CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Brackett called the meeting to order.
ROLL CALL
In attendance: Chairman Mike Brackett, Co-chairman Jennifer Duncan, Commissioners Mark Rivecco, Mark Bozik, Tom Lenkart, Andrea Rattray, Ed Sweeney, Mark Carroll and Connie Holbrook.
Staff in attendance: Village Administrator Wes Kornowske, Community Development Director Scott Buening, Village Clerk Lori Murray, Pete Iosue (Teska Associates).
APPROVAL OF MINUTES – December 6, 2011
Motion for approval made by Commissioner Lenkart and seconded by Commissioner Duncan. All in favor. Motion approved.
PUBLIC HEARINGS – None
NEW BUSINESS
a. 11-011: Randall Highlands – Replat of Lot 64 (Park Site), Minor PUD
Amendment for Clubhouse (Next Generation Development)
Community Development Director Scott Buening informed the Plan Commission that the petitioner has requested a minor PUD amendment for a clubhouse at the Randall Highlands property. The property will contain rental townhomes. The petitioner needs to replat Lot 64 which was originally designed as the park site. Buening said that the park district is in concurrence with what is being proposed. Buening said there are a number of recommendations in the staff report.
Commissioner Duncan said that the plan looked very nice. Duncan inquired about parking spaces and asked if homeowners would walk to the site. The petitioner said yes and that there is some off-street parking bays south of the site. Danielle Dash of Next Generation Development said that the clubhouse would be approximately 2800 s.f. Duncan asked if the clubhouse would be maintained by the homeowners. Dash said it would be maintained by the rental community. Dash said there are 40 closed units in the condominiums at this time. The clubhouse would not be open to the public. It would only be for use by the Randall Highlands community, however, nothing has been finalized.
Commissioner Rivecco asked what the timing would be for completion of the building. Dash said they plan to finish all public improvements next summer/fall. Construction of the clubhouse needs to be a priority since it will also be used for the leasing office. Rivecco said the project looks good.
Commissioner Bozik asked if the townhomes currently have a separate SSA. Buening said that there are three SSAs (one for single family, one for condos and one for commercial). Dash said they are not proposing a new association for the rental community. The development company would control all of the maintenance and the rent would be used for maintaining the area. Dash said they would build all 29 buildings this year. The first foundation would be scheduled for March. Bozik said he was concerned about the point that these buildings go from rental units to single family homes. Bozik asked if it would fall under the SSA if the clubhouse is not maintained. Buening said he did not think it would be covered under the SSA. Bozik said he was concerned about how we merge the 40 existing units with the condo association.
Buening said that a big positive for the development would be that all the new units built will contribute to the association dues.
Commissioner Lenkart asked if Next Generation Development is a part of or separate from Krughoff. Dash said they are separate. Lenkart said that a pool is a huge maintenance cost and the development company would need to make sure that 146 current units would cover the costs. Lenkart asked if the park district wants this. Buening said that the park district is not interested in using this land right now. Lenkart asked about the total allowed occupancy for parties in the building. Lenkart suggested possibly limiting the number to 50 for safety reasons. Lenkart asked if the pool can be completely private or if the company could charge a fee and allow it to be used by others. Buening said a condition of the PUD would be that it cannot be used for public purposes.
Commissioner Holbrook suggested no parking along Ritter. Buening said that would be decided by the Village. Holbrook added that she was concerned with opening this up for rent because renters do not take care of their property as owners would. Dash said the zoning allows for rental properties and that only 30% of the units are 2 bedrooms and the rest are 3 bedrooms which will target families. The square footage of the units is over 1400 square feet. The rental units will also provide a funding mechanism to complete the community.
Lenkart asked if the petitioner would convert building by building, unit by unit or all at once. The petitioner said it would be converted building by building. Buening noted that from the Village’s standpoint, there are no restrictions in the ordinance for building rental properties. The condominiums are an ownership structure. Whether rented or owned is immaterial to the Village. Lenkart said the developer came before the Village in the beginning not for rental units but for owned buildings. Buening said there is nothing to prohibit someone who owns a condo from renting their unit. As for the exterior maintenance, the property will be maintained whether they are rentals or owned because the Village will enforce code requirements. Buening said that the Village does not have a rental dwelling inspection although the Village has discussed this. Dash said that Next Generation Development feels that the clubhouse is necessary and that all competitors have such amenities.
