Industrial & Commercial Development Commission

1 APPROVED 2 MINUTES OF THE VILLAGE OF NORTHBROOK INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION 3 Village Hall Terrace Room 4 April 28, 2015 5 Members Present : Chairman Patrick Lederer, Tensley Garris, David Gottlieb, Larry Herskovitz, Brian Lee, 6 Dick Leopold, Richard Rushkewicz, Thomas Washburn, and Curt Wilens. 7 Members Absent: Mark Freeman, Jill Narens 8 Staff Present: David Schoon, Assistant Director, Development and Planning Services 9 Public Present: None 10 Recorder: Sue Anetsberger 11 Review of Minutes 12 On a motion made and seconded, the minutes from the February 24, 2015 ICDC meeting were approved as 13 submitted. 14 Public Comment-Hear from the Audience-None 15 Community Planning Report 16 David Schoon, Village Staff Liaison provided information regarding the current status of development 17 projects that can be found on the Village’s website. (1) NorthShore 770 continues to move along. Zengeler 18 should be in by the middle of June and Mariano's is projected to open later in the summer. The residential 19 component is scheduled for 2016; (2) 430 Dundee Marathon station owner and the Rehab Institute 20 continue with their negotiations; (3) The formal application has been submitted for 1000 Skokie for 21 Children's Learning Adventure, Lifetime Fitness and an apartment building. (4) Village Green Center an 22 approved three-story mixed use building is delayed; (5) Dunkin Donuts at 2775 Dundee has been approved; 23 (6)Metro Storage at 2121 Shermer was approved and is ready for a building permit to be issued; (7) 990 24 Skokie has a new developer. Lock Up will enter the preliminary application process going forward; (8) 4201 25 Lake Cook, a 900 unit self storage facility is proposed at Lake Cook and Sanders. The applicant is interested 26 in Class 7c property abatement program; (9) Waterway Gas & Wash located on Waukegan Rd. received 27 their building permit; (10) Meadow Park Office Complex - Lurie Children's Outpatient Clinic is planned for 28 September and Bright Horizon's is planned for October; (11) the Board approved the transfer for the Class 29 6b on the property at 885 Sunset Ridge to Barilla ; (12) the recently created Industrial Commercial Services 30 Zoning District has been rezoned for two physical fitness facilities at Raymond and Shermer and a training 31 facility at Holste Rd., formal applications have been received for a self-storage facility at Janke and Shermer, 32 an auto repair facility at Carlson and Shermer, and rezoning is requested for a large property on Holste but 33 a user has not yet been identified; (13) Downtown District C3 signage states exterior signs cannot be more 34 than 20 feet from grade. A property owner requested identification for his tenant on the second floor. The 35 applicant is evaluating its options; (14) Fitness 19 will be converted to Aesthetic Athletic at Sanders and 36 Dundee, Old Navy will return by TJ Maxx at Village Square; (15) the Accelerator Center seeks the ability to 37 hold events on their turf field with alcohol and seeks to allow beer and wine service on a daily basis in the 38 gym and the perimeter of the turf; (16) 99 Point Drive Memory Care building permit should be issued soon; 39 (16) Timber's Edge is recommended for final approval; (17) The applicant for Willow Crossings at Landwehr 40 and Willow withdrew their application; (18) the proposed Edward R. James residential project at Voltz and  ICDC Meeting Minutes – April 28, 2015 1 Waukegan will appear before the Plan Commission next Tuesday. They are requesting a reduction in the 2 amount of school, park and library impact fees. The school districts are not interested in reducing the fees; 3 (19) The Lodge submitted a formal application for phases 4-5; (19) A complete formal application has yet to 4 be received from Jacob's Homes. All of the properties are under contract; (20) A formal application has not 5 yet been received for the proposed subdivision located on Landwehr north of Willow; (21) A formal 6 application is anticipated for an assisted living facility at Techny and Shermer (Patriot Partners Care Center); 7 (22) Mission Hills - Red Seal has an application for final plat approval ; (23) Downtown Zoning Code - The 8 Village reached out to owners and property owners to gather their input. The Board authorized consulting 9 services to work on streetscape improvements in the downtown area and to identify additional on-street 10 parking in the downtown ; (24) Tonight's Board meeting discussion will include the amending of the zoning 11 code regarding some special permit items such as authorizing minor SP and variation changes, authorizing 12 SP ownership transfers, and allowing Board exceptions; (24) 2012 International Codes will go in effect on 13 May 2, 2015. Codes change every six years. IBC, IRC, IMC, IFGC, IFC, and ISPSC have been updated; (25)The 14 Mother's Day Facebook campaign with the Chamber has begun. 15 Pace Bus Shelter 16 David Schoon, Village Staff Liaison provided an update on his efforts with Pace. Pace worked with their 17 team to help identify a potential location at Commercial and Academy for a bus shelter. Shuttlebug routes 18 635 and 640 pass the eastbound location where the non ad shelter would reside. Schoon provided a power 19 point presentation with schematics showing average daily ridership. Another location was identified but is 20 no longer viable. If the Village or the community pays for the pad, the shelter can be in place much sooner. 