Planning and Zoning Board

APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS April 1, 2013 The Niles Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals was called to order at 7:00 P.M. Chairman Kanelos asked everyone to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Present along with Chairman Thomas Kanelos was Village Attorney Joseph Annunzio, Commissioners Karen Dimond, Thomas Surace, Barbara Nakanishi, Robert Schulter and Morgan Dubiel. Also present was Charles Ostman, Director of Community Development and Bruce Sylvester, Senior Planner. Commissioner Angelo Troiani was absent. Chairman Kanelos appointed Vice-Chairman Dimond as temporary Secretary for this meeting in Commissioner Troiani’s absence. Chairman Kanelos asked if there were any additions, clarifications or corrections to the minutes of March 4, 2013. There were none. Commissioner Dubiel moved to approve the minutes of March 4, 2013. Seconded by Vice-Chairman Dimond, on roll call the vote was: AYES: 6 Dimond, Surace, Nakanishi, Schulter, Dubiel, Kanelos NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 1 Troiani There being six (6) affirmative votes the motion carried. NEW BUSINESS 13-ZP-10 Zoning Map Amendment/Rezone and Special Use Permit for an Automobile Repair Shop at 8657 N. Milwaukee Ave. 13-ZP-11 Text Amendment to create rules requiring Plan Commission approval of new construction or other development activities for permitted use. DISCUSSIONS Update on process to rewrite Niles Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance. Chairman Kanelos called for the first item on the agenda. 13-ZP-10 Zoning Map Amendment/Rezone and Special Use Permit for an Automobile Repair Shop at 8657 N. Milwaukee Ave. Page 1 of 13  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS April 1, 2013 Bruce Sylvester, Senior Planner, presented 13-ZP-10. It is a two part request. It is both Zoning Map Amendment/Rezone and Special Use permit for an automobile repair shop at 8657 N. Milwaukee Ave. The Staff recommendation is that the Plan Commission recommends to the Village Board approval of a Zoning Map Amendment to rezone Lot 39 at 8657 N. Milwaukee Ave. from the current R-4 Zoning to the proposed B-1 zoning designation. Secondly, Staff recommends that the Plan Commission recommend to the Village Board to approve a Special Use permit to allow an automobile repair shop at the same address as provided in Appendix B, Section VIII (b)(3)(d) with six recommended conditions of approval: 1) No more than two vehicles may be stored overnight outside the building and the vehicles may not remain on the lot for more than two days. 2) Automobile storage is prohibited except as provided in the first condition. 3) All automotive repair work must be done indoors; outdoor work is prohibited. 4) Auto salvage, vehicle body repair and vehicle painting are prohibited. 5) A guard rail must be installed along the south property line. 6) Landscaping on the site shall be maintained as shown on the approved landscape plan included with the packet presented to this Board tonight. Included in the packet and on the overhead screen is an aerial photo of the parcel. As the photo shows, the property with the address of 8657 N. Milwaukee actually consists of two lots. One of the lots, legally described as Lot 38, is the northerly lot and has B-1 Zoning. The second lot to the south, legally described as Lot 39, has R-4 Zoning. The existing building that has been on the site for many years straddles the lot line between those two lots. Staff is recommending rezoning the southerly parcel B-1 so it is consistent with the historic and current use of the property, which is of commercial use. That is a brief explanation of the proposed rezoning. Moving to the Special Use permit request, in the B-1 Zoning District automotive repair shops are Special Uses. The site has been used for Brendel’s Oil Change business for many years. Mr. Kamarinos, who is here tonight, is proposing to purchase the property and use it for a similar use. He would like to do a few more repair-type operations, including brake work, transmission fluid changes, etc. Staff decided it was an expansion of automotive use and he is proposing to do more than just oil changes and therefore a Special Use permit is required. This request is consistent with the Village’s Comprehensive Plan. First, this would promote commercial corridor beautification and combat blight, Page 2 of 13  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS April 1, 2013 particularly by preventing a vacancy; secondly, it would maintain and strengthen the Village’s tax base through the retention of a business. Mr. Kamarinos currently operates his Niles business at Milwaukee and Ballard. He is relocating his business within Niles. Lastly, seeking an appropriate mix of commercial and retail uses throughout the Village. The most complicated part of this proposal is the adjacent uses. Immediately adjacent to this business is an apartment building to the south. It is always tough when you have a residential use this close to a commercial use. Staff has said to Mr. Kamarinos there needs to be some type of a barrier between this business and a residential building to the south. Included in the packet is a rendering of a proposed guard rail/fence that will be required along the south property line from the front of the apartment building to the front