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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPLAN COMMISSION - 08/05/2019 - 801-906 Richard, 2110 LandmeierElk Grove Village Plan Commission Minutes August 5, 2019 Present: J. Glass S. Carlson F. Geinosky K. Weiner J. Morrill P. Rettberg G. Schumm Absent: T. Thompson R. DeFrenza Staff: M. Jablonski, Assistant Village Manager J. Polony, Deputy Director of Community Development R. Raphael, Engineering Supervisor N. Radcliffe, Economic Development Specialist Petitioner: A. Martell, Logistics Property Company D. Price, Ancel Glink Chairman Glass called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Item 1: July 8, 2019 Meeting Minutes Commissioner Weiner moved to approve the meeting minutes of July 8, 2019. Commissioner Schumm seconded the motion. Upon voting (Schumm, Geinosky, Rettberg, Weiner, Morrill, Carlson, Glass AYES), the motion carried. Item 2: PC Docket # 19-8: Petition for Annexation, Rezoning, Resubdivision and Associated Variations for 751-815 Roppolo Avenue, 801-906 Richard Lane, and 2110 Landmeier Road —Logistics Property Company Chairman Glass read the legal notice into the record and asked the Petitioner to explain his purpose before the Plan Commission. 1 D. Price stated the proposed development is a light industrial property and is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan Map for Elk Grove Village. As requested in the preliminary meeting with the Plan Commission, the Petitioner has reached out to the final two (2) homes at the corner of the proposed development and come to verbal agreements to acquire these lots. The Petitioner has also renewed offers to the rest of the homes in the neighborhood around the proposed development. D. Price stated that the restricted covenant is not the purview of the municipal body or the Plan Commission. The restricted covenant includes language that the property should be limited to housing for white people and is not valid. D. Price noted that the when the Village created its Industrial/Commercial Revitalization Master Plan, it envisioned that the proposed property be zoned I-1 in order to facilitate flexible office and industrial uses consistent with the area surrounding the property. A. Martell stated Logistics Property Company (LPC) is based in Chicago, and is a nationally known developer. Logistics Property began this project 2 years ago, and went door to door in the neighborhood trying to put together enough properties for a project. A. Martell explained that that Logistics Property Company has worked on numerous projects throughout North America. A. Martell stated that he believes this project is a great deal for both homeowners and the developer. A. Martell stated this area is predominantly industrial, so the location makes sense for this proposal. He noted that this project will be a huge job creator. There are 53 homes, and LPC has identified 21 that would make it a marketable project. In this neighborhood, some properties have homes that are being lived in and maintained, but there are also properties that are vacant, homes that are not being taken care of, and properties that are running businesses. A. Martell stated the proposed building will have a lot of glass and will be a 32 foot clear building, which helps make it more appealing for e-retailers. The proposed building is 200,000 square feet. The 38 docks will be on the east side facing away from the remaining homes, with truck traffic accessing the site from Landmeier Road. For stormwater, there would be a combination of underground detention as well as a surface detention pond. A. Martell stated that the development would produce close to $3.5 million in tax revenue for the Village over the next 15 years, and that this projection takes into account the 6B for which the developer will be applying. The project would create 70 — 90 construction jobs, as well as 60 — 80 full time jobs. A. Martell stated the building would be a speculative building, and construction would be planned to begin in spring 2020, with no users in the pipeline as of now. A. Martell stated that LPC has been very busy since June 24 because every single contract for sale of the 21 properties expired on July 31 and they had to get these contracts extended. Beyond that, he noted that they have increased the setbacks from the surrounding properties by adding a 25 foot drive aisle on the north side of the building and a sidewalk along Landmeier and Roppolo. He noted that LPC invest the extra money to pave their sites in concrete and that they will continue to do so here. A. Martell stated that they are exceeding MWRD requirements for stormwater runoff by providing a 0.10 cfs per acre maximum release rate. A. Martell stated they have reduced the building square footage