21 Schoon will speak with Public Works about providing the resources for the pad to speed up the shelter 22 process. If the Commission wishes to continue to proceed with the project, Schoon stated that the cost of 23 constructing the pad could be put in the sidewalk budget for next year's CIP. Chairman Lederer inquired as 24 to the restrictions if a property owner was interested in installing the concrete slab. Schoon replied that a 25 permit would need to be secured from the Village and the project would need to meet Pace's standards. 26 One commissioner stated that the location was very attractive and another stated that it would benefit 27 ridership. The recommended location for the new shelter is in the center of the business park. Tensley 28 Garris asked if ads are allowed on the new shelter, how would that affect other shelters within the Village. 29 Business Survey 30 David Schoon asked the Commissioners for feedback on their business survey visits. The visits are meant to 31 identify the benefits and challenges of conducting business in Northbrook. Eight completed reports have 32 been turned in to date. Interviewers reported having completed visits but not having the visits yet 33 transcribed. Some reported that it had been tough to schedule the interviews due to holidays and spring 34 break. Some Commissioners stated it was hard to get to the right person. Follow up phone calls were 35 necessary. Schoon suggested that if an owner was not available, another person within the business having 36 expertise should be sought out. One Commissioner shared that during his business interview, the 37 candidate stated that their large company had a hard time attracting employees. They shared that the rail 38 system is good but from the train to the worksite can be a difficult task. They stated that there is not 39 enough public/private transportation along Techny and Dundee especially within the interior of the Village. 40 Another business felt that they were unknown and had a difficult time attracting employees. An additional 2  ICDC Meeting Minutes – April 28, 2015 1 business spoke of construction taking place in front of their building. Taxes were a recurring theme 2 amongst the smaller businesses. South Shermer businesses stated power outage problems with Com Ed 3 were a problem. Very few low scores have been reported. Schoon asked how the survey worked as a tool. 4 Feedback given stated the survey was good for framework but weak for ranking. Overall, experiences were 5 reported to have been good and the conversations have been open. Interviewers were asked to stay on the 6 mission. If any interviewer replaces one business with another for the survey, please report to David 7 Schoon. Schoon asks that the interviewers email him as to the status of their project and if they needed 8 any help. Interviewers were asked to continue to submit visit and post visit forms. 9 Downtown Zoning Regulations 10 Ideas for Zoning Code changes came from recommendations from the Downtown Plan which involved the 11 community a few years back. The Downtown Zoning Committee, Village staff, and a consultant looked at 12 what could fit on potential redevelopment sites in the downtown area and what height and density would 13 be appropriate. Form based code is found in downtown areas when you think of pedestrian walkability. It 14 can also be assigned to shopping centers such as White Plaines and Sanders Court. Form based code 15 elements look at the form of the building, general features of the building on the exterior, and the 16 relationship of the building on the site with parking on the site. Current regulations contain zoning 17 regulations and design review guidelines. Currently the approach is what cannot be done, rather than what 18 we want to encourage. Zoning approach design guidelines are fairly general. The Downtown Zoning 19 Committee's perspective is (a) improve vibrancy in downtown by allowing additional development both in 20 height and bulk; (b) greater predictability, what are the rules and what is desired; (c) it's not about 21 architectural style but creating a pedestrian experience downtown. New regulations state every property in 22 the downtown would be rezoned to the new zoning district with regard to the form based aspects. 23 Downtown has been extended to South Shermer and a few parcels on the other side of Waukegan. VG 1 & 24 2 areas can go up to five stories by SP. VG5 frontage areas would be treated a certain way given that they 25 are across from residential developments. Primary streets are Meadow, Shermer and Waukegan. There are 26 four basic elements of the building forms (1) building placement, (2) parking placement, (3) height and use, 27 (4) how the street facade is treated. Form base code should help any new developer with executing their 28 development. Chairman Lederer stated he felt the Committee was moving in the right direction. Schoon 29 will come back to ICDC before the formal process so the Commission can make a formal recommendation. 30 The Code amendments are only for the downtown area. 31 New Business 32 Tensley Garris reported that the Chamber Annual Golf Outing and Dinner is scheduled for Friday, June 12th 33 and will be held at Sportman's Country Club. Business After Hours is scheduled for Thursday, May 21st 34 from 5-7 p.m. at Northview Bank & Trust, 245 Waukegan, Northfield. The Annual Legislative Luncheon is 35 planned for June 22nd and will feature Representatives Robyn Gabel and Elaine Nekritz and Senators Daniel 36 Biss and Julie Morrison. ICDC Commissioners are urged to support the Legislative Luncheon. 37 Adjourn 38 On motion made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned at 9:10 a.m. 39 Respectfully Submitted - Sue Anetsberger 3