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Home My WebLink AboutJPZ - 04/20/2004 - OPEN BURNING/OUTDOOR FIREPLACES/PARKING OF BOATS & RVS ELK GROVE VILLAGE JPZ COMMITTEE MEETING APRIL 20, 2004 7:00 P.M. JPZ Members Present: Bart Dill, Village Trustee, Chairperson Nancy Czarnik, Village Trustee Sam Lissner, Village Trustee Staff Present: Al Boffice, Director, E & CD Doug Goostree, Fire Chief Steve Trudan, Asst. Dir. CD George Knickerbocker, Village Attorney Board Members Present: Craig Johnson, Mayor Patton Feichter, Village Trustee Chris Prochno, Village Trustee OPEN BURNING— OUTDOOR FIREPLACES Trustee Dill called the meeting to order and welcomed the large number of residents in attendance — most of them were present for the camper and boat parking issue. He advised the group that the first topic discussed would be the outdoor fireplace issue. Trustee Dill continued that while the current ordinance prohibiting outdoor fireplaces is in effect, it was the intent of the committee to hear the concerns of Village resident Tony Pampas who lives at 290 Edgeware Road. Mr. Pampas stated he would like to suggest revisions to the ordinance that would make it less restrictive. He suggested residents be required to have a charged garden hose present when using their outdoor fireplaces. He also suggested that they be required to always attend the fire, burn only dry, hard woods, and keep the fire at least 50 feet from houses and other structures. He concluded that he has been having outside fires at his home since 1985 without incident. Trustee Czarnik stated that other residents have concerns about the smoke generated from these fireplaces and the irritation it causes. The reason for the ordinance is for the good of all Village residents. Chief Goostree noted that if all individuals who used these devices were as conscientious as Mr. Pampas, perhaps the safety concern of these units would be minimized. The fact is that many people do use these fireplaces on windy days, leave them unattended, and place them too close to combustible structures. It was also pointed-out that most lot sizes in town would not allow the fireplace to be placed in an area that would keep it 50 feet from a structure in all directions. Mr. Pampas asked if it were possible to get a permit from the Village for his outdoor fireplace. Page 2 Trustee Lissner stated the committee would consider what had been said during the discussion and that the permit idea may have merit. Fire Chief Goostree will explore this issue with his staff. The outdoor fireplace discussion portion of the meeting ended at 7:35 p.m. REGULATIONS FOR PARKING OF BOATS AND RV'S Chairman Dill stated that the purpose of the evening's discussion was to try to determine whether or not the parking of recreational vehicles and boats on residential driveways is something that creates an undesirable situation for the neighborhoods, and whether or not there should be some restrictions introduced. Mr. Dill briefly summarized the results of a survey conducted by the Northwest Municipal Conference and concluded by asking Mr. Boffice to further address the survey. Among the key points Mr. Boffice emphasized was the fact that nine out of fourteen communities surveyed prohibited boats and RV's parked in residential front yards. He also pointed out that many of the larger motor homes actually exceed the weight limit for the residential side streets in the Village and thus pose a potential for damaging the streets. He also pointed out that 3 of the 5 communities that allow parking in the front yard had size limitations, and 1 of the communities required screening. Mr. Boffice concluded his presentation by explaining that for the purposes of this meeting we were only talking about the large RV's and boats that were similar to the pictures on display, not the small boats and pop-up type campers. At this point in the meeting Mr. Dill asked for comments from the audience. Several residents expressed concern that the Village was contemplating an ordinance that would prohibit them from storing their RV's or boats anywhere on their properties. Many stated that their lots were too small to accommodate side driveways to the rear yard