by 12,000 to create the drive aisle to the north and have agreed to improve the driveway at 721 Roppolo. P. Rehberg inquired on how many total homes are under contract and how many are there in total. A. Martell stated they have focused on the east side of Roppolo because they began to gain traction and feedback in this area. A. Martell stated there are 3 conceptual phases for the future development of this entire neighborhood. Phase 1 is east of Roppolo and south of Lee, where there are 23 homes, 21 of which are under contract and 2 with verbal contracts. P. Rettberg asked if the Petitioner had signed written contracts with the 21 properties and if the Village had been provided with those contracts. A. Martell stated that the contracts were signed but that the Village has not seen them. P. Rettberg stated one of the variations the Petitioner is asking for is to waive the 50 foot setback from the lot lines. A. Martell stated the revised site plan picks up an additional 50 feet from the north corner. D. Price stated the Petitioner requested a variation to reduce the side yard setback to push the building north off of Landmeier to reduce the impact from the busy road and allow increased stormwater control and loading on the east side. A. Martell stated they can live without the variance request. Chairman Glass asked what would happen if the Petitioner was able to include the two corner parcels in their development. A. Martell stated it would add an additional 20,000 square feet and would allow them to use the 50 foot setback. P. Rettberg asked if the building needs to be in the 200,000 square footage range and what would happen if they aren't able to acquire the final two corner properties. A. Martell stated based on experience, the requested building would work best, but noted that if they aren't able to include the two corner properties that they would move forward with the 21 homes as shown in the existing site plan. S. Carlson asked staff if the Petitioner will bear the cost of reconstructing Roppolo Avenue adjacent to the development and if it will include sewers, curb and gutter, and sidewalks. M. Jablonski stated that developer will construct the infrastructure at their cost, and this will include reconstructing Roppolo from Landmeier to Lee to Village standards, including curb and gutter, sidewalk on the east side of the Roppolo, streetlights, as well as water main, storm sewer and sanitary sewer. K. Weiner asked how many businesses they expect to occupy the proposed industrial building and what kind of shifts the businesses would run. A. Martell stated they would prefer to locate one tenant for the entire site, but it is likely to be 2 or 3 businesses. A. Martell noted that operations could potentially run 3 shifts. F. Geinosky stated originally the Petitioner had requested 2 variations, one of which they already discussed, but what is the rationale for the building height in access of 35 feet. D. Price stated they would like to play it safe and receive the variation to avoid any future issues with height restrictions once details such as mechanicals are finalized. F. Geinosky asked if the Petitioner was still interested in developing the remainder of the residential neighborhood neighboring the subject property. A. Martell stated that LPC would be interested in developing those areas, but needed to move forward with the portion of properties that are currently under contract. In order to redevelop the remaining homes, an entire block needs to be willing to sell. A. Martell noted that he had renewed offers to all of the remaining properties in the neighborhood. J. Morrill asked what the Petitioner will do with flood control. A. Martell stated there will be a combination of underground detention and surface level retention ponds and that they are exceeding MWRD requirements for stormwater runoff by providing a 0.10 cfs per acre maximum release rate. G. Schumm stated there are six managers shown on the LLC from California, New York, and Chicago, and asked if this was still true. A. Martell stated yes. G. Schumm noted that the various parcels purchase prices range from $239,500 to $750,000 and stated that was quite generous. Chairman Glass invited the public to provide comment. Mohammad Hussein, the resident at 700 Roppolo Avenue, stated that his home is worth $700,000 and he received an offer at half the price. He went on to say that there are safety concerns with an increase in truck traffic and the 104 parking spots being proposed. M. Hussein stated in order to apply for a variance, the applicant needs to show hardship and substantial financial evidence and this is not being shown at these properties. M. Hussein also noted that the new industrial building will decrease the value of his home. Chairman Glass stated