Land Use

1 LAND USE COMMITTEE EDWARDSVILLE PLAN COMMISSION October 25, 2018 7:00 PM PRESENT ABSENT John Mullane, Chairman Dorothy Hummel John McDole Veronica Armouti, PC Chairman Mark Rabe Emily Fultz, Staff Walt Williams, Staff Lisa Schneck, Staff P. & W. Blythe, 7424 Leslie Drive S. & J. Helle, 3812 Raymond Road P. Spengler, 7460 Leslie Drive T. Kohlmiller, 7407 Leslie Drive C. Howenstein, CMT J. Venvertloh, TWM C. & T. Akers-Helle, 7460 Leslie Drive D. & P. Jackson, 7419 Leslie Drive P. Darr, 7461 Leslie Drive At the regular meeting of the Plan Commission's Land Use Committee, the following items were discussed: A. Case 2018-34: 157 Plaza Joint Venture Preliminary Plat Developer: 157 Plaza Joint Venture Engineer: Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, Inc. Emily Fultz gave a brief report on the project. The site is approximately 6.5 acres of land. There will be 3 lots just over 2 acres each. It is located directly across from Rottingham Court and backs up to the Edwardsville High School Sports Complex. The site is generally flat and currently being farmed. Water and sewer are proposed to serve the site via a connection under Route 157 coming from the West to the East. A water line is located to the North in case a loop will be required. That will be reviewed by the City’s engineering staff. Greenspace will be provided along the front of the property. There will be one access point off Route 157 which has been reviewed by IDOT. A traffic study was submitted to IDOT and no signal is warranted at this time. Chloe Howenstein with Crawford, Murphy, and Tilly was present to answer any questions with the proposed development. She had nothing to add since it is a simple development. John McDole asked that given the development to the North which connects to Lewis Road will be a shared use path; would it be feasible to eventually connect the sidewalk at the bike path? Could this sidewalk be a shared use path? In the future, if Glen Carbon would agree,  2 there could be connectivity from Ginger Creek all the way to the school which would then connect to the bike trail. This would create a lot more inter-connectivity. Mark Rabe moved to forward to Plan Commission with a recommendation for approval. Motion was seconded by John McDole. All ayes. B. Case 2018-35: Resubdvision of Lot 6 of Kelly Green Subdivision Preliminary Plat Developer: Patrick Brown & Taylor Cleveland Engineer: TWM Emily Fultz gave a brief report on this subdivision. It is the division of Lot 6 in Kelly Green subdivision. The property size is about 2 acres. They are proposing to divide the lot into 2 lots. One of the lots will be just under an acre and one of which will be just over an acre. Both lots will have access to Raymond Road. The proposed Lot 6A in the rear will have proposed access as a flag lot. They are asking for a variance for this flag lot. It does meet the specifications for a flag lot but it does need a variance for approval. Active and passive greenspace has been met. They are proposing a sanitary sewer line extension to serve the site and the water line already exists. This parcel was originally divided in 1962 by a subdivision plat which prohibited the division of any lots to 2.5 acres or less in size. It also stated it would only allow for one division of a lot. However, the subdivision was resubdivided in 1965 and that language was removed from the plat. That means the lots are able to be divided further. The question is if the City chooses to grant the variance for the flag lot. There are a lot of larger parcels in the area. Many of those could be subject to this type of property division in the future. This would be a precedent setting for the future in this area. Justin Venvertloh with TWM was present to answer any questions but had nothing to add to the discussion. John Mullane asked if the City would require 69 feet of sidewalk to nowhere on an unimproved road. He thought if the road would ever be improved it would be widened and the sidewalk would be removed. Emily Fultz stated it was discussed with staff and decided to still require it. It can be discussed further with the Plan Commission committee. Justin Venvertloh stated the driveway will be 24 foot wide with concrete which includes a portion of the sidewalk anyway. John Mullane asked if there were any plans of improving and extending Raymond Road in the future. Emily Fultz stated it is feasible. Mark Rabe asked who would be responsible for the maintenance of common ground. Justin Venvertloh stated there would be language in the Plat stating the owners of Lot 6A would be responsible for the maintenance of the active and passive greenspace. Sid Helle, 3812 Raymond Road, was present to voice his