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Minutes - 12/11/2014 - Planned Development Commission1 2 93 0 MINUTES OF THE DECEMBER 11, 2014 SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PLANNED DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION OF THE VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK APPROVED AS WRITTEN ON DECEMBER 10, 2015. CALL TO ORDER: The Special Meeting of the Planned Development Commission was called to order by Chairman Champ Davis, Jr. in the Samuel E. Dean Board Room of the Butler Government Center at 7:01 p.m. ROLL CALL: Gail Polanek called the roll with the following persons PRESENT: Chairman Champ Davis, Jr., Vice Chairman Marcia Tropinski, Members Jeffrey Bulin, Natalie Cappetta, Thomas Doyle and Simon Sheers ABSENT: Member Raju Iyer IN ATTENDANCE: Robert Kallien, Jr., Director of Community Development, Barry Liss, Fire Chief, Phil Laures, Civil Engineer, Engineering Department, Tamie Madden, Division Commander, Police Department and Gail Polanek, Planning Technician APPROVAL OF MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PLANNED DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION OF DECEMBER 12, 2013 Motion by Member Doyle, seconded by Member Bulin to approve the minutes of the December 12, 2013 Special Planned Development Commission meeting as written. VOICE VOTE: Motion Carried. UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was no unfinished business. CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL APPROVAL OF MINUTES UNFINISHED BUSINESS 5. A. CASE NO: 2014 -09 -ZO -PUD — OAKBROOK SHOPPING CENTER LLC No. 2014 -09 -ZO -PUD OAKBROOK CTR C/O GENERAL GROWTH PROPERTIES — INTERIOR PORTIONS CIO GENERAL LOCATED WITHIN THE OAKBROOK SHOPPING CENTER — 12- GROWTH— SCREEN LUXURY MOVIE THEATER STRUCTURED PARKING AND PLANNED DEVELOPMENT RESTAURANT ZONE — PLANNED DEVELOPMENT VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK Special Planned Development Commission Page 1 of 13 December 11, 2014 Minutes Chairman Davis reviewed the request and rules for the Planned Development proceedings. Chairman Davis swore in all those that would testify. Chuck Fleming, Senior General Manager of the Oakbrook Shopping Center introduced Danielle Cassel - Counsel with Vedder Price, Ben Freeman - Development Director who will be overseeing the project, John Hampton, Omni Plan - lead architect, Ryan Jacox - Traffic Engineer, and Dan Meyer - Civil Engineer. Mr. Fleming noted that there is an evolution of the shopping center and that the request is part of the transformation of what has been a very successful asset and making it better and more exciting place to be. He reviewed what they have accomplished and how this request is one of the steps in the continuation of the phases of renovating and remodeling the shopping center. Over the last few years there has been a renovation of the common areas and they have improved all of the hardscape, all mall tile, curbs, planters, removed and replaced all of the landscaping, new lighting, and new way - finding signage. They have brought in amenities. They realized that the shopping center was lacking in some interaction with the customer so they brought in more customer friendly amenities, including an amenities pavilion made of glass located in the middle of the mall. In the winter it provides a place to warm up and includes a fireplace. In the summer it's open with soft seating, tables and chairs. There are different water features and fountains that are in operation 365 days a year. They have fire totems, soft seating, new Christmas decor and they have created a "Village Green" area. Along with the renovation, they have repositioned some of their anchor stores. One of the underperforming stores, Bloomingdale's was recaptured and redeveloped into two big box users. Pirch is located on the top level and the Container store was relocated to the lower level. On the main level facing the mall they relocated Lululemon and brought in new retailers, such as Tommy Bahama, Hugo Boss and Aritzia. The old Renaissance Hotel was replaced by the LeMeridien Hotel and there has been a complete transformation of the building and property which has been very successful. Last year they received approvals for the glass pavilions and the digital sign. VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK Special Planned Development Commission Page 2 of 13 December 11, 2014 Minutes Two of the structures have been built and leased out to Argo Tea and Avistars. The digital sign was completed in July. In August and September they tested out movies in the park every Wednesday night and were extremely successful and they will be expanding it next summer from Memorial Day to Labor Day. They will probably continue with the movies on Wednesday for kids and on Friday they may have date night movies, with some of the old classics in order to have interaction with different age groups. The Village Green area has been split with Dream Works with a virtual trip to the North Pole. On the other side is the Chriskindle Market and there is a lot of activity going on in both of the areas. They are seeking a request to build another structure on the property. The structure will be a 12- screen theater with 3 levels of parking directly underneath. It will connect to what they call the G building. It is the retail building between Sears and Nordstrom on the upper level. They will be redemising the upper level of that area for more retail and restaurant uses. Ancillary to this, they will be reactivating the old 4- screen movie theater located in the middle of the mall that has been dark since 1990. He reviewed the plans showing the proposed location of the proposed building. The building will be in an existing parking field. It is 4.2 acres. He reviewed the levels of the structure, how the existing landscaping should conceal most of the building from the exterior of the mall. They will connect the first level of parking directly with the existing blue parking deck. There will be escalators and stairwells. There will be about 475 parking