Chairman Brackett suggested the possibility of opening the use of the clubhouse to condominium owners and not limit it to just renters.
Commissioner Rattray was concerned that when buildings are sold off, those who could use the clubhouse as renters could no longer have the amenity.
Commissioner Carroll said his main concern was with parking and safety. There is parking but it is on the opposite side of the street. Carroll asked if there will be any street parking along the area where the rental units will be located. Buening said there are.
Commissioner Rattray asked if residents are allowed to park behind their garage. Dash said yes. Buening said that the parking is typical of that for a single-family home.
Chairman Brackett asked if the petitioner would be opposed to flipping the parking spots to the opposite side. The petitioner said that it would make sense to flip the westerly bay that lines up to the west of the driveway into the clubhouse. Rattray suggested keeping the west parking and flipping the east. Rattray added that there is no sidewalk from the clubhouse to the public walk and to construct a horseshoe sidewalk and extend the sidewalk on the west side to go over Ritter and provide a crosswalk over the island area. Buening said they could rework the parking spaces. A question was asked about incorporating speed bumps. Village Administrator Wes Kornowske said that the Village does not encourage speed bumps as a calming measure. Buening suggested a striped crosswalk.
Commissioner Sweeney said his concern is the conversion of the original model from ownership to rental. Sweeney said if he was one of the original owners, he would be very unhappy.
Rattray said she was concerned with having a fence that is only 4-feet in height around the pool since it is right next to the park site. Dash said this was something that could be taken into consideration. Rattray asked about the timeline for the park district to make the improvements. Dash said that Next Generation Development is to develop the site with the turf established. It will be completed concurrently with the buildings and would like the park district to take it over in the spring or fall of 2013.
Lenkart asked about a dumpster area. Dash said there are no final architecture plans at this time.
Lenkart said he would like to see the fence around the pool at 6 feet.
Carroll asked about lighting for the excess parking spots. Buening said there will be normal street lights in that area.
Lenkart asked about private rentals of the clubhouse and the rental hours. Buening said that there are no specific hours at this time and that there are noise limitations that need to be followed.
The Plan Commission agreed on the following recommendations:
Sidewalk installation of the horseshoe driveway
Enclosed refuse area
Parking to be flipped to other side
Stipulations 1 – 10 by Staff
Fence height increased to 6 feet
Painted crosswalk
Dash said that they did not intend to put light fixtures (stipulation #10) in the park area. Buening said that was correct and the request is no longer applicable.
Dash also mentioned that the sidewalk (stipulation #9) is not in proximity of the clubhouse and needed to be discussed further. Buening noted that the annexation agreement calls for a sidewalk along Orchard & Randall and the Village is trying to capture that in this agreement.
Buening said that stipulation #10 of the Staff report could be deleted. Buening suggested the Plan Commission make a motion to move forward with the recommendations above and subject to the resolution of item 9 with Staff.
Motion made by Commissioner Sweeney and seconded by Commissioner Carroll. All in favor. Motion approved.
b. 11-012: Hansen Boulevard (Lot 2 of First Resubdivision of Willard’s Corner Lot 1) – Site Plan Approval – Woodman’s Gas Station Expansion (Woodman’s)
The site plan shows an expansion to the current Woodman’s gas station. They will add pumps to the south side of the property. These would be unattended pumps. The project is governed with the annexation agreement with Woodmans. They would come back with a resubdivision and create a lot south of the proposal. Buening said there were a number of conditions that were added. The Building Review Committee is set for Thursday. Woodmans allows for an expedited approval schedule.
Rattray asked if the kiosk is prepay. The petitioner said yes. Rattray asked if the sign proposed along Orchard would be an additional sign. Petitioner said yes. Rattray noted her concern with not having a good traffic flow, especially on Saturdays when they are at their busiest. Rattray asked if signage could be added to help with traffic. Rattray asked if the hours would be extended. Petitioner said yes for the unattended section. Rattray asked if there was any plan to have an access door to the convenience center from the new section. Petitioner said no.
Bozik suggested a connector road on the southwest corner of the property to improve internal circulation.
Motion made by Commissioner Lenkart and seconded by Commissioner Holbrook to accept the site plan approval conditioned upon interconnection of the lots and the five (5) conditions noted by Staff. All in favor. Motion approved.
OLD BUSINESS – None
ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn made by Commissioner Duncan and seconded by Commissioner Lenkart. All in favor. Motion approved.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lori J. Murray
Village Clerk