corner of the business. The purpose of this railing is two-fold. First, to make sure vehicles stay on the property where the business is operated; second, to provide a visual barrier especially in the winter when it gets dark out early. Headlights and vehicle lights will not impact the residential building to the south. On page three in the Staff report, you may want to include the following findings of fact as the Zoning Board requires specific standards that have to be satisfied in order to grant a Special Use permit. First, is the Special Use necessary for the public convenience at the proposed location? Staff believes the proposed automobile repair business will provide vehicle maintenance services for the public and will therefore provide a public convenience. Second, is the Special Use designed, located and proposed so the public safety, health and welfare will be protected? Staff believes that Milwaukee Avenue is an appropriate place for this type of commercial business and the location has been occupied by an oil change business for many years and the proposed use for automobile repair shop is similar. Lastly, will the Special Use cause substantial injury to the value of other property in the neighborhood in which it is proposed to be located? Staff believes it will not. The proposed use is substantially similar to the current use and the requirement of the barrier wall is satisfied. Legal notification was provided as required. This is a recommending Board to the Village Board for a final decision. Commissioner Dubiel asked if the packet itself is a finding of fact. Chairman Kanelos said the findings of fact closely parallel the section under B where the Planner has issued the findings of fact. They are entered into the record and then they are given in written form in the final findings of fact Page 3 of 13  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS April 1, 2013 prepared by the Planner and signed by the Chairman and submitted to the Trustees. Commissioner Dubiel asked how specific the enforcement of the landscaping plan is. Mr. Sylvester said the idea is the landscaping shown in the plans would be installed. Anything similar would be acceptable. Commissioner Dubiel said since this repair shop is similar to the oil change business, does the Village need to look at some point at the Special Use categories and perhaps broaden the class that allows more dynamism. Mr. Sylvester said when they rewrite the zoning code, that is the kind of question they will ask. His opinion is they want to have broad definitions for similar land uses but there are instances when it needs to be more defined. Commissioner Schulter asked about the dimensions of the guard rail. There are none in the packet; and there is currently a fence in between. Who owns the fence? Mr. Sylvester said he requested the petitioner make sure the guard rail is sturdy enough to prevent vehicles from crossing over the lot line and that it will be tall enough to prevent headlights from shining into the apartment building. There is a fence in a state of disrepair. Brendel’s owns the fence but it is on the adjacent property. The barrier fence addresses the fact there is commercial land use right next to residential. Staff recommends the fence be on the business property, not the residential property. Once installed by the business owner, it is up to the owners of the residential property if they want to remove the old, existing fence that is on their property. Commissioner Schulter asked about the height of the fence. He said it would have to be six feet. He thought a fence dividing residential from commercial had to be six feet. Chairman Kanelos said no, it can be up to six feet. Mr. Ostman said he would get the code book to find out which height is correct. Page 4 of 13  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS April 1, 2013 Chairman Kanelos said they can make a decision and set a minimum height and say the fence has to meet the code requirements. Vice-Chairman Dimond asked if this fence will be made of wood. Mr. Sylvester said yes. Commissioner Dubiel said he understands despite who pays for or erects a structure, if it is on your property, then it is your property. He is not speaking of the case before them today. Mr. Annunzio said you could make that a condition that this doesn’t happen unless they do certain things. Chairman Kanelos asked the document labeled “Material List for Parking Lot Planting” be listed as Exhibit A 13-ZP-10. The rendering of the fence should be labeled as Exhibit B 13-ZP-10. Commissioner Dubiel thought they didn’t have to add these additional exhibits anymore. Mr. Annunzio said he thought that was changed since Bruce [Sylvester] is now on board. They don’t have to have everything spelled out specifically. Mr. Ostman said there was some discussion in regard to that. It’s not changed since six months ago. Chairman Kanelos then asked to withdraw what he stated as Exhibit A & Exhibit B. Now he requested the entire packet be listed as Exhibit A 13-ZP- 10. He then asked if there were any more questions for Mr. Sylvester from the Board or from the audience. There were none. He then asked the petitioner to step forward. Katherine Mueller and her husband John Mueller stepped forward and were sworn in. They are not the petitioners. They are the owners of the apartment building at 8649. They live at 8401 McVicker