Building & Zoning Committee

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT MAYOR TRUSTEES Andrew Przybylo George D. Alpogianis John C. Jekot Danette O’Donovan Matyas ACTING Denise M. McCreery VILLAGE Craig Niedermaier MANAGER Dean Strzelecki Hadley Skeffington-Vos VILLAGE CLERK Marlene J. Victorine BUILDING AND ZONING COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES REMOTE PARTICIPATION February 18, 2021 Chairman Denise McCreery – Trustee Members Charles Ostman – Community Development Director Rich Wlodarski – Community Development Assistant Director Tom Kanelos – Chairman Planning and Zoning Hadley Skeffington–Vos – Deputy Village Manager Danielle Grcic – Village Attorney Rich Mangold – Resident I. Call To Order/Roll Call The Niles Building and Zoning Committee meeting was called to order at 8:19 AM. Present: 7 – Chairperson McCreery, Mangold, Thake, Kanelos, Ostman, Wlodarski Skeffington-Vos, and Elizarraga. Absent: 1 – Mayor Andrew Przybylo, Grcic II. Approval of Building & Zoning Committee minutes from the meeting on January 21, 2021 Mangold motioned to approve of meeting minutes for January 21, 2021with edits to votes on record. Ostman seconded. AYES: 7 – Chairperson McCreery, Kanelos, Ostman, Wlodarski, Mangold, Thake, Skeffington-Vos NAYS: 0 ABSTAIN: 0 Motion passed. WWW.VNILES.COM III. Old Business A. Further discussion on new members, reducing staff members a. Ostman stated the committee would reach out to residents and other committees for new members. He went on to say three members were interested from the Comprehensive Advisory Committee. One of the interested parties just moved in to Niles and is an architect. Ostman stated appointments for new committees is coming up in May, June or July. b. Chairperson McCreery stated she is excited we are getting traction in getting new members. She explained the committee will keep the same amount of staff members. Chairperson McCreery states that current members must express their continued interest. B. Discussion recommendation of Design Guidelines a. Ostman stated this is continuation to the proposal Lakota Group provided to provide Design Guidelines. He stated the $30, 000 cost is expensive driven up by the number of meetings. Ostman stated they would look at the program closer and find a less costly solution. Ostman asked for thirty days to complete the task. b. Chairperson McCreery stated the cost is about $1,200 dollars per page and is quite costly. She stated she was expecting photos of actual homes, she expects drawing for people not in the industry to be able to understand. c. Kanelos stated examples are Park Ridge and Arlington Heights guidelines. He stated we have ordinances that cover some of the things covered in the design guidelines. He stated guidelines should be simple and there is no need to reinvent the wheel. d. Chairperson McCreery stated guidelines get complicated as ordinances get more complicated. She stated this would back into Ostman’s hands. She stated she likes Arlington Heights in regards to volume. e. Ostman stated he understands that there is need to keep it simple. f. Chairperson McCreery stated Arlington Heights refers persons to the ordinances from the guidelines. g. Mangold inquired if this is only for residential properties. h. The Committee stated yes. i. Mangold stated that Arlington Heights is robust because it includes commercial guidelines. j. Kanelos stated we have to remember we are not Park Ridge, Arlington Heights or Naperville. Niles is an area that is starting at a disadvantage and we want to become the place where residents would like to go. He went on to say, the Zoning Board made a big mistake a few year ago in not allowing design on an award-winning house by denying it. k. Chairperson McCreery stated she would like to state something about Kanelo’s comment. She stated that looking at the history of the community Niles was always the more desirable community. She went on to say that Morton Grove has elevated their game, and she is concerned that if we say that’s who we are that’s all we are going to be. She believes Niles is a bit above that. l. Kanelos stated that we want to become the more desirable place to be, he stated that Morton Grove has better schools, which is Nile’s biggest disadvantage. He stated that he had spoken about focusing on Commercial Guidelines. m. Ostman stated that there are some guidelines in commercial, but he wants to focus on residential. n. Skeffington-Vos asked if there is public participation in the guideline process from the vendors. o. Chairperson McCreery stated yes. p. Chairperson asked if Nathan had numbers to back up the photos. q. Ostman stated that information is in a spreadsheet and we will get that information to the committee. r. Mangold asked how far back the data goes. s. Ostman stated 2004. IV. New Business A. Entrance Signage a. Ostman stated there was an overall view of things done to date in Albion and Milwaukee Ave. Ostman has been in contact with Bob Pilat to get on the agenda of the Milwaukee Streetscape Committee. b. Chairperson McCreery stated that we have money in the budget, each digital sign is $80,000 or more. There needs to be markers identified around the community and we should turn it back to the Milwaukee Streetscape Committee. B. Discussion and Proposed Language/Text Amendments to Masonry Construction Requirements a. Ostman stated there are new materials that are coming up that are very popular and the current ordinance does not allow certain materials. The biggest one is hardy board. b. Wlodarski stated that someone had reached out to Chairperson McCreery about using hardy board. Wlodarski explained examples of materials in the included in the meeting packet. These materials can be panels or siding. c. Ostman suggest reducing masonry to 40% to be able to be able to use this material. d. Kanelos inquired why other materials are not allowed such as clear cedar or other materials that are high quality, not aluminum and not vinyl. e. Ostman stated that’s possible in the design guidelines. f. Wlodarski stated the cedar is not a bad suggestion, fiber cement is fully available. g. Ostman stated the architect interested in joining the committee would like to build a modern home utilizing fiber cement. h. Chairperson McCreery asked if Albion is the oldest street in Niles. i. Mangold stated that is Merrill. j. Chairperson stated this would look odd in Albion. k. Ostman stated that Northbrook has an appearance commission who are embracing commercial looking homes. l. Skeffington-Vos inquired if this wasn’t allowed before because of how it looked or because of the material not being allowed. m. Wlodarski stated that it did not the masonry requirement of 50%. He went on to say that these homes are energy efficient with the modern look in the outside. n. Mangold inquired about the mixture of styles. He thinks that it should be allowed. o. Chairperson McCreery stated that she doesn’t like the commercial looking homes, but that is just her taste and it would be bad for the neighbor’s view. p. Wlodarski stated beauty is in the eye of the beholder. q. Skeffington-Vos stated that with Niles being a very diverse community, and as we look to attract new residents. Allowing it would be an opening gesture to attract new styles and new cultural preferences. r. Chairperson McCreery that she is a fan of the house on Main and it’s out of character to the rest of the community. s. Mangold stated that one gets used to it. t. Kanelos is still not sold of allowing this in lieu of any brick at all. He stated his biggest concern is the uniformity. u. Wlodarski stated his eyes are open in terms of what other kinds of homes are out there by driving by neighboring communities. v. Mangold, stated that there are two different issues. The 60/40 masonry and the hardy board is the other. w. Chairperson McCreery we cannot work on the 60/40 right now. She asked for further comments prior to a motion. She inquired if Ostman and Kanelos was in favor of this. x. Ostman stated yes, Kanelos stated he is not in favor of allowing this completely. y. Kanelos inquired if we can decided this after design criteria has been determined. He stated that if masonry is eliminated, we have to know if this is feasible for smaller homes. z. Chairperson McCreery stated this would be tabled for our next meeting. V. Open Discussion and Public Comments a. No public comments. b. Next meeting March 18, 2021 VI. Adjournment Mangold motioned to adjourn until March 18, 2021. Kanelos seconded. AYES: 7 – Chairperson McCreery, Kanelos, Mangold, Ostman, Wlodarski, Thake, Skeffington- Vos NAYS: 0 ABSTAIN: 0 Motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 9:23 a.m.