Planning & Zoning Commission

DRAFT MINUTES CITY OF DEKALB PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING November 12, 2014 The City of DeKalb Planning & Zoning Commission held a regular meeting on November 12, 2014 in the City Council Chambers of the DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 South Fourth Street, DeKalb, Illinois. CALL TO ORDER Chair Welsh called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Planning & Zoning Commission members present: Roger Ruehling, David Castro, Deborah Nier, Adam Katz and Chair Welsh. Also present: Derek Hiland, Principal Planner, Jared Heyn, Administrative Intern and Brenda Hart, Administrative Assistant. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Castro motioned to approve the November 12th agenda. The motion was seconded by Ruehling and approved by voice vote. APPROVAL OF MINUTES There were no minutes to approve. CITIZEN BUSINESS None OLD BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS Public Hearing – Public Hearing to evaluate the temporary Special Use Permit that converted the previous Ellwood- Nehring House as a Museum in a multifamily residential neighborhood. The Ellwood House Association approached the City of DeKalb approximately two years ago and asked to convert the Shirley Hamilton-Nehring House into a museum campus. At that time there was PZC005-15.docx Page |1 discussion about incorporating the property into the Ellwood House campus and there was lengthy debate about parking. Sought was a temporary approval of a special use permit with the requirement that the Ellwood House would keep a log of events, number of attendees and parking spaces used for each of those. In June of 2014 the Ellwood House Association came back to the Planning and Zoning Commission knowing that the special use would expire at the end of 2014. Two plans were presented for meeting the additional parking requirement, one with twenty two additional spaces proposed and the other with five additional spaces. Lisa Sharp of Sharp Architects – Sharp presented both plans stating that they believe the five additional spaces would meet the need noting that the City requirement is to have one space for every four people. She said if events are limited to 80 visitors the 21 existing parking places along with the 5 additional ones would almost meet the requirement. Sharp presented the plan for adding twenty two parking places informing the commission that adding these would require removal of two trees, one an oak tree and one an elm. She said they would prefer to not have to disrupt the trees and greenspace. Brian Reis, Executive Director of the Ellwood House Association - Mr. Reis noted there are a few exceptions to the limit of 80 people per event, the art fair, the wine on the terrace event, the ice cream social, etc. He said there are options to make changes if the social events are a problem. The commission members discussed the options and asked these questions • Would adding five spaces would the Ellwood Nehring House be in compliance with City code? Hiland answered that by adding the Ellwood Nehring House to the campus the requirement increases from 21 to 41 parking spaces • If two of the additional twenty-two parking spaces were designated for compact cars could we avoid removing the two trees? Sharp answered that the size requirement would need to be verified and that it would need to be looked into further. • Concern was expressed about parking in the surrounding neighborhoods and the adverse effect this has for residents. • Setting a precedent for future requests on waivers for parking. • The Ellwood-Nehring House having an increased need in the future that not addressing the possibility of that need now. • If the Commission approves the plan of adding the five parking spaces, what recourse would the City have if citizen complaints are made about the overflow parking in the surrounding neighborhoods? Hiland replied there would be no recourse as the Ellwood-Nehring House Association would have received a variance and waiver of City code and would not be in violation of anything. Mr. Reuhling said that he calculated the percentages of days there is a need to park on the grass. Currently there are 138 days there is a need to park on the grass. With five additional spaces those days are reduced to 84 and with the addition of twenty two parking spaces those days are reduced to only nineteen. Mr. Reis commented that he believes the days they are currently parking on the grass is only approximately 80. Mr. Katz asked about Mr. Reis how long he’s been the director and if he’s noticed an upswing in numbers over the years. Mr. Reis replied that he’s been director for four years and that there’s been PZC005-15.docx Page |2 a bit of an increase because of a Groupon special that was run. He noted this hasn’t been a problem, however, because of the requirement of calling ahead for the tour once the Groupon has been purchased. Mr. Reis also noted that when the special use was put into place originally they requested ninety nine people be able to attend events but already sees that this is too many and would like to reduce the number to eighty instead which would affect the need for parking. Welsh asked what the additional cost would be for the twenty two spaces as opposed to five parking spaces. Ms. Sharp replied that the cost for twenty two spaces is $40,000 but that the actual cost for five parking spaces has not been calculated. Nier motioned to approve a special use permit for permanent conversion of the single family Nehring- Ellwood Home into a museum at 417 N. First Street subject to construction of 22 additional parking spaces by December 31, 2015. Reuhling seconded the motion. Mr. Reis commented that he is already calculating what