Planning and Zoning Board

APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS March 7, 2011 The Niles Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals was called to order at 7:00 P.M. Chairman Kanelos asked everyone to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Present along with Chairman Thomas Kanelos and Village Attorney Joseph Annunzio was Vice-Chairman Karen Dimond, Commissioners Thomas Surace, Angelo Troiani, Barbara Nakanishi, Robert Schulter and Morgan Dubiel. Also present was Charles Ostman, Director of Community Development and Richard Wlodarski, Assistant Director of Community Development. Chairman Kanelos asked if there were any questions, clarifications or corrections to the minutes of February 7, 2011. There were none. Commissioner Dubiel moved to approve the February 7, 2011 minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Surace, on roll call the vote was: AYES: 7 Dimond, Surace, Kanelos, Troiani, Nakanishi, Schulter, Dubiel NAYS: 0 There being seven (7) affirmative votes the motion carried. OLD BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS 11-ZP-02 Ireneusz Ryzewski, President 8109 N. Milwaukee Ave. Niles, IL 60714 Requesting approval of a Special Use to Appendix B Section VIII(B)(3)(gg) to operate a video rental store at 8109 N. Milwaukee Ave., Niles, IL 60714 11-ZP-03 Angie Galanis 1195 Ridgewood Circle Lake in the Hills, IL 60156 Page 1 of 11  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS March 7, 2011 Requesting approval of a Special Use to Appendix B Section VIII(B)(3)(z) for a full service restaurant and food carryout store at 9600 N. Milwaukee Ave., Niles, IL 60714. 11-ZP-04 The Village of Niles Mr. Charles Ostman, Director 1000 Civic Center Dr. Niles, IL 60714 Requesting text amendments to the Village of Niles Zoning Code Appendix B, Section III Rules and Definitions and new definition Impervious Area. Any manmade area that does not readily absorb or retain water or allow for the penetration of rain into the ground, including but not limited to, building roofs, parking and driveway areas, graveled area, sidewalks and paved recreation areas. Chairman Kanelos called for the first item on the agenda. 11-ZP-02 Ireneusz Ryzewski, President 8109 N. Milwaukee Ave. Niles, IL 60714 Requesting approval of a Special Use to Appendix B Section VIII(B)(3)(gg) to operate a video rental store at 8109 N. Milwaukee Ave., Niles, IL 60714 Richard Wlodarski presented this case. Legal notice was published for all cases before the Board tonight on February 17, 2011 in The Bugle Newspaper and letters were mailed out to all properties located within 250 ft. of the subject property. This Special Use request is to relocate a video rental business. It was granted a Special Use in July, 1999 located at 9077 Courtland Drive. The applicant bought the business in June, 2004 and has operated in this location since then. He is now moving the business to a new location at 8109 N. Milwaukee Ave. The Community Development Department has reviewed this request and has no objections to this Special Use. This Board is a recommending Board to the Board of Trustees. Commissioner Nakanishi pointed out that on the location map the property was shown as being located in Oak Mill Mall. Page 2 of 11  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS March 7, 2011 Mr. Wlodarski said it was a mistake. Chairman Kanelos asked if there were any other questions for Mr. Wlodarski from the Board or from the public. There were none. He then asked for the petitioner to step forward. He also asked that the packet given to the Board for this case be entered as Exhibit A 11-ZP-02. Ireneusz Ryzewski, President, 8109 N. Milwaukee Ave., Niles, IL 60714 stepped forward and was sworn in. He said that his letter (statement of support) is all he has to say. Chairman Kanelos asked if there were any questions from the Commissioners. There were none. He then asked if there were any questions from the public. Once again, there were none. At this time he entertained a motion. Commissioner Dubiel moved to approve this application for approval of Special Use Appendix B Section VIII(B)(3)(gg) to operate a video rental store at 8109 N. Milwaukee Ave., Niles, IL 60714. It meets the standards set in Zoning Code H 4 a, b & c. It is deemed necessary for the public convenience at this location and is so designed, located and proposed to be operated so the public health, safety and welfare will be protected and will not cause substantial injury to the value of other property in the neighborhood in which it is located. Seconded by Commissioner Nakanishi, on roll call the vote was: AYES: 7 Dimond, Surace, Kanelos, Troiani, Nakanishi, Schulter, Dubiel NAYS: 0 There being seven (7) affirmative votes the motion carried. Chairman Kanelos called for the next item on the agenda. 