City of Warrenville Plan Commission/Zoning Board of Appeals met March 23.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
A. CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Cosgrove called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
B. ROLL CALL
PC Present: Tim Cosgrove, Byron Miller, Jessica Tullier, Mark Taylor, Bob Vavra, Rachael Fawell, Carla Sanfilipp, Kennedy Hartsfield
Excused/Absent: Erin Schultz
ZBA Present: Tim Cosgrove, Byron Miller, Jessica Tullier, Mark Taylor, Bob Vavra, Carla Sanfilipp
Excused/Absent: Erin Schultz
Also Present: Community and Economic Development Director Ron Mentzer, Assistant Community Development Director Consuelo Arguilles, Planner/GIS Technician Jack Maszka, Permit and Zoning Technician Chris Santos
Not in Attendance: Mayor Brummel
C. NEW BUSINESS
1. 4575 Weaver Parkway/Synata Bio/Steve Luna
Located on the west side of West Street, North of Diehl Road Project No. PUD-2023-0001 (Public Hearing)
CHAIRMAN COSGROVE MADE A MOTION TO OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR 4575 WEAVER PARKWAY. COMMISSIONER TULLIER SECONDED. CHAIRMAN COSGROVE ASKED FOR A VOICE VOTE. MOTION PASSED UNAMIMOUSLY VIA VOICE VOTE.
MOTION CARRIED.
Chairman Cosgrove stated that the applicant did not complete the Public Hearing requirements in time for the March 23, 2023 meeting and the applicant has requested the public hearing to be continued to the April, 6, 2023 meeting.
CHAIRMAN COSGROVE MADE A MOTION FOR THE PLAN COMMISISON TO CONTINUE THE MEETING TO APRIL 6, 2023. COMMISSIONER TULLIER SECONDED.
CHAIRMAN COSGROVE ASKED FOR A VOICE VOTE. MOTION PASSED UNAMIMOUSLY VIA VOICE VOTE. MOTION CARRIED.
D. OTHER BUSINESS
1. 2023 Plan Commission (PC) / Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) Calendar
Assistant Community Development Director Arguilles presented the revised Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals Public Hearing Schedule. ACDD Arguilles stated the revised Public Hearing Schedule has been re-formatted to be simpler for applicants to follow in order to meet the initial deadline for applicant submittals and Public Hearing Sign Post deadlines in order to get on the agenda for an upcoming Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals meeting date. The revised schedule also has notes that Public Hearing cases are typically two meetings and that the Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals will make either final determinations on, or advisory recommendations to the City Council on, the approval, conditional approval, or denial as provided in the City Code. Internally this would give staff extra time to review applications and prepare staff reports.
Chairman Cosgrove supported the revised Public Hearing Schedule.
ACDD Arguilles stated that City staff will post the revised Public Hearing schedule on the city website.
2. Informational Update Form-Based Code Initiative
Assistant Community Development Director Arguilles provided a brief update to the Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals regarding the Form-Based Code Initiative.
ACDD Arguilles stated the workgroup has chosen Codametrics as the preferred vendor for this initiative and on Monday, March 20, 2023, City Council authorized the approval for a professional services agreement with Codametrics. The planning process is expected to start in May of 2023 and will take about a year to complete.
Commissioner Hartsfield asked what Codametrics scope of services will include.
ACDD Arguilles stated that Codametrics will work on zoning ordinance amendments with intent to allow mixed use development and missing middle housing in certain areas of the City of Warrenville.
Commissioner Hartsfield requested periodical updates be presented to the Plan Commission with the ongoing process when they become available.
Chairman Cosgrove mentioned that Codametrics will create a project website and link it to the City website for everyone to view.
Community and Economic Development Director Mentzer stated that in Codametrics scope of services there are multiple touch points for Codametrics to present and gain feedback from the Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals. Codametrics will also gain input from the public and city stakeholders.
3. Informational Update on Special Census
ACDD Arguilles stated the City of Warrenville requested a Special Census to be conducted due to the numerous multi-family residential developments complexes that have been completed and have since been mostly occupied since the last Census was done back in the year 2020. The City of Warrenville wants an accurate population count. ACDD Arguilles mentioned the City has requested a cost estimate from the Special Census Bureau however, the application forms for that special request are not available yet. City staff will continue with that process as soon as the applications forms become available from the Special Census Bureau.
4. Duplex Discussion
ACDD Arguilles stated the current code regulation allows duplexes only in the R-6 Residential Zoning District and requires a special use to be allowed in the R-4 Residential Zoning District.
City staff has seen little to no applications to develop duplexes in these districts and sees the current code does not encourage developments of duplexes in this district due to the various restrictions set in the code. ACDD Arguilles opened up the floor for comments or suggestions from the Plan Commission to rectify this issue.
Chairman Cosgrove mentioned that there are a few houses in other zoning districts that are legally non-conforming and suggested the Plan Commission discuss having certain areas that do not require special uses in order to streamline the process and encourage more multifamily homes to be built.
