was lost due to ADA parking requirements. He added that a parking variation will be required due to the current uses and Village parking requirements. Thirty-one parking spaces are required for the uses in this building. Commissioner Shayman asked how many spaces would be required if this were a retail use. Mr. Ryckaert commented that parking for the massage establishment was calculated in the same way as a beauty salon (1 parking space/150 square feet) while parking requirements for retail is based on 1 parking space for every 200 square feet. Mr. Ryckaert noted that there is no specific requirement for a massage establishment so staff looked to neighboring communities for a parking comparison. Mr. Ryckaert said that using Baskin Robins as a carryout restaurant combined with the other uses, the parking for the building is 31 parking spaces. (Baskin Robbins - 8.05 spaces, Merit Cleaners - 9.66 spaces, Salon 675 - 6.44 spaces and proposed massage spa - 6.44 spaces based on the Village’s parking requirement for beauty salons). Chairperson Oppenheim polled the Commission to determine if a parking and traffic study was necessary. The Commissioners were inclined to waive a professionally prepared parking and traffic study. Chairperson Oppenheim was impressed with the parking analysis that the petitioner conducted. Chairperson Oppenheim suggested that the petitioner speak with Deerfield Auto and Tire prior to the public hearing to see if there was a parking agreement between the properties. Chairperson Oppenheim commented that currently the Village does not have regulations for a massage service establishment. Mr. Ryckaert noted that massage service establishments are a special use in the C-2, Outlying Commercial District but in the C-1 Village Center District a Text Amendment will be needed to allow massage services establishment a special use. There are two types of Special Uses. In the C-1 Village Center District, a Class A Special Use is allowed as a Special Use on the first floor, and as a Permitted Use if located above the first floor. There is also the option of making the massage services establishment a Class B Special Use in the C-1 Village Center District which means a massage spa is a Special Use in all locations whether on the first floor or above the first floor (for example, restaurants and banks are a Class B Special Use in the C-1 Village Center District.). A discussion ensued that since this is a new use, a Class B Special Use may be relevant. Commissioner Berg asked if the Village has license requirements for massage therapists. Mr. Ryckaert noted that one time in the past the Village did regulate massage therapist, but no longer does that. He commented that the State regulates massage therapists. Commissioner Berg commented that other north shore communities may regulate massage therapists over and above state requirements in the event of issues with the business. Chairperson Oppenheim and the Commission did not have strong feeling on whether to classify the use as a Class A or a Class B, other than the fact that when there is a new use, it doesn’t hurt to take an extra look at the petition. Mr. Ryckaert commented that this could be a Class A under a specified size (in square feet). Mr. Ryckaert commented that for the public hearing, he will distribute the list of the Class A and Class B special uses in the C-1 Village Center District. Commissioner Berg asked staff to see if the Workshop Meeting November 12, 2015 Page 4 Village attorney is aware of the state licensing massage therapists and if neighboring communities have adopted requirements over and above the state regulations. Mr. Ryckaert commented that the floor plan does not show an entrance from the parking lot. The floor plan suggests that customers will have to walk around from the back parking lot to enter through the front door. Chairperson Oppenheim added that the other businesses in this building all have entrances from the parking lot. The petitioner felt this was a good suggestion and will look into changing the floor plan. There being no other comments from the Commissioners or the petitioner, Chairperson Oppenheim requested that the petitioner looking into any parking arrangement, with the adjacent Deerfield Auto and Tire business. If there is an agreement who would park there i.e. employees or serve as overflow parking. She also asked that the petitioner look into revising their floor plan. Chairperson Oppenheim commented that the Plan Commission has waived the parking and traffic study. Mr. Ryckaert noted that this will be on the agenda for the first meeting in January 2016. The Plan Commission hopes that the property owner can be present for the public hearing. (3) Prefiling Conference: Request for an Amendment to a Special Use for Briarwood Country Club to Permit Changes to the Previously Approved Paddle Tennis Facilities (Briarwood Country Club) Peter Witmer, architect, Witmer & Associates, was requesting a modification to the approved Briarwood Country Club special use. The reason for the paddle tennis court location modification is due to the close proximity to the golf course. He added that the modification to the parking lot is because they have found that it is hard to park in the current parking lot during the day with it located so close to the maintenance building. He noted that the parking and traffic study which was done for the original special use is still relevant as it was based on having four paddle tennis courts which they will still intend to provide. Mr. Witmer noted that the increase parking spaces will go from 28 parking spaces (including 2 accessible parking spaces) to 41 parking spaces (including 2 accessible spaces). There will be no parking spaces in the front of the maintenance