Dupage Policy Journal

Committee of the whole met Tuesday, March 7.

VILLAGE OF BARTLETT

COMMITTEE MINUTES

March 7, 2017

VILLAGE OF BARTLETT COMMITTEE MINUTES Page 1 of 8 REGULAR MEETING OF MARCH 7, 2017

President Wallace called the Committee of the Whole meeting to order at 6:08 p.m.

PRESENT: Trustees Arends, Camerer, Carbonaro, Deyne, Hopkins, Reinke,

President Wallace.

ABSENT: None

ALSO PRESENT: Acting Village Administrator Paula Schumacher, Assistant to the

Village Administrator Scott Skrycki, Acting Finance Director Todd Dowden, Director of

Public Works Dan Dinges, Public Works Engineer Bob Allen, Community Development

Director Jim Plonczynski, Assistant Community Development Director Roberta Grill,

Building Director Brian Goralski, Head Golf Professional Phil Lenz, Grounds

Superintendent Devin DeRoo, Food & Beverage Manager Paul Petersen, Chief Patrick

Ullrich, Village Clerk Lorna Giless and Village Attorney Bryan Mraz.

FINANCE & GOLF COMMITTEE

Trustee Deyne stated that they have the 2017-2018 Proposed Budget Presentation this

evening and he asked the staff to proceed.

Acting Finance Director Todd Dowden opened by welcoming all in attendance and

introduced the 2017-18 proposed budget presentation.

Please refer to the attached presentation.

There being no further business to discuss, Trustee Camerer moved to adjourn the

Committee meeting and that motion was seconded by Trustee Arends.

ROLL CALL VOTE TO ADJOURN

AYES: Trustees Arends, Camerer, Carbonaro, Deyne, Hopkins, Reinke

NAYS: None

ABSENT: None

MOTION CARRIED

There being no further questions, the meeting was adjourned at 6:52 PM.

VILLAGE OF BARTLETT

COMMITTEE MINUTES

March 7, 2017

VILLAGE OF BARTLETT COMMITTEE MINUTES Page 2 of 8 REGULAR MEETING OF MARCH 7, 2017

President Wallace called the Committee of the Whole meeting back to order at 7:39

p.m.

PRESENT: Trustees Arends, Camerer, Carbonaro, Deyne, Hopkins, Reinke,

President Wallace.

ABSENT: None

ALSO PRESENT: Acting Village Administrator Paula Schumacher, Assistant to the

Village Administrator Scott Skrycki, Acting Finance Director Todd Dowden, Director of

Public Works Dan Dinges, Public Works Engineer Bob Allen, Community Development

Director Jim Plonczynski, Assistant Community Development Director Roberta Grill,

Building Director Brian Goralski, Head Golf Professional Phil Lenz, Chief Patrick Ullrich,

Village Clerk Lorna Giless and Village Attorney Bryan Mraz.

PLANNING & ZONING COMMITTEE

Bracht’s Place Site Plan Amendment & Special Use Permits

Trustee Reinke presented Bracht’s Place site plan amendment and special use permits

and asked community development to take over.

Community Development Director Jim Plonczynski stated that Larry Humbracht, the

proprietor of Bracht’s Place, was there tonight and is desiring to add to his existing

place at 363 Prospect Avenue and expand into one of the vacant stores next to his

property. He would also like to add a game room, recreation and amusement

establishment special use into that 1,200 square-foot unit that serves liquor. He is also

asking for an outdoor seating area that will come out of the back of the property in the

area where there is some parking.

Trustee Reinke asked if the outdoor seating area would go all the way back to the

parking area and will it prevent firetrucks or ambulances from getting around the back of

the building?

Mr. Plonczynski stated that it will. He stated that there was a driveway in the front. He

stated that the fire department looked at the plan and there is access to a fire hydrant.

There is no circulation around the back of the building.

Trustee Reinke asked what the distance was between the outdoor seating area and the

residents to the east?

Mr. Plonczynski stated that it is about 200 to 220 feet and he will need to “Notice” some

of the properties in his Public Hearing.

VILLAGE OF BARTLETT

COMMITTEE MINUTES

March 7, 2017

VILLAGE OF BARTLETT COMMITTEE MINUTES Page 3 of 8 REGULAR MEETING OF MARCH 7, 2017

Trustee Hopkins asked if this outdoor seating area would be open until 4:00 a.m.

Mr. Humbracht stated that they are only open until 4:00 a.m., two nights per week. He

stated that this could be closed off earlier if desired. He spoke about smokers and

stated that he is trying to contain his patrons within the beer garden. There will not be

any music and will actually be further away from the residents living there now. He

stated that they have not had any problems in the back of the building with noise.

Trustee Hopkins asked if there were any complaints in the front of the building with the

neighbors to the west?

Mr. Humbracht stated that they have had problems in the past and they had issues a

couple of years ago. He stated that his biggest problem is that people don’t want to go

home and gather in the parking lot after business hours.

Attorney Mraz stated that this establishment has the only 4:00 a.m. liquor license. This

is a special use and if the Board were inclined to grant the permit, they could put a

condition of a different closing time.

