Planning & Zoning Commission

MINUTES CITY OF DEKALB PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING June 11, 2014 The City of DeKalb Planning & Zoning Commission held a regular meeting on June 11, 2014 in the City Council Chambers of the DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 South Fourth Street, DeKalb, Illinois. Chair Welsh called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Planning & Zoning Commission members present: Roger Ruehling; Adam Katz; Matthew Crull; David Castro; Deborah Nier; and Chairman Michael Welsh. Planning & Zoning Commission members absent: Christina Atherton Also present: Derek Hiland, Principal Planner, Jared Heyn, Planning and Zoning Intern, John Laskowski, City Engineer, and Pat Klein, Administrative Associate. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chairman Welsh called for an approval of the amended agenda with the Preliminary and Final Plan Approval from the DeKalb Public Library first, request from NIU second, and the Consideration for the Ellwood House third. Deborah Nier motioned to approve the amended agenda. The motion was seconded by Mr. Crull and approved by voice vote. APPROVAL OF MINUTES None CITIZEN COMMENTS None OLD BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS 1. Preliminary and Final Plan Approval for the proposal from the DeKalb Public Library. Derek Hiland said that in 2011 The DeKalb Public Library presented plans for rehabilitating and expanding the current library with the intent of pursuing a grant. They applied for and received the grant. Prior to their receiving the grant, the City codified in an intergovernmental agreement an avenue to pursue their plans once the funding was in place. Mr. Hiland reoriented the commission with the Library’s plans for expansion including the vacation of North Third Street. Chairman Welsh opened the meeting for questions or concerns from the Commission. John Laskowski said that he has reviewed the plans twice and the underground storage system is in compliance with ordinance. He is comfortable with the system. Chairman Welsh questioned the traffic flow on North Third Street ending at Oak Street, a one way street going west. Mr. Laskowski said that the traffic could be monitored for necessary change in the future and he did not see any present problems with traffic volume. Mr. Castro questioned how most library patrons travelled to the library, whether walking, biking, or driving, etc. Ms. Dee Coover said there has not been a scientific study of the types of transportation the patrons use, only the volume of traffic. Mr. Castro wanted to note that this was discussed for the future. Deborah Nier made a motion to accept the preliminary and final plans for the DeKalb Public Library. David Castro seconded the motion. The motion was approved by a vote of 6-0-1 (Atherton absent). 2. Public Hearing on a proposal from the Northern Illinois University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics to amend the Special Use Permit regarding the metal changeable copy sign on the corner of Lincoln Highway and First Street. Jared Heyn discussed City approval of the special use permit for the NIU sign last year. It is currently allowed to display community messages between June 1st and August 1st. NIU is seeking to extend this time by one month to September 1st. Brad Hoey of Marketing and Communications, Northern Illinois University, said that NIU would like to extend the time to include Cornfest, Welcome Days, and the football season and to provide an opportunity for sustainability. Chairman Welsh asked if there was an agreement with the building owner. Jeff Rhoades from Kelmscott Communications said there was a verbal agreement with Christian Spears and the owner of the building in Chicago and the onsite manager, Tony. There is no written contract. Chairman Welsh spoke of the opportunities of the sign being up longer and providing information regarding the university other than football and to have an ongoing motion. 061114 Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes/p.2 Brad Hoey spoke of the different displays there could be for the various seasons encompassing different aspects of the university. Chairman Welsh opened the Public Hearing. There were no speakers. Mr. Crull asked for clarification on the dates of the mural display. Deborah Nier asked who makes the decision on what group or event was highlighted on the Communiversity displays. Brad Hoey said the decision was originally brokered by intercollegiate athletics along with some representation from the City. It is currently developed through his office, University Marketing, Intercollegiate Athletics, Kelmscott Communications, the City, and Cornfest. In the future, they have a group on campus, the University Communications Council, which represents all divisions within the university that could work with other constituencies such as the Citizens Community Enhancement Committee to decide what message to highlight. Adam Katz brought up the traffic control involved with changing the sign. Jeff Rhoades said they fill out the proper paperwork with the City. The change out is done during the day. The original installation did take longer but the change out took about three hours. This doesn’t impede traffic on Lincoln Highway and only blocks off the turn lane on First Street which does not interrupt the traffic flow. CITIZEN COMMENTS Chairman Welsh asked if there were any individuals that wished to speak on this topic. There were none. Chairman Welsh closed the public hearing. Chairman Welsh and Mr. Hoey discussed different ways to amend the Special Use Permit including being more flexible with the times, and including different sports seasons into the winter and beyond for more sustainability. Matt Crull discussed striking item 4, the timeline element of the Special Use Permit, entirely. Deborah Nier asked if there was a staff recommendation for limiting the mural to the summer months. Hiland shared that formerly the Commission discussed that the mural would have no commercial message. It would be up for the football season and then be available for other groups and organizations. This was then restricted to a City message that evolved into a Communiversity message. A Traffic Safety Control Plan is required each time the message is changed; there should be some parameters as to how many times the mural is changed. 