the future cost of removing the additional parking spaces will be when the world becomes a greener place? Mr. Katz said that he was strongly against the motion as the amount of times cars are parking in the parking lot doesn’t constitute the cost to increase the spaces and would make the property less attractive. Welsh asked about permeable pavers. Ms. Sharp said it would be too costly. Mr. Castro made the comment that if there were ever a time for an exception to be made it would be in this instance considering that the Ellwood – Nehring House is DeKalb’s main historical attraction in the City of DeKalb. Roll call vote – Reuhling – yes, Nier – yes, Castro – no, Katz – no, Chair Welsh – yes. The motion was carried by a majority vote. Public Hearing to consider a request by Central States Tower II, LLC, on behalf of James Hovis, for a special use permit (SUP) to erect a new 140 foot cellular communications antenna to be located on property at 1300 South Seventh Street DeKalb, Illinois which is currently zoned Light Industrial (LI). 1300 S Seventh Street is zoned LI - Light Industrial and is on the south side of DeKalb, east of Seventh Street bound by Southmoore Estates on the North and the AT & T communication tower & McCormick Park to the south, the Union Pacific Railroad and Park 88 to the east and to the west are residential neigbhorhoods. The proposal by Central States Tower II is for a one hundred forty foot tower which would include a platform for Verizon and would allow other carriers as well. Information provided to Commission members includes RF frequency maps, an aerial photo indicating the area that will have coverage, responses from Central States Tower to questions asked by the City of DeKalb, a utility map, property owner’s letters, studies regarding effect on property values, impact upon health and RF emissions. Hiland noted that state laws limit the Commissions consideration regarding impacts from RF emissions and electromagnetic health effects and that the charge of the Commission should be on the technical merits of the proposal and the minimization of the health, welfare and safety impacts upon the community. Mike Douchant of Nolan Realty Advisors based in Webster Groves, MO is petitioner. Nolan Realty Advisors do site acquisition throughout the Midwest. Verizon will be central states tower first client in this area. PZC005-15.docx Page |3 Mr. Douchant said Verizon is in the midst of a massive build-out. In order for the network to function properly there is not the flexibility of site location that there used to be because of the need of greater site specific locations which increases costs greatly. He noted wireless providers are attempting to avoid dropped calls, etc. meaning there must be a direct line of sight access in order to function correctly. He said the proposed tower would maximize the area requiring service. Also there are four levels allowing four different service providers to utilize the same tower. He made note they were recently approved in Rockford in the middle of the city for three antennas while the suggested location in DeKalb is on the outskirts of town, practically a rural setting with residential on only side. Mr. Douchant passed out pictures of what the monopole would look like and asked if the Commission had questions. Questions and concerns presented by the Commission: • What is the service area? Is there an area that would not receive the signal Mr. Douchant answered that those closest to the tower would receive the greater service while anything directly below the tower would have no service. Chair Welsh asked if a map with all towers on it could be provided. • What does the white area indicate on the map? Mr. Douchant said that it’s the area where there may be some trouble with service. He said the need with cell usage has gone beyond just the use of car phones but rather the need is now for businesses to receive service within buildings without interruption. • Why is the extra 50’ of tower needed over the 90’ allowed by our UDO? Mr. Douchant said the extra height would maximize coverage and would avoid the need to build an additional tower. Ms. Nier asked what determines the maximum height. Mr. Hiland replied that the height is determined by the height limitations for each zoning district, adding 15’ to the maximum height for each. • What wind velocity can the tower withstand? - Ninety plus winds. It was noted that the tower would most likely crinkle if it collapsed and would not fall over from the base. PUBLIC COMMENT Dave Lehman – 621 Karen Ave. which is directly opposite the proposed location. Mr. Lehman said he moved to this location in 1979. The AT & T tower was already there. He wondered why the new antenna can’t be put on the AT & T tower. It’s less than 500’ from the proposed site. Lehman wondered if other locations had been looked at. He also said, according the plans, it doesn’t appear there will be any attempt to camouflage the pole. Deanne Hamilton White - 614 Spring Ave. She said that two of her questions were covered by Mr. Lehman already. Ms. White said that she is concerned about the effect of RF emissions and wants to know why it is not open for discussion. Welsh said the Commission cannot talk about that aspect but that she, as a resident, can voice her concerns. Ms. White also wondered why it has to be at that location and if there would be a war of towers if it is approved. Linda Liston -1117 Gifford Street. Ms. Liston said it seems that the addition of the antenna in this location is kind of a done deal. She wonders if the City will benefit financially or are there individuals PZC005-15.docx Page |4 who will be benefitting from this? Ms. Liston said that although she doesn’t live in the neighborhood directly surrounding