11-ZP-03 Angie Galanis 1195 Ridgewood Circle Lake in the Hills, IL 60156 Requesting approval of a Special Use to Appendix B Section VIII(B)(3)(z) for a full service restaurant and food carryout store at 9600 N. Milwaukee Ave., Niles, IL 60714. Page 3 of 11  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS March 7, 2011 Mr. Wlodarski presented this case. This Special Use request is to open a Firehouse Subs restaurant. The existing building will be renovated and have forty-two (42) seats. The site, including Nikki’s Bar, will also be reworked to accommodate necessary parking and landscaping. The site plan was reviewed by the outside consultants Gewalt-Hamilton. The Community Development Department has reviewed this request and has no opinion on this matter. Once again, this Board is a recommending Board to the Board of Trustees. Chairman Kanelos asked that the packet given to the Board be entered as Exhibit A 11-ZP-03. He asked if there were any questions from the Board. Commissioner Dubiel said in addition to the packet, the Board was given an additional landscape legend. Though not critical, it should be entered into the record. Chairman Kanelos then added it as Exhibit B. Vice-Chairman Dimond is concerned about traffic because of the congested nature of that intersection. Going westbound on Golf Rd. people can make right turns into the parcel; what about eastbound on Golf Rd. Mr. Wlodarski said no, there is a median. Vice-Chairman Dimond said the same situation comes up for traffic southbound on Milwaukee Ave. People going south can turn right into the parcel; but people northbound cannot turn left into the parcel. Mr. Wlodarski said correct, there is a median there also. There were no other questions from the Commissioners. Chairman Kanelos asked if there were questions from the public. There were none. At this time he called the petitioner to the podium. Five (5) people approached. They are as follows: Angie Galanis, 1195 Ridgewood Circle, Lake in the Hills, IL 60156. Gary Litvin, 23696 N. Raleigh Dr., Lincolnshire, IL 60015 Andrew Lipowski, Design Synergies, 203 N. Wabash, Suite 1304, Chicago, IL 60601 Steve Szalinski, 4915 Washington Blvd., Downers Grove, IL 60515 Nick Galanis, 1195 Ridgewood Circle, Lake in the Hills, IL 60156. Page 4 of 11  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS March 7, 2011 All were sworn in. Chairman Kanelos asked if there was anything else they would like to add to what Mr. Wlodarski said. Mr. Litvin spoke of the traffic. The logical way to get into the parcel [if you are northbound on Milwaukee] is to turn left onto Golf and then right into the parcel. Commissioner Nakanishi has concerns about the site plan’s diagram of 60 degree angle parking with a 9 ft. width stall. She mentions three (3) different measurements and doesn’t feel it meets the minimum requirements for that configuration of parking. Mr. Wlodarski said this was reviewed by the consultants, Gewalt-Hamilton, and part of that aisle is 16 ft. or less. Commissioner Nakanishi said she thought it had to be 18 ft. Please have the consultants take another look at that. Mr. Wlodarski said the consultants recommended moving the parking between the two buildings to the backside of the Firehouse building. They redid a little bit in front to the landscaping. He believes the parking requirements for the Zoning Code is 16 ft. Mr. Ostman returned with the Zoning Code. It only requires a 15 ft. aisle for 60 degree parking. Commissioner Nakanishi said the footprint of the building on sheet A1.0 does not match the footprint on sheet Site 1.0. Vice-Chairman Dimond said the parking looks congested between Nikki’s Bar and the sub shop. She would like the hours of both establishments. Mr. Wlodarski said Nikki’s Bar is primarily an evening establishment. Firehouse meets the zoning requirements per seats. Mr. Szalinski said they are open from 10:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. There are about 400 locations nationwide. About 70 – 75% of their business is in by 4:00 p.m. It is mainly a lunch crowd. Nighttime traffic is soft. Page 5 of 11  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS March 7, 2011 Commissioner Troiani said the Police Chief recommended no changes in the curb cuts. Are you changing anything like that? Mr. Ostman said right now there are four (4) curb cuts. Only two (2) are being eliminated and two (2) are staying there. Commissioner Nakanishi is still waiting for an answer on why the footprints don’t match on two of the pages. It turned out she was looking at CVS Pharmacy. There is not a discrepancy so she withdrew her question. Mr. Szalinski said Firehouse Subs was founded in 1992 in Jacksonville, Florida by the Sorenson brothers. Their family has about 200 years of fire fighting experience. They are actually part sub shop and part safety foundation. They donate to qualified first