Trustee Hopkins asked if it would eliminate some of the disturbances from smokers in

the front of the building if they would now be going to the back?

Mr. Humbracht stated that they try to keep the smokers in the back of the building. He

stated that the only difference would be that they could carry their beer with them in the

back when they went out to smoke. He stated that they have not had any problems in

the back with noise or disturbances.

Trustee Camerer stated that his concern was that there was no sound barrier in the

back and wondered if the neighbors could hear them.

Mr. Humbracht stated that it is just the opposite. If they go out in the front, the residents

across the street are closer and it bothers them. They currently go out in the back

because that is the only place they have to go.

Trustee Reinke asked if there were a lot of people in the bar between 3:00 and 4:00

a.m.?

Mr. Humbracht stated that it is “standing room only” sometimes at 4:00 a.m., the

majority of these people are not the amateur drinkers. They don’t really have any

problems with this crowd.

President Wallace stated that he has heard very little complaints over the years and he

thought this addition makes a lot of sense.

VILLAGE OF BARTLETT

COMMITTEE MINUTES

March 7, 2017

VILLAGE OF BARTLETT COMMITTEE MINUTES Page 4 of 8 REGULAR MEETING OF MARCH 7, 2017

Trustee Arends stated that she has known Mr. Humbracht since he was an old poor dirt

farmer here in Bartlett. His family goes back many generations and is probably one of

the closest things to royalty that we have in this town. He has been in business for quite

a number of years and she suggested they send it on to the Plan Commission with the

preface that he has been a good businessman in this town the whole time. The one or

two problems he has had were taken care of immediately and Larry is a man of his word

and sincerely dedicated to his business here in Bartlett.

Trustee Deyne stated that he has an acquaintance that also owns a lounge in another

suburb and he told him unequivocally that a great percentage of his revenue is because

he is open from 2 to 4 a.m. He suggested that the ordinance could have the outside

area closed at a specific time rather than affect his entire business by restricting the

liquor license that he currently has.

President Wallace disagreed primarily because the back entrance is where the smokers

are going to go and if you close it early, the smokers will be out in the front. He

recommended that they leave everything as requested.

Trustee Hopkins also agreed.

Trustee Carbonaro stated that the freight trains probably make more noise than the 22

people that are going to sit on the concrete. He also agreed.

Trustee Reinke stated that they will move this on to the Plan Commission for further

review.

Trustee Deyne stated that Mr. Humbracht would like to move this along as quickly as

possible. He asked if they could expedite this to the Plan Commission.

Mr. Plonczynski stated that they have to have a Public Hearing. It is on the agenda for

April. He suggested having it come from the Plan Commission directly to the Board.

Zoning Ordinance Updates (Chapters 2 & 5 – Bees and Chickens)

Trustee Reinke presented amendments to the zoning ordinance which includes

chapters 2 and 5 which includes many other things as well as bees and chickens,

religious institutions and impervious surfaces in swimming pools.

Mr. Plonczynski stated that this amendment is the entire Chapter 5 which was 86

pages, condensed to 11 pages thanks to Roberta Grill. He stated that the topics of big

discussion were the bees and chickens. It was brought before the Committee of the

Whole and staff was given direction to make the lot sizes smaller for chickens (around

VILLAGE OF BARTLETT

COMMITTEE MINUTES

March 7, 2017

VILLAGE OF BARTLETT COMMITTEE MINUTES Page 5 of 8 REGULAR MEETING OF MARCH 7, 2017

8,000 SF and 10,000 SF for bees. Staff researched other towns and size limits for

coops, limiting the number of chickens, enclosures, setbacks, structure insulation,

maintaining code issues for cleanliness, no roosters, no slaughtering, permit for building

the accessory structure, chicken licenses ($25). With bees, they added a little larger lot

size (10,000), two hives, setbacks, fencing, cleanliness, initial permit and a one-time

license, limited to 25 licenses. They took all the text amendments to the Zoning Board

of Appeals for their required Public Hearing. There are 85 pages of minutes and most

of the people that spoke tonight also came to the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting.

They were fine with the text amendments to Chapter 5 and the definitions. With

beekeeping, they made a motion to increase the lot size to one acre and recommended

approval of increasing the lot size from the 10,000 SF to one acre and reduced the

number of hives from two to one. With chickens, it went through the motion of trying to

increase the minimal lot size from 8,000 SF to 20,000 SF but that motion did not pass

and ended up in a tie. Therefore, the ZBA did not make a recommendation on chickens.

On impervious surface, the Zoning Board recommended that pools be included in the

impervious surface calculation which was opposite of what the Committee wanted at the

time. Overall, they did also approve all the definitions that coincide with these.

Trustee Reinke thanked the community development staff for doing a very good job of

consolidating this entire section. As someone that reads zoning ordinances for a living,

it’s really appreciated that he can go to one place and understand what’s going on.

When a developer comes into the Village and looks at these ordinances and they make

sense and are user-friendly, that’s a win for us. Great work Roberta.

Trustee Reinke asked if there was a limit on the height of the chicken coops.

Mr. Plonczynski stated that they don’t put a limit on it as much as a limit that is based on

the accessory building height which is 15 feet for the structure of the coop. We have a

fence height limit of 6 feet in that kind of yard.