spaces in the parking garage, which will be a net increase of about 300 additional parking spaces. There will be an express ramp that will bring a car right to the top of the garage to work your way down. There will also be a convenient way of getting there from the bottom level. The upper level of the deck will be the same height of the adjacent building known as M -1. , Some of the existing retail will be taken down and create an exterior corridor to the Center. AMC, the theater operator, will be building out 12 theaters with each having about 100 seats, which are small in size due to the luxury seating component. Food and beverage will be available and is meant to provide a more luxurious experience. The corridor leading to the theaters may have a food hall but they have not decided what they will do, but it will be very similar to the renovated common area project. VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK Special Planned Development Commission Page 3 of 13 December 11, 2014 Minutes The building fits in with everything going on right around it. It will be slightly higher than the existing Sears building. On the outside of the building will be an express ramp as well as some exterior signage that will be similar to what is shown on the existing building. They will not be lit, but will indicate retailers that are located inside the building. The landscaping will be commensurate with the rest of the landscaping around the Center and will be carried through the new development. They have had several meetings with staff, including Bob Kallien, the village manager, police chief, fire chief and the public works director. Other various village officials have looked over the plan. They have been refining the plan after each meeting and are prepared to answer all questions. Staff has helped guide them through this process. They met with about 75 residents of the Oak Brook Club, which is located across the street from the Center to go through the presentation with them to get their thoughts. They felt that it was extremely important to maintain their standing with their neighbors who are the closest and wanted their input before meeting with the Commission. Danielle Cassel, Vedder Price, reviewed the specifics of the variations and waivers, comments received from staff and their responses, reviewed the standards and conditions for the Planned Development ordinance. (A detailed list of the Waivers and Variations was submitted with the application). The first waiver in the zoning ordinance mandates that retail uses are to be inside not outside. Oakbrook Center is one of the nation's leading regional outdoor mall that capitalizes on outdoor gathering and landscape areas. Although the majority of the planned development is comprised of two buildings, they are trying to open up Building G to create an outdoor corridor that in some way mimics the common area on the lower levels. The corridor area in the middle is designed to connect the more interior portions of the Center with the new cinema building. It will be occurring on only one floor but they want it to be visually active and exciting and in keeping with the quality and character of the common areas of the Center. Conceptually they are looking at the corridor with landscaping and outdoor dining. Some of the retailers may have retractable walls. If there is a way to integrate the outdoor space they would like to. So they are seeking relief of the same zoning sections they did with the previous planned development in order to continue that type of amenity. They are confident that this will not create any harm or nuisance to other property owners since it is essentially in the interior part of the Center with their own building on all sides. They really hope that it will draw people throughout the Center as well as bringing in food and beverage that will be VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK Special Planned Development Commission Page 4 of 13 December 11, 2014 Minutes more conveniently located near the shopping areas. The next variation relates to the signage on the north elevation of the building. They do not believe they need relief to the signage to any other elevations. The north fagade does deviate to the zoning code provisions in some measures. They hope that it will achieve a nice balance to give the tenants some visibility. The north fagade has three sections. Updated elevations were provided to show how the Imax logo would fit with the AMC signage. They are 3 -foot high signs and would not be larger than 46- square feet each. One would be located on the north side the other on the south side at the end of the corridor. She asked that the recommendations and final ordinance allow the Imax addition to the signs. She reviewed staff comments as follows: Fire Chief Liss questioned whether the new structure and parking decks would incorporate emergency call stations. They initially responded that they would not, however the subsequently looked at this and they would provide emergency call stations. Chairman Davis noted that detailed responses to the required standards were on page E — E.7 of the case file. She reviewed the required Planned Development standards as follows: She noted that it was very important to make sure that the project requested was consistent with the Commercial Areas Revitalization Master Plan and believes the project fulfills and advances many of those goals 1) clustering compatible retails uses, 2) concentrating commercial land uses, 3) encouraging the Center's continued vitality and expansion, 4) increases sales tax, 5) developing restaurant and entertainment uses, and 6) creating public areas for outdoor gathering. They felt that the theater planned development, like the approved common area planned development, should continue to advance those six goals. The proposed design should not impact light and air onto any adjacent property since it is located within the Center. In terms of public welfare they are confident that the project would not have negative consequences for any property owners