responders for emergency equipment, disaster relief, scholarship funds and fire safety education. They sell pickle buckets. They have a pro-am tennis tour. There are canisters at the end of the counters where people put their change voluntarily. They have fire safety month in October and work with local firefighters. Vice-Chairman Dimond said she didn’t quite understand a sentence about IDOT. Mr. Wlodarski said it means the two areas where they’re going to close off the existing entrances, they need IDOT permits in order to touch any IDOT property. There were no other questions so Chairman Kanelos entertained a motion. Commissioner Troiani moved 11-ZP-03 - Angie Galanis, 1195 Ridgewood Circle, Lake in the Hills, IL 60156 - requesting approval of a Special Use to Appendix B Section VIII(B)(3)(z) for a full service restaurant and food carryout store at 9600 N. Milwaukee Ave., Niles, IL 60714 be approved. Seconded by Commissioner Dubiel with the following amendment. The approval of the Special Use meets the standards set forth in zoning code H4 a, b & c and is deemed necessary for the public convenience at this location and is so designed, located and proposed to be operated that the public health, safety and welfare will be protected and will not cause substantial injury to the value of other property in the neighborhood in which it is located. Does Mr. Troiani accept the amendment? Page 6 of 11  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS March 7, 2011 Commissioner Troiani said yes he accepted the amendment. Commissioner Dubiel then seconded the motion again. On roll call the vote was: AYES: 7 Dimond, Surace, Kanelos, Troiani, Nakanishi, Schulter, Dubiel NAYS: 0 There being seven (7) affirmative votes the motion carried. Chairman Kanelos called for the final item on the agenda. 11-ZP-04 The Village of Niles Mr. Charles Ostman, Director 1000 Civic Center Dr. Niles, IL 60714 Requesting text amendments to the Village of Niles Zoning Code Appendix B, Section III Rules and Definitions and new definition Impervious Area. Any manmade area that does not readily absorb or retain water or allow for the penetration of rain into the ground, including but not limited to, building roofs, parking and driveway areas, graveled area, sidewalks and paved recreation areas. Mr. Wlodarski presented case 11-ZP-04. This is a request to add a definition for Impervious Area to the Zoning Code. This request came out of the Storm water Commission. It was discussed and agreed upon by the Commission with Hay & Associates, who is the consultant working with the Storm water Commission. A definition is needed for overall enforcement by the Village to enforce any existing and future impervious surface ordinances. The Community Development Department, along with the Storm water Commission, has reviewed this request and recommends approval to add this definition to the Zoning Code. This Board is a recommending Board to the Board of Trustees. Chairman Kanelos asked if there were any questions for Mr. Wlodarski. Commissioner Nakanishi pointed out that perhaps the request should say graveled areas (not graveled area) since the other items in the sentence are plural. Page 7 of 11  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS March 7, 2011 Chairman Kanelos said on the ordinance it does say “areas.” Commissioner Dubiel stated his packet said “areas” as well. The actual ordinance does show the word to be plural. Commissioner Dubiel asked Mr. Wlodarski to explain why graveled areas would be included. Mr. Wlodarski replied the graveled areas would be, for instance, if someone wants to put gravel under their deck and plastic underneath that, it would be considered not impervious. But if they wanted to put a weed barrier where water can drain through it then we would look at it differently; so we just want that in there and it would be a policy the Building Department would decide on and ask those questions when permits are being issued in a circumstance like that. Commissioner Dubiel then asked about paved recreation areas; would it be pavers being put down instead of a deck? Mr. Wlodarski said correct. Vice-Chairman Dimond said it troubles her where it says “manmade area that does not readily absorb or retain water.” To her a concrete sidewalk can retain water sitting on top of it. She thinks it should say “an area that does not absorb water or “allow for the penetration of rain” but it doesn’t seem like retain should be there. Chairman Kanelos said concrete doesn’t really retain the water. He thinks it’s understood it doesn’t really retain water – unless you have a really lousy concrete job with a lot of low spots. There was back and forth discussion about the word “retain.” Mr. Wlodarski then said the reason they use “retain” is for swimming pools. Commissioner Dubiel said so this is to negate that; it should