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Minutes - 08/21/2006 - Plan Commission1. 2. a 9 5. MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 21, 2006 REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLAN COMMISSION OF THE VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK APPROVED AS WRITTEN ON October 16, 2006 CALL TO ORDER: CALL TO ORDER The Regular Meeting of the Plan Commission was called to order by Chairwoman Payovich in the Samuel E. Dean Board Room of the Butler Government Center at 7:30 p.m. ROLL CALL: ROLL CALL Gail Polanek called the roll with the following persons PRESENT: Chairwoman Barbara Payovich, Members, Paul Adrian (arrived: 7:40), Raju Iyer, Gopal Lalmalani, Moin Saiyed, Marcia Tropinski and Gerald Wolin IN ATTENDANCE: Jeffrey Kennedy, Trustee, Robert Kallien, Jr., Director of Community Development Kallien and Barbara Gosselar, Assistant Village Attorney APPROVAL OF MINUTES: MINUTES REGULAR PLAN COMMISSION MEETING OF JULY 17, 2006 Motion by Member Tropinski, seconded by Member Wolin to approve of the minutes as written. VOICE VOTE: Motion Carried. UNFINISHED BUSINESS UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was no unfinished business to discuss. NEW BUSINESS NEW BUSINESS 5. A. CUBELLIS MGDF, AS AUTHORIZED BY PANERA BREAD, O_ N BEHALF CUBELLIS BY PANERA BREAD OF MID - AMERICA ASSET MANAGEMENT — 1600 16`I' STREET — - 1600 16" ST - SPECIAL USE — SECTION 13 -7A -2 — OUTDOOR DINING ADJACENT TO SU - OUTDOOR DINING ADJ. TO A RESTAURANT A RESTAURANT Wally Funk, Cubellis MGDF, architects for Panera Bread reviewed the request. They are located at the Oaks of Oak Brook on the south end of the strip. They are seeking an outdoor seating area with 28 seats. It would be located along the south and east edge of the space, occupying what is currently a sidewalk. They will not be doing any additional expansion to the building. They will provide a protective VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK Regular Plan Commission Minutes Page 1 of 7 August 21, 2006 r-�%w railing along each area. It will be an ornamental railing with decorative piers to address some of the safety concerns. No parking runs headlong into the seating area. Member Wolin said that Panera would be a good addition to the center. The only issue that has been debated in the past on similar requests is the safety issues. He questioned if there was adequate protection provided along the front seating area. Director of Community Development Kallien said that applicant was advised of the safety concerns in regards to the locations of the seating and vehicles in the parking lot. Mr. Funk responded that they addressed the issue on both sides of the outdoor dining area by providing a disguised concrete bollard, which has a repetitive element with an ornamental metal railing in between and has been spaced in such a fashion that it would be able to resist traffic or any car that would come along. There is also a stop sign located right there to stop the traffic. It is also protected by an existing landscape area located just north of the seating area. No one in the audience spoke in support of or in opposition to the request. Motion by Member Wolin, seconded by Member Saiyed, to recommend approval of the requested Special Use for an outdoor dining area adjacent to a restaurant, subject to the following conditions. 1. The 28 -seat outdoor dining area is to be constructed in substantial conformance with the plans submitted on pages J, K, L and M (Sheet A -0.1, A -0.2, A -0.3 and A -0.4) as prepared by Cubellis MGDF and dated July 13, 2006. 2. Access to the outdoor dining area shall be from the sidewalk that borders the restaurant. 3. The ornamental railings will be provided at the perimeter of the seating areas. The railings will be augmented with piers to provide protection of the seating space. 4. The outdoor dining area to be operational between April 1 and October 15th of each year. Tables and chairs are to be removed during the winter months. 5. No Live music or other live entertainment is allowed in the exterior seating area. 6. No wait service provided to the exterior seating area. ROLL CALL VOTE: Ayes: 7 — Members Adrian, Iyer, Lalmalani, Saiyed, Tropinski, Wolin and Chairwoman Payovich Nays: 0 -- None. Motion Carried. VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK. Regular Plan Commission Minutes Page 2 of 7 August 21, 2006 5. B. DOUBLETREE HOTEL ON BEHALF OF PFC OAK LLC c/o PYRAMID DOUBLETREE - HOTEL - TEXT ADVISORS, LLC THE OWNER OF THE PROPERTY — TEXT AMENDMENT - AMENDMENT — SECTION 13- 11 -11A.2 — TO PERMIT ADDITIONAL -TO PERMIT ADD 'L SIGNAGE SIGNAGE FOR HOTELS LOCATED IN THE ORA -2 DISTRICT FOR HOTELS IN ORA -2 DISTRICT Director of Community Development Kallien provided some background on the request. In the B -2 District, the