Planning & Zoning Board

August 8, 2023 Wheaton Planning and Zoning Board I. Call To Order and Roll Call Vote Chair Aranas called the Tuesday, August 8, 2023, 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 Chris 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 - July 11, 2023 The minutes were approved as presented. III. Public Comment There was none. IV. New Business ZA #23-15/ Rezoning & PUD/ 100 W. Roosevelt Road/ Wise Capital Fund Chicago 1 LLC Pursuant to notice duly published on July 20, 2023 and letters mailed to neighboring property owners on July 19, 2023, Chair Aranas called to order the August 8, 2023 public hearing requesting a rezoning of the property located at 100 W. Roosevelt Road to the R-5 Residential District with a special use permit for a planned unit development to allow the two existing office buildings to be converted into two multi-family dwelling buildings. The multi-family dwelling development would contain eight apartments in each building, totaling sixteen units, and eighty surface parking spaces. In consequence of the special use permit for a planned unit development, the following exceptions to the Wheaton Zoning Ordinance are being requested: 1. Per Article 6.6.2a.1a - A southern parking lot perimeter landscape setback ranging between 14.0 - 15.0 feet in lieu of the required 15.0 feet. 2. Per Article 6.6.2b.1a - A western parking lot perimeter landscape setback ranging between 9.0 - 10.0 feet in lieu of the required 15.0 feet.  Wheaton Planning and Zoning Board August 8, 2023 Page 2 of 4 3. Per Article 2, Usable Open Space Definition - Open space (contiguous to and provided for private usage of the individual dwelling units) of 0.0 square feet in lieu of the required 70.0 square feet. Henry Che, Wise Capital Fund Chicago 1 LLC was sworn in. Mr. Che stated that he was the developer working on the project. The subject property is located at the southwest corner of Roosevelt Road and Main Street. The property is 64,143 square feet (1.47 acres) in size and is currently zoned O-R Office Research District. The property is improved with two office buildings and eighty on-site parking spaces. While both office buildings are located outside of the floodplain, most of the existing on-site parking spaces are in the floodplain. He added that the existing buildings are 40% occupied and most of the tenants are month-to-month with one long-term tenant. Mr. Che stated that given the limited demand for office space on Roosevelt Road, he is proposing to rezone the property to R-5 Residential, which is Wheaton’s lowest density multi-family district. The R-5 District requires 4,000 square feet of lot size per dwelling unit that contains more than two bedrooms. With a lot size of 64,143 square feet and sixteen units, the applicant is proposing a lot size of 4,009 square feet per dwelling unit. Eduard Livanu, Blue Lines Architecture was sworn in. Mr. Livanu stated that he was the architect working on the project. The existing office buildings are two-stories with a red brick facade. Since no changes are proposed to the exterior of the buildings, his client has provided exterior photos of the buildings in lieu of elevations. Each building would be converted into eight apartments. His client has provided floor plans for each floor of the two buildings. Each apartment would have four bedrooms and the size of the units would range between 1,014 and 1,469 square feet. He added that there is a shortage of four bedroom units in Wheaton. Ms. Horejs questioned who the target market was for the four bedroom apartments. She further questioned why the applicant did not consider 3 bedroom units with more common space. She added that the amount of common space provided in the four bedroom units was very small, especially for a young family with kids. Mr. Che stated that the target market is college/ grad students and young families, and he believes there is a market for the product. Mr. Gudmundson questioned the anticipated rent for the apartments. Mr. Che stated that the rent would be around $3,800. Mr. Gudmundsson stated that most young families could not afford $3,800 in rent. Staff Planner Jones stated that the multi-family dwelling development is proposed to contain eight apartments in each building, totaling sixteen units, and eighty surface parking spaces due to existing conditions. The Zoning Ordinance requires 2.25 parking spaces per dwelling unit; however, the existing parking lot would equate to 5 parking spaces per dwelling unit. With a surplus of 44 parking spaces for the proposed multi-family development, staff would recommend the replacement of some of the existing parking spaces adjacent to the existing single family residences with green space. This would meet the Roosevelt Road Corridor Plan goal of minimizing excess parking, reduce or eliminate the parking lot perimeter landscape setback variations, and would address the usable open space requirement for the development. Mr. Che stated that he was hesitant to remove any of the existing parking spaces from the site.  Wheaton Planning and Zoning Board August 8, 2023 Page 3 of 4 Staff Planner Jones stated that the applicant submitted a landscape plan that generally shows the areas of existing landscaping but no proposed landscaping. She added that much of the existing landscaping is in poor condition. Mr. Wanzung stated that the detention area was not safe for children without having some type of barrier on the retaining wall. He questioned why a landscape plan showing the new plantings was not submitted. Mr. Che stated that he wanted to provide the landscape plan with the new plantings during the permitting process. Mr. Gudmundson stated that there is an existing refuse enclosure albeit not in good condition. He questioned whether the applicant was willing to replace the refuse enclosure and screen the HVAC equipment. Mr. Livanu stated that they were willing to replace the refuse enclosure and screen the HVAC equipment, most likely with landscaping. Roberta Stewart, 109 E. Park Avenue, Wheaton was sworn in. Ms. Stewart stated that she supports a rezoning to residential but thinks this is a poor plan. She added that she would prefer 8 owner occupied townhomes instead of 16 rental apartments. Trung Vu, 129 W. Park Avenue, Wheaton was sworn in. Mr. Vu stated that he was concerned that the redevelopment of the site would worsen the flooding/ drainage issue in the area. Philip Moscatel, 100 W. Roosevelt Road, Wheaton was sworn in. Mr. Moscatel stated that he was an existing office tenant, and that he was opposed to the rezoning of the property to residential. He added that the property was a great location for office space and vacancy rates would improve if the owner invested more money in the property. James Stark, a Wheaton resident, was sworn in. Mr. Stark stated that he was concerned with the redevelopment of the property given the existing floodplain on the property. He added that the property smells like sewage and he believes that there are cracked sewage pipes on the property. He further stated that he believes the applicant wants to create a Section 8 housing development on the property. The Board discussed the application in detail. Most of the board was in favor of the concept of rezoning the property from office to multi-family residential, however they felt the application was lacking critical details. The Board requested additional information on the target market, floor plans, a revised site plan converting some of the existing parking spaces to green space, and a more detailed landscape plan. Mr. Gudmunson moved and then Mr. Wanzung seconded the motion to continue this public hearing until a future date when the applicant can provide the board with the additional/ revised information requested. On a voice vote, all voted aye. V. Miscellaneous There was none. IV. Adjournment  Wheaton Planning and Zoning Board August 8, 2023 Page 4 of 4 Mr. Plunkett moved and then Mr. Derrick seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:40 p.m. On a voice vote, all voted aye. Respectfully submitted, Tracy L. Jones, AICP Staff Planner