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Minutes - 01/17/2012 - Commercial Revitalization Task ForceMEETING NOTES OF THE JANUARY 17, 2012 MEETING OF THE OAK BROOK COMMERCIAL REVITALIZATION COMMITTEE OF THE VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK OFFICIAL AS WRITTEN ON MAY 3, 2012. CALL TO ORDER: The regular meeting of the Oak Brook Commercial Revitalization Committee of the Village of Oak Brook was held in the West Wing Conference Room of the Butler Government Center and called to order by Chairman Jeff Kennedy at 3:05 pm. 2. ROLL CALL: Executive Secretary Donna Bettin called the roll with the following persons: PRESENT: Chairman Jeff Kennedy, Chuck Fleming, Dennis Hiffman, Tracy Mulqueen, Harry Peters, and Jeff Shay. ABSENT: Linda Gonnella, Champ Davis. Joe Endress, Raj Lal, Robert Sanford and Marcia Tropinski. IN ATTENDANCE: Gopal Lalmalani, Village President; David Niemeyer, Village Manager; Donna Bettin, Executive Secretary; Robert Kallien, Community Development Director; Trustee Michael Manzo and Rich Hitchcock, Hitchcock Design. Chairman Kennedy explained that there is not a quorum so the Committee will be meeting as a Committee of the Whole, unable to vote on items, but can have full discussions and reach consensus. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES -NONE 4. UNFINISHED BUSINESS - NONE 5. NEW BUSINESS A. Overview — Purpose of Committee Chairman Kennedy stated that this meeting will be the first for the Commercial Revitalization Committee in the last three years. He explained that the Committee's purpose is to accommodate and encourage retention of businesses and patrons of the Village of Oak Brook and encourage new businesses and patrons to become Oak Brook residents. Chairman Kennedy stated that they were here to focus on the economic revitalization of Oak Brook, and that while the Committee was active three years ago, at that time all of their recommendations to the Board were approved. He stated that these recommendations included the adoption of the Commercial Revitalization Plan, the creation of the Planned Unit Development Ordinance, the creation of the Planned Development Commission, the adoption of a modern signage ordinance, and a focus towards improving procedures in the Community Development office, as well as the major reconstruction along 22 "d Street. Chairman Kennedy explained that the Committee is moving forward where they left off with two pending projects, the addition of directional signage to the Village and an opportunity sites analysis. In regards to the directional signage, Chairman Kennedy stated that businesses in the area have requested directional signage to assist people in finding businesses location. Chairman Kennedy stated that another project in the pipeline is the opportunity sites analysis. He explained that the Village picked twenty sites throughout the Village that are underutilized Commercial Revitalization Committee Page I of 5 Mtg. of January 17, 2012 because of various issues, and the proposal is to hire a consultant and do a preliminary analysis on what the challenges are and how these challenges can be overcome. He introduced Rich Hitchcock to the Committee and explained their primary involvement at this time is with the directional signage. B. Election of a Vice Chairman — Deferred. 6. PENDING PROJECTS A. Directional Signage Locations Bob Kallien stated that the goal for the directional signage project is to identify key intersections and cul -de -sacs that lack visibility. He stated that many of these large businesses can be seen from adjacent highways and roads, but once people are in the Village they are finding it hard to locate. Mr. Kallien explained that there are four main areas for business signs; Jorie Boulevard, Enterprise Drive, 22nd Street and Spring Road and Commerce Drive. For the cul -de -sacs there would be a directional sign at the end of Kensington Court, one at the end of Enterprise Drive, and one at the end of Windsor Drive. Mr. Kallien explained that there are many different sign possibilities ranging from very elegant to very plain, and he stated that one of the ways for the Village to defray the costs of the directional signage is by having businesses contribute to their own signs. Rich Hitchcock thanked the Committee for allowing him to be there. He stated that Tim King had handled all the sign graphics and for this project in particular, it's about providing position to the community. Mr. Hitchcock explained that the vertical signage would be the best choice, as it gives the ability to change the metal signs in and out with the emergence of new companies. He stated the cost per sign would be about $75,000 per installation to complete and the larger goal would be to have signs in front of each business that corresponds with the directional signage. Bob Kallien explained that these signs would be maintained, owned, and managed by the Village of Oak Brook. He stated that it is important to see a level of consistency and all signs should be located on Village property where they can have the biggest impact, while still being visible and safe. Chairman Kennedy stated that that the Committee is looking for uniformed signage throughout the Village that would meet the needs of the businesses and be tastefully done. He explained that they would like the signs to be illuminated, and two sided so that they are visible from all traffic sides. Chairman Kennedy then stated that the big question is whether the businesses or tenants will participate. Dennis Hiffman stated that many companies want their logo to be visible, but that the Village needs to use caution with the signs to not obstruct the sightline of drivers because of the size. He stated that some companies may support the signs, but that mainly these companies want to advertise, which is not the purpose. Chuck Fleming asked how the specific spots are chosen for the signs, and once these spots were in place, who determines the criteria for the businesses that are on these signs. He stated that there may be issues with the signage regulation for bigger companies who want their logos to be bigger, or in color. He also explained that the more information on a sign, the harder that sign is to read, and he questioned how the Village handles businesses leaving and how that might transform or leave blank spots on the current signs, and if the Commercial Revitalization Committee Page 2 of 5 Mtg. of January 17, 2012 Village needs to thinks about weather issues. Mr. Fleming also brought up what type of landscaping would be around each sign. Dennis Hiffman stated that colored signs will help with the weathering effect, so that if a company name is taken out and replaced, a new slot will match up with the older ones. Jeff Shay explained that there is a sign in place on Windsor Drive that has the name of 25 businesses on it and looks tacky. He stated that he does not believe that this is directional signage, but that it is advertising. Mr. Shay stated that he believes that this amount of signage is over the top and that it takes away from the Village. Tracy Mulqueen explained that the topic was broached because no one knew where Harger Drive was, and is confusing to someone driving around trying to find it. Village