permitted uses are retail, office, hotel, etc. and they have special signage provisions that allow them to place signs much higher on buildings. On the east side of Spring Road, is the ORA -2 District. In the ORA -2 District the permitted uses are also retail, office, hotel, etc., however, the signage rules are different. Therefore, there is a situation where the DoubleTree and Renaissance Hotel are in very similar locations and competing for the same market and clientele, yet the sign rules are quite a bit different. The applicant is seeking some changes so that the playing field is evened out. Michael Newman, General Manager of the DoubleTree Hotel provided background on the hotel and reviewed the requested text amendment. They purchased the hotel from Hyatt in February of 2005 for just over $20 million. Immediately following the purchase, they proceeded with a $15 million renovation. The renovation consisted of the entire room's renovation, which meant that all 423 rooms at the time were gutted, new carpet, tile, soft goods, bedding, tile surrounds and faucets were replaced for a full -blown renovation. They also increased the number of rooms from 423 to 427. Within that scope, they changed all of the hallways, closed in the atrium and built a rotunda. They added a porte cochere in the front, a new driveway and new carpet throughout. The only projects remaining are the build out of the gift shop, the Avis rent -a -car and a barber shop. They have the plans together for that and hope to complete it within the next 8 weeks. The only other existing project that they have is the building sign. The current situation is that the hotel is zoned in the ORA -2 District, which does not allow a sign to be mounted above 35 feet on a building. There is a monument sign on the pond, but at 35 feet above grade the sign, which is quite low on the building, as shown on the exhibit page F of the case file. The proposed text amendment would allow them to raise the sign on the building as shown on the exhibit, page G of the case file. Looking from Spring Road toward the hotel, the exhibit on page H of the case file shows the maximum height allowed by the current signage restrictions, which only shows the very top of their logo and renders the sign unidentifiable. Directly across the street, the Renaissance Hotel has signage as high as they want on the building without going over the top. There is actually signage on 3 sides on the top of that building. If there were any customers visiting the mall or potential customers that are visiting the area, they would not be able to locate or identify the DoubleTree Hotel. They are proposing the text amendment for hotels in the ORA -2 district so that they would be allowed the same signage regulations as the Renaissance, and they would be marketable to their guests as well. VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK Regular Plan Commission Minutes Page 3 of 7 August 21, 2006 The owners paid $20 million for the property on the building and then have invested another $15 million in renovations. They have made a sizable investment and have made a very strong commitment that they want to be in Oak Brook, partner with the Village and be a good neighbor. They ask that the Plan Commission recommend approval of the requested text amendment to allow the same signage for hotels in the ORA -2 District, as for those in the B -2 District. Director of Community Development Kallien said that when the hotel came to the Village and met with staff, there were really two ways to accomplish this. One was to seek an amendment to the text versus seeking a variation. There are very limited ORA -2 district properties in Oak Brook. They are primarily located on the east side of the shopping center. In his opinion, there may be other similar uses that would come in and benefit from this type of arrangement. This is why it was looked at more globally rather than a site - specific case and why the hotel is seeking a text amendment rather than a variation. William Lindeman, 11 Pembroke Lane, said that he has a problem with any change in signage permissible at this particular time. Oak Brook has 6 hotels. The Marriott in particular would benefit greatly from a higher elevation on their sign. They face the tollway, it doesn't face competing hotels and would serve to attract travelers going down the tollway. The Drake and the new hotel off of Jorie Blvd are all held to the same 35-foot standard. The one on Jorie has a visibility from the tollway, but is obscured from certain views. Oak Brook seems to be giving free reign to signage and completely overlooking enforcement of existing ordinances regarding enclosure of HVAC units. This seems to be an attempt to compensate for what is perceived as poor business conditions for certain businesses. He would