in Morton Grove, Illinois. Mrs. Mueller’s question is about the placement of the fence. She wants to make sure it goes from where it starts now to further along the lot. Mr. Mueller went to the overhead screen to show where the fence is now located. Page 5 of 13  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS April 1, 2013 Chairman Kanelos asked if the new fence starts where it does now and comes further forward, would that be satisfactory to the property owners. Mr. & Mrs. Mueller said yes. Mr. Sylvester went to the screen to show his recommendation for the location of the fence. It would be from the front corner of the business to the front corner of the apartment building. That satisfies the residential property owners. Mr. Mueller had a picture of the bumpers that are used against the lot line where there is no fence. The cars overhang or go over them onto his property. Commissioner Schulter said what if they recommend a fence all the way down the property but lower as it gets toward the front of the property where there are only bumpers now. Chairman Kanelos said that could be made as a condition when they get to that point. Mr. Ostman said the code states: Screening and Landscaping – all automobile parking areas containing more than four parking spaces shall be effectively screened on each side adjoining and fronting any residential property by a fence of not less than five feet or more than six feet; or a densely populated hedge. Commissioner Dubiel said if they are going to extend it further, they want to reduce that height because it would be an obstruction. Chairman Kanelos added the pictures of the existing fence Mr. & Mrs. Mueller provided as Exhibit B 13-ZP-10. Mr. Ostman’s recommendation is to put up a fence along the north side of the apartment building as previously described, but as you come out from the corner of that building towards Milwaukee Avenue, put up a guard rail. Commissioner Schulter said if they all agree about the guard rail going west from the building’s edge toward Milwaukee, how many feet high should that be. Page 6 of 13  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS April 1, 2013 Mr. Ostman said they would take an engineering standard height of a guard rail. Chairman Kanelos then called the petitioner to the podium. Andrew Kamarinos, 7113 W. Foster Ave., Chicago, Illinois came forward and was sworn in. He said he wants to be there for a long time and wants the neighbors to be content. He doesn‘t want to disrupt anyone’s life. Whatever the Board decides about the fence, he will do whatever it takes to make everyone happy. He runs a neighborhood repair shop; not a franchise. He’s an honest business man. He already has a good customer base in Niles and plans on staying here for the rest of his career. Vice-Chairman Dimond asked why he was relocating from farther north on Milwaukee Avenue. Mr. Kamarinos stated he is renting at that location and wishes to buy this location. The owner of the place he is in now went into foreclosure. He wasn’t aware of it and now it is being sold. He could stay with new owners but no longer wishes to be there. He’d rather purchase a place of his own. Commissioner Surace said where the petitioner is located now there are three stalls. The new location would have two stalls. What is going to happen to the cars that might have to be stored outside? Mr. Kamarinos said the majority of the work is same day service. Most of his customers tend to wait for their repairs. The two repair bays will be enough. Chairman Kanelos noticed a clothing donation box in the front of the property. That box is there illegally according to the ordinance. That would have to be taken care of. There have been notices put on that box but those notices have been taken down. That box has to be removed. Commissioner Dubiel wanted more clarification on the fence issue. Mr. Sylvester gave him assurance this meeting only deals with the fence on the business property, not the fence on the residential property. Chairman Kanelos asked if there were any more questions for the petitioner from the Commissioners. There were none. There were no questions from Page 7 of 13  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS April 1, 2013 the public. At this time he entertained a motion. Commissioner Dubiel moved that they recommend the Village Board approves Zoning Map Amendment/Rezone at 8657 N. Milwaukee Ave. from the current R-4 to the proposed B-1 zoning district. He also moved to recommend that the Village Board approves a Special Use Permit for an Automobile Repair Shop at 8657 N. Milwaukee Ave. as provided in Appendix B Section VIII (b)(3)(d) with six recommended conditions of approval: 1) No more than two vehicles may be stored overnight outside the building and the vehicles may not remain on the lot for more than two days. 2) Automobile storage is prohibited except as provided in the first condition. 3) All automotive repair work must be done indoors; outdoor work is prohibited. 4) Auto salvage, vehicle body repair and vehicle painting are prohibited. 5) A guard rail must be installed along the south property line from the western most point of the apartment building’s corner as well as a fence of similar material from that same corner going east to end of the apartment building. 