Trustee Camerer stated that he thought this was an opportunity to move forward and do

things that are user-friendly that help to make our community a little greener and allow

residents to do more for their food sourcing. Staff has looked at other communities and

figured out what works while putting together a proposal that reflects. He would like to

see them go back to the original proposal with the 8,000 SF for the chickens and the

10,000 SF for the bees and to move forward with that. He believed that they had way

more positive feedback on this and very little negative. He thought they should listen to

what people are asking for because if there was a big concern, people could have been

there complaining about it. He felt that the Zoning Board’s decision was not based on

anything and was more of a fear than a fact. He would like to move on with this and let

people have the opportunity to raise chickens.

VILLAGE OF BARTLETT

COMMITTEE MINUTES

March 7, 2017

VILLAGE OF BARTLETT COMMITTEE MINUTES Page 6 of 8 REGULAR MEETING OF MARCH 7, 2017

Trustee Hopkins agreed that they should keep the 8,000 SF for the chickens and

10,000 SF for the bees. He asked where they stand on how many hives someone

could potentially have.

Mr. Plonczynski stated they had a limit of two on a 10,000 SF lot. The Zoning Board

recommended only one and that was based on some research they had done in other

towns.

Trustee Deyne stated that the responses he has received from residents as well as

emails have been 10 to 1 in favor of chickens. That is pretty overwhelming. He felt that

they were issuing a limited amount of permits (25) so this could be monitored in a very

manageable manner and it could always be tweaked in the future. He was in agreement

that the 8,000 SF lots were very acceptable. He asked staff to research the other

communities with reference to the height of the coops.

Mr. Plonczynski stated that they were relying on input from the residents of other towns

and it’s considered an accessory structure and he didn’t think that most people would

build them as big as a shed. He thought a 6 foot height limit on the Coop as well as the

fence would be fine.

Trustee Reinke didn’t think they should overcomplicate this. If it’s already treated as an

accessory structure and he thought they were fine.

President Wallace stated that he read that in other towns the coops were not visible

from the street or sidewalk.

Trustee Reinke stated that they are talking about 25 people maximum that are very

committed to this use - just keep it simple.

Trustee Arends stated that she has lived on her grandmother’s farm for much of her

childhood. She found chickens to be dirty, noisy, require specific caretaking and they

could attract predators. This will surely attract coyotes to the yards, to your children, to

your dogs, etc. She would accept a compromise and that would be to put the sunset

clause on this ordinance.

President Wallace agreed.

Trustee Reinke stated that his concern was that people have made an investment at

that point and what will they do with the coops.

President Wallace stated that they should understand that they are taking a risk and if

we find out that there are many complaints after one year, then we would have to act.

VILLAGE OF BARTLETT

COMMITTEE MINUTES

March 7, 2017

VILLAGE OF BARTLETT COMMITTEE MINUTES Page 7 of 8 REGULAR MEETING OF MARCH 7, 2017

Trustee Reinke suggested that it would be a longer-term of perhaps two years. If they

were really concerned then let’s back the 25 permits down a little bit.

Trustee Deyne thought that it should be reviewed in one year because there is too

much of a time gap for problems to occur.

President Wallace stated that they will have a two-year sunset clause and the Board

agreed.

Trustee Hopkins asked about section 10-5-3, special requirements for commercial

motor vehicles and asked where that height came from.

Mr. Plonczynski stated that it was a text amendment made several years ago when

there was a request from some of the contractors in the community who had to bring

their vehicles home with the ladder racks.

Trustee Hopkins asked if anyone would object to changing that to 9 feet (an extra 6

inches)?

Mr. Plonczynski stated that they get the problems when people bring in the big box

trucks. If someone threw an extra ladder on their truck he didn’t think that they would

get that specific. It is usually just the box trucks that they look for.

Trustee Reinke asked if they all agreed to increase the height by 6 inches?

The Board agreed with no objections.

Trustee Reinke stated that he read the Plan Commission minutes and understands that

the surface underneath the pool is impervious but the intent was to soften this and not

be too arbitrary. If the staff is happy with the numbers, let’s do this.

Attorney Mraz asked if they were leaving the pools in or out?

Trustee Reinke stated that it is excluding pools from the impervious calculation.

Mr. Plonczynski reiterated that they don’t want to count the pool in the calculation of

impervious.

Trustee Reinke stated that this will go to the Village Board for a final vote.

VILLAGE OF BARTLETT

COMMITTEE MINUTES

March 7, 2017

VILLAGE OF BARTLETT COMMITTEE MINUTES Page 8 of 8 REGULAR MEETING OF MARCH 7, 2017

There being no further business to discuss, Trustee Reinke move to adjourn the regular

Committee of the Whole meeting and that motion was seconded by Trustee Arends.

ROLL CALL VOTE TO ADJOURN

AYES: Trustees Arends, Camerer, Carbonaro, Deyne, Hopkins, Reinke

NAYS: None

ABSENT: None

MOTION CARRIED

The meeting adjourned at 8:23 p.m.

Lorna Giless

Village Clerk

LG/