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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPLAN COMMISSION - 09/19/2016 - Dupont Fabros, 1400 Devon Elk Grove Village Plan Commission Minutes September 19, 2016 Present: P.Ayers S. Carlson F. Geinosky J. Glass P. Rettberg G. Schumm T. Thompson K. Weiner Absent: J. Morrill Staff: M. Jablonski, Assistant Village Manager R. Raphael—Staff Engineer, Director of Community Development Petitioner: Donald Dixon, Gewalt Hamilton Carissa Smith, Gewalt Hamilton Chairman Glass called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Item 1: August 22,2016 Meeting Minutes Commissioner Weiner moved to approve the minutes, amended to clarify the number of carriers that the Petitioner stated the monopole would be able to accommodate. Commissioner Rettberg seconded the motion. Upon voting (Geinosky, Ayers, Carlson, Weiner, Thompson, Glass, Schumm, Rettberg AYES, Morrill, ABSENT)the motion carried. Item 2: Petition for Resubdivision of the Property at 1400 Devon Avenue Chairman Glass read the legal notice into the record and asked the Petitioner to explain his purpose before the Plan Commission. D. Dixon explained that he was the surveyor of record hired by DuPont Fabros Technology, a data center operator. DuPont Fabros currently operates two data centers in the Village. CHI is located adjacent to 1400 Devon and CH2 is located at the northeast corner of Busse and Devon, and is looking to build a third data center, CH3, at the subject properties. D. Dixon stated that the survey shows two properties currently located at 1400 Devon Avenue, which have been purchased by DuPont Fabros with the intention of combining these two properties 1 to build a facility similar to CHI, as well as put in a common drive to serve both CHI and the proposed CH3. The two purchased parcels make up a total of 9.87 acres. ' D. Dixon explained that in order to develop the lots in this way,it is necessary to take all three lots and combine them to create two new lots. Additionally,it was necessary to vacate certain existing easements that would conflict with the building placement. The plat of vacation resolved this by eliminating the easements, which existed on the former perimeter of the two lots, which were no longer necessary now that the parcels are to be combined. The existing CHI property is currently zoned I-2. The subject properties for the proposed CH3, are also zoned I-2. D. Dixon stated that the Petitioner has been working with the Village's Community Development Department on this project and that MWRD approval anticipated within the month. Chairman Glass asked if data centers were an office use. D. Dixon explained it was more of a server farm for secure data storage at an off-site facility. Commissioner Schumm asked what the distinction was between Dipper Ventures LLC and Dupont Fabros. D. Dixon explained that DuPont Fabros operate the facilities, but that LLC ownership is created for each individual data center property. Dipper Ventures, LLC is the legal entity that will own the subject properties(the proposed CH3),and Tarantula Ventures LLC is the legal entity that owns CHI. Commissioner Schumm asked about detention for the site. D. Dixon explained that the detention for the proposed CH3 would then lead into the existing underground detention under CHI. A private easement agreement has been created between the properties to ensure that if they are ever sold off, the detention arrangement will remain in place. Commissioner Geinosky asked for clarification on whether the land under construction right now is the new CH3. D. Dixon stated that the construction underway at the westernmost property for the site is the demolition of the existing building on that property. The Petitioner has the appropriate demolition permits from Cook County and the Village. The building east of that will also come down,but it currently still has tenants in it. Commissioner Geinosky asked whether the layout will be similar to the existing data center just east of Busse. D. Dixon stated that this property is the same ownership, and that exact building footprint was originally intended for CH3,but due to property line differences and the required 60 foot setback, some minor modifications were made to the front office portico. 1. Commissioner Geinosky asked whether the Petitioner agreed with the review and conclusions by the North Cook County Soil & Water Conservation District. D. Dixon explained that the recommendations have to do with soil and sediment and the majority of these comments have been incorporated in the plan. Some of the recommendations are very generic in nature and may not be applicable to this project. For instance, given that it is a highly urban environment, temporary sediment controls don't really make sense, however temporary erosion controls will be in place. 2 Commissioner Geinosky asked if there would be any variation needed to the I-2 zoning. D.Dixon stated that the use was permitted in I-2 zoning district. D. Dixon stated that there were no major questions from staff and that the requirements on the distance between fire hydrants and turning radius for fire engines were all addressed. Commissioner Weiner mentioned that one of the site photos showed standing water and asked if there were any concerns about the redirection of this water. R. Raphael stated that the water in the photo is an existing detention basin, which will be made larger. Additionally, a new detention basin will be added on the north and south side of new building. Commissioner Rettberg asked how many employees would work in the new facility. D. Dixon stated that parking is based on the square footage of the office component. There are 80 employees with spaces as well as 50 spaces for visitors, for a total of 130. Commissioner Rettberg asked how many employees work at the existing data centers in the Village. D. Dixon stated that CH2 has same number of employees(80),but that he was not certain about CHI,which is a much larger facility. He explained that these are large buildings that house a lot of equipment, but do not have as much staff, as it is not a labor intensive operation Commissioner Rettberg asked if there would be sufficient parking. D. Dixon stated that there would be. J. Glass stated that the parking is not a part of this process,that they will be required to meet the code requirement for parking before a building permit is issued. Commissioner Geinosky asked if operations were 24 hours a day. D. Dixon stated that the facility would be open 24 hours. Many of the employees are actually clients, who like to have the ability to go on site and take care of any issues. RECOMMENDATION Commissioner Ayers moved to recommend approval of the petition to resubdivide the property at 1400 Devon Avenue from three (3) existing lots into two (2)reconstituted lots. Commissioner Weiner seconded the motion. Upon voting (Ayers, Carlson, Geinosky, Glass, Rettberg, Schumm, Thompson, Weiner AYES)the motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 7:28 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Maggie Jablonski Assistant Village Manager C:Chairman and Members of the Plan Commission, Mayor and Board of Trustees, Village Clerk 3