Planning and Zoning Board

VILLAGE OF NILES 1000 Civic Center Drive Niles, IL 60714 www.vniles.com Approved Meeting Minutes Monday, June 5, 2017 7:00 PM Village Hall Planning and Zoning Board Chairman Thomas Kanelos Members Susan DeBartolo Morgan Dubiel Ted Kar abatsos Barbara Nakanishi Thomas Parala Robert Schulter Angelo Troiani, Emeritus Staff Lia ison Bruce Sylvester CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Planning and Zoning Board Approved Meeting Minutes June 5, 2017 _________________________________________________________________ _______ The Niles Planning and Zoning Board was called to order at 7:01 P.M. All rose for the Pledge of Allegiance. PRESENT: 6 Chairman Thomas Kanelos, Commissioners Ted Karabatsos, Susan DeBartolo, Barbara Nakanishi, Thomas Parala, Morgan Dubiel Also present was Director of Community Development Charles Ostman, Senior Planner Bruce Sylvester, Village Attorney Danielle Grcic and Commissioner and Secretary Emeritus Angelo Troiani. Commissioner Robert Schulter was not present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Kanelos asked if there were any additions, clarifications or corrections to the minutes of May 1, 2017. There were none. Commissioner Dubiel moved to approve the minutes of May 1, 2017. Seconded by Commissioner DeBartolo, on roll call the vote was: AYES: 4 DeBartolo, Nakanishi, Parala, Kanelos PASS: 2 Dubiel, Karabatsos ABSENT: 1 Schulter There being four (4) affirmative votes the motion carried. OLD BUSINESS – None Chairman Kanelos announced that item 17-ZP-10 has been withdrawn from tonight’s agenda. Village Attorney Grcic stated this is based on the Director of Community Development’s withdrawing his rejection of the business license for that location. Commissioner Dubiel asked about future reference of this particular section of the zoning code. Mr. Ostman stated this particular section with other sections of the zoning code (adopted one year ago) is being reviewed by Bruce Sylvester and will then be moved to the Building and Zoning Committee for review and then it will come back to this Board for consideration. NEW BUSINESS Page 2 of 8 Planning and Zoning Board Approved Meeting Minutes June 5, 2017 _________________________________________________________________ _______ 17-ZP-9 Requesting approval of a ‘medical clinic ’ special use permit per Village Ordinance Appendix B, Section 8.2(A) and parking credits per Village Ordinance 15.10(E) to allow a physical therapy business to operate at 9519 Milwaukee Avenue. 17-ZP-10 Appeal of a Zoning Interpretation of Village of Niles Zoning Ordinance Section 8.2(B) which prohibits an insurance agency from operating at 7111 Dempster Street. DISCUSSIONS ADJOURNMENT Chairman Kanelos called for the first item on tonight's agenda. 17-ZP-9 Requesting approval of a ‘medical clinic ’ special use permit per Village Ordinance Appendix B, Section 8.2(A) and parking credits per Village Ordinance 15.10(E) to allow a physical therapy business to operate at 9519 Milwaukee Avenue. Bruce Sylvester presented this case. This location is a multi-tenant strip mall just south of Toys R Us. The special use permit will be going to the Village Board so this Board will be making a recommendation to them regarding approval of a medical clinic. This Board will also be voting on required parking credits. This Board is the authority to approve or deny such parking credits that are required for this business. The applicants are in attendance. They want to operate a physical therapy business, namely Fyzical Creative Therapy Resource, at this location. The space is currently vacant. It is 2,517 sq. ft. in area. The adjacent land uses are commercial. Other Village departments did not have any concerns regarding this proposed business. The applicants will explain how their request meets the Village’s four requirements listed on page 2 of the Staff report in tonight’s packet. This presentation will mostly discuss the parking situation. There is a summary of tenants and parking stalls in that same Staff report. The properties in this center and this particular tenant space require 74 parking stalls, 15 of which will be required by this proposed physical therapy business. Currently on site there are 36 parking stalls. For this reason, parking credits are required for this proposal. All required legal notifications have been both mailed to property owners within 250 ft. and published in the newspaper. Once again, any recommendation made tonight regarding the special use will go to the