Zoning Board of Appeals

1 APPROVED 2 MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS 3 VILLAGE OF NORTHBROOK 4 COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS 5 September 22, 2014 6 7 Call to Order 8 Chairman Decker called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. in the Board Room of Village Hall. Chairman 9 Decker and Members Craig, Geslicki, Lown, Schofield and Wolfmark were present. Member Sussholz 10 was absent. A quorum was present. 11 12 Village Staff present included Tom Poupard, Director Development and Planning Services, Village of 13 Northbrook; and Denise Kauffman, Recorder. 14 15 Review of Minutes 16 Member Craig, seconded by Member Schofield, moved to approve the minutes of the August 25, 2014 17 meeting, as presented. On a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. 18 19 General Public Comments 20 There were no comments. 21 22 Continued Public Hearing and Consideration of the Following Petition Previously Discussed 23 Chairman Decker announced that four positive votes from Members would be required to pass the 24 variance proposed this evening. 25 26 Chairman Decker announced that the docket would first be heard in the public hearing portion of the 27 meeting. ZBA deliberation and decision regarding the docket would occur immediately following the 28 hearing, during the regular meeting. It was announced that if members of the audience are not able to 29 stay for the regular meeting, they can contact the Zoning Administrator for results. Petitioners will be 30 sworn in and should address the Board. Neighbors within 250 ft. were notified of each new petition. As 31 required by state statute, the hearing notice for all new dockets was properly published in the 32 Northbrook Star on September 14, 2014. 33 34 DOCKET NO. 14-Z-10(2045 Lavigne Drive – First Floor Room Addition) -- Public Hearing Continued from 35 August 25, 2014. - Petition by Envy Home Services of Arlington Heights, Illinois on behalf of the 36 property owners, Robert Duan and Ling Wang, for a Zoning Code variation to reduce the required rear 37 setback for a building in the R-3, Single Family Zoning District from 40 feet to 31 feet. The property is 38 commonly known as 2045 Lavigne Drive (PREI No. 04-17-300-017-0000). The variation is requested to 39 allow the construction of a first floor room addition on the back of the existing home on the Property. 40 The ZBA held the first public hearing on this request on August 25, 2014. The ZBA asked the applicant to 41 return with additional information on the dimensions of the proposed addition, a description of the 42 trees on the property and the reason for constructing on the back instead of the side where no variation 43 would be necessary. 44 45 Petitioners Robert Duan and Adam Kingen were sworn in. Mr. Kingen displayed photos of the back of 46 the home including the trees and the current deck there now showing that no neighbors are visible 47 through the trees. Mr. Kingen also showed photos of the house from the East and photos of the inside 1  1 of the house. A diagram was shown to point out the location of the desired sunroom. Drawings were 2 revised and provided to show that the room does not extend closer to the rear property line than does 3 the deck that is currently there. The room is 13’. This is a concession made following the last meeting. 4 There were no further questions or comments from the audience or ZBA members. 5 6 Motion by Member Craig, seconded by Member Geslicki to close the public hearing. On a voice vote, 7 the motion passed unanimously. 8 9 In the regular meeting, there was no further discussion. 10 11 Member Craig moved, seconded by Member Lown, to approve the petition by Envy Home Services of 12 Arlington Heights, Illinois on behalf of the property owners, Robert Duan and Ling Wang, for a Zoning 13 Code variation to reduce the required rear setback from 40 feet to 31 feet to allow the construction of a 14 rear building addition on the property commonly known as 2045 Lavigne Lane subject to the condition 15 that the proposed addition be constructed in substantial compliance with the plans reviewed by the 16 Zoning Board of Appeals on September 22, 2014. 17 18 On a roll call vote, Members Craig, Geslicki, Lown, Schofield, Wolfmark and Decker voted aye. The 19 motion carries. 20 21 Public Hearing and Consideration of New Petitions: 22 23 DOCKET NO. 14-Z-14 (2980 Koepke Road – New Single Family Home) – Petition by Stratos and 24 Anastasia Rounis, as property owners, for a Zoning Code variation to reduce the required interior side 25 yard setback requirements for a building in the R-3, Single Family Residential District from 10 feet to 6 26 feet. The property is commonly known as 2980 Koepke Road (PREI No. 04-17-202-018-0000) and is the 27 site of an existing single-family home. The variation is requested to allow the construction of a new two- 28 story single-family home on the Property. 29 30 Petitioners Stratos and Anastasia Rounis, and Robert Koslowski, were sworn in. Stratos Rounis 31 addressed the ZBA and explained that they are seeking the variation to accommodate the garage design 32 and the need for on-site parking since there is no parking allowed on one side of Koepke Road. 33 34 Robert Koslowski, project architect, discussed the new single family home and the driveway. 35 36 Chairman Decker asked about the location of other garages on the neighboring properties and pointed 37 out that no other garages seem to be in the back of the house as is proposed here. 38 39 Member Geslicki asked about the setback for the driveway and Tom Poupard said there is no setback 40 required for a residential driveway, but it does become an engineering issue. Member Geslicki said he 41 was concerned that the design puts the driveway too close to the neighbor. 42 43 Mr. Koslowski said they could consider moving the driveway over by 1’. 44 45 Further discussion from Member Wolfmark pointed out that there is no place to put the snow with this 46 proposed design. 47 48 Member Geslicki said this driveway as described is not “neighborly” to those next door. 2  1 2 Member Schofield also had concerns and continued the discussion about leaving more space along the 3 driveway by the neighbor’s property. 4 5 Chairman Decker asked if the petitioners could accommodate narrowing the driveway and then asked if 6 any members of the audience would like to comment. 