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 January 26, 2015 6 7 Call to Order 8 Chairman Decker called the meeting to order at 7:44 p.m. in the Board Room of Village Hall. Chairman 9 Decker and Members Geslicki, Lown, Sussholz, and Schofield were present. Members Craig and 10 Wolfmark were absent. A quorum was present. 11 Village of Northbrook Staff present included Jennifer Maisch and Denise Kauffman, Recorder. 12 Review of Minutes 13 Member Schofield, seconded by Member Sussholz, moved to approve the minutes of the October 27, 14 2014 meeting, as presented. On a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. 15 General Public Comments 16 There were no comments. 17 Chairman Decker announced that the docket would first be heard in the public hearing portion of the 18 meeting. ZBA deliberation and decision regarding the docket would occur immediately following the 19 hearing, during the regular meeting. It was announced that if members of the audience are not able to 20 stay for the regular meeting, they can contact the Zoning Administrator for results. Petitioners will be 21 sworn in and should address the Board. Neighbors within 250 ft. were notified of each new petition. As 22 required by state statute, the hearing notice for all new dockets was properly published in the 23 Northbrook Star on January 8, 2015. 24 Public Hearing and Consideration of the Following Petitions: 25 DOCKET NO. 15-Z-1 (1345 SUNBURST LANE – GENERATOR) – Petition by Daniel and Linda R. Jariabka, as 26 property owners, for a Zoning Code variation to reduce the required interior side yard setback 27 requirement for a building in the R-4, Single Family Residential District from 9’ to 6’. The Property is 28 commonly known as 1345 Sunburst Lane (PREI No 04-07-409-025-0000) and is the site of an existing 29 single-family home. The variation has been requested to allow the installation of a standby generator. 30 Petitioner Daniel S. Jariabka was sworn in. Mr. Jariabka addressed the ZBA to discuss the proposed 31 variation and acknowledged that the neighbors had been notified. Mr. Jariabka brought forth several 32 points including that in two years they have had six power outages including one of 40 hours in duration 33 last summer and a recent outage this January when it was 2 degrees outside. He said their home also 34 has a security alarm. The Jariabka’s would like a generator so they do not have to rely on batteries to 35 power the sump pump and the alarm system. They have looked at all of the locations to put a generator 36 and are requesting the variation for the north side of the building where there are no windows. There 37 are also no windows on the neighboring property where this generator would be located. There was 38 discussion of putting landscaping or fencing around the generator to hide it from sight. The petitioner 39 said he is open to using landscaping but has not done much research on what type of landscaping. 40 There was also discussion of putting the generator near the air conditioning unit on the east side but 41 there are windows located on this side. There was also discussion of putting the generator on the 42 northeast corner however this location on northeast would also require a variance. The only locations 43 without needing a variance would be in the front of the house or the deep inset location. The house is  1 33 feet from the property line in the back. Village Staff member Jennifer Maisch said the generator 2 they are requesting is powerful but is allowed and has gone through the review and has been approved. 3 It is the intent of the petitioners that the generator would power the entire house and the alarm system. 4 The petitioners do not want the generator in the front yard as that would not be keeping within the 5 character of the neighborhood. It was suggested that the petitioner screen the generator in some way 6 and possibly move the generator to the east. The petitioner does not object to using hedges or bushes 7 as long as they would be far enough away not to succumb to exhaust from the generator. 8 Motion by Member Sussholz , seconded by Member Lown to close the public hearing. On a voice vote, 9 there were all ayes and the motion passed. 10 In the regular meeting, Member Schofield said there does not seem to be a hardship and circumstance 11 unique to just that property since all properties are subject to flooding and to burglary. There was 12 discussion if some streets are more susceptible to power outages. Member Lown confirmed that power 13 outages are more prevalent in certain areas. All members than agreed that there was no need for 14 further discussion. 15 Motion by Member Lown to close the regular meeting and that was seconded by Member Sussholz. On 16 a voice vote, there were all ayes and the motion was approved. 17 Member Lown motioned to accept the petition to grant a zoning code variation to reduce the required 18 interior side yard setback requirement from 9’ to 6’ at 1345 Sunburst Lane with requirement that the 19 petitioners have substantial compliance with modifications discussed including having evergreen 20 screening or fencing on three sides of the generator after installation and the location of the generator 21 be moved to the east of the originally proposed location. The motion was seconded by Member 22 Sussholz. On a roll call vote, all Members Geslicki, Lown, Schofield, Sussholz and Chairman Decker all 23 voted yes to approve the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 24 Old Business 25 There was no old business. 26 New Business 27 The February ZBA meeting has been rescheduled for Thursday, February 26, 2015 at 7:30 pm in the 28 Terrace Room on the 2nd Floor of Village Hall. It was also discussed that the March meeting might need 29 to be adjusted due to upcoming Spring Break vacations. That will be discussed at the February meeting. 30 Village Staff Liaison Jennifer Maisch discussed the increasing number of generators that are coming in 31 for review. Jennifer Maisch will confirm what the decibel limit is for generators and provide that to ZBA 32 members. There was also discussion of the life span of generators. There was also discussion that 33 Village Staff will bring forward for review by the ZBA possible new standards and the ZBA would address 34 this and make recommendations to the Village Board. 35 Adjournment 36 There being no further business, Member Geslicki , seconded by Member Schofield , moved to adjourn 37 the meeting at 8:27 p.m. On a voice vote, the motion unanimously carried. 38 The meeting adjourned at 8:27 pm. 39 1 Respectfully submitted, 2 Denise Kauffman/Recorder