Manager David Niemeyer stated that in terms of confusing or hard to find roads there is another option in place rather than making large businesses orientated signs. He explained that the most interest in these signs was coming from the businesses located on Jorie Boulevard. Rich Hitchcock stated that there could be two design types, one for the gateway, and then one for additional business properties which might not list all the businesses but lets people know where more businesses are located. Trustee Mike Manzo stated that the Village should just update the street signs and this would solve the issue of confusion. Jeff Shay stated that he believes they need community gateway pieces, but doesn't know if there needs to be another level of directional signage. Mr. Niemeyer stated that the most input has come from Ace and from Hyatt that they want better signage to direct people to their facility. Chairman Kennedy cautioned that if the Village went out to take business input, then it will do more harm than good because there will be so many differing opinions from the businesses, and until the Village has a better idea of what they want, perhaps the issue should be placed on hold. Mr. Hitchcock recommended leaving the door to this issue open, so that if something unique comes along either way, then the Village can take advantage of that opportunity. Bob Kallien stated that the Village needs to eliminate the small signs that exist currently in the Village and make more uniformed rules about what is allowed. Mr. Niemeyer stated that the Committee can take time to learn more about the issue, and if it's two or more companies that really want a sign perhaps a solution can come from there. The consensus was to defer further consideration of village -wide directional signage. B. Opportunity Sites Analysis Mr. Kallien stated there were 20 -25 sites located in Oak Brook that are defined as opportunity sites and these sites could use additional development, new development or revised development. Each of these sites has different characteristics that are going to impact the time frame of the development. Rich Hitchcock stated that this process was twofold. The first was to narrow down the candidate sites that the Village should spend time on and the second part is approaching Commercial Revitalization Committee Page 3 of 5 Mtg. of January 17, 2012 these owners and stating that the official position is that the Village is receptive to these types of renovations in this type of location. This information will help to minimize the effort of developers in terms of not knowing what will be successful within the community. Dennis Hiffman stated that this plan could create problems with the perceptions of redeveloped sites in terms of making the individual property owners suffer by highlighting the fact that their building has been marked for a tear down and the recommendation to move to a new location. Chuck Fleming stated that he agrees with Dennis, and that he believes with this proposal they are attempting to force feed property owners the idea that they have the potential to do something else through large amounts of renovation. He believes that the Village is making a commitment way before the property owners have agreed to change. Mr. Niemeyer stated that this plan was born with the Commercial Revitalization Project and the sites are described in very general plans. He explained that these sites all have issues and the goal is to provide some ideas and alternatives to renovate these sites in order to cut through the red tape and give potential developers better information. Mr. Niemeyer stated that he would not want to do this unless the property owner was interested in marketing the site in the first place. Mr. Hitchcock asked how the current buildings can serve the future marketplace and that perhaps the committee needs to focus more on the layout of streetscape and gateway signs. These pieces need to be set in place first in order for the all the other pieces to fall in to place. He explained that the community has flirted with the idea of a different commercial model with the opening of a downtown area. The consensus was to table this project. 7. OTHER A. Disclosure of Interest Chairman Kennedy stated that in the past this committee focused on generic Village wide issues. He explained that with the current issues of directional signage, there is a potential conflict of interest because this could potentially benefit the properties of some members of this committee. He stated that the Committee is covered by the Village Ethics Code that states that if the Committee is doing something that will directly benefit a member then that benefit needs to be disclosed. Mr. Kennedy explained that there is a need to update the planning and zoning ordinances because of current unnecessary overlaps. He also stated that the new sign ordinance has been very well received but that it does need to be tweaked due to some inconsistencies and that is something that Bob Kallien will handle. Chairman Kennedy stated that two of the long term projects for the committee are the North York Road roadway improvement, and the larger one is the Route 83 and 22nd grade separation, along with the addition of tollway lanes, and the relocation of Fire Station #2. He explained that the long term projects are expensive and not something that the Village can fund completely on its own. Chairman Kennedy stated that from what he is hearing from the Committee today is that the consensus is not to move forward on the directional signage and maybe not to move Commercial Revitalization Committee Page 4 of 5 Mtg. of January 17, 2012 forward on the opportunity sites analysis either. Dennis Hiffinan stated that the Committee should explore the business retention aspect and the cheapest way to achieve that. Trustee Mike Manzo stated that the Southwest Comer of 83 and 22 "d needs improvements in terms of beautification, and that Ginger Creek residents complain about the IDOT sign coming off of the highway. He stated that these are issues that can be discussed at the upcoming Streetscape Committee Meeting. B. Date/Time of Future Meeting Chairman Kennedy asked the group if this was a good time for everyone to meet. The consensus is that afternoons at 3pm work for everyone. President Lalmalani stated that he believes there are great opportunities for beautification projects along 22nd street and that there is a consensus on the gateway signs and he does not believe that the Committee should be deterred from this. President Lalmalani stated that there needs to be a long term vision regarding a downtown area in Oak Brook as a place for families to get together to do activities. Mr. Niemeyer stated that the community does not currently have one set downtown meeting place. Chairman Kennedy stated that the way Oak Brook is currently set up, each neighborhood is its own little community, and the lack of a downtown area is a challenge. ADJOURNMENT Motion by J. Kennedy, seconded by H. Peters to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Commercial Revitalization Committee at 5:04 pm. ATTEST: David J. Niemeyer David J. Niemeyer Village Manager Date Commercial Revitalization Committee Page 5 of 5 Mtg. of January 17, 2012