Planning & Zoning Board

April 11, 2017 WHEATON PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL VOTE Chair Weller called the April 11, 2017 Wheaton Planning and Zoning Board meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Wheaton City Hall, 303 W. Wesley Street. Upon roll call, the following were: Roll Call Vote Present: Ron Almiron Nicole Aranas Chris Derrick Mark Plunkett Dan Wanzung Scott Weller Absent: Bob Gudmundson City Staff Present: Tracy Jones, Staff Planner II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - FEBRUARY 14, 2017 AND FEBRUARY 28, 2017 Mr. Almiron requested several changes to both sets the minutes. The Board deferred approval of these minutes until the next meeting and asked Mr. Almiron to work with Staff on the changes. III. PUBLIC COMMENT There was none. IV. NEW BUSINESS ZA # 17-10/ TEXT AMENDMENT AND SPECIAL USE PERMIT/ 1607 TAFT AVENUE/ CARRIERS OF LIGHT Pursuant to notice duly published on March 25, 2017 and letters mailed to neighboring property owners on March 23, 2017, Chair Weller called to order the April 11, 2017 public hearing requesting an amendment to the text of the Wheaton Zoning Ordinance, Article 18, C-3 General Business District to add “Schools (pre-kindergarten through eighth grade)” to the list of uses requiring a special use permit in the C-3 General Business District. The application is further requesting a special use permit to allow a School to operate out of the existing building located at 1607 Taft Avenue. The School would be a private school serving children in pre- kindergarten through sixth grade. The subject property would remain in the C-3 General Business District. Mark Daniel, 17W733 Butterfield Road, Oakbrook Terrace was sworn in. Mr. Daniel stated that he was the attorney working for the applicant, Carriers of Light, an Illinois not-for-profit corporation. He stated that Carriers of Light is a private school for grades pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. The school currently has 66 students and operates out of the Wheaton Islamic Center located at 900 East Geneva Road. He stated that they have submitted a combined text amendment and special use permit request to allow a School to operate out of the existing building located at 1607 Taft Avenue. Mr. Daniel stated that he was disappointed with staff’s reservations about the application. He stated that he disagreed with staff’s opinion that a school offering education to pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students is of a general character that is significantly different than the current permitted and special uses in the C-3 General Business District. He stated that Schools are very similar to Nursery Schools, which are a permitted use in the C-3 District. He stated that the Wheaton Montessori School is considered a Nursey School but offers education to students beyond nursery school age.  Wheaton Planning and Zoning Board April 11, 2017 Page - 2 - of 3 Mr. Daniel stated that the subject property at 1607 Taft Avenue is zoned C-3 General Business District, .6 acres in size and currently improved with a 5,550-square foot, one-story building that was originally constructed in 1982. It was most recently used as office space by a building maintenance services company. The site has direct access to Taft Avenue and access to Roosevelt Road via an existing cross access easement with the adjacent property to the north located at 1600 E. Roosevelt Road. He added that there are plans to reconfigure the existing parking spaces on the eastern edge of the 1600 E. Roosevelt Road property to match the existing traffic flow pattern. Mr. Daniel stated that a proposed floor plan has been submitted for the building. The first floor includes eight classrooms, staff office and bathroom facilities. During school hours, the applicant plans to use the drive aisle and the parking spaces to the west of the building as an outdoor recreation area for the students which is shown on the proposed site plan. Mr. Daniel stated that the subject property has 30 existing parking spaces. The Zoning Ordinance requires .25 parking spaces per student or 23 parking spaces for 92 students. There are 11 parking spaces to the north of the building, 7 parking spaces to the west of the building and 12 parking spaces to the east of the building. Traffic will flow around the building in a clockwise fashion as it does today. As previously mentioned, during school hours the applicant plans to use the drive aisle and the parking spaces to the west of the building as an outdoor recreation area for the students, reducing the overall number of parking spaces to 23. Joseph Abel, 200 Forest Avenue, Glen Ellyn was sworn in. Mr. Abel stated that he was the planning consultant working for the applicant. Mr. Abel stated that he was disappointed with staff’s reservations about the application. He stated that he disagreed with staff’s opinion that the subject property, as well as most of the C-3 General Business District properties, are insufficient in size to accommodate a school use. He stated that there are many schools in the area, especially private schools, with similar lot sizes. Javier Millan, 9575 W. Higgins Road, Rosemont was sworn in. Mr. Millan stated that he was the traffic consultant working for the applicant and his firm just finished a traffic study/ memo for the site that was distributed at the public hearing. Mr. Millan stated that their analysis concluded that the existing number of parking spaces was adequate and the proposed use would not negatively impact traffic flow on Taft Avenue. Mr. Daniel addressed the special use permit standards as required by the Zoning Ordinance. He stated that the proposed special use permit would not be detrimental to the public health, safety, morals, comfort, convenience or general welfare of the neighboring property owners. Rand Diab, 348 Tamerton Parkway, Burr Ridge was sworn in. Dr. Diab stated that she was the founder and a current member of the Board of Directors for Carriers of Light. She stated that she was disappointed with staff’s reservations about the application. She added that while the zoning districts that permit schools represent the majority of the City, it was very difficult for them to find a location in Wheaton with an existing building that could be easily retrofitted for a school use. Lora Fausett, 117 W. Union Avenue, Wheaton was sworn in. Ms. Fausett stated that she was the Chairperson for HOME DuPage, the owner of the 1600 E. Roosevelt Road building. She stated that she was not aware of any existing cross access easements or plans to reconfigure the existing parking spaces on the eastern edge of the 1600 E. Roosevelt Road property. Terry Cannella, 804 S. Prospect Street, Wheaton was sworn in. Mr. Cannella stated that he was concerned with the future expansion of the school and security in the neighborhood. Kathy Amen, 1606 Taft Avenue, Wheaton was sworn in. Ms. Amen stated that she thought the traffic counts were impacted by spring break and an ongoing construction road project on President Street. Syad Hussain, 607 E. Illinois Street, Wheaton was sworn in. Mr. Hussain stated that he has three children that attend the school and he was supportive of the text amendment and special use permit request.  Wheaton Planning and Zoning Board April 11, 2017 Page - 3 - of 3 Zohra Mohajir, 806 Cherry Street, Wheaton was sworn in. Ms. Mohajir stated that she just purchased a home in Wheaton to be closer to the existing school and she was supportive of the text amendment and special use permit request. John Wylie, 1S671 Verdun Drive, Winfield was sworn in. Mr. Wylie stated that he represents First Presbyterian Church of Wheaton and they were supportive of the text amendment and special use permit request. Robert Young, 120 S. President Street, Wheaton was sworn in. Mr. Young stated that he was supportive of the text amendment and special use permit request. Dr. Diab stated that the subject property is for sale and other commercial uses could be worse for the neighborhood than the proposed School. She added that they have limited time to find an alternate location for their school and if the combined text amendment and special use permit request is not approved for the subject property, they may have to close the school. Mr. Derrick moved and then Mr. Almiron seconded the motion to continue the public hearing until April 25, 2017 to provide additional time for public comment and discussion by the Planning and Zoning Board. On a voice vote, all voted aye. V. MISCELLANEOUS Chair Weller stated this was the last meeting for Mr. Derrick. The Board and Staff thanked Mr. Derrick for his service to the City of Wheaton the past five years. VI. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Derrick moved and then Mr. Plunkett seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:05 p.m. On a voice vote, all voted aye. Respectfully submitted, Tracy L. Jones, Staff Planner