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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPLAN COMMISSION - 10/07/2019 - 1900 Busse RoadPresent: J. Glass S. Carlson F. Geinosky K. Weiner J. Morrill P. Rettberg R. DeFrenza G. Schumm Absent: Elk Grove Village Plan Commission Minutes October 7, 2019 Staff: M. Jablonski, Assistant Village Manager/Director of Communication J. Polony, Deputy Director of Community Development R. Schroyer, Staff Engineer N. Radcliffe, Economic Development Specialist Petitioner: C. Bruner, Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores S. Harville, CESO Chairman Glass called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Item 1: September 16, 2019 Meeting Minutes M. Jablonski stated approval of the September 16 meeting minutes will be decided at the next Plan Commission Hearing. Item 2: PC Docket 9 19-11: Petition for Text Amendment, Special Use to Operate a Fueling Station, and Associated Variations for 1900 Busse Road Chairman Glass read the legal notice into the record and asked the Petitioner to explain her purpose before the Plan Commission. C. Bruner stated the area around 1900 Busse Road is highly industrial and is currently a vacant parcel. C. Bruner stated the previous property had a warehouse/distribution type facility that has since been demolished. C. Bruner stated all that remains of the previous use is the floor slab of the old building. 1 C. Bruner stated they are proposing a scaled down 7,700 square foot Love's Travel Stops and Country Stores facility, which will sell gasoline, diesel, food and other offerings consistent with a convenience store use. C. Bruner stated this site will be similar to the Pilot site down the street located in Bensenville. C. Bruner stated there are two areas for cars and trucks for fueling purposes. C. Bruner stated traditionally Love's constructs a brick building in this part of the country, but this proposed building will be composed of brick and stone. C. Bruner stated the proposed food offerings include a Chester's and Godfather's Pizza. C. Bruner stated the entire facility will employ 30-40 people and will be open 24 hours, the largest shift would include 6 employees on -site. C. Bruner stated the first variance proposed is a variance for the 25 yard setback in which the overall them is due to the size and shape of the site. C. Bruner stated the requested variation is to allow for the effective movement of traffic through the site. C. Bruner explained that the variation to allow parking in the setback constitutes a 10-foot encroachment into the required 25-foot setback along Pratt Boulevard, which is necessary in order to maintain a sufficiently wide drive aisle between the parking spaces and the truck canopy. C. Bruner stated the next requested variation is to reduce the number of required automobile parking spaces from 36 to 26 spaces. The Petitioner explained that the proposed parking plan meets the spirit of the zoning requirement, but reflects that the proposed use is both a truck and automobile fueling station. C. Bruner stated Love's is providing a total of 42 parking spaces: 26 automobile spaces, 10 truck parking spaces and 6 bobtail spaces. Bobtail trucks are trucks that do not have a trailer and are usually the most seen as the bobtail trucks fuel up and wait for their pickup load. C. Bruner stated that their competitor down the street does not offer these types of bobtail parking stalls. C. Bruner stated the next variation request is to allow the installation of fencing in the front yard. C. Bruner stated the fencing includes a 6-foot-tall Trex fence in the front yard around the underground storage tank to provided visual screening of this area from pedestrians and vehicles traveling on Pratt Boulevard. C. Bruner showed photos of how the storage tanks look with fencing and without. C. Bruner stated the fence will improve aesthetics of the fuel unloading and storage area. C. Bruner stated additionally they are proposing to construct a fence along the property line adjacent to the railroad tracks and Pratt Boulevard around the proposed truck parking spaces. C. Bruner stated they have found that fencing around the property helps catch any trash/debris from the site to prevent it from leaving the property and allow their staff to collect it and keep the site clean. C. Bruner stated the fence will be made out of wrought iron and will be aesthetically pleasing. C. Bruner stated the next proposed variance is for signs located on the site. C. Bruner stated the monument sign will be 6 feet tall and 15 feet wide located at the southeast corner. C. Bruner stated the total square footage of signs on the site is 86 feet in which they are limited to 78 feet per code. C. Bruner stated there are multiple uses on the site and the extra square footage will accommodate all the offerings for those driving by can see. C. Bruner stated the other variance request deals with the size of letter on the price board in which the ordinance stated the size cannot exceed 12 inches. C. Bruner stated they are requesting 16 inches to accommodate the 