6) Landscaping on the site shall be maintained as shown on the approved landscape plan included with the packet presented to this Board tonight. This recommended action meets all the requirements of the code. Chairman Kanelos asked Commissioner Dubiel to add the illegal donation box must be removed. Commissioner Dubiel then added item: 7) Any violations of the zoning code be rectified before this is approved completely. Chairman Kanelos then added it was the recommendation of Staff the fence go east to the beginning of the building belonging to the business, not all the way to the east end of the apartment building. Commissioner Dubiel corrected item 5 from above to 5) The guard rail will go from the western most edge of 8649 N. Milwaukee Ave to approximately the west end of the lot; the fence will Page 8 of 13  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS April 1, 2013 begin at the western most edge of 8649 going east to the western most point of 8657 N. Milwaukee Ave. The guard rail and fence will be on the 8657 property. Seconded by Commissioner Schulter, on roll call the vote was: AYES: 6 Dimond, Surace, Nakanishi, Schulter, Dubiel, Kanelos NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 1 Troiani There being six (6) affirmative votes the motion carried. Chairman Kanelos added this Board is a recommending Board to the Board of Trustees who can either confirm or negate this decision. It will be necessary for the petitioner to contact Mr. Ostman and ask to be placed on the Board of Trustees agenda. The petitioner will then be notified of the date. Anyone in the audience who would like to be informed as to the date this will be heard by the Board of Trustees, leave your name and address with the recording secretary. Chairman Kanelos called for the next item on the agenda. 13-ZP-11 Text Amendment to create rules requiring Plan Commission approval of new construction or other development activities for permitted use. Mr. Sylvester said this is a recommendation from Staff for a Text Amendment. This is something Mr. Sylvester and Mr. Ostman have discussed the last couple of months. They believe it would be an improvement to the procedures of the Village and would put in place some protections to make sure new buildings that might be proposed in the community get adequate review by this body. Currently if someone wants to build a new building for a Special Use, it would have to come through this body and ultimately be reviewed and approved by the Village Board. However as the rules or the ordinances are currently written, if someone wanted to put up a building for a Permitted Use it would not, according to current zoning rules, need any review or approval by this body or the Village Board. It would merely need to get a building permit. In many communities any new construction, regardless if it was for a Special Use or for a Permitted Use, at a minimum, would need to be reviewed and approved by the Planning Commission for compliance with the Village’s requirements. The difference in what is being recommended here is Special Uses would currently be Page 9 of 13  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS April 1, 2013 continued to go before the Village Board. But Permitted Uses would only need Plan Commission review approval. The recommendation would be new rules that would say new construction for Permitted Uses would require Plan Commission review and approval; then they could obtain building permits and proceed with their construction. It is a little less procedural than Special Use that goes to the Village Board but would be more of a review about proposed construction projects in the Village than the rules currently state. They are recommending that proposed new construction for Permitted Uses would not need public hearings and would not need neighbor notification. For instance, say a vacant lot is zoned commercial and someone wants to put a retail building on it [a Permitted Use]. Unlike today they could get a building permit and put up a building without this Board ever seeing it. They are recommending that rules be changed so they need to apply for review and approval in front of this Board. If this Board approves it, it would not go to the Board of Trustees and they could get building permits. That is the recommendation from Staff. Chairman Kanelos said in that case, where they are acting as the Plan Commission, that would not require notification of neighbors or public hearing. Right now it doesn’t require any review at all. Mr. Sylvester said correct. Mr. Ostman gave as an example the building that went up at Prospect and Oakton. Any type of new building like that would come in front of the Planning Commission but would not be forwarded on to the Village Board. Mr. Sylvester said they don’t want to make it overly bureaucratic and add delay or draw it out. But they believe it would be beneficial to the Village to have more oversight from some Body that represents the broader community when these new buildings are being proposed. This accomplishes the balance: more oversight, more review, more accountability but not lengthy, drawn out public hearings, public notice, Village Board procedures. Chairman Kanelos asked if they would be given a set of criteria to use for evaluating. That is a problem they had when they acted in an appearance review. Mr. Sylvester said initially the process would use the existing ordinance. There are parking requirements. This Board, with Staff’s input