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 September 22, 2016 at the Village Hall, 850 Waukegan Road, Deerfield, Illinois. Present were: Mary Oppenheim, Chairperson Al Bromberg Jim Moyer Elaine Jacoby Stuart Shayman Absent were: Bob Benton Larry Berg Also present: Jeff Ryckaert, Principal Planner Dan Nakahara, Associate Planner Public Comment on a Non-Agenda Item Andrew Marwick, 442 Kelburn Road, commented on his disappointment that Biaggi’s is closed. He also pointed out communities (similar to Deerfield) such as downtown Santa Monica, California, Manhattan Beach, California and Uptown Dallas, Texas where there is tremendous density and high property values; and explained that those communities offer developers incentives to include a higher percentage of housing in their developments. The residential developments in these downtown areas are similar to the new residential development on the southeast corner of Deerfield and Waukegan Road. Mr. Marwick commented that it’s unfortunate that developments in Deerfield, such as: Deerfield Square and the area around the Lake Cook Train Station (Deerfield Park Plaza and Deerbrook Mall) are focused on maintaining purely retail shopping centers, and are not open to incorporating residential developments in these areas. Mr. Marwick acknowledged that tonight’s Public Hearing would address the issues of restricting the first floor in the central business district to strictly retail as Permitted Uses, and added that the current retail restrictions is the reason for the empty tenant spaces. Mr. Marwick pointed out downtown Manhattan Beach, California as an example of a city that has gone through a tremendous effort and expense to eliminate parking fields from their downtown area, and instead create underground park garages; adding that it would be beneficial to developments in Downtown Deerfield (such as Deerfield Square) to consider developing underground parking garages, which would eliminate the eye sore of large parking fields, as well as open up the area for residential development. Residential development in the downtown area creates a denser environment and leads to more customer activity with downtown residents walking around and patronizing businesses where they live. Mr. Marwick commented that he thinks it would be Public Hearing September 22, 2016 Page 2 beneficial to Deerfield’s business district if more apartments and condos were developed near the train stations; and added that he was glad to see the development going up west of the Deerfield Metra Station. Mr. Marwick commented that he has a home in Phoenix, and there has been a lot of residential and retail development in the surrounding downtown area in the last few years. Mr. Marwick is concerned about Deerfield’s lack of residential development in the downtown area, and thinks that the Plan Commission and the Village should look at new residential development proposals around the Deerfield and Lake Cook Road Train Stations, and not just look at pure retail development. Mr. Marwick commented that living in downtown areas is appealing to people who don’t want to live way out and fight the traffic to work, and that there is a demand to live in communities like Deerfield that have a more active, urban environment. Mr. Marwick commented that in summary Deerfield is a desirable community to live in and the Village should be moving towards more residential development in the downtown area, just like the other suburban communities that have been very successful. (1) Request for Approval of a Special Use to Construct an Employee Café in the Existing Building at Six Parkway North (Fulcrum Asset Advisors and Parkway North Center) Richard Gordon, Principal, Interwork Architects, Inc., commented that the proposed café is intended to be used by the tenants of the 6 Parkway North Building and will be located on the first floor in the northwest corner of the building overlooking the pond and the walking path. The floor layout includes a kitchen area, entry corridor, a grab-and-go area, a salad bar area, a hot soup station, a sandwich station, a hot food station, cash register area and a small seating area. The petitioners are anticipating that the majority of the tenants are going to purchase their food at the café and then go back to their offices to eat. Since they will be providing hot entrées at the café, there will be an exhaust hood in the kitchen. The window in the kitchen area will be modified in order to install a louver grill in the side of the building to accommodate the hood exhaust. Chairperson Oppenheim explained that a café is currently a Special Use in the I-1 Zoning District. She noted that the Plan Commission has discussed making changes to the I-1 Zoning District’s Special and Permitted Uses and when it does come up for reviewing and recommending changes to the I-1 Zoning District that the Plan Commission is going to take into consideration whether the Village should really be involved in regulating what an owner does on the interior of their building for their own tenants. Chairperson Oppenheim thanked the petitioners for their patience, and explained that the Public Hearing for their request for a Special Use was necessary at this time as the Zoning