Appearance Commission

Date: October 9, 2023 To: Village of Skokie Appearance Commission Regarding: Proposed Development of Property Located at 4600 Main Street (Appearance Commission Application 2022-067A) Residents of the neighborhood encompassing 4600 Main Street have serious reservations about the site development plan as proposed to the Village of Skokie, including but not limited to the significant building mass and lack of transitioning with neighboring properties, the selection of facade materials that are incongruous with the neighborhood, construction density far in excess of all similar developments in Skokie, lack of community input, and the low-quality privacy fence proposed along the north property line. This letter provides a summary of these concerns for the Appearance Commission’s consideration: 1. Building Mass. The petitioner’s plan calls for the construction of 12 buildings with a uniform 3-story building height throughout the site. This will stand in stark contrast to the 1- and 2-story single family and multifamily homes that make up the majority of the development’s immediate neighbors. Furthermore, the petitioner is proposing to reduce greenspace on the subject property to 30%, down considerably from the 47% currently present. Finally, the petitioner has not applied for a “planned development” designation, and as such it should be held subject to Village Code Section 118-54 that mandates “Not more than 1 principal building shall be located on a lot, except in a planned development.” If the site were to be subdivided into lots as required by Code, then the petitioner would be grossly out of compliance with minimum front yard, rear yard, and lot width requirements, as illustrated in Figure 1. As a result, the proposed building layouts are overly dense not just for the neighborhood, but for R4 zoning in general. 2. Lack of Transitioning. The sixty-eight 3-story townhouses proposed by the petitioner all are to be a uniform total height of 35 feet, which they have obscured in their permit drawings by only reporting a 32-foot height to top of roof. Meanwhile, except for two buildings on the opposite side of Main Street (29 ft, 8 in. maximum height), neighboring buildings are all two stories or shorter. The petitioner asks for the Commission’s consideration of only two buildings located over 130 feet away from the proposed south building elevations rather than the buildings 85 feet to the west, an average of 85 feet to the north, and 100 feet to the east off its other building elevations. Despite this, the petitioner has provided no transition of heights to fit the character of the neighboring properties north of Main Street. 3. Incompatible Building Facade. The petitioner’s proposed building facade is out of character with the surrounding neighborhood. The proposed buildings do not match the neighborhood buildings, both in general style and material selection, including the multi-family buildings to the south. The multi-family buildings are separate structures, the larger of which have open courtyards to soften and beautify them. The proposed building facades appear industrial, applied in a patchwork manner, and are overall lackluster in character.  Re: Proposed Development of Property Located at 4600 Main Street October 9, 2023 4. Lack of Conformity with Existing Townhouse Developments. There are four other developments throughout Skokie’s residential districts that consist of townhouse units with built-in garages. The petitioner’s proposal vastly exceeds all such developments in terms of unit density and building mass. The density of these four owner-occupied developments range from 9.2 to 11.9 units per acre, 11.0 units per acre on average, and all include sufficient driveway space to include supplemental parking immediately in front of each individual garage. These successful developments are all significantly less dense and better equipped to handle guest parking than the petitioner has proposed. It is also worth noting that the densest of the existing developments is surrounded by commercial, business, office assembly industry, and R4 zoning districts. Data for these developments and a comparison against the petitioner’s proposal are presented in Table 1. Table 1. Data for all existing Skokie townhouse developments similar to proposed development at 4600 Main Street. Property Property Zoning Lot Size # of