Planning & Zoning Board

August 24, 2021 WHEATON PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL VOTE Chair Aranas called the Tuesday, August 24, 2021, Wheaton Planning and Zoning Board meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in-person and via zoom. Upon roll call, the following were: Roll Call Vote Present: Nicole Aranas Christopher Dabovich Chris Derrick Bob Gudmundson Cecilia Horejs Mark Plunkett Dan Wanzung Absent: None City Staff Present: Tracy Jones, Staff Planner Joe Tebrugge, Director of Engineering II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - AUGUST 10, 2021 The minutes were approved as presented. III. PUBLIC COMMENT There was none. IV. NEW BUSINESS ZA 21-20/ TEXT AMENDMENT AND PUD/ 250 E. ROOSEVELT ROAD/ QUATTRO DEVELOPMENT LLC Pursuant to notice duly published on August 4, 2021, and letters mailed to neighboring property owners August 3, 2021, Chair Aranas called to order the August 24, 2021 public hearing requesting an amendment to the text of the Wheaton Zoning Ordinance and a special use permit for a planned unit development to allow the construction and use of two commercial buildings, a 10,000 square foot nursery school and a 3,500 square foot urgent care facility (business and professional office) on the property commonly known as 250 E. Roosevelt Road. The subject property would remain in the O-R Office Research District. Chairs Aranas stated that the subject property is located at the southwest corner of Roosevelt and Naperville Roads. The property is approximately 1.65 acres in size and zoned O-R Office Research District. The property was previously occupied by a PNC branch bank facility with a drive-thru lane. Phillip Coover, Quattro Development LLC, 1100 Jorie Boulevard, Suite 140, Oak Brook was sworn in. Mr. Coover stated that he was the attorney working on the application. He stated that they are requesting an amendment to the text of Article 5 (Administration and Enforcement) of the Wheaton Zoning Ordinance to add the O-R Zoning District to the existing list of commercial zoning districts in which two of more structures may be developed on a single zoning lot as a planned unit development. He stated that they are further requesting a special use permit for a planned unit development to allow the construction and use of two commercial buildings, following the demolition of the existing structure, at 250 E. Roosevelt Road. The first  Wheaton Planning and Zoning Board August 24, 2021 Page 2 of 5 commercial building would be a 10,000 square foot nursery school with an outdoor playground and 35 on-site parking spaces (with the proposed use of a nursery school also requiring a special use permit). The second commercial building would be a 3,500 square foot urgent care facility (business and professional office) with 23 on-site parking spaces. Dylan Fuller, Global Power and Construction, 7S882 Camp Dean Road, Big Rock was sworn in. Mr. Fuller stated that he was the general contractor working on the project and that he was available if the Board had any questions. Daniela Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald Architecture Planning Design, 125 N. Halsted, Suite 400, Chicago was sworn in. Ms. Fitzgerald stated that she was the architect working on the project. She stated that the nursery school building is situated on the southwest corner of the site. The parking spaces for the nursery school are situated to the north of the building. There is a fenced outdoor playground on the south and west sides of the building and a dumpster enclosure at the southeast corner of the building. Ms. Fitzgerald stated that the urgent care building is situated on the northeast corner of the site. The parking spaces for the urgent care are situated primarily to the west of the building, with a small number of spaces to the north and south of the building. There is a proposed dumpster enclosure at the southeast corner of the building. Aaron Bruder, David Mason Associates, 333 S. Des Plaines, Suite 200, Chicago was sworn in. Mr. Bryder stated that he was the engineer working on the project. He stated that the existing vehicular access to the property is a combined full access in, right out drive approach off Roosevelt Road and separate drive approaches off Naperville Road. The applicant is proposing to provide a combined full access in, right out drive approach off Roosevelt Road further west than the existing one, away from the eastbound right turn taper as it approaches Naperville Road. The relocated drive approach off Roosevelt Road would be 14 feet from the west property line instead of the existing 85 feet. The applicant is further proposing to provide a right in drive approach off Naperville Road in the same location as the existing one and a right out drive approach off Naperville Road further north than the existing one to provide a larger landscape setback from the south property line. The relocated drive approach would be 8 feet from the south property line instead of the existing 3 feet. He further stated that the parking for the site would be shared, however 35 parking spaces are dedicated to the nursery school and 23 parking spaces are dedicated to the urgent care. Mr. Coover addressed the special use standards as required by the Wheaton Zoning Ordinance. He stated that the proposed special use permit for a