in the event that the Village would only permit them to be parked in rear yards. Others stated that the additional expense they would have to incur for off-site storage would be just enough to make their boats or RV's unaffordable. They emphasized that the ability to park on their driveways was, in some cases, a major reason they left their previous residences and moved to Elk Grove Village. Several residents throughout the meeting questioned who was complaining about boats and RV's and asked why they were not at the meeting. One resident stated that if nobody is complaining, there is no apparent problem. A few residents complained that some of the communities that participated in the survey did not lend themselves to an appropriate comparison to Elk Grove Village, and some stated that they really didn't care what other communities did. Page 3 One resident stated that Streamwood and Hanover Park had a grandfather clause added to their restrictions and asked if Elk Grove would have one as well if we decided to regulate them. Another resident stated that the Village of Cary allowed RV's and boats to be parked during the months of June, July and August. Mr. Knickerbocker explained that the meeting was a fact-finding meeting, which was being held to solicit the opinions of the residents. More than one resident expressed the opinion that owning RV's and boats were a "quality of life" component of their personal lives that they and their families look forward to and work hard for. A few residents stated that they thought the RV's and boats depicted in the exhibits looked "beautiful" One resident stated that many people improve the value of their properties when they widen their driveways to add a parking place for their boats or RV's. Some offered the opinion that their RV's cost as much as $75,000.00 and looked better than some of the older cars seen throughout the Village. Chairman Dill concluded by saying that the Committee will discuss the matter further to decide if they will make a recommendation to the Mayor and Board of Trustees to either adopt some regulations, or do nothing at all. He stated that the residents would be notified of their findings through newspapers, channel 6, and word of mouth. He also offered to notify everyone in attendance that night in writing. The meeting was adjourned at 8:52 P.M. C: Mayor and Board of Trustees, Village Clerk, Village Manager, Assistant Village Manager, Assistant to the Village Manager, Village Attorney, Department Heads, Chairman and Members Plan Commission, Chairman and Members Zoning Board of Appeals. ATTENDANCE SHEET— JPZ MEETING APRIL 20, 2004 Emil Schiavo 68 Grange Bill& Marilyn Pilk 1086 Elmwood Andy Kalve 600 Maple Tony Hicks 270 Peachtree Lee Borgersen 943 Elmwood Steve Wiet 1363 Carlisle Carol &Dison Tice 958 Borman Robert Larson 991 Borman Stan & Nancy Munson 116 Shadywood Frank Palmissano 1087 Carswell Larry & Barb Diamond 1277 Maple Charles Mitchell 630 Walnut Carmen & Pat Domanico 261 Peachtree Ronald E. Petersen 73 Shelly Paul Petzold 1246 Dover Roberta Johnson 1269 Diane Mike Boyd 1272 Diane Sven Franzen 523 Willow Marty & Darlene Chakeen 1270 Aspen Steve Kane 1035 Carswell Van & Jill Wintz 1220 Carswell Jeffrey Snyder 1901 Albany Vi& Richard Gorham 910 Lonsdale George & Ingrid O'Hern 80 Clearmont Harry Balmes 207 Tower Joanne & Chris Meyers 1217 Hemlock Gregory& Ina Grudzien 1028 Alabama Ariel Alvarez 949 Arkansas August Sievers 515 Brynhaven Everitt Kuehlman 456 Lilac Bob Stevens 1558 Idaho Ron Mrofcza 1118 Cypress Phil Danca 936 Hartford Kevin & Diane Gara 1205 Springdale Ron Hess 208 Clearmont Mike Pietrandoni 232 Tanglewood Pat Swift 551 Dogwood Tom & Barbara Burke 531 Magnolia Joe & Cindy Lullo 1229 Maple Mr. & Mrs. Huntowski 72 Grange Mr. & Mrs. Morris 35 Grassmere Larry Rich 1706 Biestrfield Chris & Alex Prochno 1268 Leeds Roy Bezdicek 1529 Home Bruce Marsh 1532 Home Jim Pydo 1001 Tennessee Chuck Micholson 1561 Von Braun Ron & Collette Lanser 1096 Gloria Michael & Margaret Hay 715 Arizona Ken Mack 668 Middlebury Steve Peesel 241 Laurel Josh Lignowski 1821 Orleans Lauane & Jeanne Addis 1819 Orleans Stanley Adams 1860 Fox Run Radisa Sandic 936 Arkansas Pat Feichter 660 Stanford