Code currently requires it. Public Hearing September 22, 2016 Page 3 (2) Consideration of the Changes to the C-1 Village Center and C-3 Limited Commercial Office Zoning Districts to Update Permitted and Special Uses Mr. Nakahara presented proof of legal notice publication in the Deerfield Review for this public hearing, and proof of certified mailings to the property owners in the C-1 and C-3 zoning districts. Mr. Ryckaert, Principal Planner, presented a PowerPoint on the changes under consideration to the C-1 Village Center District and C-3 Limited Commercial Office District. In the PowerPoint presentation, Mr. Ryckaert explained the following items: He explained that the Village is undertaking a comprehensive update of the uses in the C-1 and C-3 Districts. He explained that tonight’s Public Hearing is to consider changes to the C-1 Village Center District and the C-3 Limited Commercial Office District (one property is located in the C-3 District) to ease/lessen some of the existing use regulations. He explained that Plan Commission will be making a recommendation to the Village Board of Trustees who has the decision on the matter. For the C-1 Village Center District, Mr. Ryckaert explained the first floor retail ordinance has been in place since 1989 and it allows only retail businesses (the selling of merchandise) to locate on the first floor as a Permitted Use. All other non-retail businesses such as office uses, beauty shops, dry cleaners, fitness facilities, real estate offices and other service uses need to obtain zoning approval from the Village for a Special Use. When the Village put the first floor retail ordinance in place 27 years ago, the purpose was to create a shopping environment in the downtown where a customer could walk from store to store. Retail stores are also a major benefit by creating sales tax for the Village. Mr. Ryckaert said the world of retailing has changed and the Village is looking at changes to the C-1 Village Center zoning district. He said there have been a changes in buying patterns with online shopping (the Amazon effect), with e-commerce growing by leaps and bounds. A lot of today’s consumers, such as Millennials, would prefer to spend their money on an experience (such as going to a restaurant or on a vacation). He said that a number of national fashion retailers are reducing their store locations, and in the past several years since the Great Recession, toy stores, book stores, and electronics stores have disappeared. Recently, major retailers such as Macy’s, Sport Authority, Kmart, Office Depot, and others have closed some of their stores. Mr. Ryckaert said stores are trying to increase their on-line presence and cited Walmart’s recent purchase of Jet.com. From a staff standpoint, the Village is no longer receiving as many inquiries as we had in the past for retail. Instead, the Village is receiving more inquiries from food users, personal fitness facilities (yoga and exercise facilities), nail shops, beauty salons, and massage facilities – most of these inquiries are services that cannot be purchased on the internet. Public Hearing September 22, 2016 Page 4 Mr. Ryckaert said that earlier this summer, the Plan Commission held two workshop meetings to discuss this matter and came up with some possible zoning changes to the C-1 Village Center District to reflect the reality of today’s retail environment. Mr. Ryckaert explained that the Plan Commission is in favor of the following changed: • Allowing smaller restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, bagel shops, and similar operations of under 3,000 square feet (including the outdoor seating areas) to become Permitted Uses. • Allowing smaller office and service uses (currently Class A Special Use under 1,500 square feet, to become Permitted Uses. • Allowing smaller self-improvement facilities – personal fitness facilities (yoga and exercise facilities), martial arts studios, and learning and tutoring centers under 2,500 square feet) as Permitted Uses. • Adding new uses to the Permitted Use list (e.g. bridal store, cellular phone store, party supply store). • Adding a massage establishment as a Class A Special Use. • And adjusting the current language/wording of the use categories to better reflect today’s uses (e.g. Ice cream and yogurt stores become frozen dessert stores; Pet shops become Pet supply stores; and blueprinting and photocopy establishments become Photocopy establishments). Mr. Ryckaert noted that the square footages (stated above) were determined by examining the square footage data for typical size stores from the International Council of Shopping Center (ICSC), and also the square footages of existing stores in the Village Center. Mr. Ryckaert explained that even with these changes, the Village still wants as much retail as possible as it creates a shopping environment and brings in sales tax, but also wants to be cognizant of the changing retail environment. Mr. Ryckaert said that the C-3 Limited Commercial Office District is made up of one property at 720 Osterman Avenue. Based on discussion at the Plan Commission workshop meetings, the Plan Commission is in favor of the following changes to the C-3 Limited Commercial Office District: • Remove