Units Density Owner Name Address [sq.ft.] [unit/acre] Kingston 7000 Carpenter R2 173,366 46 11.6 Residents Estates Road Laramie Park 7500 Laramie R2 103,770 26 10.9 Residents Townhomes Avenue College Hill 9000 Forestview R1 222,200 47 9.2 Residents Townhomes Road Lincoln Ridge 7400 Lincoln R4 249,000 68 11.9 Residents Townhomes Avenue Average - - 187,084 47 11.0 Residents Existing 4600 Main 4600 Main St. R4 170,928 68 17.3 Developer (Proposal) 5. Lack of Community Input. At previous Appearance and Plan Commission meetings, the commissions encouraged outreach by the petitioner to seek community input on the proposed plans and appearances, and the petitioner did indeed host three open house sessions. Site renderings from before and after these sessions are presented in Figure 2 and Figure 3. Typical building elevations from before and after these sessions are presented in Figure 4 and Figure 5. We struggle to find any changes that address concerns held by the majority of the community, or much of any changes at all. Specifically upsetting with regards to appearances, the petitioner’s architect spoke with community members at length about alternate facade options, seemingly to no affect. The proposed total building height, meanwhile, increased from 33 feet to 35 feet. 6. Privacy Fence. The petitioner’s drawings issued for Appearance Commission consideration reference a privacy fence along the north property line on six pages. Four of those pages refer to this fence as being 5 feet high, while two pages refer to a 6 foot height. The only  Re: Proposed Development of Property Located at 4600 Main Street October 9, 2023 construction detail for the fence shows it as 5 feet tall, composed of 3/4-inch wood boards. This might be fitting for the two garbage enclosures on site, but it is insufficient for what should be a permanent privacy barrier. Since the petitioner has no performance record in Skokie, to allay maintenance concerns, and to provide better sound isolation against the adjacent driveway, this privacy fence should made of brick. The petitioner is proposing to construct over 135,000 square feet of masonry and cement facade on site; it certainly does not seem to be too much of an imposition to require 3,540 square foot of masonry fence. Finally, the plans make no mention of what is to be done with the existing chain link fence along the north property line that was installed by the current or previous owner of the subject property. The petitioner should be compelled to remove this fence unless requested otherwise by any neighboring property owners. For the reasons stated above, and for several other reasons not expressed here but held by neighboring residents, we implore the Village of Skokie Appearance Commission to reject the petitioner’s proposed development in order to encourage true compromise with the existing community. The Appearance Commission has been instrumental in affecting change in the petitioner’s plans in the past, and we ask you to assist with forging a true compromise between both sides. If the petitioner will not accommodate the reasonable requests of the community, then we must rely on the Village to support its citizens over the interests of an outside agency. Respectfully, The neighbors of 4600 Main Street  20'-0" 20'-0" 20'-0" 20'-0" Existing School Outline 20'-0" 22'-0" 22'-0" 3'-4" 4'-0" 21,450 sq.ft. overlap 12'-6" 6'-0" 6'-0" Luz and Associates #1 LLC Site Plan Figure 1. Site plan illustrating interference (red shading) of Code-required yard geometry (light shaded rectangles) for the twelve proposed buildings (dark shaded rectangles). Figure 2. Petitioner's site rendering prior to community outreach meetings. Figure 3. Petitioner's site rendering after three community outreach meetings.  Re: Proposed Development of Property Located at 4600 Main Street October 9, 2023 Figure 4. Petitioner's typical facade material selections prior to community outreach meetings. Figure 5. Petitioner's typical facade material selections after community outreach meetings. 