planned unit development and the special use permit for the nursery school use would not be detrimental to the public health, safety, morals, comfort, convenience, or general welfare of the neighboring property owners. Mr. Dabovich stated that the proposed increase in traffic scares him. He added that the nursery school use would generate a lot of traffic during peak hours. He further stated that the access to the property would limit movements onto the property. Mr. Coover stated that some traffic may have to go around the block. Mr. Dabovich stated that the traffic going around the block would most likely increase cut through traffic in the adjacent residential neighborhoods, and this was a concern. Mr. Derrick questioned the specific height of the HVAC equipment on both buildings, the height of the screening material on the nursery school building, and the height of the parapet wall on the urgent care building.  Wheaton Planning and Zoning Board August 24, 2021 Page 3 of 5 Ms. Fitzgerald stated that the exact heights of the HVAC equipment has not been determined yet. She added that the screening material on the nursery school building and the height of the parapet wall on the urgent care building would be adjusted accordingly to make sure the HVAC equipment on both buildings was adequately screened. Mr. Gudmundson questioned the intent of the applicant to subdivide the property, the hours of operation for both the nursery school and the urgent care, whether there would be a drop off lane for the nursery school, and the status of the vehicular cross access with the neighbor to the west. Brett Dahlman, Quattro Development LLC, 1100 Jorie Boulevard, Suite 140, Oak Brook was sworn in. Mr. Dahlman stated that he was the developer and that they do intend to subdivide the property into two separate lots with shared parking. He added that the nursery school would be open from 7 am to 6 pm on weekdays and the urgent care would be open from 8 am to 8pm daily. He added that the nursery school would not have a drop off lane; parents would park and then walk their children into the nursery school. Elan Walshe, Higher Ground Education, 10 Orchard, Suite 200, Lake Forest, California was sworn in. Mr. Walshe confirmed that the hours of operation for the nursery school would be from 7 am to 6 pm weekdays and that there would not be a drop off lane. He added that the drop-off and pick-up times are not defined by the nursery school, and that rather they are based on the parent’s preference. Mr. Coover stated that there is a license agreement from 1969 that states that a vehicular cross access with the neighbor to the west is required until at which time the property has a direct access to Roosevelt Road. Since the property has a direct access to Roosevelt Road now, they no longer believe that the cross access is required. However, that said they are willing to attempt to provide another cross access, but the site grading may make this difficult. Mr. Gudmundson questioned whether the applicant was agreeable to the condition of installing an 8 foot fence along the south property line. He added that he was disappointed to not see grading on the preliminary engineering plans and he questioned whether the proposed dumpster location for the nursery school would block a window shown on the elevation. Mr. Dahlman stated they were willing to install the 8 foot fence along the south property line, if necessary. Ms. Fitzgerald stated that they would review the dumpster location for the nursery school to make sure it’s not blocking a window. Ms. Horejs questioned whether a drop-off plan with a preferred entrance and exit would be established for the nursery school. She further questioned parking for special programs, parent teacher conferences, and food service deliveries. She questioned whether the applicant was agreeable to the condition of one ground sign. Jocelyn Scotty, Higher Ground Education, 10 Orchard, Suite 200, Lake Forest, California was sworn in. Ms. Scotty stated that they don’t have special programs and many of the parent teacher conferences are held remotely. She added that food service deliveries for lunch would occur daily during the mid-morning hours. Mr. Dahlman stated that while they would prefer two ground signs on Roosevelt Road, they were willing to have only one shared ground sign on Roosevelt Road, if necessary. Mr. Plunkett questioned the grade on the west side of the nursery school in relation to the adjacent neighbor. He further questioned the frequency of ambulance calls for the urgent care.  