concerns with this subdivision. Most of the residents have been there for a long time. They all bought there because of the idea of 2 acre or more acres for lots. He would hate to see this area be split up into small lots. They moved there because of the size of the lots and intend to stay there the rest of their lives. The area they want to subdivide is in a waterway. It drains from the farm land through this site and into Dunlap Lake. There would be only a small area where a house could be  3 built on the rear lot. A petition was sent around to neighboring property owners for their signatures. This petition was submitted to the committee. Emily Fultz explained the plat from 1965 was for the resubdivision of lots 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, and 14. It was most of the lots in the original 1962 plat but not all of them. Many of those 5 acres lots were subdivided in 1965. The new language on the 1965 plat does not limit the size of the lots in a future subdivision for these lots which were subdivision. So the property owners of these lots can be subdivided further if they wish. She will be happy to share the plat with anyone who would like to see it. The plat is also available at Madison County Recorder’s office. Paul Darr, Patricia Jackson, Bill Blythe, and Theresa Akers Helle all spoke in opposition of the proposed subdivision. They were unaware that these lots could be divided into smaller lots. Theresa Akers Helle explained the path of the natural waterway. She didn’t know where they planned on building but it could cause a drainage problem for the existing homeowners in the area or even the existing house in this subdivision. Justin Venvertloh stated they intend to build a new house towards the front of the flag lot and sell the existing house after the new house has been built. The new buyers would know what they are buying. The western side of the lot would be the flag portion of the rear lot. This drainage would not affect the current house as it would drain down the driveway of the flag lot. John Mullane stated the board will have to determine if they want a flag lot which means a new house could be built in the existing home’s back yard – which is this case. John McDole stated this could cause a domino effect in this neighborhood. Ms. Helle, Pam Spangler, and Patricia Jackson expressed their concerns with dividing up lots within this subdivision. John Mullane stated the board has codes to follow and if the developers meet those guidelines, the board does not have a choice of approving the development. Unfortunately, the board cannot say “no” because the neighbors don’t want it. The concern he has with the proposal is the precedent they would be setting with the flag lot and the potential for requests with future flag lots. It is not the first time a flag lot has been denied. Public Safety is not fond of flag lots either because of the access. Mark Rabe went through the standards for a flag lot in the provisions of the Land Development Code. He feels Section 5-3.2 (3) “Conventional division would result in greater erosion hazard, loss of trees, or other environmental damage which could be prevented by use of a flag lot.” would be an uncertain outcome. He is also certain that Edwardsville in not the area where flag lots are being created without the consideration of other issues. The fact that a large number of neighbors have shown up to a committee meeting and not a Plan Commission meeting to voice their opinions is evidence of their great concern and setting a precedent. He feels there is more research which needs to be done with the plat of 1965 which left out the 2.5 acre minimum requirement. He thinks the original plat for 5 acre lots did not sell as planned so they divided off the remain lots into 2.5 acre lots. Some neighbors could have pre 1965 deeds which still have those restrictions of the 5 acre minimum. He explained the process from this committee to the audience and that final  4 approval would be by City Council. He would not recommend the creation of the flag lot to Plan Commission. John McDole stated he is hesitant to set a precedent. This would create a dense area which was not the intent when this subdivision was originally platted. Mark Rabe moved to advance this proposal to the Plan Commission with the recommendation to not be approved by the Plan Commission. John McDole seconded the motion. All ayes. The committee asked for staff to get more information on the 1965 resubdivision and any available information on the elevation of the proposed back lot. REMINDER: PLAN COMMISSION MEETING: Monday, November 19, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall, City Council Chambers, 118 Hillsboro Avenue.