Industrial & Commercial Development Commission

1 APPROVED 2 MINUTES OF THE VILLAGE OF NORTHBROOK 3 INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION 4 5 Village Hall Terrace Room 6 November 27, 2012 7 8 Members Present: Chairman Patrick Lederer, Brian Lee, Curt Wilens, Larry Herskovitz, Richard 9 Rushkewicz, Susan Elfant, Mark Freeman, David Gottlieb, and Dick Leopold. 10 11 Members Absent: Jill Narens and Tensley Garris 12 13 Staff Present: David Schoon. 14 15 Call to Order & Introductions 16 Chairman Lederer called the meeting to order in the Terrace Room of Village Hall at 7:34 a.m. 17 18 Review of Minutes: 19 On a motion made and seconded, the minutes from the October 23, 2012 ICDC meeting were approved as 20 presented. 21 22 Public Comment- Hear from the Audience 23 None 24 25 Community Planning and Economic Development Coordinator Report 26 Schoon reported on the following: (1) Board generally receptive to a proposed townhome development 27 near Landwehr and Willow, along Willow Road, but thought the 32 units were too many; (2) Planning & 28 Zoning Committee discussed the developer’s approved 14-lot subdivision on Dundee Road and its desire to 29 pursue something slightly more dense and suitable in today’s market; (3) the potential capacity of a 30 regional downtown stormwater basin behind the Village Hall is being studied; (4) early next year the Village 31 will be pursuing amendments for the downtown consistent with the downtown plan; (5) consultant 32 studying sanitary sewer capacities along Skokie Boulevard; (6) staff met with A-Z Industries and adjacent 33 residences regarding noise, traffic and outdoor storage; (7) met with representative of the owner of 34 Sanders Court regarding the economic health of the center and their interest in additional signage. 35 36 Updates Regarding Potential Projects Along Skokie Boulevard 37 Schoon made a presentation regarding the following sites and proposals, and Commission members 38 presented comments. 39 40 1000 Sunset Ridge – A 188-unit assisted housing project has been approved by the Village Board and in for 41 building permit. 42 43 430 Dundee Road – Owner of the Marathon station is interested in constructing a Dengeo’s restaurant with 44 a drive-through facility. Commission members expressed concerns regarding the restaurant being able to 45 sit on the site, how would a drive through actually work as proposed, and adding a high traffic user on this 46 corner would be problematic because it is already so difficult to enter and exit the site. A couple of 47 members expressed skepticism that the project would be successful given the difficulties of accessing the 48 site. 49 50 770 Skokie Boulevard – The contract purchaser would like to develop 107,000 square feet of commercial 51 space, including a Mariano’s, and 416 luxury residential rental units in a 10-story structure. A rezoning  ICDC Meeting Minutes November 27, 2012 1 and/or code amendment would be necessary for the project to move forward. A comparison of the 2 proposed project with the Center of the Northshore project was also presented. The developer is looking 3 for greater FAR and residential floor area than is currently allowed as well as looking to be allowed to have 4 smaller parking stalls as well as be required to have only 1.5 parking spaces per residential unit. Most 5 Commission members expressed that they thought the project would be a welcome addition to the 6 community and that the proposed project was a better fit than the previous Center of the Northshore 7 project. Commissioners indicated that the project will add traffic to an already congested intersection. 8 Some also indicated a concern regarding how it would impact existing grocery stores in the community, in 9 particular Sunset Foods. Other members felt that the store will give additional options to not only those in 10 Northbrook, but also residents of communities to the east. 11 12 Member Wilens left the meeting. 13 14 1000 Skokie Boulevard. Walmart is interested in pursuing an approximate 150,000 square foot Walmart 15 that would have both general merchandise and a full grocery department. The soonest the Board will hold 16 a preliminary application on the request would be in December. Walmart is meeting with the neighbors, 17 and the Village has already started to hear from the neighbors who are opposed to the project. 18 19 Discussion Regarding Property Maintenance in the Downtown 20 Schoon presented information regarding the boundaries of the downtown, which are the Village Green 21 Overlay District and photos of property maintenance issues of most concern in the downtown, which 22 included: (a) condition of exterior facades; (b) condition of pavement surfaces; (c) graffiti; (d) location and 23 condition of outdoor storage; (e) location, screening, and condition of outdoor trash receptacles; (f) tall 24 grass and weeds; and (g) condition of required parking landscaping requirements. 25 26 During the presentation of information, Commission members made comments and asked questions. The 27 general discussion focused on what the Village can do to ensure that downtown properties are properly 28 maintained and have an attractive appearance. There was some disagreement regarding what rose to 29 level of concern regarding property maintenance and how to ensure properties are maintained at that 30 level. Some members stated that the Village has invested millions in downtown streetscape 31 improvements and has developed a plan to encourage further improvements. The Village should expect 32 downtown property owners to maintain their properties at some minimum level, and the Village should be 33 more proactive in enforcing a minimum level of property maintenance. Other Commission members 34 indicated that there is a cost associated with whatever the Commission may recommend and that the 35 Commission should keep those costs in mind. 36 37 Some Commission members felt that as long as the pavement surfaces did not have any safety concerns, 38 the Village should not create standards regarding appearance of the surfaces, while other Commission 39 members expressed that the poor appearance of the surface leaves a bad impression. 40 41 There appeared to be some agreement that the Village should be more proactive regarding a few items 42 such as tall grass and weeds, graffiti, litter, and broken windows and unsafe items. 43 44 Regarding outdoor dumpsters, some Commission members felt that the dumpsters should be screened as 45 is required for new developments. Other Commission members felt that the added cost of requiring that 46 they be screened not be placed on the downtown properties. A Commission member suggested that the 47 Village establish a 50/50 cost sharing program for improvements such as screening dumpster or outdoor 48 storage areas. Member Herskovitz moved that the ICDC recommend to the Village Board that the Village 49 require all garbage and recycling bins within the Village Green Overlay District be screened from public  ICDC Meeting Minutes November 27, 2012 1 view. Member Freeman seconded. After a brief discussion, the motion was approved by a vote of 6-2 2 (Lederer and Leopold voting no). 3 4 Member Leopold stated that he was concerned of the message that the Commission would be sending with 5 such a recommendation. The Commission should first take an overall position regarding the Village’s 6 approach on property maintenance. He suggested that a recommendation be that the Village should be 7 more active through cooperative techniques and enforcement measures to ensure that downtown 8 property are properly maintained. Chairman Lederer concurred. He stated that the Commission is running 9 out of time today and that they should talk about the issue at its next meeting. He would hate to forward 10 the one recommendation without a more comprehensive approach. Member Leopold moved and 11 Member Rushkewicz seconded that the previous recommendation be rescinded and that staff present at 12 the next Commission meeting a general statement recommending that the Village become more proactive 13 with property enforcement issues in the downtown and to start identify ways in which that could occur 14 based upon comments made by the Commission today. The motion was approved unanimously. 15 16 New Business 17 None 18 19 Old Business 20 None 21 22 Next Meeting 23 The next ICDC meeting had been scheduled as a Joint Meeting with the ICDC on Wednesday, January 9. 24 The Commission will also hold its regular monthly meeting on Thursday, January 22. 25 26 Adjourn 27 On motion made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned at 9:40 a.m. 28 29 Respectfully Submitted – David Schoon