Wheaton Planning and Zoning Board August 24, 2021 Page 4 of 5 Mr. Bruder stated that there would be a modular block retaining wall at the edge of the outdoor playground to flatten out the grade. Mr. Dahlman stated that ambulance calls do occur, but they are not a day to day occurrence. Mr. Plunkett stated that he was concerned how the modular block wall would impact the view of the adjacent neighbors to the south and west. He added that a rending of the proposed wall would be helpful to visualize what is being proposed. Mr. Wanzung questioned if the reason for the recent decline in traffic accidents noted in the traffic study was due to the bank being vacant. Mr. Dahlman stated that he wasn’t sure why there was a recent decline in traffic accidents noted in the traffic study, and unfortunately the traffic consultant was not present to answer this question. Mr. Wanzung requested that the applicant discuss the four variations that are being requested. Ms. Fitzgerald stated that the variations include the following: A building setback variation for the southeast corner of the proposed nursery school building, two parking lot perimeter landscape setback variations, and a building perimeter landscape setback variation for the proposed urgent care building. Staff Planner Jones stated that even through the applicant is requesting perimeter landscape setback variations for both the north and south property lines, the applicant is proposing more landscaping than exists today. Chair Aranas questioned that if DuPage County allows a full access in off Roosevelt Road, whether west bound traffic on Roosevelt Road, waiting to turn left into the development, would be able to wait on a painted median. She further questioned the colors of the urgent care building. Mr. Bruder stated that west bound traffic turning left into the development would wait on a painted median. Mr. Dahlman stated that the urgent care building would be a burnt orange brick with tan trim. Craig Henninger, 222 E. Roosevelt Road, Wheaton was sworn in. Mr. Henninger stated that he owns the adjacent property to the west and there is no storm sewer outlet at the southwest corner of Roosevelt and Naperville Roads and this issue has prevented the construction of the parking lot on his property, since the cost to install one is cost prohibitive. He added that he reached out to the applicant about a combined project, with one shared drive approach, but that he never received a response from them. He added that he was concerned with the proposed view of the 6 foot retaining wall with a 6 foot tall fence on top of it from his property. He added that he was also concerned about the increase in traffic from the nursery school use. Barbara Hall, 211 E. Park Avenue, Wheaton was sworn in. Ms. Hall stated that she was an adjacent neighbor, and she was concerned that this development would generate cut through traffic on both Park and Pershing Avenues. She further stated that no variations should be approved and then she submitted a letter that was incorporated into the record. Paula Brkich, 727 S. Naperville Road, Wheaton was sworn in. Ms. Brkich stated that she was an adjacent neighbor, and she does not support two businesses on this property. She further stated that she was concerned that the proposed development would reduce her property value and would generate more garbage, especially medical waste that should not be kept by a nursery school.  Wheaton Planning and Zoning Board August 24, 2021 Page 5 of 5 Elizabeth Hain, 724 Warrenville Road, Wheaton was sworn in. Ms. Hain stated that she was an adjacent neighbor, and she was concerned that this development would generate cut through traffic on both Park and Pershing Avenues. She added that she had reviewed google street view images of other urgent care buildings owned by the same company proposing this one and they are generally unkept. She further stated that the proposed urgent care building looks like an unattractive CVS, but that the proposed nursery school building looks nice. She added that the architecture of the two building should match if this development goes forward. John Hall, 211 E. Park Avenue, Wheaton was sworn in. Mr. Hall stated that he was an adjacent neighbor, and he is concerned that this development would generate cut through traffic on both Park and Pershing Avenues. Mr. Derrick questioned the history of the existing storm sewer problem at the southwest corner of Roosevelt and Naperville Roads. Director Tebrugge stated that the storm sewer problem at the southwest corner of Roosevelt and Naperville Roads occurred during a Roosevelt Road widening project in the late 1990’s and that the contractor fled without fixing the problem and has supposedly hide in South America ever since. The Board discussed the combined Text Amendment and PUD request and they collectively decided that additional information should be submitted before a recommendation is made to the City Council. Specifically, the Board requested the following information: 1. Direction from the City Attorney on whether the proposed text amendment is still necessary if the property is subdivided into two lots with shared site improvements and parking. 2. Additional information from staff on the existing vehicular cross access/ parking agreement from 1969. 3. Additional information from the applicant on traffic counts for the proposed urgent care/ daycare versus the former bank building, storm sewer outlet, unique foundation approaches for the urgent care building, and on the proposed site topography, including a rendering of the proposed modular wall to help the Board visualize the potential impact on the adjacent neighbors to the south and west. Mr. Dabovich moved and then Mr. Gudmundson seconded the motion to continue the public hearing until Tuesday, September 14, 2021. On a voice vote, all voted aye. V. MISCELLANEOUS There was none. VI. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Plunkett moved and then Ms. Horejs seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:01 p.m. On a voice vote, all voted aye. Respectfully submitted, Tracy L. Jones, Staff Planner