45 mph speed limit. C. Bruner stated another requested variance to allow other items on the monument sign. C. Bruner stated the 2 ordinance only allows for fuel prices. C. Bruner explained this variance is needed due to all the offerings the Love's facility has such as fueling, convenience store, and restaurants. C. Bruner stated the next item on the sign variances is for the sign setback. C. Bruner stated they do not want cars or trucks to enter into the wrong area. C. Bruner stated these signs should help vehicles navigate to their correct destinations and get there safely. C. Bruner stated the next variance request is for the overall square footage. C. Bruner stated this variance is needed to allow the cat scale sign which helps the trucks line up to go through it correctly. C. Bruner stated the allowed total square footage is 564 square feet based on the frontage. C. Bruner explained they are asking for 678 total square feet. Commissioner Rettberg asked what a trex fence is and what color it would be. C. Bruner stated the trex fence is a type of vinyl fencing, is solid with no openings in between and a high quality fencing with a darker tan. Commissioner Rettberg asked what Chester's restaurant is, if there is sit down seating and if both restaurants are separate tenants. C. Bruner stated Chester's serves chicken and there is limited seating as it is mostly a pick up and go kind of restaurant. C. Bruner stated both restaurants are tenants but Love's is the operator with full control. Commissioner Rettberg asked if there would be enough available parking. C. Bruner stated more than half the traffic will be truck traffic. C. Bruner stated the seating and parking available is similar to the competitor down the street. Commissioner Rettberg asked if 30-40 total employees with the max shift of 6 employees be enough. C. Bruner stated with being a 24 hour facility and a tier 3 facility, that they will need that amount of employees to cover fueling, the restaurants, etc. Commissioner Carlson asked if the restaurants are sit down. C. Bruner stated these two tenants have a common eating area, yet there is a higher volume of grabbing the food on the go. Commission Weiner asked about the possibility of truck idling and overnight truck parking at the site. C. Bruner stated that there is a state ordinance prohibiting idling for longer than 10 minutes, and that most trucking companies also have rules about idling. C. Bruner explained that there is no long-term parking allowed at the proposed site. C. Bruner stated that they expect the parking to be used by trucks for a few hours in between pick-ups, for drivers to fill up, get some food, and then move on to their next job. Commissioner Weiner asked what kind of storage will accompany the trash enclosure. C. Bruner stated there will be an 8x12 accessory building attached to the trash enclosure on the back side. C. Bruner stated it will be hiding behind the trash enclosure so it is not well seen. C. Bruner stated it will be extra storage for paper goods as a site like this goes through paper goods rapidly. Commissioner Weiner asked if there is enough room to maneuver around the parking lot for trucks. C. Bruner stated there is a process that truck drivers understand how to go through the fueling areas and understand how to maneuver in the area. 3 Commissioner Weiner asked if there are any other services being offered at this site. C. Bruner stated this site will only offer fueling, other sites offer tire changes and truck washes. Commissioner Weiner asked if the aprons are wide enough to accommodate the trucks entering and leaving and what the parking lot will be made of. C. Bruner stated they will be installing roll over curves to better accommodate drivers entering and leaving, and the parking lot will be made out of asphalt to fix potholes and areas quicker. Commissioner Geinosky asked if Love's will be able to handle the volume since this is a unique site. C. Bruner stated they will be able to handle the volume although it is a unique site. C. Bruner stated that they hope this can be a model to use throughout the states. Commissioner Geinosky asked if the Petitioner had satisfied the concerns of staff for the landscaping comments from staff. C. Bruner stated they had satisfied the concerns. M. Jablonski asked if the Petitioner could explain point -by -point for the landscaping comments for better clarification. C. Bruner stated seven trees and 56 shrubs are required for the Busse Road boundary landscaping. 