Village Board. Any decision made regarding the parking credits will be a final decision. There is an aerial photograph in the packet showing the exact location of the proposed business in the center. Chairman Kanelos asked if the parking credits and the special use need to be voted separately. Mr. Sylvester said they can be voted on separately if the Board wishes. Page 3 of 8 Planning and Zoning Board Approved Meeting Minutes June 5, 2017 _________________________________________________________________ _______ Chairman Kanelos said but without the parking credits the special use is…. Mr. Sylvester said they require both. Chairman Kanelos asked if there were parking credits given in the past. Mr. Sylvester said he believes the other tenants in this center are all older businesses. They are mostly retail, with the exception of the salon. Retail businesses do not need parking credits. Chairman Kanelos asked how is it they don’t need parking credits if they’re violating the amount of parking needed. Mr. Sylvester said businesses that require more parking in an area where there is a shortage of parking need to go through this process to make sure they can share parking. For multi-tenant centers with less than 80,000 sq. ft. certain uses do not require any special parking review or approval. Other businesses that require 4 or more parking stalls per 1,000 sq. ft. of floor area do require review if there is insufficient parking. There is a different set of rules for multi-tenant centers with more than 80,000 sq. ft. Chairman Kanelos said for example Sleepy’s Mattress is 5,250 sq. ft. Based on 3 per 1,000 they would require 16 spots. So if another retail business of 2,500 sq. ft. were to go in, they would require 8 spots. They could come in without any action from this Board, require 8 more spots…….. Mr. Sylvester said correct. Another example would be if a restaurant wanted to come in which required 10 stalls per 1,000, similar to this business, they would need to go through this process to make sure they aren’t going to create problems for the other tenants. Commissioner Dubiel said there has been a change in the verbiage – it states spirit and attempt regarding special use – can this wording be revisited. When the Board is told there are no comments from any other departments, that also means there are no concerns. So the police have no input here in terms of accidents or problems with this particular mall. Another thing is Sleepy’s Mattress; most of their square footage is taken up by mattresses themselves. Therefore the volume of parking listed there is dense for a mattress shop. Chairman Kanelos said that is a good point but not germane to this case. Commissioner Dubiel said he feels it is because he doesn’t see how this mall has functioned all this time with over volume. He’d also like to hear the answer to how they operate with 59 required spaces and only 36 allowed. Mr. Sylvester said he is not aware of any problems. Page 4 of 8 Planning and Zoning Board Approved Meeting Minutes June 5, 2017 _________________________________________________________________ _______ Commissioner Dubiel mentioned the types of businesses located in the mall. There is a high end chandelier store with probably low volume. Mr. Sylvester said the numbers in the table (in Staff report) are the amount of parking spaces required for each business based on the zoning ordinance and the area of that business. The purpose for the parking credits language in the ordinance is for this exact discussion. There may be some parts of town where there is a huge parking problem. This development does not have that problem. Commissioner Dubiel said there are 36 parking stalls and they are referring to parking in the rear. Is that count complete? Mr. Sylvester said 36 include stalls in the back. There are 10 stalls in the rear and 26 in front. Commissioner Nakanishi said she can’t recall that lot ever being full. But if it is full, people would park in Toys R Us. Commissioner Karabatsos spoke of Starbucks in the next center to the south as well. When that overflows they park in the lot we are now addressing. Chairman Kanelos also said he doesn’t recall seeing that lot full. He added when Staff states there is a concern about parking, that is strictly on paper, not in reality, correct? Mr. Sylvester and Mr. Ostman both stated correct. Chairman Kanelos asked if there were more questions for Staff from the Commissioners. There were none. He called for the petitioners to come to the podium to be sworn in. Jeanne