Building & Zoning Committee

VILLAGE OF NILES 1000 Civic Center Drive Niles, IL 60714 www.vniles.com Meeting Minutes Thursday, September 20, 2018 8:15 AM Village Hall BUILDING AND ZONING COMMITTEE MEETING Chairman Denise McCreery - Trustee Members Charles Ostman – Community Development Director Rich Wlodarski – Community Development Assistant Director Tom Kanelos – Chairman Planning and Zoning Hadley Skeffington–Vos – Deputy Village Manager Danielle Grcic – Village Attorney Rich Mangold – Resident Building and Zoning Meeting Minutes September 20, 2018 Committee Meeting CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL The Niles Building and Zoning Committee meeting was called to order at 8:20 AM. Present: 7 - Chairman McCreery, Ostman, Wlodarski, Kanelos, Grcic, Mangold and Skeffington-Vos Guests: Mike Shields and Mayor Andrew Przybylo Absent: 0 APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman McCreery asked if there were any additions, clarifications or corrections to the minutes of June 28, 2018 meeting. Rich Wlodarski approved the minutes and Rich Mangold seconded it. AYES: 7 - Chairman McCreery, Ostman, Wlodarski, Kanelos, Grcic, Mangold, Sleffington- Vos. NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 NEW BUSINESS I. Discussion on Section Chapter 22-590, rental licenses and fees. Chuck Ostman said the Mayor wanted the Building and Zoning committee to review the rental licenses and fees for single family homes, townhomes, condominiums and apartments. Our rental fees were lowered to $80. per single family, townhomes and condominiums. Apartments are $70. per unit with $10 added for other rented units. After much discussion regarding our cost and other municipalities: Chairman McCreery suggested that we put these fees in our newsletter to remind owners of the costs and to follow the program. Mike Shields reviewed what he said in his email to Chuck Ostman regarding rental threats: 1) The first threat is an economic threat where apartments in Chicago and the Northside have pushed up rental fees to approximately $2,200. We are starting to equalize the apartments in Chicago so there is an incentive to look at homes for rent in Niles if you have a family. They also look for better schools, parks, open spaces and transportation and Niles gives them that. Village of Niles Page 2 of 4 Building and Zoning Meeting Minutes September 20, 2018 Committee Meeting A home for $350,000. in Niles can be as much as $3,500. a month for rent. Generally people will not rent those but will look at smaller homes that cost $200,000. where there is a more reasonable rental price. 2) The second threat is we have been hearing from more people who are looking to rent homes in Niles from elected officials, neighbors etc. 3) The third threat is that there is a transit nature with rentals. They do not know why sometimes but they really do not like it. Mike Shields said his motivation for this email was to make sure we are aware of it and talk about it because markets change very quickly. We have to be prepared, it is a market dynamic and we are not going to change. We cannot make it illegal to rent homes but we can create incentives to rent homes, like a higher fee. Courts in general will not rule against the type of person you want in a rental but if you are ruling for the type of use of a property or building the courts usually go along with what the village or state wants. At this point of the meeting Mayor Andrew Przybylo came in with a map of all the rental properties in the Village of Niles. He mentioned that the reason he asked Chuck Ostman to look into the rental licensing and fees was because he has received calls from residents who have spent their life savings to live in the community and are being bothered by noisy neighbors etc. who do not always care about the property they live in because they are renting. Mayor Przybylo asked the Chief of Police to track the nuisance tickets that they issue by rental so there will be a data base being built to see if what he is thinking and saying is correct but he said he could be wrong. Chairman McCreery said enforcement is critical and it is the responsibility of the homeowner. Tom Kanelos said maybe the fee should be a heftier price and the Mayor agreed. Mike Shields said to put it in a newsletter or flyer to remind people to do basic maintenance of their rental home or if some are being done but should be done more aggressively. Basically, be a good neighbor! The Village of Niles has to decide if they want rental homes or not. Maybe discourage rental homes but do not eliminate them. After more discussion on this subject Mayor Przybylo left the meeting and the committee continued with the rest of the agenda. Village of Niles Page 3 of 4 Building and Zoning Meeting Minutes September 20, 2018 Committee Meeting II. Discussion on outdoor yard decorations/furniture. After much discussion of homes and reviewing pictures of them and their yard decorations/furniture, Chuck will look into this further and find new language for the ordinance. III. Discussion on regulations related to outdoor seating. After much discussion regarding outside seating, Chuck Ostman said he will look into drafting new language for outside seating with food distribution for the next meeting. IV. Discussion on Chapter 78 Section 42, prohibited signs. After much discussion, the committee is asking for elimination of illuminated signs in storefronts etc. The committee decided to leave the ordinance as it is with no changes. V. EnerGov software update. Chuck Ostman mentioned that Steve Cusick is working on the EnerGov software and is still gathering data. EnerGov will not start unless Steve has all data from all departments. They are, however, hoping for November, 2018 as the start date. VI. Update on health inspections and pest control services. Chuck Ostman said the contractor for the health inspections runs out October 14, 2018. The outside consultant is inspecting twice a year but it is turning out to be taking up a lot of time. No decision has been made yet if we will keep the contractors on or if we will hire someone part-time for this position or not. VII. NEXT MEETING DATE – October 25, 2018. VIII. ADJOURNMENT Chairman McCreery made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:55am. Rich Mangold moved to adjourn. Seconded by Chuck Ostman, on roll call was: AYES: 7 - Chairman McCreery, Ostman, Wlodarski, Kanelos, Grcic, Mangold, Sleffington-Vos. NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 Village of Niles Page 4 of 4