Du Page County Development Committee Met March 2.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
1. CALL TO ORDER
10:30 AM meeting was called to order by Chair Sam Tornatore at 10:34 AM.
A. Please turn all beepers, pagers and cell phones "off" or to "vibrate" during the meeting
2. ROLL CALL
PRESENT: Deacon Garcia, Covert (Remote), Krajewski, Ozog (Remote 10:43 AM), Rutledge, Tornatore
ABSENT:
3. CHAIRMAN'S REMARKS
There were no Chairman's Remarks
4. PUBLIC COMMENT
A. Public comment is limited to three minutes per person, at the beginning of the meeting. Any comment on Zoning items must be limited to discussion of testimony and/or evidence presented in the Zoning Board of Appeals. No new testimony or evidence can be presented.
There were two public comments, both submitted on line.
The first was received from Antonia Pitrello of 6N157 Garden Avenue, Roselle. She is opposed to petition Z20-094 Empire Properties Group, LLC. She lives in the neighborhood behind Affinity Auto Sales and feel that her family and neighbors have been negatively impacted by them. They currently park their cars within the required setbacks. She is concerned that if this petition passes, the cars will fill the parking lot and block the view of the intersection at Garden and Lake. There are many instances of the company using the small dead end street to test drive cars at high rates of speed. They also have delivery trucks that use Garden Avenue to turn around to get back to Lake Street. She feels this petition impacts the safety of residents who live on Garden Avenue.
Ervin Schramm of 17W350 Scheel Drive, Willowbrook, made a comment on behalf of his petition Z20-058. He stated that at the previous meeting with the Zoning Hearing Officer he was told that it would be considered that he could have the shed one year, until he could build a new one. However, this was changed due to the shed currently being used as a chicken coop and it's required 25' setback. The shed has been in it's current location for over thirty years. There has never been an objection about the shed by any of his neighbors. He is asking for a one year extension, to allow him adequate time to plan a prepare a suitable site and construct a new shed.
5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A. Development Committee - Regular Meeting - Feb 16, 2021 10:30 AM
| RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Paula Deacon Garcia, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Sheila Rutledge, District 6 AYES: Deacon Garcia, Covert, Krajewski, Ozog, Rutledge, Tornatore |
A. DC-O-0017-21 ORDINANCE -- Z20-058 –Schramm: To approve the following zoning relief: Conditional Use to allow an existing shed to remain less than 10 feet from the interior side property line (approximately 1.9 feet), where the shed has existed for at least 5 years. (Downers Grove/ District 3) ZHO Recommendation to Deny DuPage County Development Committee Vote (Motion to Approve Failed): 2 Ayes, 4 Nays, 0 Absent
Member Krajewski inquired about the shed being on the property for 30 years and how this violation came to light. Mr. Hoss explained that during a site inspection for another permit, this shed was found on the property and it had never been permitted. They also found it to be in a floodplain and even though that issue has been resolved, they found that the shed was actually being used as a chicken coop. Member Krajewski further inquired if the recommendation of denial is because of the chickens. Mr. Hoss answered yes, that the technical zoning relief cannot be approved because of the chickens. The petitioner would be welcome to get rid of the chickens and come back and most likely his relief would be approved. He could also ask for a variation of the side setback if he left it as a chicken coop. Member Krajewski asked if the Development Committee could amend the request to include the variation. Paul Hoss replied that they could not, as there would need to be a public hearing relative to allowing the chicken coop.
| RESULT: DEFEATED [2 TO 4]
MOVER: Brian J. Krajewski, District 3 SECONDER: Sheila Rutledge, District 6 AYES: Krajewski, Rutledge NAYS: Deacon Garcia, Covert, Ozog, Tornatore |
Member Rutledge was curious about if the petitioner could tarp the trailer. She also empathized with the petitioner in proving a hardship. Paul Hoss responded that commercial trailers are not allowed on residential properties. The code doesn't even allow for recreational trailers to be parked in front of the front wall of the house. Mr. Hoss explained that there were two issues with this petition, which the Zoning Hearing Officer took into consideration when recommending to deny. The first is that the petitioner is running a business out of his home. The second issue is that the trailer needs to be parked out in front of the home due to the size of the trailer.
Member Covert spoke about the petitioner and their understanding of the guidelines of the code and their response to it. Paul Hoss explained, the petitioner had received a violation, which led to the adjudication process. During that process, they were made aware of the option to pursue a variation on the property.
| RESULT: DEFEATED [1 TO 5]
MOVER: Sheila Rutledge, District 6 SECONDER: Mary Ozog, District 4 AYES: Rutledge NAYS: Deacon Garcia, Covert, Krajewski, Ozog, Tornatore |
Chair Tornatore asked Paul Hoss to share the history of this property. Mr. Hoss stated that this property has received several violation notices over the years. Finally, the property owner sold it and the new owner assumed the violations. A car dealership is located on this property at Lake Street and Garden Avenue. They park vehicles in the required front and corner side setbacks and in some instances, in the public right-of-way. Multiple complaints from the neighborhood have been made over the years. Including that the car dealership uses their narrow, residential, dead end street to test drive vehicles. The Milton Township Highway Commissioner has also complained, because they cannot plow snow and the cars are damaging the roadway. Using this street for commercial purposes has been problematic. The history of violations on this property go back 10-15 years.
Vice-Chair Garcia noted that she drove by the property and saw cars in the right-of-way and the Garden Avenue exists were completely blocked by cars and this most certainly has to be a safety issue.
| RESULT: DEFEATED [0 TO 6]
MOVER: Sheila Rutledge, District 6 SECONDER: Paula Deacon Garcia, Vice-Chair NAYS: Deacon Garcia, Covert, Krajewski, Ozog, Rutledge, Tornatore |
Member Ozog inquired if the sign met all the requirements. Paul Hoss responded yes, and that North Aurora Road is being widened and the sign would be in the right-of -way and needs to be moved.
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Paula Deacon Garcia, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Mary Ozog, District 4 AYES: Deacon Garcia, Covert, Krajewski, Ozog, Rutledge, Tornatore |
DuPage County Page 4
Minutes Development Committee March 2, 2021
Vice Chair Garcia asked if the conditional use for 5 years was correct. Paul Hoss stated 5 years is correct. This is an existing shed that had never been permitted and the petitioner could always come back after the 5 years for additional zoning relief..
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Sadia Covert, District 5 SECONDER: Sheila Rutledge, District 6 AYES: Deacon Garcia, Covert, Krajewski, Ozog, Rutledge, Tornatore |
Member Krajewski shared that he had been working for over a year on the outsourcing of the County's code review fees. They were changed from a flat fee to an hourly rate. It has been six months since the change took place and the cost savings is well over 50% per month.
8. NEW BUSINESS
There was no New Business
9. ADJOURNMENT
The Meeting was adjourned without objection at 11:04 a.m.
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