Cleary, 4 N. Schoenbeck Rd., Prospect Hts., IL and Cynthia Flosi, 2532 Elm St., River Grove, IL came forward and were sworn in. They are the owners and professionals that will be operating this business. Ms. Cleary said they don’t feel there would be a parking issue. They see one patient at a time. There would be 3 therapists working plus one other receptionist or staff member. They wanted this type of space because they cater to neurological disorders, balance and vestibular disorders and they want people to only walk a short distance into the building. Their patients tend to be handicapped; some doctors’ offices are very hard to enter. They also picked this space because it is a busier area and the space itself is bigger than their current place in Des Plaines. They plan to open a small retail area so they can offer patients exercise equipment, orthotics, canes, etc. They don’t have the space for that in their current location. Chairman Kanelos said when you filled out the application, one of the criteria “is the proposed special use deemed necessary for the public convenience at the Page 5 of 8 Planning and Zoning Board Approved Meeting Minutes June 5, 2017 _________________________________________________________________ _______ proposed location”. He said there is another physical therapy location just south of the one they are requesting. Ms. Cleary said yes. Their specialty is completely different. Her business does more geriatric, neurological & balance; the business down the street is more sports oriented. Commissioner DeBartolo asked if they had to make any parking stalls bigger or put in more handicapped spots. Ms. Cleary said the owner of the center stated when it comes time to re-do the lot, there is one handicapped spot that can be moved closer to their business. As long as the parking is close, she doesn’t feel they need more than one. Ms. Flosi said they don’t get that many people in wheelchairs. They just need help walking. Commissioner Dubiel asked if they are seeing patients every hour. And do the patients stay around or tend to leave and go home. Ms. Cleary said yes, every hour. And they generally leave when they’re done. Chairman Kanelos asked if there were any questions from the other Commissioners. There were none. There were no questions from the public either. He then entertained a motion. Commissioner Dubiel moved to approve 17-ZP-9 requesting approval of a ‘medical clinic’ special use permit per Village Ordinance Appendix B, Section 8.2(A) to allow a physical therapy business to operate at 9519 Milwaukee Avenue. The information in the packet and testimony heard tonight support this petition. Seconded by Commissioner DeBartolo, on roll call the vote was: AYES:6 Dubiel, Karabatsos, DeBartolo, Nakanishi, Parala, Kanelos NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 1 Schulter There being six (6) affirmative votes the motion carried. Chairman Kanelos stated 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. Page 6 of 8 Planning and Zoning Board Approved Meeting Minutes June 5, 2017 _________________________________________________________________ _______ Commissioner Dubiel moved to approve the parking credits for 17-ZP-9 per Village Ordinance 15.10(E) to allow a physical therapy business to operate at 9519 Milwaukee Avenue. The testimony packet received by the Commissioners supports this parking credits approved tonight. This Board has the final say on parking credits. Chairman Kanelos asked if there needed to be any kind of criteria for approving parking credits. Mr. Sylvester said unlike special uses and variations, parking credits do not have specific standards that have to be satisfied. Seconded by Commissioner DeBartolo, on roll call the vote was: AYES:6 Dubiel, Karabatsos, DeBartolo, Nakanishi, Parala, Kanelos NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 1 Schulter There being six (6) affirmative votes the motion carried. DISCUSSIONS ADJOURNMENT Chairman Kanelos made a motion to adjourn. Commissioner DeBartolo moved to adjourn. Seconded by Commissioner Dubiel, on roll call the vote was: AYES:6 DeBartolo, Nakanishi, Parala, Dubiel, Karabatsos, Kanelos NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 1 Schulter There being six (6) affirmative votes the motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Page 7 of 8 Planning and Zoning Board Approved Meeting Minutes June 5, 2017 _________________________________________________________________ _______ Kathleen Janessa, Recording Secretary Page 8 of 8