truck traffic for this development is being directed away from the residential properties with truck parking located on the east side with direct access from Landmeier. There will be some existing truck traffic from businesses already in place, but there will be no increase in truck traffic in the residential area. Joel Hyman, an attorney representing 13 homeowners in the Roppolo/Landmeier subdivision, stated that his clients do not care about the price, but the community that they created here. J. Hyman stated the possible 3 shifts will bring strangers into the neighborhood. J. Hyman also noted that there will be an issue with the water table, as these homes are on well and septic. He noted that right now the water flows freely, and when they put in the development this may change the 4 situation and they may need to pay more. Chairman Glass asked if the wells were drawing from flowing water or reservoirs, and noted that with less homes drawing on the wells the water table would not be negatively impacted. J. Hyman stated he did not know what type of wells exist in this area. J. Hyman stated that while he agrees the portion of the restricted covenant stating you can only sell to whites is not relevant, but they believe there is an enforceable portion of the restricted covenant that should be taken into consideration. Christy Campos, resident at 701 Dierking Terrace, stated there was never an offer sent to her as the developer claimed. A. Martell stated the offer was made to the owner of record. C. Campos stated that the property was in the process of being transferred to her ownership. Chairman Glass stated that if the paperwork had not yet been finalized, then she was not yet the owner of record. C. Campos stated the Gullo development across the street has been vacant for 2 years. James Jablonski, resident at 720 Roppolo Drive, stated that his dad built his home 30 years ago. J. Jablonski stated this subdivision is a community where everyone plays together, everyone works together, and everyone helps each other. J. Jablonski stated this project has caused turmoil between all the neighbors. J. Jablonski stated that the offer they received from the developer was placed illegally in his mailbox. J. Jablonski stated they want to keep the community and the rest of the neighbors want to live together. Carlos Maldonado, resident at 707 Dierking Terrace, stated the Plan Commission's mission is to protect the community and resident's safety and general well-being. C. Maldonado stated the community will be destroyed with this development. C. Maldonado stated that if this development goes through, it will violate the 3.2.3 Cook County Zoning Code. C. Maldonado stated his home will be located in two different jurisdictions, the east side of Lee and the west side of Roppolo will be located in the easement. C. Maldonado stated that they are bound by a land covenant that prohibits the use of land for any purposes except residential use. Chairman Glass stated that the Cook County Zoning Code would not apply to property annexed into the Village and he noted that the Village is required to annex the street adjacent to annexed property, not just the eastern portion. Chairman Glass stated the restricted covenant is a private property matter that is not relevant to proceedings of the Plan Commission or the Village Board. Chairman Glass also noted that there are already businesses which have been operating within the subdivision for some time, so the covenant does not seem to have been enforced. Tira Lichner, resident at 717 Dierking Terrace and 716 Roppolo Drive, stated she has photos of homes in the area that are well taken care of. T. Lichner stated that Dierking Terrace has a lot of semis driving down it to cut through and there is vacancy at the Gullo building. T. Lichner stated there will be many speeding cars and trucks coming from Higgins and Landmeier. Chairman Glass stated he had been in the area every day for the past 3 weeks at various times and every truck he saw pulled into a property in the area, most over on Roppolo. Jeff Snyder, resident at 872 Cass Lane, stated that his aunt, uncle, and parents previous lived in this neighborhood. J. Snyder stated he spent 10 years on the ICRC so he has some mixed emotions on this development. J. Snyder stated everyone should win in this deal and urged the developer to increase offers to the property owners who agreed to sell at too low of a price because they might not have realized what their property was worth. J. Snyder stated there will be spill over traffic and they need to keep an eye on safety concerns. J. Snyder stated that he would like to see green roofs or solar panels included in the development. J. Snyder stated he had concerns with the 6B tax incentive with the proposal and in