animal hospital, veterinary clinic and funeral home as Special Uses from the C-3 Limited Commercial Office District, and eliminate the second paragraph under the District description as the adjacent properties have been redeveloped. Mr. Ryckaert said that the Plan Commission also discussed the benefits of additional housing in the C-1 Village Center District because it benefits local businesses. He explained that the Plan Commission discussed the possibility of changing the maximum height (resulting is more density) allowed for a Commercial Planned Unit Development in the C-1 Village Center District. After discussion of the topic, the Plan Commission Public Hearing September 22, 2016 Page 5 concluded that it would be best not to increase the current maximum height of 55 feet for a commercial PUD in the C-1 Village Center District, and that if a developer wanted an increase in height (which results in higher density), they would make the case for increased height at the time of approval of a development or when making changes to an existing development. Chairperson Oppenheim commented that in addition to discussing the need to reflect the current retail environment and climate, the Plan Commission also discussed, at length, issues about parking, traffic and safety, so that the various businesses could coexist harmoniously in the C-1 District. One of the Plan Commission’s chief goals was to streamline the process for prospective tenants interested in locating their businesses in the downtown area and making the process as least onerous as possible by changing certain uses that they felt would fit into the downtown area from Special Uses to Permitted Uses. She said that the Plan Commission’s decision to change certain types of uses to Permitted Uses was also based on the kind of demand that they have been receiving, which includes smaller restaurants and other types of service uses. Chairperson Oppenheim commented that the Plan Commission is hopeful that the changes they are proposing are going to help fill the downtown area with viable businesses that will keep the area a vital and great place to shop, as well as make it easier for prospective tenants to locate their businesses there. Chairperson Oppenheim opened the discussion to the audience members. Jonathan Berger, owner, Bensenville Associates LLC, asked about the next steps in the approval process, and the timeframe in which the changes to the C-1 and C-3 Districts would be officially adopted by the Village if this is approved. Mr. Ryckaert responded that the proposed changes are going to the Board of Trustees on October 17th, and if the Board agrees and passes the request then the ordinance goes through two readings: on November 7th and November 21st. If the Board approves the ordinance, the changes will go into effect. Chairperson Oppenheim explained that the process could be prolonged if the Board had any questions or concerns that they wanted the Plan Commission to further consider or discuss; however, she does not anticipate the Board having issues with the proposed changes as the Board has also discussed the need to update the C-1 and C-3 District’s Permitted and Special Uses. Chairperson Oppenheim told Mr. Berger that if the proposed changes are made to the C-1 District that it could affect the 636 Deerfield Road Building, as tenants (depending on their use) may no longer have to go through a Special Use process, which would allow tenants to occupy the space more quickly. Chairperson Oppenheim acknowledged that it may be frustrating for tenants who had to recently go through a Special Use process, and now their Special Use may be changed to a Permitted Use. She explained that the Village reviews zoning ordinances periodically, and a process is followed to update the Village’s ordinances and codes in order to maintain a current, modern perspective. Public Hearing September 22, 2016 Page 6 Commissioner Bromberg commented that the Plan Commission received a letter from the owners of Deerfield Square, CRM Properties Group, in which they commended the Village for the proposed changes to the C-1 District, but also voiced their disappointment with the size limitations that the Village was proposing for Permitted Uses. Chairperson Oppenheim explained that the Plan Commission determined the size limitations through consideration of the parking, traffic and safety. Dr. Al La Pelusa, DDS, owner of 711 Orchard Street building, commended the Plan Commission for the proposed changes, and expressed his understanding that the zoning code currently required certain uses to apply for a Special Use, and business owners and tenants have to meet certain requirements. He asked if a tenant received a Special Use Permit from the Village, but then decided not to use the Special Use Permit, can another business interested in renting that same space be allowed to apply for another Special Use Permit. Chairperson Oppenheim explained that it depends on the type of use that the new tenant was proposing; if the replacement use was within the list of Permitted Uses then the tenant would not have to apply for a Special Use Permit. Michael Collins, Deerfield resident, commented that the existing space that Dr. La Pelusa is referring to