7 8 Dimitriy Karasak, 2970 Koepke Road, neighbor to the East, was sworn in. Mr. Karasak stated that he was 9 concerned about the closeness of the proposed home to the property line. He said he was also 10 concerned about the trees on his property. 11 12 There was discussion about removing trees and Member Lown asked if the Village Arborist had said 13 anything about tree removal. The property owner didn’t know the answer to that. Tom Poupard said 14 that it is routine practice to replace protected trees that have been removed. 15 16 Mr. Karasak also said that he was concerned about the window wells being too close to his property. 17 Tom Poupard said that 3’6” is the maximum extension for window wells from the house, given the 18 setbacks. 19 20 Devra Doman, 3028 Koepke Road, four houses to the West, was sworn in. Devra Doman said she was 21 concerned about new construction and flooding on the street and in the backyards from rain storms. 22 She said she was concerned about flooding if the house is built so close to the property line. She also 23 said she can get 6 cars in her driveway without having a variation. 24 25 Chairman Decker commented that people always assume that flooding issues will be worse with new 26 construction and he pointed out that often new construction actually helps the flooding issues. Tom 27 Poupard said that storm drainage issues are addressed by Public Works and the Civil Engineers before a 28 permit is issued. He said that storm inlets would typically be installed. 29 30 Marcia Richman, 3040 Koepke Road, was sworn in. Marcia Richman shared her concerns about street 31 flooding. She is concerned about the amount of asphalt used in the proposed design and the circular 32 driveway. She is concerned about the noise of children playing on an extended length driveway. She is 33 also concerned about the aesthetics of the circular driveway. 34 35 Chairman Decker said that the ZBA can look at the property and not the owners or if they have children 36 that might be playing outside. 37 38 Jim Li, 2990 Koepke Road, was sworn in. Jim Li said he was concerned about the storm water issues and 39 drainage. 40 41 Tom Poupard said that both Koepke and Keystone Roads have an extensive storm drainage issue and 42 that Public Works is addressing this issue. Mr. Poupard said this neighborhood has an extensive 43 drainage problem for the Village and he suggested the homeowners attend a Storm Water Management 44 Commission meeting if they want to have detailed discussions on drainage issues in their neighborhood. 45 46 Member Schofield said that this Commission cannot rule on issues regarding storm water drainage. 47 3  1 There was a question about requiring a sidewalk at this residence and Tom Poupard said the Village no 2 longer requires sidewalk gaps be completed when new homes are built. 3 4 Motion by Member Schofield, seconded by Member Craig to close the public hearing. On a voice vote, 5 there were all ayes and the motion passed. 6 7 In the regular meeting, Commission members continued to discuss the design of the driveway. Several 8 members said that the driveway should be at least 30 inches from the side property lines. 9 10 Member Schofield moved, seconded by Member Geslicki, to approve the petition by Stratos and 11 Anastasia Rounis, as property owners of the Property commonly known as 2980 Koepke Road for a 12 Zoning Code variation to reduce the required interior side yard setback requirements for a building in 13 the R-3, Single Family Residential District from 10 feet to 6 feet subject to the condition that both sides 14 of the driveway allow 30” and the proposed addition be otherwise constructed in substantial 15 compliance with the plans reviewed by the Zoning Board of Appeals on September 22, 2014. 16 17 On a roll call vote, Members Craig, Lown, Geslicki, Wolfmark, Schofield and Decker voted aye. Motion 18 passes. 19 20 DOCKET NO. 14-Z-15 (2060 Glendale Avenue – Home Addition) -- Petition by Scott and Shae Kelsen, as 21 property owners, for a Zoning Code variation to allow an encroachment into a recorded building line 22 along the Cargill Drive frontage of the Property from 50 feet to 40 feet. The property is commonly 23 known as 2060 Glendale Avenue (04-16-406-025-0000), is located in the R-4, Single Family Residential 24 District and is the site of an existing single-family home. The variation is requested to allow the 25 construction of a building addition on the rear (west) side of the existing home. 26 27 Petitioner Scott Kelsen was sworn in. 28 29 Tom Poupard provided to the Commission a copy of a resolution showing that there has been a 30 variation granted to the neighbor at 2070 Glendale previously. He apologized for not recognizing this 31 when he prepared the staff report, as it had not shown up in the database search. He said it was a 32 similar request. 33 34 Scott Kelsen addressed the Commission and said he is requesting to build a modest addition. 35 36 Chairman Decker asked if there would be an adverse effect to the existing trees on the property. Kelsen 37 said there would be no adverse effect. Tom Poupard told the Commission that 4 to 5 homes on that 38 street have already been given similar variations. 39 40 Motion by Lown, seconded by Wolfmark, to close the public hearing. On a voice vote, all ayes and 41 motion was approved. 42 43 In the regular meeting there was no further discussion. 44 45 Motion by Schofield, seconded by Lown, to approve the petition by Scott and Shae Kelsen, as property 46 owners, to allow for an encroachment into a recorded building line along the Cargill Drive frontage of 47 the Property from 50 feet to 40 feet on the property commonly known as 2060 Glendale Avenue subject 4  1 to the condition that the proposed addition be constructed in substantial compliance with the plans 2 reviewed by the Zoning Board of Appeals on September 22, 2014. 3 4 On a roll call vote, Members Craig, Lown, Geslicki, Wolfmark, Schofield and Decker all voted aye. 5 Motion passes. 6 7 Old Business 8 There was no old business. 9 10 New Business 11 There was no new business. 12 13 Adjournment 14 There being no further business, Member Craig, seconded by Member Geslicki, moved to adjourn the 15 meeting at 8:50 p.m. On a voice vote, the motion unanimously carried. 16 17 Respectfully submitted, 18 19 Denise Kauffman/Recorder 5