Commissioner Miller supports the potential change in the code to allow for more multi-family homes. Commissioner Miller suggested scaling back the minimum regulation of 900 square feet of ground floor per dwelling to 600 square feet.
Commissioner Fawell asked if the R-5 Residential District also needs a special use to build a duplex.
ACDD Arguilles confirmed that R-4 and R-5 Zoning Districts would need special uses to build duplexes in those districts.
Director Mentzer confirmed that there have been no applications to build a duplex in R-4 and R-5 districts. Director Mentzer stated that those districts require a special use which requires the applicant to go thru the process of a public hearing to get approved. This discourages developers from submitting an application for development. Director Mentzer also stated that the current zoning ordinance requirements are exorbitant and shared one example that points to the minimum lot size in those districts which is 7,000 square feet per dwelling unit. If a developer was to build a duplex on top of the minimum lot size then that would require the lot size to be 14,000 square feet. It would be feasible to build two single family homes rather than one duplex. Director Mentzer acknowledge that the zoning ordinance would need to change.
Commissioner Hartsfield asked if the City has a housing plan that covers all the zoning districts.
Director Mentzer mentioned the City of Warrenville Housing Action Plan covers all the plans and direction regarding the current housing plan and will forward that information to the Plan Commission.
ACDD Arguilles encouraged the Plan Commission to submit ideas and City staff will provide previous studies to the Plan Commission regarding this subject in hopes that in the near future minor text amendments will happen.
5. Review Actual Parking Use Data for New Apartment Projects
Director Mentzer reviewed with the Plan Commission an analysis of the parking use of four different apartment complexes in the City of Warrenville. In the research, City staff inspected each of the apartment complexes current parking use and compared it to the apartment parking ordinance that was approved. In the research, Director Mentzer stated overall there is a significant underuse of parking in each apartment complex and an adjustment to the parking ordinance is needed. Director Mentzer mentioned that having unutilized space is costly for ownership and occupants.
Commissioner Fawell asked how the amount of parking spaces required is calculated for each of the four apartment complexes.
Director Mentzer stated these number of parking spaces are calculated based on the information the applicants supplied when they made their case for their parking variances. Director Mentzer went on to explain that the applicants used examples of other projects that they have developed and City staff also researched what other communities have approved and saw that the information provided was consistent to show that there were no issues in regards to the number of parking the applicant was requiring.
Commissioner Vavra suggested that the Plan Commission consider the peak times where the unused parking spaces would be used. Examples would be family gatherings, holiday gatherings, and other various parties that would require the use of the additional parking spaces. Commissioner Vavra supported the idea to scale back the parking variance to a comfortable rate.
Chairman Cosgrove suggested adding land banking to future projects which is in the city code where the unused areas are left as green space and when needed is developed for parking.
Commissioner Hartsfield asked if the City has combined or separate sewer and rain water systems.
Director Mentzer confirmed that that the sewer and rain water systems are separate in the City.
Commissioner Miller suggested to research the parking occupancy at different times of the day to get more data in order to justify a text amendment for parking variances.
E. PUBLIC COMMENTS*
None.
F. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. Regular Meeting March 9, 2023
CHAIRMAN COSGROVE MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES AS AMENDED OF THE MARCH 9, 2023 MEETING, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MILLER. CHAIRMAN COSGROVE ASKED FOR A VOICE VOTE. COMMISSIONER HARTSFIELD ABSTAINED. MOTION PASSED. MOTION CARRIED.
G. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Chairman Cosgrove stated that there was an article in the Chicago Tribune that reported on the success of an office building that was converted to micro apartments. The converted building had many amenities that encouraged the mixture of young and senior age groups to use. Chairman Cosgrove mentioned the City of Warrenville has vacant office buildings and a project like this should be considered if proposed.
H. COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Community and Economic Development Director Mentzer stated that City staff is actively working on an incentive package for Chicken N Pickle. Director Mentzer mentioned that Chicken N Pickle is currently testing the market with other municipalities to see which area best suits their needs.
Director Mentzer also announced his upcoming retirement. Director Mentzer’s last day is May 26, 2023. Each Commissioner thanked Director Mentzer for his 29 years of service.
I. ASSISTANT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR’S REPORT
No Report.
J. PLANNER’S REPORT
Planner Maszka informed the Plan Commission that two Public Hearing Notices have been sent out and will be on the agenda for the next meeting. They include the text amendments for the allowance of more than one adult use cannabis dispensaries and the other is multiple zoning ordinance text amendments that need to be revised.
K. ADJOURN
COMMISSIONER TULLIER MOVED, SECONDED BY CHAIRMAN COSGROVE TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 7:48 P.M. MOTION ADOPTED UNANIMOUSLY VIA VOICE VOTE.
https://www.warrenville.il.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_03232023-1218
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