061114 Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes/p.3 Chairman Welsh discussed how it was originally thought of as being for a single user with someone on the City staff being involved. NIU had the expertise to construct the sign and had a vision for last fall. The Commission did consider the sign being up for a longer period of time. Mr. Crull asked if there was City recommendation to limit the time to September 1st. Hiland said no, as long as both Communiversity and Athletics are represented and considered each year. If there is no time stated, whatever message is stated, be it University or Communiversity, it could be a challenge to track what message is up for what time. The various times to change the mural were further discussed. Mr. Hiland asked for the length of time to be defined. Mr. Hoey said they would work with the City to develop a schedule. He wanted to emphasize item two in the existing ordinance stating that the sign be allowed to stay up each year for the duration of the football season, as their main goal and that may extend into the winter. Mr. Crull made a motion to amend the Special Use Permit to include only item four that the sign shall be limited in content and message to only advertise Northern Illinois University and a “communiversity” message (on a recurring basis with such message being acceptable to the City), and shall bear no other commercial message. This strikes the timeline portion of the amendment as well as eliminating the athletic stipulation of the sign in order to allow for other Communiversity messages. David Castro seconded the motion. Mr. Hiland read the final motion “The sign shall be limited in content and message to only advertising Northern Illinois University and to only advertising a Communiversity message with such message being acceptable to the City and shall bear no other commercial message. Chairman Welsh noted that the word “sign” should be changed to “mural”. The motion passed by voice vote (6-0). Mr. Crull made a motion to strike point 2, section 1 that the mural display is specific to football times. David Castro seconded the motion. Mr. Crull made a motion that the word “sign” be changed to “mural” throughout. Mr. Ruehling seconded the motion. The motion was approved by voice vote (6-0). Mr. Castro commented for the record that NIU and the City be open-eared with respect to the definition of Communiversity to avoid controversy with other groups. 061114 Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes/p.4 Chairman Welsh made a last and final motion to approve the sign as amended with numbers 1, 3, 4, and 5 as discussed. Mr. Ruehling seconded the motion. The motion was approved by voice vote (6-0). CONSIDERATION 3. Consideration of an expiring Special Use Permit for the Ellwood House Association on the Ellwood Nehring House at 417 North First Street, DeKalb, Illinois. Mr. Hiland said that this item went before the City Council in 2012 for a special use permit regarding parking. City Council conditionally approved the special use permit with a sunset clause that expires at the end of this year. The Ellwood House Association has created a parking log of all the events that have occurred in 2013 and thus far in 2014 showing all cars parking for each event including cars parked on grass surfaces. Brian Reis of the Ellwood House Association showed a slide presentation of the Ellwood House grounds including existing parking and the areas where people are likely to park on the grass. He pointed out the five new spaces for residents of the Ellwood Nehring House and the location of proposed spaces if these are required. There are some large events where parking is difficult and 60 to 70 cars park on the grass. It may be necessary to limit access to their buildings due to parking. Mr. Reis detailed the parking log for various events. They do not anticipate a huge amount of events at the Nehring home in order to avoid wear and tear on the interior of the home. They do not have two events at the same time. Typical museum use does not require additional parking. Chairman Welsh discussed the current parking situation and the parking log and concerns about cars parking on the grass for the five large events in the event of emergency situations. Chairman Welsh discussed the property behind the Nehring House. Mr. Reis said that this property would not qualify for TIF funding for a parking lot because it is not owned by a governmental body. Chairman Welsh and Mr. Reis discussed the five resident only parking spaces that were recently added. These were added for potentially three residents in the Nehring House. There are currently two interns residing in the home. Chairman Welsh said that, in the long term, additional parking would be beneficial. Deborah Nier stated that 60% of the events required parking on the grass and that the Board of Directors could expand the use of the facility in the future and that would create a problem. She wondered if allowing this lack of parking would set precedence for other facilities in the future. Mr. Reis said there is currently an average of seven days a month requiring additional parking. If they were to limit their events, they could probably bring that down to three or four days a month. 