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 April 27, 2015 6 7 Call to Order 8 Chairman Decker called the meeting to order at 7:33 p.m. in the Northbrook Village Hall Board Room at 9 Village Hall. Chairman Decker and Members Craig, Geslicki, Wolfmark, Lown and Schofield were 10 present. Member Sussholz was absent. A quorum was present. 11 Village of Northbrook Staff present included Jennifer Maisch, Zoning Administrator, Tom Poupard, 12 Director of Development and Planning Services and Denise Kauffman, Recorder. 13 Review of Minutes 14 Member Craig, seconded by Member Geslicki, moved to approve the minutes of the February 26, 2015 15 meeting, as presented. On a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. 16 General Public Comments 17 There were no comments. 18 Chairman Decker announced that the docket would first be heard in the public hearing portion of the 19 meeting. ZBA deliberation and decision regarding the docket would occur immediately following the 20 hearing, during the regular meeting. It was announced that if members of the audience are not able to 21 stay for the regular meeting, they can contact the Zoning Administrator for the results. Petitioners will 22 be sworn in and should address the Board. Neighbors within 250 ft. were notified of each new petition. 23 As required by state statute, the hearing notice for all new dockets was properly published in the 24 Northbrook Star on April 9, 2015. 25 Public Hearing and Consideration of the Following Petitions: 26 continued) DOCKET NO. 15-Z-2 (3400 DUNDEE ROAD – DETACHED GARAGE) – Petition by Levin 3400 27 Holding, LLC; Levy 3400 Holding, LLC; Oliva 3400 Holding, LLC; Rudman Family 3400 Holding, LLC, as joint 28 property owners, all located at 3400 Dundee Road, Suite 310, Northbrook, IL, 60062; for a Zoning Code 29 variation to reduce the required interior side yard setback requirement for a building in the O-2, Limited 30 Office District from 10’ to 2’. The Property is commonly known as 3400 Dundee Road (PREI Numbers 04- 31 05-304-014; 04-05-304-019; 04-05-304-020) and is the site of an existing 3-story office building. The 32 variation has been requested to allow the installation of a detached garage. 33 Sam Oliva and Henry Vasquez were sworn in. They acknowledged that notice has been given to the 34 neighbors. Discussion included a review of the last meeting noting the issues of losing parking spaces 35 and running an electrical line. Discussion included that recommendations from the ZBA members at the 36 last meeting have been included in the petitioner’s request. ZBA members were pleased that 37 recommendations were followed. There was also discussion of screening of the garage. 38 There was a motion to close the public hearing by Member Craig, seconded by Member Geslicki. On a 39 voice vote, there were all ayes and the motion carried.  1 In the regular meeting, there was no further discussion. 2 Motion by Member Craig, and seconded by Member Geslicki to accept the proposed variation by the 3 property owners at 3400 Dundee Road, Suite 310 in Northbrook, Illinois, 60062 for a zoning code 4 variation to reduce the required interior side yard setback requirement for a building in the O-2, Limited 5 Office District from 10’ to 2’ at 3400 Dundee Road and the variation requested is to allow the installation 6 of a detached garage, subject to the following conditions including that the addition be constructed in 7 substantial compliance with the plans dated 9/10/14 and reviewed by the ZBA on 2/26/15 and if 8 deemed appropriate by the ZBA, screening of evergreen landscaping or an opaque wood fence shall be 9 installed along the west property line wrapping around the new garage structure. On a roll call vote, 10 Members Craig, Geslicki, Lown, Schofield, Wolfmark and Chairman Decker all voted yes and the motion 11 passed. 12 DOCKET NO. 15-Z-3 (1620 MILLER ROAD – ADDITIONS) – Petition by Daniel and Dina and Sebastian 13 Capota, as property owners, for a Zoning Code variation to reduce the required corner side yard setback 14 requirement for a building in the R-3, Single Family Residential District from 35’ to 15’-7”. The Property 15 is commonly known as 1620 Miller Road (PREI No 04-17-200-014-0000) and is the site of an existing 16 single-family home. The variation has been requested to allow for a new first floor porch and second 17 story addition. 18 None of the applicants for this docket were present. Carlos Cuadrado of 3035 Rennes Court, who is a 19 neighbor, was present. Cuadrado told the ZBA that he had questions regarding the project. Cuadrado 20 said he had received notice of this variation request and wanted to ask questions. Northbrook Director 21 of Development and Planning Tom Poupard addressed the ZBA and said that this item could be 22 continued to the next ZBA meeting. There was discussion of who the architect is for the project. 23 Chairman Decker motioned, seconded by Member Geslicki, that Docket No. 15-Z-3 be continued and 24 also asked staff to have the Village Attorney review the status of this project and that a structural 25 analysis be completed for safety issues. On a voice vote, there were all ayes and this matter was 26 continued to the June 22, 2015 ZBA meeting. 27 28 DOCKET NO. 15-Z-4 (4030 RADCLIFFE DRIVE – ADDITION) – Petition by Joseph and Lucia Podbielski, as 29 property owners, for a Zoning Code variation to reduce the required rear yard setback requirement for a 30 building in the R-4, Single Family Residential District from 40’ to 31.5’. The Property is commonly known 31 as 4030 Radcliffe Drive (PREI No 04-07-408-001-0000) and is the site of an existing single-family home. 32 The variation has been requested to construct a first floor addition. 