Plan Commission Meeting

October 24, 2019 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING URBANA PLAN COMMISSION APPROVED DATE: October 24, 2019 TIME: 7:00 P.M. PLACE: Urbana City Building Council Chambers 400 South Vine Street Urbana, IL 61801 MEMBERS PRESENT: Dustin Allred, Andrew Fell, Tyler Fitch, Jonah Weisskopf, Chenxi Yu MEMBERS EXCUSED: Barry Ackerson, Jane Billman, Lew Hopkins STAFF PRESENT: Kevin Garcia, Planner II; Marcus Ricci, Planner II OTHERS PRESENT: Artem Konotopskdy, Julia Nehring, Patrick Page, Stephanie Vullotic, Jaylan Williams 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL AND DECLARATION OF QUORUM Chair Fitch called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. Roll call was taken, and there was a quorum of the members present. 2. CHANGES TO THE AGENDA There was none. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the October 10, 2019 regular Plan Commission meeting were presented for approval. Mr. Fitch moved that the Plan Commission approve the minutes. Mr. Allred seconded the motion. Chair Fitch noted the following change to the minutes:  Page 4 – 1st Paragraph – 2nd Line. “H” should read “He”. The minutes were approved by unanimous vote as amended. Page 1  October 24, 2019 4. COMMUNICATIONS  Significant Changes in the Subdivision Code 5. CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARINGS Plan Case No. 2359-T-18 – An application by the Urbana Zoning Administrator to amend the Zoning Ordinance with changes to Article II (Definitions), Article V (Use Regulations), Article VI (Development Regulations) and other relevant section, to facilitate solar energy system installation. Chair Fitch continued this case to the November 7, 2019 regular meeting of the Plan Commission. Plan Case No. 2360-M-18 and Annexation Case No. 2018-A-03 – A proposed annexation agreement between the City of Urbana and Henri Merkelo, including rezoning from County R-5, Manufactured Home Park, to City R-1, Single Family Residential, for a 1.01-acre parcel located at 2218 East University Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61802. Chair Fitch continued these two cases to the December 5, 2019 regular meeting. Plan Case No. 2383-T-19 – An application by the Urbana Zoning Administrator to amend the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance and create the Manual of Practice. Chair Fitch re-opened the public hearing for this case. Marcus Ricci, Planner II, presented the case to the Urbana Plan Commission. He began by explaining the purpose for the proposed text amendment and stating the process to update the Subdivision and Land Development Code. He discussed the proposed changes to Article I and Article II. He referred to the document titled “Significant Changes in the Subdivision Code” which was handed out prior to the start of the meeting. He then reviewed significant items that create the Manual of Practice. He mentioned that staff will consider comments from the Plan Commission and from the public while they are drafting the proposed text amendment. Chair Fitch asked if any members of the Plan Commission had questions for City staff. Mr. Allred inquired who the Secretary of the Plan Commission is. Mr. Ricci stated that Kevin Garcia is the Secretary. Referring to Section 21-105.F, Mr. Allred asked if staff intended to include standards for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). He wondered if it would not be more appropriate to use LEED-ND (Neighborhood Development) for subdivisions. Mr. Ricci stated that the reference to LEED was from a previous staff member updating the Subdivision Ordinance. It may be possible that LEED-ND did not exist at that time. He agreed that LEED- ND would be practical for a subdivision code. Mr. Allred suggested changing the definition of Comprehensive Plan to “means the city’s 2005 most recently adopted Comprehensive Plan…”. Mr. Ricci commented that it does include “or Page 2  October 24, 2019 any successive comprehensive plan”. Staff likes to include whatever is in force at the time of the writing of the document. Chair Fitch acknowledged that updating the Subdivision and Land Development Code involves a lot of work. He noted that because the new locations use the old numbering system, he found it difficult to navigate through the changes until he figured it out. Finding when things were moved is the hardest part. He proposed that staff indicate the new location with three digits after the hyphen. He stated that he could not find the old 21-9, 21-10, 21-11, 21-12 and 21-17. In the Legal Blackline Version, there were places that made it hard to follow with either not complete sentences or no writing after a letter. It is such a big document with so many changes occurring that it would be beneficial to have another set of eyes proof the language. On Page 47 of the Legal Blackline Version, Chair Fitch asked about “in annual increments of up to two (2) years…”. Mr. Garcia stated that he understood this to mean that the Administrative Review Committee (ARC) could extend the final approval of a preliminary plat for one or two years, but no more than two years. He suggested changing the language to read as such, “…may extend the period for final approval for one year, up to two times…”. Mr. Fitch felt that the same standard should also be set for final plats on Page 51. Mr. Allred referred to Letter “I” on Page 20 of the Legal Blackline Version. He asked if there could be a situation where obligations are more “prescriptive” and not just “restrictive”. Mr. Ricci explained that if the Subdivision Code is more restrictive than private regulations, then the developer must follow the Subdivision Code; however, if the private regulations require a higher standard, then the City would be willing to accept the private regulations. There was no public present for public input. Chair Fitch opened the hearing for Plan Commission discussion. Chair Fitch asked if future changes to the Manual of Practice would be reviewed and approved administratively or would be reviewed and considered by the Plan Commission and the City Council. Mr. Ricci replied that changes would be made administratively through collaboration between the City Engineer and the Community Development Services Director. There would be a log sheet of the revisions made since the creation of the Manual of Practice to track changes. Chair Fitch commented that he was not sure how he felt about taking things that previously required Plan Commission and City Council approval and making them administrative review and decisions. He said he did not know if this would create any problems. Mr. Fell stated that he often uses the Manual of Practice in the City of Champaign, and he did not believe that the Plan Commission members would understand most of the information contained in the proposed Manual of Practice because it is a technical manual about things like street construction and sewer grates. He did not believe that a body outside of the Engineering Division would have the expertise to review and amend it. Chair Fitch agreed with the idea of having a technical manual. Mr. Ricci offered that Planning staff could keep a log of the changes and report those changes to the Plan Commission annually. Chair Fitch continued the public hearing to the November 21, 2019 meeting. The Plan Commission agreed unanimously with the continuation. Page 3  October 24, 2019 6. OLD BUSINESS There was none. 7. NEW PUBLIC HEARINGS There were none. 8. NEW BUSINESS There was none. 9. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION There was none. 10. STAFF REPORT Mr. Garcia reported on the following:  CCZBA-931-AM-19 and CCZBA-934-AM-19 were reviewed and voted on by the City Council at the October 10, 2019 City Council meeting. City Council chose to defeat a resolution of protest for both cases.  Plan Case No. 2385-T-19 was approved by City Council with the following minor changes: 1. All conditional use permit designations in the Table of Uses were changed to special use permits. 2. The phrase “non-medical” was added to non-medical dispensary regulations. 3. Medical dispensary distance requirements were struck to reflect a recent change in Illinois State law. 4. Special use permits will be required for cultivation centers and craft growers within 300 feet of residential zoning districts (rather than not being allowed at all). 11. STUDY SESSION There was none. 12. ADJOURNMENT OF MEETING The meeting was adjourned at 8:53 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kevin Garcia, Secretary Urbana Plan Commission Page 4