or residents outside the boundaries of the Oakbrook Center property. There is very limited visibility of the site from outside properties. They have reviewed with their technical staff each of the noise, lighting and other performance standards by going through the code and comply with each of them. VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK Special Planned Development Commission Page 5 of 13 December 11, 2014 Minutes The impact on public facilities and resources. The vast majority of the underground utilities and connections necessary for the G building reconfiguration are already in place. Those that need to be installed will be further understood as they go through the final engineering process while working with the Engineering /Public Works departments. There is a nominal increase in the impervious area, approximately 3 percent; the existing stormwater detention pond has adequate capacity to absorb the slight change. There are no archaeological or historical cultural resources that would be impacted by the project. Parking and Traffic. She noted that the original traffic study included with the materials focused on the external driveways, where the Center is surrounded by public ways. They saw that the existing infrastructure looks like it could absorb the small incremental change, in that they are adding a net of 300 parking spaces to approximately 11,000 existing parking spaces. They found that none of the critical intersections ever dropped their level of service. Village staff also asked that they look at the internal ring road roadway. The study was just completed and copies of the updated report were provided to the Commissioners. She summarized those findings as follows: The exterior roadways do not change. In the interior there were a couple of areas of concern. Their plan at this point is to look at it very carefully, especially around the grand opening and immediately afterwards to keep an eye to the intersections that may be problematic. It may require some lane restriping or reconfiguration issues that may address the concerns, but they think that it is premature to proposed any specific roadway interior redesigns because they are not quite sure how the visitors to the Center will want to drive through the Center once the theater opens to determine the traffic patterns. Adequate Buffering is shown on page 19 of the plans exhibit. Virtually all of the planned development will be occupied by building structures and drive aisles. Those that are not will be landscaped. They feel the corridor is going to create a new open space for outdoor movement. Signage. The only signage relief requested is the signage located on the northern facade. VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK Special Planned Development Commission Page 6 of 13 December 11, 2014 Minutes The applicant controls the entirety of the proposed planned development. In terms of need, they feel there will be economic benefits that will accrue from the development, including construction related employment, permanent jobs, property taxes, sales tickets and concessions. If a liquor license is approved for the movie theater or any of the new restaurants there would be additional tax revenues. Most importantly, what are driving the development are the benefits of making Oakbrook Center a more enjoyable place to be. They are always trying ways to make this premiere destination a better place and they are responding to customer feedback. It is right on trend with all of the leading experts in shopping center development. People don't just want to shop, they want entertainment, restaurants, gathering places, and they feel this is the next step in the continuum of the complete renovation of the common area planned development, including the Village Green and movies in the park and other enhancements that have been put in place. Compliance with the subdivision regulations and plat act do not apply since there will not be any transfer of land. Covenants and restrictions are similar to the subdivision response. There are no new covenants or deed restrictions. Security and site control. The development will be monitored and there will be security plans. They will be looking at how to deploy manpower, security infrastructure, and working with the Police Department to make sure they are on the right track. In response to the additional standards, there is an integral design standard. The goal is to keeping with the existing improvements. Beneficial common open space - the new corridor is meeting that goal. Functional and mechanical features. They will ensure that they meet the village standards. Visual and acoustical privacy. There is not a lot of visibility with the new improvements from other properties. It is important that sound from each individual theater is self contained so that the sound is not heard from adjacent theaters. They are confident that there would not be any noise geminating from the theater building. VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK Special Planned Development Commission Page 7 of 13 December 11, 2014 Minutes They will be looking at an energy efficient design although at this point they are not seeking LEED certification. Drives, parking, circulation and water drainage had been addressed. The Planned Development regulations impose some goals in terms of how quickly permits will be sought and construction completed. They are seeking waivers for the phasing of the application. They anticipate filing a complete application for the building permit between 6 and 18 months, although it may be less than 6 months. Commence construction within 24 months. Permit issuance and complete construction within 24 months of commencement. Conditions: They agree with all conditions recommended in the staff report. Their expectation would be that the planned development would have the same liquor control restrictions as in noted in the common area planned development ordinance. The condition would be the same as the common area planned ensuring that they would use fencing and other mechanisms