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Minutes - 05/01/2001 - Zoning Board of AppealsVILLAGE OF OAK BROOK ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS MINUTES May 1, 2001 L CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting was called to order at 7:34 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Members MEMBERS ABSENT: Members ALSO PRESENT: A quorum was present. U. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Director of Community Development Trustee Champ Davis Paul Adrian Richard Ascher George Mueller Ayesha Zaheer Louis Aldini Manu Shah Robert Kallien Alfred Savino Member Mueller moved, seconded by Member Ascher, to waive the reading of the April 3, 2001 regular Zoning Board of Appeals meeting minutes and to approve them as written. VOICE VOTE: All in favor. Motion carried. Ill. CHRIST CHURCH OF OAK BROOK- 501 OAK BROOK ROAD — AMENDED SPECIAL USE FOR EXPANSION OF CHURCH FACILITIES WITH ALLOWANCES TO THE 100 FOOT SETBACK ON YORK ROAD FOR AN ADDITION of A NEW PARKING LOT (PHASE B) Chairman Davis swore in Joe Beczak, Director of Operations and Ray Scott, church trustee. Joe Beczak reviewed the Christ Church of Oak Brook's request for approval of a new parking lot. Originally, it was a four -part proposal, three of which related to the building. The fourth item was the parking lot, which was tabled until they returned with a better plan. DuPage County has since approved a change in the parking lot design adding a right turn exit only onto York Road, at the suggestion of the Plan Commission. He reviewed the changes approved by the Plan Commission. The entrance into the new parking lot was expanded from 16 feet to 19 feet. Another concern was the line of site being obstructed by vegetation and they have modified the plan changing some of the landscaping to a lower height. They have worked with staff to determine an appropriate height of the berm between the bike path and the parking lot, in order to make the parking less conspicuous to passerby traveling on York Road. They are working with a landscape architect to provide a variety of texture, color and depth. ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Minutes ZBA- MTG.2001- MAY.doc May 1, 2001 The Plan Commission requested the following changes: The original opening into the parking lot was 16 feet, they requested it be made wider — it has been increased to 19 feet. To lower the height of the plantings at the corner to allow better visibility to see oncoming traffic — the plan has been modified and they will continue to work with staff to meet Village requirements. To add a berm along the parking lot - they are modifying the plantings to vary height, depth and color to make it attractive and presentable. They have contracted with a landscape architect for more specific plans so that staff can review them before they go to the Village Board. Chairman Davis asked whether the Plan Commission wanted to change the size of the spaces. Mr. Beczak said that with the recommended changes, the Commission gave them approval. Member Ascher reviewed both Phase A and B portions of the petitioner's request. Mr. Beczak said in accordance with the existing special use, any change to the footprint or elevation of the property requires the Church to seek approval from the Village to amend their existing special use. Member Ascher raised concerns that the traffic patterns may change on York Road by increasing 70- 100 cars turning right onto York Road. Mr. Beczak said that they are not sure how many cars will be going through the lot because many cars enter and exit off of 31St Street or use the current entrance exit and turn left or right onto York Road. The intent of the church is to provide a service to the community and a place of connection for the parents. Member Ascher said that he believes the church is a great resident in the community of Oak Brook and provides much needed services to the Village. However, it appears that the parking lot may be overkill. There are parking lots all over the site and much of the parking is not used. Maybe there is another way to accommodate the parking need. Chairman Davis questioned that by the changes in the special use, the traffic will not be increased, but that the proposed change would provide for more convenient parking for preschool and Sunday services. Mr. Beczak agreed, and added that even though he has double the number of required handicapped spaces, he has calls weekly from members looking for more spaces. In order to comply with the handicapped striping requirements, the church will have to cut the number of handicapped spaces in half. They do not intend to stripe the new spaces they are seeking, however on Sunday they will make the spaces reserved for some of the older members that will allow them a level grade entrance into the building. Right now they have to come up the grade and across two lanes of traffic to enter the church. Member Ascher said that he believes the traffic patterns will be changed that did not exist before. Mr. Beczak said that he understands the concern, but he does not see the volume of traffic that would indicate that would happen. Member Ascher said that on Sunday, he could see it used by people to pick up people at the door and move on. Mr. Beczak said that on Sunday the bottleneck is the exit onto 31St Street with people going trying to go east and west. On Sundays, they have two police officers controlling the traffic on 31St Street. If a traffic problem should occur he would be willing to provide another police officer at new exit. Director of Community Development Kallien said that a requirement could be provided in the special use that the church provides an uniformed officer on Sunday. Chairman Davis said that a condition could be imposed that if the Village determined that traffic problems exist by reason of this change, that the church would undertake to eliminate the traffic problems, either through the use of a uniformed officer or changes in the parking to eliminate the problem. Mr. Beczak said that would be agreeable, and Member Ascher agreed. ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Minutes 2 ZBA- MTG.2001- MAY.d0C May 1, 2001 Director of Community Development Kallien said that this plan is an evolution of a previous plan. The previous plan was more of a cul de sac design for the additional parking spaces. From an operational standpoint, there were many concerns that would have made the situation worse at different times during the day. This proposed change does alleviate some of the initial concerns, but the plan is not perfect. Part of the drive or the need for these types of spaces is not demand driven, but rather for convenience for church members. The majority of the church parking is located far out to the west, and additional spaces are really needed for the types of facilities and services that are provided. The convenience is driving some of that. There really are not many alternatives; the County would not approve a full access point that close to the intersection at 31St Street. If people that use these new parking spaces intend to go back to 31St Street, they will cut back through the property. It could cause some conflicts, and are those conflicts going to be sufficient to say that this is a good design is not known. The plan is better than it was, and the church has demonstrated a need for the spaces, but how to perfect it is not fully known. Mr. Beczak added that they have spent a lot of time on this and are open to any suggestions. Chairman Davis said that under the standards for special use approval is that the use be deemed necessary for the public convenience, which is a good thing. The second part of the standard is that if it is a private special use it is to be located designed an operated so that the public health, safety and welfare will be protected. This is where the Zoning Board concerns lies. The appropriate language would need to be added to recommend approval of the special use. Mr. Beczak said that they would be willing to work with the people using the lot to enforce the regulations with them. Member Mueller asked if they thought of reversing the flow so that the entrance would be right turn -in only and the exit would be where the entrance /exit currently are. Mr. Beczak said that the County would not allow it because the back up of traffic into the intersection would be too much. Mark Fleishman, 3109 York Road, a resident that lives directly across the street from the project. Due to the nature of the church's project he is in support of the project. Due to the preschool activities and for the elderly on Sunday's the additional parking warrants serious consideration. This is in regards to life safety for the specialty population. The only proposal he had seen was for the cul de sac design for the parking area, without any exit onto York Road. He has lived at the present address for 20 years and is intimately familiar with traffic patterns in that area. The merge is an ongoing problem, not only during church activities. Cars are constantly trying speed up and pass the other cars in the left lane. He feels it is a real traffic concern, regardless of the County's opinion. His driveway exit is about in the same area as the proposed exit. The current exit is a single lane because the traffic has already merged. Chairman Davis said that unless the traffic problems are enhanced by this project that is not before the Board today. Mr. Fleishman said that he believes the additional exit would compound an already congested area. Member Zaheer asked why the original plan had been changed. Director of Community Development Kallien said that originally the cars in the "cul de sac" were forced to compete with people and vehicles coming in and going out. It was not designed for bringing children across the parking lot to the building. Member Zaheer noted that the original plan created internal conflicts and this plan seems to be creating external conflict. Chairman Davis asked if the Plan Commission addressed this issue. Director of Community Development Kallien said that the Commission was very concerned with the number of spaces and the width of the entrance. It appeared that the Commission gave the County's letter of approval for the design significant credence. ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Minutes 3 ZBA- MTG.2001- MAY.doc May 1, 2001 Chairman Davis asked Mr. Fleishman if the conditions imposed by the Zoning Board would alleviate some of his concerns? Mr. Fleishman responded that he believes the problem exists without adding an additional exit. To compound the problem his driveway currently is used as a turnaround. People southbound on York who miss their turn, habitually use it to turn around to go back north. The issue relates to him personally which is secondary to the public safety issue. The traffic is already a bad situation with a large volume of cars. Chairman Davis said that this is an unusual situation and not a routine special use. If there are traffic conditions that occur in the afternoon, there could be a requirement to prohibit the use in the afternoon. That raises a problem, because if there are a series of conditions, the church would probably not want to spend the money construct the lot, and then find out there are many restrictions. The other alternative would be to continue the matter and allow the church further time to have discussions with the Village or transportation people to see if there area other solutions. Director of Community Development Kallien said that he would attempt to have some additional communications with the DuPage County Highway Department and bring up some of the issues raised at this meeting and ask what they would recommend if in fact there area some operational issues that would come up that they did not envision. Mr. Beczak said that the Church wants to serve the community and to do everything it can to be respected member of the community. They do not want to cause any undue hardship or burden on anyone. They would be happy to accept the continuance in order to work with staff or the county however to alleviate or address some of the concerns that were raised. Director of Community Development Kallien said that if any of the members have any additional issues or items after they leave tonight, to call him