4600 Main Street - Appearance Commission Petition - October 2023 The developers of 4600 Main Street have returned to the Appearance Commission for their October 11 meeting, even while there's an open appeal lodged with the Village about last month's Plan Commission meeting. Regardless, we have put together a letter summarizing concerns relevant to the Appearance Commission (building mass, lack of transition to surrounding properties, incompatible facade appearance, etc.): Appearance Commission Letter - 4600 Main Street - October 2023 Please add your name to the petition by filling in the information below if you are largely in agreement with this letter dated October 9, 2023. Please share this petition with neighborhood residents who may also be in opposition to the proposed changes to 4600 Main Street, and please attend the Appearance Commission meeting on Wednesday, October 11, 7:30 p.m. at Village Hall to let your opinion be felt. * Indicates required question Name * Your answer Home Address * Your answer Email Address * Your answer Additional Comments Your answer Submit Clear form Signatories to Appearance Commission letter dated October 9, 2023, regarding "Proposed Development of Property Located at 4600 Main Street" Signature No. Timestamp Name Home Address Comments 1 10/9/2023 22:52 Ken Marley 4651 Elm Terrace 2 10/9/2023 23:03 Judith Gruber 8646 Kedvale Skokie 3 10/9/2023 23:19 Shamoon Khan 4633 elm terrace Nobody is against new housing or new construction, but the Village should be protecting its residents from greedy sellers and greedy developers who seek to impose their profit- making priorities on the neighborhood's aesthetics and 4 10/10/2023 0:01 Emi Lynn Yamauchi 4953 West Oakton St. ambiance. We're concerned the end result will be as approved by committee. We have seen end result not what was presented 5 10/10/2023 0:35 Gary Kay 8241 Kenneth Av to the committee. 6 10/10/2023 0:35 Janet Kay 8241 Kenneth Av Please preserve our neighborhood and our property values. For those on the commission, ask yourselves, would you allow 7 10/10/2023 1:21 Scott Nelson 4547 Main Street this development across the street from your home? 8 10/10/2023 3:20 Steven Maatouk 4630 Elm Ter 9 10/10/2023 5:10 Anthony Codd 8251 Kildare 10 10/10/2023 5:26 Don Miner 8511 CRAWFORD AVENUE 11 10/10/2023 6:36 Susan Phillips 4609 Elm Terrace 12 10/10/2023 6:51 Margaret Petrof 8225 Laramie Ave. 13 10/10/2023 6:57 Judith Hoffman 8200 Lincoln Ave. #311 14 10/10/2023 7:02 Avani Khandhar 4621 elm terrace 15 10/10/2023 7:10 Brittany Campbell Olsen 8316 Kenton Ave 16 10/10/2023 7:30 Amy Bailey 8305 Kedvale Ave. 17 10/10/2023 7:58 Richard Cottini 8038 Lowell Ave 18 10/10/2023 8:22 Alexis Gordon 4654 elm ter, Skokie 19 10/10/2023 8:38 Chad Schmidt 4624 Elm Terrace 20 10/10/2023 8:55 Sanela Odzic 4656 Washington Street 21 10/10/2023 9:43 Arthur Linsner 4618 Elm Terrace, Skokie, IL 22 10/10/2023 10:23 Henry Lotsof 4609 Elm Terrace, Skokie, IL 23 10/10/2023 10:36 Rachel VanHoose 60076 24 10/10/2023 10:51 Renee Brin 4636 ELM TERR 25 10/10/2023 14:45 G Margolin 4660 Elm Terrrace I am a homeowner that resides directly behind the proposed development. The proposed development is much too dense for the acreage, does not have enough parking for the residents and their guests, does not have an appropriate snow management plan and lacks green space. It also violates the Village's own building codes. The Village should also be advocating for the betterment of the community by serving the interests of taxpayers and listening to the input of those who will be most affected by this development. Instead, the Village has ignored the concerns of homeowners and community members about this development and dismissed the very real problems raised about the development as 26 10/10/2023 14:51 Sarah Franks 4606 Elm Terrace irrelevant. 27 10/10/2023 14:55 Shirley Trissell 4708 Main St., unit B Yes, I agree. 28 10/10/2023 15:46 Lina Suarez 4730 main st D 29 10/10/2023 16:04 Anita Ross 4554 Main St. Skokie 30 10/10/2023 17:00 Nadeem 4645 Elm Ter 31 10/10/2023 17:18 Gerard Hermano 4603 Main St,Unit D 32 10/10/2023 17:41 Tom Whitaker 8424 Kilpatrick Ave 33 10/10/2023 17:47 Mary Chapp 4827 Fargo Avenue 34 10/10/2023 18:06 Richard Rosenberg 8408 Kilbourn Avenue 35 10/10/2023 18:07 Julie Hermano 4603 Main Street 36 10/10/2023 18:12 Rose Blumstein 4727 Bobolink Terr 37 10/10/2023 19:09 Richard Bailey 8305 Kedvale Ave Signatories to Appearance Commission letter dated October 9, 2023, regarding "Proposed Development of Property Located at 4600 Main Street" Signature No. Timestamp Name Home Address Comments 38 10/10/2023 19:46 Tim Mooken 4621 Elm Ter 39 10/10/2023 19:52 Rachel rosenberg 4320 Bobolink ter 40 10/10/2023 20:23 Brian Koerner 5000 oakton Middle class housing .. affordable housing needed. 