and Page 10 of 13  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS April 1, 2013 assistance, would say you have a 10,000 sq. ft. building that requires twenty parking stalls. You would verify that amount of parking is provided. A lot of that is done already by Staff but they think it would be appropriate to also have this Body be involved with that review. There was just a similar discussion with the fence for the previous agenda item. The ordinance already has requirements for where fences are required and the height of the fence; you [the Planning Commission] would review the proposal and make sure the existing ordinance requirements are being satisfied. At a future meeting there may be new requirements but at the moment there are plenty of requirements in the ordinance used to evaluate and base a decision on. Commissioner Nakanishi thought it might be redundant to review what Staff has already reviewed. Are you expecting this Board to act as an architectural review board? Mr. Sylvester said he didn’t think so. Vice-Chairman Dimond said she assumes this proposal would not apply to residential buildings with two or fewer dwelling units, correct? Mr. Sylvester said that is their recommendation. Vice-Chairman Dimond said given that, how many additional matters might come before this Board every month in terms of building permits that would normally come in during the course of a month they would not normally see because they don’t involve a Special Use. Mr. Sylvester said in the course of a year it would be a handful; perhaps two or three. They are trying to avoid a highly visible corner property and a big intersection; maybe someone tears a building down and puts up something and people say “how did that happen?” It is a Permitted Use that could happen. It may only be two or three cases a year, but it would be important to have fourteen eyes look at in addition to Staff. Vice-Chairman Dimond added if it complies with building code, there isn’t anything they could do about it anyway. Mr. Sylvester said part of the review would be to insure that Staff is aware of everything and the existing zoning requirements in the book are being satisfied. Page 11 of 13  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS April 1, 2013 Commissioner Dubiel feels this adds another layer of bureaucracy and redundancy. He went on to explain his concerns. An example discussed was the building at Oakton & Prospect. Apparently Yogli Mogli is so successful they can’t get any other tenants in the strip because of traffic from the yogurt place. Mr. Ostman said they want to get these things in front of this panel’s eyes to make sure they hit it right. Maybe the curb cuts could have been in a different location. Commissioner Nakanishi said it was good to hear there would be only a few of these cases in a year. At first she thought they’d be here until midnight every month. Mr. Ostman said no, think of the amount of new construction in the Village. It isn’t a lot. Commissioner Nakanishi asked why they are not including single family homes in this. Mr. Ostman said it is meant only for commercial buildings. Commissioner Dubiel said it is hard for him to understand where this fits in. They are redoing the zoning code and a whole series of things. He spoke with Mayor Blase five years ago in a casual conversation and asked how they put all this together. Mayor Blase replied there was no plan. It was very organic and it has been successful. He feels they are careful in controlling things now and to add an additional layer, even though other communities are doing it, Niles has a good reputation as far as being an easy place to develop. He would like to see some kind of history on this to see what it has done in other places. Did development go down or did it increase? He gave the area of North Avenue and Clybourn in Chicago as an example of how it has risen from twenty years ago. He’s not sure if more central planning is what they are missing. Chairman Kanelos asked if there were more comments or questions. There were none. He entertained a motion. Commissioner Nakanishi had one more comment. After hearing the Page 12 of 13  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VILLAGE OF NILES COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS April 1, 2013 discussion tonight, she thinks it is a good idea because it gives the Board an opportunity to have some kind of veto power. Commissioner Nakanishi moved to approve 13-ZP-11. Seconded by Vice-Chairman Dimond, on roll call the vote was: AYES: 5 Dimond, Surace, Nakanishi, Schulter, Kanelos NAYS: 1 Dubiel ABSENT: 1 Troiani There being five (5) affirmative votes the motion carried. DISCUSSIONS There were none. Chairman Kanelos then entertained a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Dubiel moved to adjourn. Seconded by Commissioner Schulter, on roll call the vote was: AYES: 6 Dimond, Surace, Nakanishi, Schulter, Dubiel, Kanelos NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 1 Troiani There being six (6) affirmative votes the motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Mr. & Mrs. John Mueller, 8401 N. McVicker, Morton Grove, IL 60053 would like to be notified of the date item 13-ZP-10 will be heard at the Village Board of Trustees meeting. They are the owners of the apartment building at 8649 N. Milwaukee Ave. Kathleen Janessa, Recording Secretary Page 13 of 13