3 existing trees and 54 shrubs are proposed. C. Bruner explained Trees cannot be added along Busse Road due to the width of the boundary landscaping area. This area cannot be widened without reducing the width of the car area drive aisles, which presents maneuverability concerns. Love's requests that the Village consider waiving the requirement for the additional four trees along Busse Road. Additional shrubs have been added near the north driveway to meet the shrub boundary landscaping requirement. C. Bruner stated Ten (10) trees and eighty (80) shrubs are required for the Pratt Boulevard boundary landscaping. Eleven (11) trees, eight (8) deciduous type including three (3) existing, and fifty-four shrubs are provided. C. Bruner explained shrubs have been added in front of the truck parking spaces in order to meet the boundary landscaping requirements along Pratt Boulevard. C. Bruner stated no more than 20% of provided trees or shrubs shall be of the same species. C. Bruner explained upon a second review, the number of tree and shrub species provided is acceptable to the Village, as indicated during the conference call on October 2, 2019. Boundary landscaping is required for a minimum depth of ten (10') feet from the right-of-way to the back of curb for the proposed parking lot. The site plan proposed five feet, six inches (5'-6") from the Busse Road right of- way to the parking lot back of Curb. C. Bruner explained the east curb line in the car parking area cannot be shifted any further west to increase the depth of the landscape area due to concerns over maneuverability. The Love's standard for the width of the car drive aisles around the fueling canopy is 42 feet; therefore, the 38 feet wide drive aisles are already smaller than the preferred aisles. Reducing this width even further could potentially cause congestion and traffic back-ups in the car parking area as well as make it more difficult for the fuel truck to exit the site. C. Bruner stated indicate a two hundred (200) square foot landscaped area around the monument sign. C. Bruner explained a 200 square foot area around the monument sign is landscaped, as shown on Special Use Plan sheet Z3.0. 4 Commissioner Geinosky asked if staff had time to review the comments. M. Jablonski stated they have not had time to do a full review, but are satisfied with what the Petitioner had provided. Commissioner Geinosky asked if there will be showers in the facility. C. Bruner stated there will be 2 showers and some store offerings but will be scaled down. Commissioner DeFrenza asked if the fast food restaurants will be 24/7 and if the Love's site will have security and cameras. C. Bruner stated the restaurants will start as open 24/7, and may be reevaluated based on demand. C. Bruner stated there will be cameras but no on -site security unless needed. C. Bruner noted that out of 500 Love's facilities, there are only two locations with on -site security. Commissioner Morrill asked if there was a traffic study done and if there was any concern about traffic backing up on Pratt Boulevard or blocking access to other sites with trucks trying to get to Busse Road. C. Bruner stated that they had a traffic study conducted as part of their submittal requirements to IDOT. C. Bruner explained that the driveway along Pratt Boulevard was placed as far to the west as possible to allow for the maximum space for traffic entering eastbound Pratt Boulevard. C. Bruner explained that in order to allow for internal truck movements, it was not possible to move the driveway any further. Commissioner Schumn asked if the comment dealing with facade around the trash enclosure had been addressed. C. Bruner stated they wanted to put something durable around the enclosure that could match the Love's facility. Commissioner Schumn asked how long the lease is for. C. Bruner stated the lease is for 25 years. Chairman Glass asked why they chose this site. C. Bruner stated the site is very attractive due to truck traffic and Elk Grove Village being a logistics hub. C. Bruner stated based on feedback from trucks drivers, they are interested in being closer to urban areas. RECOMMENDATION Commissioner Geinosky moved to recommend approval of the text amendment to Elk Grove Zoning Ordinance section 7E-4: Special Uses in I-2 Industrial Districts by adding Automobile/truck fueling stations. Commissioner Weiner seconded the motion. Upon voting (Glass, Carlson, Geinosky, Morrill, Weiner, Rettberg, Schumm, DeFrenza AYES) the motion carried unanimously. Commissioner Geinosky moved to recommend approval of a Special Use Permit to operate an automobile/truck fueling station and convenience store at 1900 Busse Road, along with the following associated variances: • Variation from Section 3-7: E 3 of the Zoning Ordinance to permit truck parking within the twenty-five (25') foot front yard setback as shown in the site plan dated 10/4/2019. • Variation from Section 4-3-1 of the Zoning Ordinance to reduce the number of required parking stalls. • Variation from Section 7E-9: A of the Zoning Ordinance to permit the installation of fence(s) within the front yard as shown in the site plan dated 10/4/2019. Commissioner Carlson seconded the motion. Upon voting (Glass, Carlson, Geinosky, Morrill, Weiner, Rettberg, Schumm, DeFrenza AYES) the motion carried unanimously. Item 3: Adjournment Commissioner Weiner moved to adjourn the meeting, Commissioner Rettberg seconded the motion. Upon voting (Carlson, Geinosky, Rettberg, Morrill, Schumn, DeFrenza, Glass, Weiner AYES), the motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:06 p.m. C: Chairman and Members of the Plan Commission, Mayor and Board of Trustees, Village Clerk 11