Industrial & Commercial Development Commission

1 APPROVED 2 MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE VILLAGE OF NORTHBROOK 3 INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION 4 Village Hall Terrace Room 5 October 28, 2014 6 7 Members Present: Chairman Patrick Lederer, Mark Freeman, Tensely Garris, David Gottlieb, Larry 8 Herskovitz , Brian Lee, Dick Leopold, Jill Narens, Richard Rushkewicz, and Thomas Washburn. 9 Members Absent: Curt Wilens 10 Staff Present: David Schoon, Mike Strong, Tom Poupard 11 Guests: Tim Grzeisigkowski of TMA of Lake-Cook, Steve K. (Allstate) 12 13 Review of Minutes 14 On a motion made and seconded, the minutes from the September 23, 2014 ICDC meeting were 15 approved as submitted. 16 17 Public Comment- Hear from the Audience-None 18 19 Community Planning & Economic Development Coordinator Report 20 David Schoon, Village Staff Liaison, provided updates regarding the following: (1) NorthShore 770 21 construction; (2) efforts to acquire a portion of right of way from 430 Dundee Marathon Station for 22 Dundee Road right-of-way widening; (3) Lifetime Fitness’s interest in 1000 Skokie Blvd. for a mixed use 23 project; (4) the Plan Commission recommendation of approval for the cell tower at the YMCA, 2705 24 Techny; (5) The Plan Commission recommendation of approval of rezoning of 60 Revere Drive from I1 to 25 O2; (6) The Plan Commission public hearing on Dunkin Donuts located at 2775 Dundee Rd and its 26 request for the Applicant to redesign the site; (7) The Plan Commission and Architectural Control 27 Commission’s recommendations for approval of the proposed PNC Bank on the NorthShore 770 site; (8) 28 property owner at Dundee Rd. and Anthony Trail still interested in constructing 7500 sq. feet; (9) the 29 Shermer and Janke applicant is still working on plans to convert to a mini warehouse storage facility; 30 (10) at the October 14 meeting the Board approved to allow the medical cannabis facility in the O4 31 District (Skokie Blvd.) but by only special permit; (11) The Plan Commission recommended approval of 32 the assisted living facility at 99 Pointe Drive; (12) The County Board referred the Mission Hills project 33 back to the County Zoning Board of Appeals. They will meet on November 10. On November 11 the 34 Board has an agenda item to consider a resolution objecting to the zoning of the development that it is 35 not consistent with the Village Comprehensive Plan for open space; (13) A resubmittal for staff review 36 was just received for the Pulte homes project on Jasper Court on the north side of Willow Road for 18 37 units; (14) During a recent preliminary application review, the Board found that the residential project 38 proposed for the Anetsberger property at Voltz and Waukegan okay, but some commented that the 39 homes were too packed together and the density; (14) Jacobs Homes is working on submitting a 40 preliminary application for Downtown C1 properties located along Shermer Rd.; (15) Next Monday the 41 Downtown Zoning Committee will meet to talk about zoning code amendments for the downtown (16) 42 Schoon reported he attended the International Council of Shopping Centers earlier in the month; (17) 43 The Chamber and Village continue to work on the holiday Shop Northbrook Campaign on Comcast; (18) 44 the EDC continues to meet quarterly and is discussing its role in promoting economic development; and 45 (19) The Annual Joint Review Board met and discussed the TIF District. 46 47 Shuttle Bus Service Presentation 48 Tim Grzeisigkowski made a presentation regarding the Shuttle Bug Program on behalf of Bill Baltutis  ICDC Meeting Minutes October 28, 2014 1 from the Transportation Management Association (TMA) of Lake Cook. The Shuttle Bug program is a 2 program by which Metra and PACE partner with businesses by running buses between Metra stops and 3 employment centers. The program allows a workforce to be attracted from a wider area. Metra and 4 Pace pick up 50% and employers the other 50%. A dedicated route from the Lake Cook train station to 5 Sky Harbor currently exists. A new route from Braeside in Highland Park to Sky Harbor will be added 6 later this year. 7 8 The process to conduct an analysis for a new Shuttle Bug route takes time. A question to ask is if there is 9 enough of a market demand for the new route. Shuttle Bug is focused on larger employers or office 10 buildings due to the fact that a large number is needed to financially justify the route. A member asked 11 if there could be a common stop where small business employees could meet. The answer was yes, but 12 those small businesses would have to be assessed to cover the cost of the operation. 