41 10/10/2023 20:34 Fruzenda Stone 4548 Main Street 42 10/10/2023 20:36 Nahraine Stone 4548 Main St 43 10/10/2023 21:57 Jodie Arnaudov 4528 Main St 44 10/10/2023 22:22 Anne Persaud 8337 Kenton no re-zoning, the fence in the back should be 10 feet tall as you have no privacy on Elm Terrace because of the heigth of the townhouses, and they do not fit into the neighbourhood, they are ugly and too tall. if you plant shrubbery by the fence it should be on 4600 Main Street. It is too condensed not enough grass areas the area is flooding enough as it is. only one garbage area for all those town houses , are we going to 45 10/10/2023 23:21 Bente Vinci 4555 Cleveland Street have a bigger Rat problem. 46 David Vinci 47 10/11/2023 10:08 J Fraas 8033 Kenton Ave 48 10/11/2023 11:10 Steve Rebarchak 4606 Elm Ter 49 10/11/2023 11:23 Lisa Cleveland 4651 Elm Terrace 50 10/11/2023 11:26 Jack goldberg 4612 Elm Ter Skokie 51 10/11/2023 11:26 Jake Jaster 4749 Bobolink Ter The village bd is not responsive and is disrespectfu lto its 52 10/11/2023 11:54 Dr. And Mrs.Ronald Rubenstein 8339 Kostner Ave. Skokie constituents ! 53 Dr. And Mrs.Ronald Rubenstein I express concern about the density of space and number of people it would supposedly occupy, when Skokie has already recently commissioned a multiunit condo building at The Highpoint. I also have concern about the impact that these multifamily units may have on the local public school district and an unsustainable increase in student population for the 54 10/11/2023 12:13 Alexis Meade 7841 Luna Ave, Morton Grove district. 55 10/11/2023 12:21 Selma odzic 4460 main st 56 10/11/2023 12:48 Shiraz Najam 4444 Main Street 57 10/11/2023 13:05 Erin Schmidt 4624 Elm Terrace 58 10/11/2023 13:22 Victor Zurczak 8319 Kenton No new buildings on main street 59 10/11/2023 13:26 Anthony Hidoo 8129 Kenton Ave 60 10/11/2023 13:35 Cindy Guzman 4512 main st Skokie IL 60076 No tall building!!!!!! 61 10/11/2023 13:36 Patrick Guzman 4512 Main st Skokie IL 60076 No tall building 62 10/11/2023 13:37 Stephen Zegledi 4512 Main st Skokie Go build some where else! 63 10/11/2023 13:38 Stephanie Guzman 4512 Main Street 64 10/11/2023 15:48 Taghi Tolooi 4603 Main Street unit A Please, No more high density buildings in our peaceful area !!! We don’t want increasing busy traffic and high density 65 10/11/2023 15:54 Zohreh Tolooi 4603 Main Street unit A buildings in our peace full neighborhood!!!! 66 10/11/2023 16:17 Vincent Giovannone 8144 Kolmar BUTT ASS UGLY 4600 MAIN STREET APPEARANCE COMMISSION APPLICATION 2022-067A Taking a Walk around the New Neighborhood PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT AT 4600 MAIN STREET PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT AT 4600 MAIN STREET PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT AT 4600 MAIN STREET  Petitioner’s proposal is not harmonious with the existing neighborhood  Buildings are too large and spaced too closely  Lacks transitioning with existing buildings  Petitioner should produce revised plan incorporating community input 4600 MAIN STREET – CONCLUSIONS 4600 MAIN STREET APPEARANCE COMMISSION APPLICATION 2022-067A The Petitioner’s Mass-ive Building Problem PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT AT 4600 MAIN STREET PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT AT 4600 MAIN STREET ➢ 17.3 units/acre ➢ Uniform 35-foot heights ➢ Green space reduction from 47% to 30% PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT AT 4600 MAIN STREET ➢ Back-loaded building density PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT AT 4600 MAIN STREET 35’ 35’ 35’ 35’ 35’ 35’ 35’ 35’ 35’ 35’ 35’ 35’ 30’ 27’ PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT AT 4600 MAIN STREET ➢ Tallest neighboring buildings are furthest away  VILLAGE CODE PROBLEMS WITH PROPOSED PLAN  Front Yards  25-foot minimum width per Village Code  21-foot front yards at east and west per petitioner  VILLAGE CODE PROBLEMS WITH PROPOSED PLAN  Front Yards... that are actually side yards(?)  All existing lots combined into a proposed single lot 20’ 30’ Min. Rear Yard 20’ Min. Min. Side Side Yard Yard From From Lot Lot Line 25’ Min. Front Yard Line  VILLAGE CODE PROBLEMS WITH PROPOSED PLAN  Front Yards... that are actually side yards(?)