Architectural Control Commission

1 APPROVED 2 MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL COMMISSION 3 VILLAGE OF NORTHBROOK 4 COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS 5 October 10, 2013 6 7 Commissioners Present (5) 8 Al Schwall, Chairman 9 David Menn 10 Lori Jordison 11 Cliff Town 12 Bob Katz 13 14 Village Staff Present 15 Tom Poupard, Director, Development and Planning Services, Village of Northbrook 16 David Schoon, Assistant Director, Development and Planning Services 17 Nick Desario, Assistant Director, Development and Planning Services 18 Lori McLeod, Recorder 19 20 Others Present 21 Michael Driscoll – Parishioner, St. Norbert’s Parish 22 Jessica Heath Bolden – White Way Signs, St. Norbert’s Parish 23 Al Weber – 3872 Sunset, Northbrook 24 John Schreiber – Construction Manager, 3310 Sunset 25 Bert Boldizsar – Architect, Gensler 26 Rob Gamrath – Attorney, Quarles & Brady 27 Bernessa McQueen - Manhard Engineer, Manhard Consulting, Ltd. 28 Victor Bicker – General Contractor, 3872 Sunset 29 Miora Carey – Director of Finance, St. Norbert’s Parish 30 Hal Francke- Meltzer, Purtill & Stelle, Attorney 31 32 1. Call to Order 33 Al Schwall called the meeting to order in the Terrace Room of Village Hall, 1225 Cedar Lane, at 5:35 34 p.m. 35 36 2. Roll Call 37 A quorum was present. 38 39 3. Public Comments 40 There were no public comments from the public. 41 42 4. Review of Minutes  Page 2 Minutes of the October 10, 2013 Architectural Control Commission Meeting 1 Cliff Town moved, seconded by Bob Katz, to approve the September 12, 2013 minutes for the 2 Architectural Control Commission (ACC) meetings as presented. On a voice vote, the motion was 3 unanimously carried. 4 5 5. Design Review - Permit Requests 6 a. Replacement Sign – St. Norbert Church (1809 Walters Ave.) -- IB/VGO District 7 The ACC Committee reviewed the application submitted by St. Norbert’s Parish to request 8 the installation of a replacement ground sign. Bob Katz made a motion to approve the 9 request for a new ground sign, David Menn seconded the motion, and with a voice vote, the 10 motion unanimously carried. 11 6. Continued Discussion - Extension Request for Expired Building Permit -3872 Sunset Lane (11-G-057 SFRAL) 12 Nick Desario gave an overview of the Permit Extension Request. The following inspections have 13 not been completed: Final Building Inspection, Final Grading, Final Engineering, Drainage System 14 and the As-Built Submittal. The owner of the property has guaranteed that the portable potty will 15 be removed next week. 16 Al Weber, the owner, said that some of the delays are due to village approval. ACC suggested that 17 the dumpster be moved into the garage. The owner responded that the garage is currently being 18 used to store building materials. The ACC has decided that as long as the site remains clean and 19 presentable to the rest of the neighborhood, the dumpster can remain in the yard. 20 Al Schwall suggested extending the building permit to June of 2014 with a fee of $400. The 21 Commission members all agreed that the “porta-potty” should be removed as soon as possible. 22 The owner replied that it will be removed within one week. Also, the dumpster must be well 23 maintained and orderly. The ACC would like this project finalized as it has been taking the builder 24 a very long time to complete. The commission felt the extension could be granted until the next 25 ACC meeting in June of 2014. However, if another extension is required, the extension fee will be 26 increased to $800. 27 Bob Katz made a motion to grant the permit extension at 3872 Sunset Lane with the above 28 provisions. David Menn seconded the motion, and with a voice vote the motion unanimously 29 carried. 30 7. Permit Extension Request – 3310 Sunset Trail (10-G-202) 31 The Owner is requesting a 6-month extension in order to complete the remainder of the work on 32 the property. The following items needs to be completed: Final Building Inspection, Final 33 Engineering Inspection and the As-Built Submittal. Nick Desario reviewed the property status with 34 the ACC. A new contractor is on board. David Menn made a motion that a fee of $400 will grant a 35 6-month extension and if an additional extension is required, the fee will be increased to $800. 36 Cliff Town seconded the motion, and by a voice vote the motion unanimously carried. 37  Page 3 Minutes of the October 10, 2013 Architectural Control Commission Meeting 1 8. Continued Review of Design of Proposed WalMart Building, Signage, and Landscaping - 1000 2 Skokie 3 David Schoon reviewed the WalMart building design, signage, and landscaping for the ACC. It was 4 suggested at the last meeting that the following changes be made: 5  Create more variation and articulation to the east building façade. 6  Along the west façade, replace the black color of the canopies with a color that blends with 7 the building façade and drop the roof line down a little at the far east corner wall to create 8 a little more variation along this wall. 9  Regarding future tenant sign panel on pylon sign, require future Village design review of 10 sign. 11  Submit samples of blue and yellow for the free standing signs. 