061114 Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes/p.5 Ms. Nier questioned if they want to limit the use of the facility. Mr. Reis said they could limit non-profitable events to avoid funding additional parking. Ms. Nier said that other facilities could use this as an example to avoid adequate parking. Mr. Reis said there is no other museum use in the City of DeKalb. Chairman Welsh discussed that the parking log was beneficial to decide the necessity of the parking. Lisa Sharp of Sharp Architects spoke about the addition of the Nehring House Museum not changing the parking requirements. Chairman Welsh said that the Ellwood House is an elegant, historical site in DeKalb, but parking on the grass is not acceptable and damages property. Mr. Castro talked of the aesthetic price to pay for additional parking and compared Wal-Mart parking with the Ellwood House parking. He said it is subjective. Ms. Sharp pointed out that the additional cars parking on the grass are not there for an extended period of time; it is usually a matter of hours and the Park District has maintenance staff that is able to repair any damage. Chairman Welsh thought they could come up with an acceptable parking design if funds became available. Mr. Hiland pointed out the change of the Nehring House from a single family home to a museum changed the parking requirements. The parking requirements came from the petition in 2012 adding the Nehring House as a museum; the Ellwood House is a legal nonconforming structure. There is not an active special use permit for it. Lisa Sharp said that she had not seen a change in the parking due to the addition of the Nehring House. Chairman Welsh moved to add a thirty car parking addition within two years for the purpose of discussion. Mr. Castro seconded the motion. Mr. Ruehling, Mr. Hiland, and Chairman Welsh discussed the surface of the proposed parking. Mr. Ruehling and Lisa Sharp discussed the aesthetics of the proposed parking. Mr. Castro proposed adding a parking plan without the number of spaces designated. Chairman Welsh and Lisa Sharp discussed the amount of paving and drainage issues of the proposed parking and the possibility of using a permeable surface. 061114 Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes/p.6 Mr. Hiland discussed the proposed 22 space parking in the backup material. Deborah Nier asked about the 2012 proposed parking lot. Ms. Sharp said that funding would determine the location of parking. Mr. Reis said that this was only a conceptual plan. Parking down the driveway was discussed by Chairman Welsh and Lisa Sharp. Mr. Hiland said the special use permit is currently being met by coming before the Commission with the parking study for recommendation. Mr. Hiland summarized the special use permit expiring December 31, 2014 and the Ellwood House coming back six month prior to the expiration, as directed by the City Council, to either have the special use permit approved permanently, further considered for some length of time, or denied. Chairman Welsh stated that the Commission needed to arrive at a recommendation to provide adequate parking to bring to the City Council. David Castro asked if the funding was available, what amount of parking the Ellwood House Association would want to install. Mr. Reis replied that they would want the least amount of parking possible regardless of funding. Ms. Nier amended the motion to reflect 22 parking spaces. Mr. Castro seconded the amended motion. Mr. Castro amended the motion to reflect 11 parking spaces. Mr. Katz seconded the amended motion. Chairman Welsh asked if this would be a final special use permit or an extension on the time of the temporary special use permit. Mr. Crull asked for clarification regarding the two items; the Nehring House as a museum and the additional parking item. Can the commission agree to allow the Nehring House to convert from a single family residence to a museum and further discuss the amount of parking necessary? Mr. Hiland asked for a withdrawal of all amendments to start fresh and move forward a clean motion. Any parking less than 22 spaces supports a waiver to the parking requirement. It is up to the Commission to meet code, seek a waiver to the code, add additional time for the special use permit to continue, or various other possibilities. Chairman Welsh asked for the Ellwood House Association to consider a plan to add 22 parking spaces and return to the Commission in thirty or sixty days. Mr. Castro withdrew his amendment for 11 spaces. All motions were rescinded. 061114 Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes/p.7 Chairman Welsh moved to set a date, not less than sixty days or more than 90 days out, to return to the table, after more consideration by both parties, with a goal of seeing a plan for the location of 22 parking spaces. Mr. Katz seconded the motion. Lisa Sharp said they would also return with other plans showing fewer parking spaces and asked if these would be preliminary or final plans. Mr. Hiland said that this would still be a consideration of the expiring special use permit with a conceptual plan of how additional parking would work, with a goal of a recommendation for the City Council. It was agreed to leave the date to return open to either 60 or 90 days. Lisa Sharp and Derek Hiland discussed if 22 parking spaces met code with or without the five resident parking spaces already added. Mr. Hiland said code would require an additional 22 spaces. The motion was approved by voice vote (6-0). REPORTS None ADJOURNMENT Ms. Nier made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Crull seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 8:14 p.m. Pat Klein, Recorder Administrative Associate 061114 Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes/p.8