so they can be addressed. Chairman Davis said that the church has satisfied the issue raised by the Plan Commission, the new issue raised is the additional traffic that would be caused by placing these parking spaces in this particular location. The issue is not whether York Road traffic as it now stands a hazard, but would there be an additional public safety problem created by the development of this project as presented. Member Mueller moved, seconded by Member Ascher that this matter be continued to the June 5, 2001 meeting. VOICE VOTE: All in favor. Motion carried. IV. ROUSONELOS — 3103 YORK ROAD —VARIATION TO YORK ROAD SETBACK Peter Coules, attorney for the petitioner reviewed the proposed variation request. The property is very unique because the whole area along Oak Brook Road and York Road are R2 nonconforming lots. If it were zoned R3, a variation would not be needed. Presently there is a home and a detached garage on the property that are nonconforming. They are seeking relief from the setback on York Road from 100 feet to approximately 80 feet. Granting this relief will not set a precedent, because there are no other existing R2 properties that have two frontages on county roads. The problem has not been created by the present owner. The petitioners have lived in the home for ten years and the petitioner's parents have been the owners of the property for 14 years. The setback from Oak Brook Road is 110 feet from the centerline and the setback from York Road is 100 feet from the centerline, which leaves approximately 8% of the lot as a buildable area. The character of the neighborhood will not be changed, because the change will not bring the proposed home closer than the existing house, in fact it will be further than the existing house. It would be very difficult to build anything reasonable on the property. There is a 3500 square foot possibility, with an attached garage that would be very narrow and would not fit in with the buildings in the area. People would have to build a structure that would be nonconforming with the surrounding area. ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Minutes May 1, 2001 4 ZBA- MTG.2001- MAY.d0C �. , If in the interim, if the area would be rezoned to R3, the petitioner would be willing to move the property back as long as construction was not started. Director of Community Development Kallien added for clarification that the R2 zoning classification has a one -acre minimum and a sixty -foot front yard. R3 zoning has a forty -foot front yard. In this case the front yard would not matter, it is the rear yard that would matter. In the R2 there is a sixty -foot rear yard and in R3 there is a forty -foot rear yard, this would give the lot an additional twenty feet. If zoned R3, a variation would not be needed to accommodate the proposed new home. Peter Coules noted that in the packet is a diagram that shows a variance would not be needed, the house could just be moved back. Member Ascher said that when he first moved into town, both York Road and Oak Brook Road were two lanes. He asked if a portion of the property had been condemned for the expansion of the roads. Director of Community Development Kallien said that the current zoning ordinance has a provision that if there were a taking after 1995, that taking would not penalize the property. Previous condemnations do not apply. Originally, this lot was measured from the centerline of both adjacent roads. However, in reality the lot begins at the right of way lines. Mark Fleishman, 3109 York Road, spoke in support of the petitioner's request. He said that they had showed he and his wife the proposed plan and with all honesty, he said that he has been waiting for this to happen for a long time. It will definitely be an improvement in the neighborhood as well as for the Village. His own home had a substandard structure on it many years ago when he purchased it in 1977. He found himself in the same position as the applicants tonight seeking a variation for a substandard lot. He is aware of how it will be situated on the lot and unless the plan has changed, he is in support and would like to see them remain as neighbors for a long time to come. Joe Beczak, Director of Operations for Christ Church, said that they have been good neighbors and on behalf of the church, they support the request. No one in the audience spoke in opposition to the request. Peter Coules addressed the standards as required for a variation request as follows: 1. The property has unique circumstances, it is not a self created problem. The taking of land over a period of time, which resulted in the property becoming a nonconforming property, created it. 2. The variation, as requested, does not alter the neighborhood, it will enhance the area. 3. The variation will be less intrusive than what presently exists on the property. The new structure will go along more with the character of the homes in the area. Member Zaheer moved, seconded by Member Mueller that the petitioner has met the standards necessary to recommend approval of the proposed variation as requested to reduce the York Road setback in substantial conformance with the plan marked Exhibit B dated March 2, 2001. The testimony given has shown that the plight of the property owner is not of their own making it is due to the unique circumstances of the property. Also, that the property in question cannot yield a reasonable return if permitted to be used only under the current conditions as a nonconforming use. Finally, that the variation if granted will not alter the essential character of the locality. ROLL CALL VOTE Ayes: 5- Nays: 0 - Absent: 2- Motion Carried. ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Minutes ZBA -M TG.2001 -MAY. d oc Ascher, Adrian, Mueller, Zaheer and Davis Aldini and Shah 5, V-10 fl/ v ' May 1, 2001 V. ADJOURNMENT Member Mueller moved, seconded by Member Adrian to adjourn the meeting. VOICE VOTE: All in favor. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 8:53 p.m. ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Minutes on ZBA- MTG.2001 -MAY. d0c Director of Community UWvelopment Secretary June 5, 2001 Date Approved May 1, 2001