Industrial & Commercial Development Commission

APPROVED MINUTES OF THE VILLAGE OF NORTHBROOK INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION Village Hall Terrace Room February 26, 2013 Members Present: Chairman Patrick Lederer, Tensley Garris, Larry Herskovitz, David Gottlieb, Jill Narens, Richard Rushkewicz, Dick Leopold and Susan Elfant. Staff Present: David Schoon and Colleen Brunner. Call to Order & Introductions Chairman Lederer called the meeting to order in the Terrace Room of Village Hall at 7:30 a.m. Review of Minutes: On a motion made and seconded, the minutes from the November 27, 2012 ICDC meeting were approved as presented. Public Comment- Hear from the Audience None Community Planning and Economic Development Coordinator Report Schoon reported on the following: 1) the assisted living project at 1000 Sunset Ridge has obtained their permit and will be breaking ground; 2) Covenant Village will be replacing an existing building with a new one; 3) a proposed day care center in the new proposed Meadow Park office complex across from Crate & Barrel is in for approval; 4) the Dundee/Skokie mixed use development to submit plans soon; 5) still waiting on Wal-Mart at 1000 Skokie to submit formal application; 6) Marathon station at Dundee/Skokie is considering reconfiguring property lines with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago; 7) affordable rental senior housing on Pointe Drive has been proposed; 8) staff is working with developer of Walters/Lorenz property concerning parking issues; 9) construction at Lake Cook/Waukegan to start in late April; 10) Willow widening Waukegan to the Edens Expressway will start late April and run to spring 2014 and 11) Board is preparing the 2013/14 Budget. Currently there is a surplus due to increased sales tax revenue and lower than anticipated expenses. Discussion Regarding Property Maintenance in the Downtown A written report was included in the packet recapping the discussion of this issue from the November meeting. Since that meeting, staff has gathered information on how other communities handle property maintenance issues. Most communities generally enforce maintenance on a complaint basis. Staff also prepared a recommendation based upon the Commission’s last discussion regarding this issue for the Commission to consider. The Commission spent some time reviewing the proposal and considering what should be the Village’s proper role in ensuring that downtown properties be maintained. The Commission discussed the balance between enforcement and providing incentives to Joint ICDC/EDC Meeting Minutes February 26, 2013 try to ensure property maintenance. Commission members suggested changes to the proposal provided by staff. A motion was made, and seconded to recommend to the Village Board that the Village adopt the following position regarding downtown property maintenance: Given the past investment the Village has made to improve the appearance of the downtown and the planned investments the Village anticipates making in the future, the Industrial and Commercial Development Commission recommends that the Village take the following steps to address exterior property maintenance issues in the downtown: The Village should be more proactive with enforcing existing exterior property maintenance regulations that address tall grass and weeds, graffiti, litter, broken windows, and other exterior items of safety concern and authorize staff to issue citations whenever these obvious violations are observed. As significant land use changes or exterior site improvements to a property occur, the Village should require that existing nonconforming outdoor refuse containers be properly screened; however, the Village should be flexible with enforcing this requirement in situations where there are physical logistical hardships in meeting this requirement. The Village should encourage downtown property owners to screen existing outdoor refuse containers from view from public rights of way and from adjacent properties through the establishment of a 50/50 cost sharing program to assist with the cost of such screening provided that certain established criteria are satisfied. The Village should take the necessary steps to encourage all existing outdoor storage areas to be screened from view from public rights of way and from adjacent properties. The Village should be more proactive with property maintenance regulations regarding obvious safety issues associated with deteriorating paved surfaces and should encourage downtown property owners to maintain an acceptable appearance of paved surfaces by having them repair pavement surfaces that have significant amounts of cracking, crumbling, and pooling of water deterioration. The Village should establish an aggressive on-going maintenance and replacement program for public streetscape improvements in the downtown. The motion was adopted unanimously. A Commission member asked who would enforce these rules, because without enforcement there really is no teeth to this proposal. Schoon responded it would be staff at the direction of the Village Board. Update Regarding Industrial and Commercial Services District February 19, 2013 a public meeting was held for property business owners to learn about the proposed ICS district. A written report of the meetings outcome was included in the packet. Some highlights include; 1) the accessory retail sf set at 2500 sf was reduced to 1000 sf; and 2) outdoor storage- will allow chain link fencing with screening but not in areas that are adjacent to residential areas. The first Plan Commission public hearing concerning the district is set for March 19, 2013. Joint ICDC/EDC Meeting Minutes February 26, 2013 The Commission recommends the Board should reduce the cost to those that do want to rezone to the new ICS District. Update Regarding Status of Village Adoption of New International Building Codes The goal is to amend as many local codes as possible to conform to the international codes. The Architectural Control Commission has just started reviewing local amendments to the standard international codes to see what local amendments could be eliminated. Additional information will be provided at the ICDC meeting. Old Business None New Business Chambers Annual Dinner is February 27. Honorees are the YMCA as small business owner and the Renaissance Hotel as large business owner. Next Meeting The next ICDC meeting is has been rescheduled for March 19, 2013. Adjourn On motion made and seconded, the joint meeting was adjourned at 9:10 a.m. Respectfully Submitted – Colleen Brunner