MOR Development Review Board Meeting

June 30, 2016 MEETING MINUTES URBANA MOR DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD DATE: June 30, 2016 APPROVED TIME: 5:30 p.m. PLACE: Urbana City Building City Council Chambers 400 South Vine Street Urbana, IL 61801 _______________________________________________________________________________ MEMBERS PRESENT: Matt Cho, Scott Kunkel, Dannie Otto, Jeffery Poss, Kim Smith, Jonah Weisskopf STAFF PRESENT: Lorrie Pearson, Planning Manager; Christopher Marx, Planner I; Teri Andel, Administrative Assistant II OTHERS PRESENT: Andrew Fell, Kevin Hunsinger, Karl Weingartner 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND DECLARATION OF QUORUM Chair Poss called the meeting to order at 5:33 p.m. Roll call was taken and a quorum was declared with all members present. 2. CHANGES TO THE AGENDA There were none. 3. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES The minutes from the November 18, 2015 meeting were presented for approval. Mr. Poss proposed a change in the time the meeting was called to order to state, “5:00” instead of 7:33. Ms. Smith moved to approve the minutes as amended. Mr. Kunkel seconded the motion. The minutes were then approved by unanimous voice vote. 4. COMMUNICATIONS  Revised Zoning Data and Site Plan for Case No. DRB-2016-01  Requested Information on Past MOR cases 1  June 30, 2016 5. CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARINGS There were none. 6. OLD BUSINESS Discussion of Amendment to the Official Bylaws Lorrie Pearson, Planning Manager, stated that the Planning staff has continued to make progress on creating a Downtown District, which may include design review if so approved. At that point, the Planning staff would look at combining some review boards. It makes sense to complete this process before reviewing the bylaws for the MOR Development Review Board because the MOR Board may be one of the boards that would be combined into one board. 7. NEW PUBLIC HEARINGS Case No. DRB-2016-01 – A request by Andrew Fell, on behalf of Sohail Chaudry, to review the site plan and design of 708 and 710 West Green Street in the MOR, Mixed Office Residential Zoning District. Chair Poss opened the public hearing for this case. Christopher Marx, Planner I, presented this case to the MOR Development Review Board. He began by explaining that an 82-inch storm sewer line without an easement runs underground along the eastern edge of 708 West Green Street. This line limits the buildability of the lot. He mentioned two minor variances that were granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals at a previous meeting for the front-yard setback along both properties. He discussed the intent and development regulations for the MOR, Mixed Office Residential Zoning District. He talked about the surrounding land uses and showed photos of the properties. He reviewed how the proposed development project relates to the criteria in Section XI-12.I and to the MOR Design Guidelines found in the Urbana Zoning Ordinance. He read the options of the MOR Development Review Board and presented City staff’s recommendation for approval including three conditions as outlined in the written staff memo. He asked if there were any questions from the Board members and mentioned that the applicant was in the audience and available to answer questions as well. Chair Poss asked if there were any questions from the Board members for City staff regarding the proposal. Ms. Smith noticed the site dimensions are different on the revised site plan from what was in the packet. Mr. Marx explained that the dimensions on the revised site plan are accurate. Ms. Smith stated that the Zoning Ordinance lists requirements for parking in the MOR Zoning District with regards to setbacks. It says that if parking is provided in the required setback, then screening must be provided. Paragraph G requires it to be three feet from the property line. Ms. Pearson responded that Paragraph G references when shade tree plantings are required. Shade trees are only required if a parking lot is 20 spaces or more. 2  June 30, 2016 Ms. Smith asked if the properties were platted separately. Access for 710 West Green Street is provided through 708 West Green Street. If the properties are sold to separate buyers, how would this work? Ms. Pearson explained that it is common for access to be shared and the MOR Development Review Board could place a condition on the approval of the Site Plan requiring an access easement be recorded on the 708 West Green Street property to ensure access to the 710 West Green Street property in the future. Mr. Cho inquired about the process. The project started with the Zoning Board of Appeals, then came to the MOR Development Review Board, and now needs to go back to the Zoning Board of Appeals for approval of additional variances. Mr. Marx replied that the plans submitted to the Zoning Board of Appeals required variances for the front-yard setbacks for both properties. The applicant had also submitted a request to the MOR Development Review Board for approval of the Site Plan. After the applicant received approval for