13 14 To start a Shuttle Bug route, research is needed and grant funds need to be secured from another 15 source along with a test run before Pace and Metra contribute funds. Pace offers an area van pool and 16 van shuttle program for small markets. If the Village wanted to do a survey, TMA would be willing to 17 help. Member Garris asked what a typical assessment cost is. Costs can vary due to the number of 18 participating companies. 19 20 Another member questioned if anything happened when an individual rode the bus route but did not 21 work for a participating company. The route is treated like a public bus route, and the monies are 22 covered by the 25% funded by Pace and Metra. Another member recommended that shelters would 23 be great along Commercial Avenue to protect riders from the weather. 24 25 Chairman Lederer thanked Mr. Grzeiskigkowski for the useful information regarding the program. 26 27 Food Truck Regulations 28 David Schoon introduced Mike Strong who has been the lead staff person working on the issue of food 29 trucks. The Communication and Legislation Committee of the Board will meet soon to talk about the 30 new regulations, and since the ICDC commented on the original proposed regulations, staff is seeking 31 input from the Commission. Strong presented background information. This past May the Board of 32 Trustees approved two ordnances establishing new food regulations and fees. 33 34 There are three specific classes of food trucks and associated license fees. He also reviewed the 35 standards regarding where mobile food trucks can locate in the community. He reported that there are 36 currently ten food trucks in Northbrook this year. Some challenges remain with parking enforcement. 37 38 Feedback has been received from a downtown property owner, a downtown restaurant, and a 39 restaurant located at Dundee and Sanders roads. Only two negative letters have been received to 40 date. Member Freeman stated his concern that allowing mobile food trucks from outside the area 41 doesn’t seem consistent with the Shop Northbrook Campaign, which is to encourage people to shop and 42 dine at Northbrook businesses. A couple of members noted that the ice cream truck noise seems to far 43 exceed current noise regulations. Member Narens stated that she is in favor of Pete Weiss delivering 44 and promoting his Northbrook restaurant and Northbrook based food truck. Member Freeman stated 45 his concerns with regard to enforcement of food safety. The City of Evanston only allows licensed food 46 service establishments within Evanston hold a food truck license. 47 2  ICDC Meeting Minutes October 28, 2014 1 The Commission concluded that the new food truck regulations have only been in place for a relatively 2 short period of time. There does not seem to be any significant issues with the new regulations, and 3 that the Village should let them remain as is before considering making any changes. 4 5 Business Survey 6 Schoon reviewed the draft survey form with Commission members. The purpose of the form is to use 7 as a script when meeting with business owners/managers. Commission members had the following 8 suggestions to the form: 9 1. Scales from 1-5 be consistent for qualitative measuring 10 2. The form asks “What business are you in?” Is this a critical information or can it be aggregated? 11 3. A NA column should be inserted by “rating the quality of the following services” 12 4. Information on spousal employment is not necessary 13 5. Streetscapes and roads and highways question can be combined into one 14 6. Combine college level and secondary education line item 15 7. Provide a comment area for positive feedback 16 8. If people are not aware of child care, a NA column should be inserted 17 9. Ask “What does the Village do well?” and provide room for comments 18 10. How can we improve? 19 20 Commission members discussed that the goal is to create and receive feedback to begin to identify 21 issues facing the local business community. 22 23 The Commission decided that the Village would partner with the Chamber regarding conducting the 24 survey. At a future meeting, a training session will be offered to instruct Commission members how to 25 conduct an unbiased interview, how to listen, and be observing. 26 27 Old Business – None 28 29 New Business 30 Tensley Garris thanked everyone who attended and offered their support at the Chamber of Commerce 31 Annual Auction on October 27. The Chamber is running an article in its newsletter on fire inspections 32 hoping to provide good information on the process with contact information. Information will be added 33 to the chamber website on how to prepare for an inspection. 34 35 Next meeting is scheduled for November 25. The date may change. The December 23 meeting will likely 36 be rescheduled or cancelled. 37 38 Adjourn – 39 On motion made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned at 9:05 a.m. 40 41 Respectfully Submitted – Sue Anetsberger 42 3