has a Special Use approval for a beauty salon, and they are interested in relocating an accounting firm into that space. Mr. Ryckaert inquired about the square footage of the space they are referring to. Dr. La Pelusa confirmed that the space was around 1,300 square feet. Mr. Ryckaert commented that since the space is under 1,500 square feet, if the proposed changes to the C-1 District are passed and the ordinance is in place by the end of November, then the professional office under 1,500 square feet would be a Permitted Use in the Village Center. Mr. Ryckaert explained that a Special Use which has been approved by the Village has to be established within one year from the date of approval. If it is not established within a year, the Special Use expires. Also, if a tenant with a Special Use ends their lease and moves out of a tenant space, the landlord has a year to fill that tenant space with another substantially similar Special Use. Dr. La Pelusa asked for confirmation that since a beauty salon was given a Special Use Permit for a tenant space in his building, another similar beauty salon could locate there business in that space. Mr. Ryckaert confirmed that another beauty salon could go into that space if it is within one year and a substantially similar use. Mr. Marwick expressed his concern that a landlord who has a Special Use permit for a specific use is having a difficult time finding another tenant (of a similar use) to rent his available tenant space. He believes that the Village should consider various types of uses in the downtown area, and should not focus on developing additional retail type spaces if there is no longer a demand for retail. Mr. Marwick commented that the downtown already has beauty salons and dry cleaners, and that there is not a demand for additional retail development. Public Hearing September 22, 2016 Page 7 There being no further business to discuss a motion was made and seconded to close the public hearing. Respectfully Submitted, Mary Glowacz  APPROVED PLAN COMMISSION VILLAGE OF DEERFIELD The Plan Commission of the Village of Deerfield held a Workshop Meeting at 7:30 P.M. on September 22, 2016 at the Village Hall, 850 Waukegan Road, Deerfield, Illinois. Present were: Mary Oppenheim, Chairperson Al Bromberg Jim Moyer Elaine Jacoby Stuart Shayman Absent were: Bob Benton Larry Berg Also present: Jeff Ryckaert, Principal Planner Dan Nakahara, Associate Planner (1a) Discussion of Café for Six Parkway North Center The Plan Commission did not have any issues with the proposed café and felt it was appropriate for the building. Commissioner Bromberg motioned to approve the Special Use to construct a café in the existing building at Six Parkway North. Commissioner Jacoby seconded the motion. The vote was as follows: Ayes: (5) Bromberg, Moyer, Jacoby, Shayman, Oppenheim Nays: (0) None The motions passed. (2a) Discussion of the Changes to the C-1 Village Center and C-3 Limited Commercial Office Zoning Districts The Plan Commission did not have any issues with the proposed changes to the C-1 Village Center & C-3 Limited Commercial Office Zoning Districts, and believes the issues were thoroughly discussed. They are in favor of all the changes outlined in the materials and believe the changes to the C-1 and C-3 districts will serve the Village well. The changes make it easier for a business to come into the Village Center and the Plan Commission believes these changes will not have a negative impact on traffic and parking. The proposed changes also include removing the more antiquated uses in the C-1 Village Center District. Chairperson Oppenheim commented that the Plan Commission also discussed the potential benefit of developing higher density in the downtown area through transit oriented development. Workshop Meeting September 22, 2016 Page 2 Commissioner Bromberg asked Jonathan Berger, owner, Bensenville Associates, LLC, how his efforts were going in filling up his remaining open tenant spaces in the 636 Deerfield Road Building. Mr. Berger responded that his efforts to fill his tenant spaces were going very well, and added that the proposed changes to the C-1 Zoning District are very important as it takes a lot of the risk out for potential tenants who are greatly affected by the time consuming process of acquiring a Special Use permit. Chairperson Oppenheim commented that the Plan Commission is aware of the effects that the current Special Use Process has on prospective tenants, and they are hopeful that their proposed changes are going to both maintain the quality of occupancy in the downtown area, as well as make it easier for prospective businesses to come into the downtown area and occupy the available tenant spaces. Commissioner Jacoby motioned to approve the changes to the C-1 Village Center and C-3 Limited Commercial Office Zoning Districts to Update Permitted and Special Uses as outlined in the materials. Commissioner Bromberg seconded the motion. The vote was as follows: Ayes: (5) Bromberg, Moyer, Jacoby, Shayman, Oppenheim Nays: (0) None The motions passed and will be on the October 17th Village Board of Trustees Meeting agenda. There being no further business to discuss the meeting adjourned. Respectfully Submitted, Mary Glowacz