... that are actually front yards (of course) 25’ Min. Front Yard 30’ Min. Rear Yard 25’ per unit min. lot width VILLAGE CODE PROBLEMS WITH PROPOSED PLAN VILLAGE CODE PROBLEMS WITH PROPOSED PLAN ➢ Proposed buildings too close together COMPARABLE DEVELOPMENTS IN SKOKIE Only Four Existing Townhouse Developments in Residential Districts with in-Unit Parking  COMPARABLE DEVELOPMENTS IN SKOKIE 1. LINCOLN RIDGE TOWNHOMES  R4 zoning district  11.9 units/acre  5.72 acres  68 units  50 guest parking stalls plus car space in front of garages  Neighbors: Condominium towers and commercial properties  COMPARABLE DEVELOPMENTS IN SKOKIE 1. LINCOLN RIDGE TOWNHOMES  R4 zoning district  11.9 units/acre  5.72 acres  68 units  50 guest parking stalls plus car space in front of garages  Neighbors: Condominium towers and commercial properties  COMPARABLE DEVELOPMENTS IN SKOKIE 2. KINGSTON ESTATES  R2 zoning district  11.6 units/acre  3.98 acres  46 units  23 guest parking stalls plus car space in front of garages  Neighbors: Elementary school, theological college, Village Crossing, and four houses  COMPARABLE DEVELOPMENTS IN SKOKIE 2. KINGSTON ESTATES  R2 zoning district  11.6 units/acre  3.98 acres  46 units  23 guest parking stalls plus car space in front of garages  Neighbors: Elementary school, theological college, Village Crossing, and four houses  COMPARABLE DEVELOPMENTS IN SKOKIE 3. LARAMIE PARK TOWNHOMES  R2 zoning district  10.9 units/acre  2.38 acres  23 units  8 guest parking stalls plus car space in front of garages  Neighbors: Elementary school, Edens Expressway, Niles Center Road, and six houses across Laramie Ave.  COMPARABLE DEVELOPMENTS IN SKOKIE 3. LARAMIE PARK TOWNHOMES  R2 zoning district  10.9 units/acre  2.38 acres  23 units  8 guest parking stalls plus car space in front of garages  Neighbors: Elementary school, Edens Expressway, Niles Center Road, and six houses across Laramie Ave.  COMPARABLE DEVELOPMENTS IN SKOKIE 4. COLLEGE HILL TOWNHOMES  R1 zoning district  9.2 units/acre  5.10 acres  47 units  12 guest parking stalls plus car space in front of garages  Neighbors: Single-family houses across perimeter roadways  COMPARABLE DEVELOPMENTS IN SKOKIE 4. COLLEGE HILL TOWNHOMES  R1 zoning district  9.2 units/acre  5.10 acres  47 units  12 guest parking stalls plus car space in front of garages  Neighbors: Single-family houses across perimeter roadways COMPARABLE DEVELOPMENTS IN SKOKIE Property Name Property Address Zoning Age Lot Size n.Units Density [years] [sq.ft.] [unit/acre] Kingston Estates 7000 Carpenter Road R2 33 173,366 46 11.6 Laramie Park Townhomes 7500 Laramie Avenue R2 18 103,770 26 10.9 College Hill Townhomes 9000 Forestview Road R1 39 222,200 47 9.2 Lincoln Ridge Townhomes 7400 Lincoln Avenue R4 23 249,000 68 11.9 Average 187,084 47 11.0 170,928 17.3 4600 Main (proposed) R1/R4 (91%) 68 (157%)  Petitioner’s proposal is not harmonious with the existing neighborhood  Buildings are too large and spaced too closely  Lacks transitioning with existing buildings  Petitioner’s proposal is out of character with similar existing developments in Skokie  Petitioner should produce revised plan incorporating community input 4600 MAIN STREET – CONCLUSIONS THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION 4600 Main Street: Comparable Community Facades Skokie Appearance Commission 10/11/2023 Harmonious with the Neighborhood? Properties to East, South & North- ALL Brick  Newer Construction Multi-Family Properties by Oakton Ave. & Skokie Blvd.  Newer Construction Multi-Family Properties by Oakton Ave. & Niles Ave.  Newer Construction Multi-Family Properties by Lincoln Ave. & Oakton Ave.  Newer Construction Multi-Family Properties on Skokie Blvd. & on Dempster Ave. Commonality: Brick and/or Cast Stone Facades, Minimal Siding, Classic (not trendy) appearance What people are saying Over 100 Skokie The current The appearance residents are renderings are does not align opposed to the not harmonious with other newer project as it is with surrounding construction currently neighborhood multi-family proposed. properties. properties. Data for exact number of opposed neighbors available at SaveSkokieMainStreet.com  The appearance of the proposed project is similar to a development on the side of a highway near an IKEA in Wisconsin. “Hub 13” 7629 S Wingspan Wy, Oak Creek, WI 53154 Please do not approve a cookie-cutter architect’s rendering that does not fit in with our residential neighborhood nor our Village.