the front-yard setbacks, he made revisions to the project. The project now requires a variance for a side-yard setback for both properties. Normally, the project would not be sent back to the Zoning Board of Appeals, but this proposal has changed. With no further questions for City staff, Chair Poss opened the hearing for public input. Andrew Fell, applicant, approached the Board to answer any questions they may have. Mr. Kunkel asked if the applicant preferred landscaping or fence material for screening the small section of fence on the west side of the property. Mr. Fell said he preferred fencing material. Mr. Otto questioned if the project met the OSR requirement. Mr. Fell explained that they had considered asking for an adjustment to the OSR, but they essentially knocked off a unit on the top floor of the building at 708 West Green Street to meet the OSR requirement. With no further public input or questions for the applicant, Chair Poss closed the public input portion of the hearing. He, then, opened the meeting up for discussion and/or motion(s) by the MOR Development Review Board. Mr. Otto stated that he felt the MOR DRB should add a condition to record the easement for parking. Chair Poss added that he would like to require an easement for the central walkway and bike parking. Chair Poss expressed his appreciation for the effort and skill that was put into the Site Plan and related drawings. It shows a positive reaction to the MOR Zoning District. He believed that the proposed variances created a positive space for the central walkway. He also proposed a gateway as a transition from the walk to the bike parking. He mentioned that he would like to require some illuminated lighting in the central walkway. He noticed that there were no street trees proposed. He would prefer to see some tree plantings. Ms. Pearson stated that it would be best to allow the City Arborist to determine if there would be enough room for street tree plantings. 3  June 30, 2016 Mr. Kunkel moved that the MOR Development Review Board approve Case No. DRB-2016-01 as recommended by City staff with the following conditions: 1. That construction be in general conformance with the revised Site Plan handed out during the meeting and Floor Plans and Elevations attached to the written staff memo; 2. The applicant shall obtain a variance for each lot to allow for the reduced side yard along the shared property line; 3. That the fence in the rear and side yards be an opaque wood fence of at least 6 feet in height, and the fence on the west side be extended to screen the south facing parking space; 4. That an access easement be recorded to provide access to 710 West Green Street across the 708 West Green Street property; 5. That an access easement agreement be recorded for the central walkway between the two properties; and 6. That pedestrian-scale illuminated lighting be provided along the central walkway. Mr. Cho seconded the motion. Mr. Otto - Yes Mr. Poss - Yes Ms. Smith - Yes Mr. Weisskopf - Yes Mr. Kunkel - Yes Mr. Cho - Yes The motion was approved by unanimous vote 6-0. 8. NEW BUSINESS There was none. 9. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATIONS There was none. 10. STAFF REPORT There was none. 11. STUDY SESSION Follow-Up on MOR Zoning District and Guidelines from Study Session at November 2015 MOR DRB Meeting Ms. Pearson presented information on past MOR cases as requested by the Board. A handout with this information was passed out to each member. She explained that the table in the handout was broken down into two generations…one from 1991 to 2003 and the second from 2004 to 2015. The purpose of this because there were numerous changes made in 2003 and 2004 4  June 30, 2016 to the MOR Zoning District, to the composition of the MOR Development Review Board and to adopt the MOR Design Guidelines. She summarized the cases shown in the table. Mr. Cho asked if the number of cases in the second generation is the type of volume that City staff would like to see for adaptive reuse or new construction. Ms. Pearson replied that there are zoning regulations in place to regulate development. The intent of the MOR Zoning District does include wanting to encourage adaptive reuse. A person owning a property in the MOR District has the option to go down one of two paths…to adaptively reuse the property or to tear down and build a new development. Mr. Cho stated that he was trying to understand the role of being a member of the MOR Development Review Board. It appears that from 1991 to 2003, there was a lot of adaptive reuse; and from 2004 to 2015, there was more new construction. Ms. Pearson explained that the MOR DRB exists to review new projects against the design guidelines. Because adaptive reuse projects are administratively reviewed, the Board does not see them, so they would not be able to weigh in on those projects. 12. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Kunkel moved to adjourn the meeting. Ms. Smith seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 6:32 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lorrie Pearson, Secretary MOR Development Review Board 5