building. The petitioner is also asking for an addition to the warming hut to expand the kitchen and relocation of viewing windows to view the relocated paddle tennis courts. The current operation has food catered from the main Briarwood kitchen and they would like to expand their menu options by having food cooked on site in keeping with other paddle facilities. Mr. Witmer displayed the elevation drawings to show that all modifications will match the material and color of what currently exists. The landscape screening and lighting will remain the same and the entrance will not change. Chairperson Oppenheim confirmed that when this petition was previously approved it was to build four paddle tennis courts and this is just an alteration of the placement of the two courts that have not been built. Mr. Witmer confirmed this. Commissioner Bromberg commented that given the controversy from the previously approved plan, the increase in parking and that traffic is coming off of Waukegan Road; he feels that that a Workshop Meeting November 12, 2015 Page 5 new parking and traffic study is warranted. Mr. Witmer noted that there have not been any incidents from the Deerfield Police Department and the original traffic study will not show anything different since it is the same use and traffic on Waukegan Road has not changed much over the past two years. Commissioner Moyer asked how much of an increase in parking spaces it would be. Mr. Witmer noted that they are going from 28 parking spaces to 41 parking spaces or an increase of 13 parking spaces. Chairperson Oppenheim noted that the original traffic study was predicated on the number of people anticipated to play on four courts. A discussion ensued on the increased traffic that could occur due to the increase in parking capacity. Chairperson Oppenheim does not see how a new traffic study will change since they would be working with the same data as it is a projection of the use. Mr. Witmer commented that the peak number of people that will use the courts is 32 (16 playing and 16 waiting during an overlap in play). He added that the reason they are moving the parking is because they are not able to use the parking spaces next to the maintenance building. Chairperson Oppenheim is not sure a traffic and parking study would capture the influx of people during a turnover in court play. Mr. Witmer noted that their membership is near capacity. The Plan Commission agreed to waive a new parking and traffic study for this special use modification and is willing to use the original parking and traffic study that was completed. Chairperson Oppenheim is encouraged that there have not been any traffic or noise incidents reported from the Deerfield Police Department. Mr. Witmer added that they have reached out to the Coromandel residents and Coromandel is aware of the Briarwood plans and the residents did not seem to have any issues with their plans. Chairperson Oppenheim clarified that the access point is not changing off of Waukegan Road and that all the changes are happening inside of the site. Mr. Witmer confirmed that there are no changes to the access point on Waukegan Road and all of the changes occur on the site. Chairperson Oppenheim is glad to see that the landscape screening will remain and that there will be an extension of the landscape screening. She urged the petitioner to demonstrate the landscape screening for the public hearing as this was a major issue when it first came for approval. Commissioner Berg asked if the gate was motorized. Mr. Witmer commented that the gate is motorized and opened from a keypad at the entrance. Mr. Witmer also noted that they do have a turnaround so that vehicles can get back on Waukegan Road if the gate is locked and the courts cannot be accessed. Mr. Ryckaert noted that the petitioner is seeking a variation for the parking space length of 18 feet from the 19 feet requirement. Mr. Witmer commented that they are seeking a variation for the parking stall length so that they do not have to encroach on the golf course. The Plan Commission was comfortable with this request. Andrew Marwick, Coromandel resident, was present when this petition came to the Plan Commission two years ago and he predicted that this would not be “doom and gloom” as stated by his Coromandel neighbors. His only concern at that time was southbound traffic on Waukegan Road taking a quick left into the paddle tennis courts. He has not Workshop Meeting November 12, 2015 Page 6 experienced this and does not see any issues with this petition Mr. Marwick noted that the paddle tennis courts are barely audible from the Waukegan Road sidewalk and not audible when cars are on Waukegan Road. Mr. Marwick raised an unrelated concern dealing with the increase of oil tanker train traffic. He was unable to determine if Deerfield was a 40 or 50 mile per hour speed limit. Chairperson Oppenheim noted that the traffic speed varies by community and that he should direct this inquiry to Metra Rail services. She noted that the Village does not have control of the speeds. Chairperson Oppenheim suggested that for the public hearing the petitioner demonstrate landscape screening and be prepared to answer any questions on traffic. The Plan Commission is comfortable with the petition. This will be on the January 14, 2016 Plan Commission agenda for a public hearing Document Approval Commissioner Bromberg motioned to approve the October 8, 2015 Plan Commission Public Hearing and Workshop minutes and report and recommendation for Deerbrook Shopping Center. Commissioner Moyer seconded the motion. The documents were approved unanimously by voice vote. There being no further business to discuss the meeting adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Daniel Nakahara