Architectural Control Commission

1 APPROVED 2 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING 3 ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL COMMISSION 4 VILLAGE OF NORTHBROOK 5 COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS 6 May 12, 2016 7 8 Commissioners Present (6) 9 Alan Schwall, Chairman 10 F. Dirk Heidbrink 11 Lori Jordison 12 Robert Katz 13 David Menn 14 Christopher Urbanczyk 15 16 Members Absent: (1) 17 Clifford Town 18 19 Others Present 20 Irv Leavitt, Pioneer Press 21 Representative from Modern Signs for Mattress Firm 22 Representative from Signarama for American Center for Spine & Neurosurgery 23 24 Village Staff Present 25 Thomas Poupard, AICP, Director, Development & Planning Services 26 Sandy Frum, Village President 27 Colleen Brunner, Recording Secretary 28 29 Call to Order 30 Chairman Schwall called the meeting to order in the Terrace Room of Village Hall, 1225 Cedar Lane, at 31 5:30 p.m. 32 33 Roll Call 34 Roll was established. There was a quorum. 35 36 Review of Minutes 37 On a motion made and seconded the minutes were approved with the following change; page 3, 38 sentence 1-2. Delete Rooftops are purple along Shermer Road. 39 40 Public Comments Regarding Items Not on the Agenda 41 There were none. 42 43 Replacement Sign in NS 770 Development- Mattress Firm (replacing Sleepy’s) 788 Skokie Blvd 44 45 Mr. Poupard noted that Mattress Firm recently bought Sleepy’s mattress stores and as a result they are 46 replacing all of the signs. This application would replace the existing signs located on the east and west 47 sides of the building. The proposed signs are code compliant, same height but wider. It will be similar in 1  1 color, size and located in the same locations. Member Katz asked if the signs complied with the code 2 requirements and Mr. Poupard responded that they did. 3 4 Commissioner Menn made a motion to approve the change, it was seconded by Member Katz. On a 5 voice vote, all approved. 6 7 Commissioner Jordison arrived at 5:35 p.m. 8 9 New Sign in NS 770 Development- American Center for Spine & Neurosurgery 798 Skokie 10 11 Mr. Poupard described the sign request by American Center for Spine & Neurosurgery to occupy a small 12 tenant space in NS770. The sign contractor from Signarama noted that the two signs would be on the 13 east and west sides of the building. Mr. Poupard noted that the store has only 12 feet of frontage so it 14 will “borrow” signage space from the existing tenants, Noodles & Roti. The shopping center owner has 15 agreed to this approach and as a result, all signs will still be code compliant. The proposed signage is the 16 same height as the existing signs on the walls. The sign has a blue return box and border with the white 17 lettering illuminated. The Commission discussed the placement and box details. It was recommended 18 by them that the return box be black and the placement of the sign be moved over the appropriate 19 door. The sign representative agreed that these were good recommendations and agreed. 20 21 Commissioner Heidbrink made a motion to approve “the sign at 796 Skokie, Unit 102 for the American 22 Center for Spine & Neurosurgery as originally presented May 6th with a black box, blue trim and 23 centering the sign over the rear entrance door. “ The motion was seconded by Member Menn and on a 24 voice vote all approved. 25 26 Update on Construction Progress at 3465 Techny- Synagogue 27 28 Mr. Poupard noted that the Commission requested a six month update on the building permit when the 29 building extension was approved in December. Mr. Poupard noted that construction appears to be on 30 or ahead of schedule. 31 32 New Single-Family Home Elevations: 33 a. 2395 White Oak Lane 34 After reviewing the packet materials, Commissioner Menn made a motion to approve the elevation as 35 presented. It was seconded and all approved. 36 37 Discussion with President Frum Regarding the Role and Responsibilities of the ACC 38 39 Chairman Al Schwall explained that when the Commission first started out they reviewed subdivisions 40 and larger developments, so the ACC had a purpose. Currently there are very few traditional 41 subdivisions and new development is mostly PUD’s or single lot infill. These really don’t require ACC 42 review since the rules govern “anti-monotony”. Village staff could handle most of those reviews. By the 43 time a PUD or large development gets to the ACC most of the review has been covered by the Plan 44 Commission and the role of the ACC is unclear. If the ACC has comments, it is late in the process 45 requiring the developer to once again make changes. The Commission’s current function is to review 46 design and feel their talents and duties are limited and wasted. They want clarity on what the 47 Commission’s future role should be. 2  1 2 President Frum remarked that the Board does hear the ACC and their concerns. She is proud that 3 Northbrook does not have the pretty police in regards to design. She agreed that most future 4 developments will be PUD’s and feels the ACC should be involved as they are professionals in the 5 appropriate fields. She questioned how we get the ACC & Plan Commission to work together on design, 6 conformity, etc. 7 8 Schwall recommended that all the different committees review a project at the same time so all the 9 comments could be considered at once by a builder or developer. In addition, having the meetings 10 closer together or timing them so commissions could be reviewing projects at the same time would be 11 beneficial. 12 13 Member Katz stated that in other towns the submittal process is that the preliminary concept goes to 14 the Plan Commission. They recommend some tweaks, and then it goes to the ACC and back to the Plan 15 Commission. 16 17 Frum stated she can ask for a meeting with the chairs of the ZBA, Plan Commission, Board and ACC to 18 figure out various responsibilities of the Commissions. She will take the ACC’s increased role to the 19 Board for discussion. 20 21 Tom Poupard will check with other municipalities to compare what their Commissions roles entail. 22 23 New Business- None 24 25 Old Business - None 26 27 Adjourn 28 There being no further business there was a motion made and seconded to adjourn the meeting. On a 29 voice vote, the motion unanimously carried and the meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m. 30 31 Respectfully submitted, 32 33 34 Colleen Brunner 35 Recording Secretary 3