to ensure that anyone consuming alcohol at any of the venues would be able to carry it away with them or into the corridor where people are moving. She also requested that a condition be included relative to the change in the signage to include the IMAX logo as presented in the exhibit. Chuck Fleming said that the property has been around since 1962. It has fantastic retailers and strong anchors and a synergy that has been developing itself. They recognized that there was an element missing and touched on it with the approved PD request last year, which is entertainment. They are finding that the shoppers are looking for things that go beyond shopping and the stores. They want to continue to be the destination and by adding entertainment they will put themselves ahead of everyone else. This is the type of new generation of shopping centers that the customers are looking for. Jeff Kennedy identified himself as wearing three hats at this hearing. He is Chairman of the Revitalization Committee, Chairman of the Streetscape Committee and president of the Oak Brook Club. The interests of the three constituencies are perfectly aligned in support of this project. This is exactly the kind of commercial revitalization the village had in mind and is a major improvement to the Center. It brings a new dimension to Oak Brook. There is very little entertainment in town. He is at the Center over 300 days a year and has seen a dramatic improvement. There is a certain life and vitality to the VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK Special Planned Development Commission Page 8 of 13 December 11, 2014 Minutes Center and the theater project and associated restaurants will advance that. It is completely consistent with the CR objectives, including the additional tax revenue that would be generated. A major program with the streetscape improvements is the pedestrian access project to stitch the Oakbrook Center with the ring of offices, hotels, restaurants and the Oak Brook Club. It has only been accessible by car. They are trying to integrate Oakbrook Center with the areas that surround it. It would be an oversight if the project did not include pedestrian access walkway with the bike path on 16t" Street and a bridge across the detention pond. The Oakbrook Club and Oakbrook Center have been very good neighbors over the last 45 years. Oakbrook Center met with about 75 residents of the Oak Brook Club and they answered all of the questions. The questions he is receiving from his neighbors is how soon the theaters would be open as well as when will the crosswalk be done. He personally came to the Village and reviewed the entire file. He is confident and comfortable with what is being proposed including as to how it deals with light, sight lines, view, water detention and traffic. Traffic is the price you pay for success. It operates efficiently and will continue to operate efficiently. The traffic problem is at Route 83 and Hodges and will need to be addressed with IDOT. This is a win - win -win for the Center, the Village and the Oak Brook Club. The Village Board has had a lot of discussion about Oak Brook not having a downtown area. GGP has advanced the sense of gathering and getting together and bringing an element of entertainment to the community. He strongly supports the project from all of his perspectives. Director of Community Development Kallien said that it is a very complex project bringing a lot of different elements together. He questioned the proposed signage change. He asked if the AMC lights would be red or backlight white. Ms. Cassel responded that it would match its corporate trademark color being red and the IMAX would be blue, which will be internally illuminated. Member Sheers thought that it would be a wonderful asset to Oak Brook. Member Doyle questioned whether there was any issue with the Sears Sears /Auto space in regards to parking, especially during peak shopping times. Mr. Fleming responded that the traffic mostly migrates from the South intersection of Route 83 and 22" a Street to the west. There are 11,000 parking spaces and they spend a lot of time is spent trying to migrate people to the north. During peals holiday season approximately 85 -90 percent will be filled VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK Special Planned Development Commission Page 9 of 13 December 11, 2014 Minutes and the vacant area is usually to the northeast. Member Doyle questioned if there would be a marquee on the exterior. Ben Freeman responded that it would be on the internal side of the fagade, but nothing on the outside. Member Doyle questioned the tenant signage on the north side of the fayade that appeared to be box signs, which was part of the request. Ms. Cassel responded that although box signs are prohibited under the rules there is not a limitation in the Planned Development provisions that would not allow them, which is why they were seeking relief. Member Doyle said that visually in may not be something the village would be comfortable with. Director of Community Development Kallien said that box signs are just an illuminated box and is something the village would not like. Mr. Freeman responded that they would eliminate the box signs from the request. Chairman Davis clarified that the request for box signs would be removed from the requested waivers and variations Member Cappetta questioned outdoor music. Mr. Fleming said that they have set decibels levels at the Village Green area. Should there be restaurants that would use them; they would comply with the same requirements. Vice Chair Tropinski questioned access for fire trucks at building G and asked if the Village had the capacity to handle a fire. Fire Chief Liss responded that he personally reviewed it with the Fire Prevention Bureau and they have a thorough understanding of the design. In the interest of public safety their access and ability to provide a level of care to any incident or issue to develop there, the current level of access would continue to be there in addition to that of the new structure. They