12  Replace the Japanese Yew, Eastern Hemlock and Eastern White Pine, along the east building 13 with some other material. 14 Rob Gamrath, attorney from Quarles & Brady, together with Bert Boldizsar, the architect from 15 Gensler, representing WalMart, reviewed the architectural changes that were made since the 16 last meeting. The changes made were: 17 18  The large rectangular wall has been broken up into 3 distinct sections with varying heights, 19 material and colors to add visual appeal. 20  The black color of the canopies will be replaced with a color that blends with the building 21 façade. 22  The plant species for the landscaping has been changed. 23  The plantings have been increased. And the deciduous shrubs replaced with evergreen 24 shrubs will provide a better year round screening of the parking lot. 25 26 Bernessa McQueen, from Manhard Consulting, elaborated on the landscape changes that were 27 suggested by the ACC previously. Manhard Consulting has proposed an increase in the plant 28 material with a variety of species. The new landscaping plan includes various trees such as: 29 Spruce, Arborvitae and Evergreens that would surround the proposed WalMart building. There 30 was concern about the Arborvitae surviving the salty roads during winter. 31 32 WalMart and the ACC discussed the color of the building and samples were passed around. 33 Bert Boldizsar, the Architect from Gensler, discussed the Walmart building. They recognized the 34 ACC was trying to avoid one big, long wall along Skokie Boulevard. They discussed the scale and 35 colors of the building and the view of the building from the road. 36 37 The ACC discussed the color that was proposed on the East wall. Overall, the color palette was 38 acceptable. It was also discussed the possibility of adding some articulation to the East wall to 39 add visual interest. Gensler Architects discussed ways they could add relief in the wall. 40 41 Bob Katz made a motion for the ACC to recommend:  Page 4 Minutes of the October 10, 2013 Architectural Control Commission Meeting 1  Plant selection should have varied height on the Skokie Boulevard side of the wall and 2 have a good tolerance of salt during the winter. 3  Although the color palette appears to be fine, the East side of the building will require 4 more articulation. 5  Manhard Consulting will need to investigate plant selection to ensure the species is 6 durable in the winter with regards to salt. The plantings should be taller than 6 feet. 7 David Menn seconded the recommendation, and on a voice vote, the motion unanimously 8 carried. 9 The ACC then discussed signage. In particular, the ACC reviewed whether the pylon can sign be 10 more attractive or replaced with a different type of sign? The signage design and the proposed 11 color samples were presented. 12 WalMart is seeking approval of a pylon sign that will have a second panel to name the tenants 13 on the adjacent 5-acre lot. It was suggested that the panel be big enough to hold two tenants. 14 ACC members indicated that the single, slender pole design was not acceptable. The use of 15 double pole design or a broad base were both discussed as possible options. The ACC asked the 16 applicant to revisit the pole design and submit a double pole design or with a base with 17 architectural interest. 18 The plan for the planter portion of the signs was acceptable. 19 WalMart would like to put nearly 300 square foot wall signs on both the north and south 20 elevations of the building. Currently the code allows only 100 square feet for such wall signs in 21 the C-5 District. The ACC recommendation was that the WalMart sign not exceed 200 square 22 feet on the south side, but the front sign can be 300 sq. ft as proposed. Cliff Town made a 23 motion to accept this and David Menn seconded. On a voice vote, the motion carried 24 unanimously. 25 26 9. New Single Family Elevations: 27 a. 1524 Walters Ave. (R-4 District) – Town Studios, Architect 28 b. 2765 Woodland Dr. (R-3 District) – Pathmann Architects, Inc. (New Drawings – Previously 29 Approved) 30 c. 2915 Keystone Rd. (R-3 District) – ALA Architects 31 d. 1371 Westwood Court (R-5 District) – ALA Architects 32 Lori Jordison recommended that the staff review the elevations. David Menn seconded and on a 33 voice vote the motion was carried. 34 35 10. New Business 36 There was no new business 37 38 11. Old Business  Page 5 Minutes of the October 10, 2013 Architectural Control Commission Meeting 1 There was no old business 2 3 4 12. Adjournment 5 There being no further business, Cliff Town moved, seconded by Lori Jordison, to adjourn the meeting. 6 On a voice vote, the motion unanimously carried, and the meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m. 7 8 Respectfully submitted, 9 10 11 Lori McLeod 12 Recorder 13 14