hope, and he is sure that they would expect after such a great expenditure in upgrading the hotel that, that alone should serve to improve their vacancy rate. The Renaissance hotel has a taller sign and they would probably like large letters using all 4 sides of the building with a neon flashing sign. Oak Brook is a little bit unique. It is understated in its signs and now the Village Board is spending a substantial amount on beautification. He would hope that any beautification would include a review of the sign ordinances and consider the fact that there area five other hotels than the Renaissance. He questioned whether there were any statistics on how many walk -ins they receive from the Oakbrook Center. To him the internet almost precludes the needs for signs. Most reservations today are made through the internet or organizations that schedule conferences and trade shows. The Hampton Inn is also a Hilton branch and have 2 local obscure locations; one in Westchester and one on 22nd Street in Lombard. They seem to do fairly well at those locations without a sign that tall. The hotel itself is not that tall and has no major exposure to anything. It seems that businesses never think they can get enough signage, banks in particular. He has become upset lately with what is occurring at the Oxford Bank on the back of 1111 22nd Street. They topped off substantial trees to improve the visibility of the sign on VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK. Regular Plan Commission Minutes Page 4 of 7 August 21, 2006 the building. He thinks there is a need to review the sign ordinances extensively and do an in depth review and consider this application after that has been done. The Village should find out why the ordinances are what they are, and if they are wrong the way they are, then an adjustment should be made that would be applicable to everyone. Member Saiyed that he spoke with both Trustee Kennedy and Director of Community Development Kallien and the Village is working on its Comprehensive Plan. Some of the sign provisions and some of the Village's code are obsolete and it is in the process of being reviewed and modified. The location of the sign on the building as required by the current regulations looks very funny, because the sign is close to the bottom of the building. With the proposed text amendment, the location of sign looks like the appropriate place for a sign to be. It does not make sense to have a sign on the bottom that cannot be seen above the tree. The proposed text amendment will allow the sign to located where it should be and it would look better. Member Wolin said that he agreed with all the information provided by all the parties. There are many plus and minuses to this issue. A comment was made about the beautification effort that is underway and it is true that signage does have a big impact on beautification. The best thing for beautification is to have no signs or very few and in that regard, Oak Brook has done a reasonable job. However, one of the big efforts underway is the commercial revitalization. What the DoubleTree Hotel is doing is very good for commercial revitalization. They took an older hotel and completely renovated it, which is one of the objectives of commercial revitalization. From traveling quite a bit, his point of view is that a sign becomes visible. When you are driving down a highway, and are not familiar with an area you are looking for the hotel signs. One of the concerns is how to limit the signage requests. He believes that hotels are in a different category in that regard, because on a daily basis, with 427 rooms, there are probably many people that have never been in this area before, are not familiar with it, and by having more visible signage is a plus. He agrees with the comment that the signage ordinance needs to be reviewed and the timing is probably good to do that, both in terms of the beautification program that is underway and the commercial revitalization effort, which will turn out to be a balancing act to snake both groups happy. In the meantime, the way the text has been worded as an exception for hotels is reasonable. For the reasons given, if the Marriott or other hotels had a similar request, it would be given serious consideration because hotels are an exception. He does agree that we have to be careful with signage, but believes it is warranted for hotels. Director of Community Development Kallien said that in the past 8 years this is only the third request that has been made for signage. There have been a number of inquiries regarding signage, but after the process has been outlined, along with some of the obstacles, they have chosen not to go through the process. Some of the VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK Regular Plan Commission Minutes Page 5 of 7 August 21, 