general as it is not a blighted area. Chairman Glass noted that this hearing is not about the 6B tax incentive, it is about zoning. Robert Naumann, an attorney representing 3 homeowners under contract, stated the time is right for his clients and for a total of 21 homeowners to take part of the Village's vision of this neighborhood. R. Naumann stated the height variance should not affect the proposal as it is usually some mechanical information and is a minimal impact. R. Naumann stated his clients are not desperate to leave, but that its time is right for a new opportunity, and that they have a right to sell their properties which should not be restricted. R. Naumann stated in his opinion that the Gullo building is vacant due to different reasons than the lack of interest in industrial properties. Heather Maldonado, resident at 707 Dierking Terrace, stated under the covenant that this subdivision must stay residential. Chairman Glass stated the covenant is between the property owners and the developer, not the Plan Commission. Richard Laubenstein, the attorney representing the Dimeo Brothers at 721 Richard Lane, stated at present, Dimeo Brothers will not be a part of anything being annexed into the Village, they will remain on Cook County property where this development will not add anymore truck traffic. He noted this development will not be adding more truck traffic as the truck traffic will shift from Richard Lane to Roppolo and Lee. Isabella Maldonado, the resident at 707 Dierking Terrace, stated they are a close knit community and get to play with each other all the time. 1. Maldonado stated the developer is tearing their community apart. Mohammad Hussein, the resident located at 700 Roppolo Avenue, stated they are not trying to destroy his neighbor's opportunity to leave, and that they are welcome to sell to any residential user. M. Hussein stated that the developer should go back to the community and negotiate deals for the whole neighborhood at one time. Dawn Jablonski, the resident located at 720 Roppolo Drive, stated they are on the corner of Lee and Roppolo where there will be more truck traffic coming right at their property. D. Jablonski asked the Commissioners to have empathy for the community. [i Chairman Glass asked if the Petitioner had a closing statement. D. Price stated the municipal code is what requires that Elk Grove Village annex to the far side of all the roads adjacent to this property if annexed, which means all of Lee and all of Roppolo and is why it will be improved to Village standards. D. Price stated the Police Department is on record stating that they do not believe the traffic from this development will have an impact. D. Price stated people have a right to sell their homes and that there is a Village plan stating that this property shall be zoned industrial and that is what the developer is trying to do. Chairman Glass asked if staff had any comments. M Jablonski stated that there will be a hearing for the annexation agreement. M. Jablonski stated that the covenant which was referred to does not apply to the Plan Commission as it is a private manner. She noted that aside from the racially discriminatory language, the provisions cited by neighboring residents about non-residential uses do not seem to have been enforced historically as there are existing businesses in the subdivision. RECOMMENDATION Commissioner Geinosky moved to recommend approval to: • Annex the properties at 751-815 Roppolo Avenue, 801-906 Richard Lane, and 2110 Landmeier Road; • Resubdivide the properties from twenty-one (21) lots to one (1) lot; • Rezone the property to I-1 restricted industrial; and • Grant a variation from Section 7-1 of the Zoning Code to increase the permitted building height from thirty-five feet (35') to forty-two feet (42'). With the following conditions: 1. Petitioner must provide a copy of the agreement to release Richard Lane for Village Staff review and approval. 2. Petitioner must supply a letter from the property owners at 720 Richard Lane indicating they have received a copy of the site plan and are aware of the access changes to their property. 3. Retaining walls shall be removed or reduced in height. Commissioner Schumm seconded the motion. Upon voting (Carlson, Geinosky, Glass, Morrill, Weiner, Rettberg, Schumm AYES) the motion carried unanimously. 7 Item 3: Adjournment Commissioner Carlson moved to adjourn the meeting, Commissioner Weiner seconded the motion. Upon voting (Carlson, Geinosky, Schumm, Rettberg, Morrill, Glass, Weiner AYES), the motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:13 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Maggie Jablonski Assistant Village Manager C: Chairman and Members of the Plan Commission, Mayor and Board of Trustees, Village Clerk