have an aerial type of device that has the ability to reach well beyond the height of building as VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK Special Planned Development Commission Page 10 of 13 December 11, 2014 Minutes well as the internal fire suppression systems that are designed within the Center and the new proposal. In addition they are providing additional elevators and entry points from ground level to all levels to accommodate the new structure and provide more than they have today. They are comfortable that they could handle any fire related circumstance. Member Bulin asked if anything would be done regarding adding bike racks. Mr. Fleming responded not yet, but they plan on putting them in on the south and west side and somewhere on the north side. They know their commitment with the pedestrians and bicycles racks are part of that. Member Bulin asked if the reactivation of the 4 existing theaters has anything to do with the planned development. Mr. Fleming responded that it was not part of the application, but is part of the development project. AMC will be activating the 4 theaters around May of 2015 and they will be used while the new theaters are under construction and new movies will be shown there. Once the new theaters are open, they will be converted to an art theater type of venue. Member Bulin added that he thought it was a great project. Chairman Davis went through and reviewed the requirements of the Planned development regulations and he noted that the process was now complete. He noted that the very complicated standards for the planned development were satisfactorily addressed and satisfied as part of the presentation at this public hearing and had been properly addressed on the pages marked E -E.7 of the case file. He noted that he supported the requested project. There were no other comments by the members of the Commission. Motion by Member Doyle, seconded by Member Bulin to approve the proposed planned development for the Oakbrook Shopping Center c/o General Growth Properties to allow the construction of the proposed improvements within the proposed theater and Building G of the Oakbrook Shopping Center as presented, subject to the following conditions: Development is to be in substantial conformance with the approved plans for the Oakbrook Center Theater Planned Development. The approved plans consist of the exhibits and statements submitted by the applicant, subject to the revised and supplementary exhibits and statements included VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK Special Planned Development Commission Page 11 of 13 December 11, 2014 Minutes in the case file. The Development as depicted and described in the approved plans include the following: A. Construction of a new building that includes a 12- screen movie theater and structured parking for at least 475 cars; B. Redevelopment and reconfiguration of a portion of "Building G's" top level (M -2) to create a restaurant and casual dining zone as well as an open -air corridor connecting to the new building; C. Pursuant to relief to be documented in the Theater Planned Development Ordinance, operation of uses within the open -air corridor that may occur outside of completely enclosed buildings, including building areas with retractable walls, outdoor dining adjacent to restaurants, outdoor ticket kiosks, and the specialty retail program as defined in Applicant's proposal satisfying the applicable criteria set forth in Section 13 -713-2 of the Village Code, including live entertainment and private events. D. Pursuant to relief to be documented in the Theater Planned Development Ordinance, signage on the new cinema's north, east and west facades in substantial conformance with the approved sign plans and standards including the supplemental plans for the AMC /IMAX signage. Note that Applicant's prior request for relief regarding box signs was eliminated; E. Pursuant to relief to be documented in the Theater Planned Development Ordinance, development in accordance with the approved Project Schedule as submitted by Applicant; and F. Approval of the Project Schedule and Security Plan Statement as submitted by the applicant; and 2. Include alcohol use as contained in the previous planned development ordinance to include: "Any such license approval shall impose such conditions as are necessary to ensure that the subject portion of the Property where liquor is to be served will be sufficiently fenced, monitored, and otherwise controlled to: (a) prevent customers from removing liquor from the licensed premises; and (b) prevent anyone other than customers or employees of the licensed premises from accessing liquor within the licensed premises." ROLL CALL VOTE Ayes: 6 — Members Bulin, Cappetta, Doyle, Sheers, Vice Chair Tropinski and Chairman Davis Absent: 1 — Member Iyer Nays: 0. Motion Carried. VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK Special Planned Development Commission Page 12 of 13 December 11, 2014 Minutes Mr. Fleming thanked the Commission for its time and consideration. He also noted that it had been a hand in hand project from the beginning and had worked with staff for many months. They have always felt that the Oakbrook Center and the Village have worked hand in hand with one another. Director of Community Development Kallien added for the record that the comments from Jeff Kennedy regarding pedestrian access to the north from the Center, that although it falls outside the boundary of the planned development for the Center, it would be included in the report that goes to the Village Board. 4. OTHER BUSINESS There was no other business to discuss. 5. ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Member Bulin, seconded by Member Cappetta to adjourn the meeting at 8:33 p.m. VOICE VOTE: Motion carried ATTEST: /s/ Robert L. Kallien, Jr. Robert Kallien Jr. Director of Community Development Secretary VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK Special Planned Development Commission Minutes Page 13 of 13 ON N 121- December 11, 2014 OTHER BUSINESS ADJOURNMENT