read “not retained.” Is that right? Mr. Wlodarski said it covers both because the area doesn’t absorb water but it does retain it. A pool would be the example. Page 8 of 11  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS March 7, 2011 Vice-Chairman Dimond still has concerns about the word. Commissioner Dubiel asked if a pool or pond in a yard is permitted. Would this be a conflict? Mr. Annunzio said to make the drafting as general as possible is always easier than to start making specific definitions; once you begin that, then the definition will become quite lengthy. Commissioner Dubiel said then the intention is to say “retained”, you mean to negate that because you want to exempt swimming pools or manmade structures that are supposed to retain water, correct? Mr. Wlodarski answered or any other surface that does not allow absorption by the earth. Vice-Chairman Dimond is still not sure but if it doesn’t bother anyone else, that would be okay. Mr. Annunzio said if you are talking about the definition of “retained”, that is under the subject of the Community Development Director anyway. If you need further refinement about what is meant by retained water and what structure you’re talking about, that would be under the purview of Chuck [Ostman] anyway. Commissioner Dubiel said when they were first trained, there was some effort to make sure they would be resistant to any lawsuit to come. The concern of Ms. Dimond is that we want absolute clarity. Chairman Kanelos said wouldn’t the word “retain” also apply to retention areas; if it does not either absorb or retain. Even a retention area, if it is grass, will retain water for a certain amount of time and slowly absorb it into the ground. Mr. Wlodarski said this ordinance was pushed more towards residential than commercial. That’s the only area we have in the Zoning Code for percentages that we allow or don’t allow for R1 and R2 single family. There are minimal, if any, retention areas on residential properties that are designed for water retention. Page 9 of 11  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS March 7, 2011 Commissioner Nakanishi asked if would help to add swimming pools to the definition. Mr. Ostman said he’d like to go back to the consultant and have him review this one last time then present it to the Board. Vice-Chairman Dimond said the main thing they don’t want is water runoff. It’s okay if your water seeps into your ground or if its retained on top of your roof or the top of something. Mr. Wlodarski said that is not the intent. Chairman Kanelos said he would entertain a motion to table this. Mr. Ostman said they are set to go in front of the Board of Trustees this month with the full presentation. Mr. Wlodarski said they do have another meeting with the Storm water Commission prior to the Village Board meeting. They can then iron out all the details. Commissioner Dubiel said they can leave it neutral pending the Community Development Department’s meeting with the Storm water Commission, right? Mr. Ostman said no, the ordinance requires recommendation by the Zoning Board to get to the Village Board. There were no more questions by the Commissioners. There is no public present to ask a question. Chairman Kanelos then entertained a motion. Commissioner Troiani moved 11-ZP-04, The Village of Niles, Mr. Charles Ostman, Director, 1000 Civic Center Dr., Niles, IL 60714 – requesting text amendments to the Village of Niles Zoning Code Appendix B, Section III Rules and Definitions and new definition Impervious Area. Any manmade area that does not readily absorb or retain water or allow for the penetration of rain into the ground, including but not limited to, building roofs, parking and driveway areas, graveled areas, sidewalks and paved Page 10 of 11  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS March 7, 2011 recreation areas be approved subject to clarification with the outside consultants regarding verbiage. Seconded by Commissioner Nakanishi, on roll call the vote was: AYES: 7 Dimond, Surace, Kanelos, Troiani, Nakanishi, Schulter, Dubiel NAYS: 0 There being seven (7) affirmative votes the motion carried. Mr. Ostman announced there will be a seminar in Libertyville presented by CMAP (The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning). There is workshop for Commissioners – Session I is Saturday, April 30, 2011; Session II is Saturday, May 14, 2011. Please let him know as soon as possible because seating is limited. The cost to the Village is $25.00 per person. Commissioner Dubiel moved to adjourn. Seconded by Commissioner Schulter, on roll call the vote was: AYES: 7 Dimond, Surace, Kanelos, Troiani, Nakanishi, Schulter, Dubiel NAYS: 0 There being seven (7) affirmative votes the motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 7:38 p.m. Kathleen Janessa, Recording Secretary Page 11 of 11