2006 gg approved changes that have been made started with the McDonald's project on 22nd Street and Spring Road. That property is also zoned ORA -2. When you look at the number of streets with frontage that abut that property and surround the property, they needed more signage. The signage package that was approved was responsible and was kept to a minimum. The second approval was the Oak Brook Promenade. They did not seek a larger quantity of signs, but because of the elevations of the buildings, they asked to place them an additional 6 feet higher, which seemed to be responsive. This was another case where you have zoning that has similar uses and intensities, but the rules are different when it comes to signage. When you look at where the hotel is, it is geographically in a much different location than some of the adjacent properties. The applicant has met with one adjacent homeowners group. Mr. Newman noted that they met with the homeowners association and there was no resistance to the request. The only concern was whether it would be a neon, flashing light. The sign cannot be seen from the rear of building which is where the residents would see it, which is on the opposite side of the creek. The hotel is on 24 acres, where the sign is positioned is the best place where it can be seen from the mall and heading north down Spring Road, which is where the traffic is and the businesses are so that the hotel can be located. It is not in their interest to have this much investment into a property and then do something distasteful. They want to have a class building that will be a 4 -star, 4- diamond hotel, which will be the only one in Oak Brook. Signage that can be seen is needed. They would not do anything that would blemish the street or their property. On the landscaping alone, they have invested over $200,000 and they are still adding more to make it beautiful. Member Adrian asked if it could be limited to allow only "non - illuminated" signs in the text. Director of Community Development Kallien responded that backlit signage is permitted. The signage currently allows on this site and any large building in Oak Brook up to 240 square feet of signage total. 2/3 can be applied to ground signage and 1/3 can be applied to the building itself. There are very explicit rules as to how it is to be lit and so forth. The request does not deviate from the existing language. Trustee Kennedy said that signage will be looked at by the Commercial Revitalization consultants during the whole process and we do not know what the end result will be. The signage regulations in Oak Brook clearly need to be revised and will be for the commercial sector as part of the project, which could realistically take another year and a half before it is finally approved. Chairwoman Payovich questioned if any changes other than the height of hotel signs was being amended in the text. Director of Community Development Kallien responded no. The signs would have VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK Regular Plan Commission Minutes Page 6 of August 21, 2006 to meet all of the other provisions of the code. It cannot blink, pulsate, have moving parts. It has to be backlit in a certain manner, with a certain type and intensity of allowable lighting. In the code it states that "all sources of light shall be shielded so that the source of light is not visible from any adjacent residentially zoned property." If anyone would choose to do something different, a permit would not be issued. The code has been very good at keeping signage very understated and very much in control in Oak Brook. Depending upon which side you are on, that is either good or overly restricted. He is comfortable with how the proposal relates to this proposal or if a different sign would be chosen in the future. Motion by Member Wolin, seconded by Member Saiyed that the applicant has addressed the required factors on pages C to C.1 of the case file to recommend the request for a text amendment as proposed on page A.1 of the case file. The language to be added to Section 13- 11- 11 -A.2 is as follows: "..., except for hotels in the ORA -2 zoning district, which are exempt from the 35 foot height limitation, but which must comply with all other aspects of the provisions herein." ROLL CALL VOTE: Ayes: 7 — Members Adrian, Iyer, Lalmalani, Saiyed, Tropinski, Wolin and Chairwoman Payovich Nays: 0 — None. Motion Carried. 6. OTHER BUS INES S OTHER BUSINESS There was no other business to discuss. 7. ADJOURNMENT: ADJOURNMENT Motion by Member Lalmalani, seconded by Member Adrian to adjourn the meeting at 8:14 p.m. VOICE VOTE: Motion carried. ATTEST: Robert Kallien, Dir cto Community Development Secretary VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK Regular Plan Commission Minutes Page 7 of 7 August 21, 2006 --�Z