this location, if it were in her neighborhood, she would want full disclosure as to why it’s needed. As a physician she said she knows that there are effects from emissions and would be concerned about that aspect. Chair Welsh replied that it’s not a done deal at all and that public input is needed first and foremost. Then the Commission will make a recommendation and the decision will be made by the City Council. Mr. Douchant replied saying the monopole is the answer to aesthetics. As far as emissions, generally speaking the tower produces 100 watts of power, when it hits the ground it is almost imperceptible when it hits the ground. He said that other lots had been looked at but this appeared to be the best spot. Environmental studies have been completed as a part of the federal regulatory approval but would like to reduce the number of conditions by the City. He said if this study is needed this he can provide it. Mr. Douchant noted there used to be tower farms but now co-location is encouraged. Central States Tower will try to sell space on the tower and also said he can provide the lease that was signed by Mr. Hovis is order to prove there is nothing to hide. Bob Snow - 530 S Seventh Street – Would there be locations on the other side of the railroad spur that might be better locations? Mr. Douchant said there may be other locations but they would like to avoid the additional expense because they’ve already gone to the expense of soil samples, geo-tech studies and environmental studies. When a new location is considered the process has to be completed again. He said there’s already been great expense getting to this point. Mr. Hiland asked if the tower were to move 500’ to either side what would it do to the service, would you lose the ability to address the area that is in need of service? Is there a propagation study that would show this? Mr. Douchant answered that it is possible but they need specifics. Mr. Hiland noted he wants to clarify a previous statement, although he’d previously stated that its zoned industrial there is also a mobile home park to the north which is also zoned industrial an will have a clear line of sight. Mr. Douchant said that the proposed location is good from their perspective that it’s a large lot, on the edge of town and the zoning is Industrial. COMMISSIONER COMMENT Chair Welsh asked about decorativeness wondering if there other alternatives? Mr. Douchant replied that they can close crop but it might not be most advantageous. Ms. Nier asked about the color. Hiland said the recommendation is for gray or sky blue but he recommends bringing this proposal back at the December 10th meeting after the protocols spelled out in Article 7.09 have been fully met. He said that the submitted packet is incomplete noting the requirements of Article 7.09 to be of the UDO are: 1. The color must be gray or sky blue. 2. Demonstrate, in report form, why the 90’ height restriction needs to be increased to 140’. Hiland noted that this has been done verbally but it should also be done in writing. 3. If required, the necessary application to the FAA should be made with the proposed antenna. 4. A 6’ high site proof wood (or other material) fence is required. 5. A landscaping plan is required indicating landscaping for sides facing the public rights of way. 6. A co-location plan. PZC005-15.docx Page |5  7. A structural engineer’s report. 8. In writing Central States Tower must state that requests by other entities to place antennas on the tower will not be unreasonably denied. Chair Welsh said the plan indicates a 12’ gravel access and asked if blacktop would be acceptable as gravel does not meet our code. Mr. Douchant said yes. Chair Welsh asked about the requirement of the fence. Mr. Douchant said that the fence would be chainlink and ties into another fence so wondered if he would need to meet this requirement. Chair Welsh also said there is a need to provide, in writing, that other specific locations are not available. Mr. Douchant told the Commission he wants a list of specific sites provided for him to check rather than being sent out repeatedly to check a new location. Mr. Hiland quoted Article, 7.08.09 if the UDO regarding co-location. Mr. Hiland gave his opinion that looking into other locations would be part of the petitioner’s due diligence. He would also like to have photos provided from the north looking south past the mobile home park and also from the street on the west side looking east. Chair Welsh repeated the 8 requirements as spelled out in the UDO. Chair Welsh summarized that there is a need for Central States Tower to make an effort to provide all requirements and documented communication with other possible sites. Mr. Douchant made the request that the desired sites be put in writing. The sites called out are DeKalb High Rise on Taylor Street, the water tower and the current AT&T tower at the same location. Mr. Lehman asked where the current Verizon towers are. Chair Welsh said that Mr. Douchant would bring a complete map showing all towers back with him for the next meeting. Mr. Hiland reviewed the list of required items: The list of 8 requirements listed in the UDO. Provide a photo perspective from north and west. Provide four longitude/latitude sites of possible co-locations. Map of all towers within the city of DeKalb. REPORTS/ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING Chair Welsh proposed continuing the public hearing until the next meeting on December 10th. Passed by voice vote. ADJOURNMENT Nier made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Castro seconded the motion and it was approved by voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 8:50 Respectfully submitted, Brenda Hart Administrative Associate PZC005-15.docx Page |6