33 Petitioner Joseph Podbielski was sworn in and acknowledged that he had provided notice to his 34 neighbors. Petitioner Podbielski gave background information including that his home is 45 years old. 35 He said he plans to remodel the kitchen and extend the family room out and that the updates will 36 extend the back of the home out. Discussion included that this is the corner lot. There was also 37 discussion of having the problems fixed that were cited by the Village including painting the home and 38 fixing the window. There was also discussion of how the home is situated on the lot. There was no one 39 else present in the audience to speak on this requested variation.  1 Motion by Member Craig and seconded by Member Wolfmark to close the public hearing. On a voice 2 vote, there were all ayes and the motion carried. 3 Motion by Member Schofield and seconded by Member Lown to accept the proposed variation request 4 by Joseph and Lucia Podbielski for a zoning code variation to reduce the required rear yard setback 5 requirement from 40’ to 31.5’ subject to the following conditions including that the addition be 6 constructed in substantial compliance with the plans dated 3/27/15 and reviewed by the ZBA on 7 4/27/15 and the following code repairs should be made by June 30, 2015 including that outdoor storage 8 should be removed, the siding on the rear of the house should be painted or repaired and the window 9 frame on the rear of the second floor should be repaired. On a roll call vote, Members Craig, Geslicki, 10 Lown, Schofield, Wolfmark and Chairman Decker all voted yes. The motion passed unanimously. 11 DOCKET NO. 15-Z-5 (3610 COMMERCIAL AVENUE – ADDITION) – Petition by Heinz Titze, ACME Alliance, 12 LLC on behalf of the property owner, Globea Property Associates, P.O. Box 592, Jackson, WY 83001 for 13 variations to: A) Reduce the required west side yard setback from 25’ to 6’-8”; and B) Reduce the 14 required rear yard setback from 15’ to 14’-2” for a building in the I-1, Restricted Industrial District 15 commonly known as 3610 Commercial Avenue (04-06-202-010-0000, 04-06-202-025-0000, 04-06-202- 16 006-0000, 04-06-202-007-0000). The purpose of the variation is to construct a one-story addition. 17 18 Petitioners that were present and sworn in included Sarah Ginsburg, architect, and Heinz Titze, ACME 19 Alliance, LLC. Petitioners acknowledged that notice has been given to neighbors. There was discussion 20 of the original request approved by the ZBA on November 28, 2013 for additional warehouse space and 21 loading dock. The purpose of this variation was discussed and it was noted that the plans have not 22 changed since the prior approval. 23 Motion by Member Schofield and seconded by Member Lown to close the public hearing. On a voice 24 vote, there were all ayes and the motion carried. 25 There was no further discussion in the regular meeting. 26 Motion by Member Schofield and seconded by member Craig to accept the proposed variation request 27 by Heinz Titze, ACME Alliance on behalf of the property owner, Globea Property Association for 28 variations to reduce the required west side yard setback from 25’ to 6’8” and to reduce the required 29 rear yard setback from 15’ to 14’-2” subject to the following conditions including that the addition be 30 constructed in substantial compliance with the plans dated 7/31/13 and reviewed by the ZBA on 31 4/27/15 and all outdoor storage on the property must be removed it its entirety or moved to the 32 interior of the building by June 30, 2015 otherwise the applicant must apply for a special permit by the 33 same deadline to legally maintain outdoor storage through the Plan Commission and Board of Trustees 34 and this shall include the removal of the fixed trailers on the property and the north parking area on the 35 east side of the property must be properly graded, paved and striped by July 31, 2015. On a roll call 36 vote, Members Craig, Geslicki, Lown, Schofield, Wolfmark and Chairman Decker all voted yes. The 37 motion passed unanimously.  1 Old Business 2 There was no old business. 3 New Business 4 Discussion of ZBA suggestions – Pending Zoning Code amendment to allow Floor Area Ratio increase 5 for existing Single Family Residences by means of an exception, variation or administrative approval. 6 Director Poupard addressed the ZBA and gave a summary of a discussion by the Board of Trustees on 7 March 10 regarding an issue on Meadow Road where a homeowner had requested an increase in the 8 floor area ratio (F.A.R.) to fix a leaking roof by enclosing an area. The Board would like input from the 9 ZBA on providing relief for homeowners when a hardship exists. There was discussion that the two 10 approaches for a hardship are by means of exception or variation. The Board suggested also an 11 administrative approval. There was discussion and input by the Members on this subject. It was noted 12 that it is mostly in R4 and R5 where the maximum is being reached for FAR. Discussion by Members 13 included that this specific example on Meadow Road is not an ideal option for this zoning code 14 amendment. The hardship is not seen as this was just a project that was not done properly. This project 15 should not be a variance because there is not a hardship. The policy question of exception, variation or 16 administrative approval was further discussed. Discussion included that if there is a hardship -- if it 17 includes a physical disability – it should be approved in an easier process. But again the Members said it 18 could set a bad precedent to give approval when no hardship is obvious and no proof that all other 19 remedies have been tried. Director Poupard summarized that the Zoning Board of Appeals would not 20 want to get involved unless there is a hardship unique to the property or the person and not to the 21 structure. 22 Adjournment 23 There being no further business, Member Lown, seconded by Member Craig, moved to adjourn the 24 meeting at 8:37 p.m. On a voice vote, the motion unanimously carried. 25 The meeting adjourned at 8:37 pm. 26 27 Respectfully submitted, 28 Denise Kauffman/Recorder