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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 03/13/1989 - City CouncilSPECIAL MEETING MONDAY, MARCH 13, 1989 8:00 P.M. The Special Meeting of the McHenry City Council was called to order by Mayor Busse on Monday, March 13, 1989 at 8:00 P.M. at City Hall. At roll call the following Aldermen were present: Bolger, Nolan, Teta, Smith, McClatchey, Patterson, Serritella. Lieder arrived at 9:22 P.M. Absent: None. Plan Commission members in attendance were: Sheppard, Buhrman, Osmon, Wilson, Guitterez. Absent: Toole, Uttich. City staff in attendance were Attorney Narusis, Clerk Gilpin. Director of Development Greenwood arrived at 8:25 P.M. Consultant John Gann of Gann and Associates was also in attendance. Mayor Busse announced that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Bull Valley Road Corridor development plan which was to be incorporated into the updated Comprehensive Plan for the City of McHenry. Busse explained that at the last meeting held February 28, 1989, several persons in attendance made comments on the corridor. Northern Illinois Medical Center presented correspondence at that meeting that they would like to make a comment at this meeting on March 13, 1989. Alderman Serritella also requested a map of the Bull Valley Corridor with existing zoning and uses shown on that map. This was provided to the Plan Commission members and Aldermen prior to this meeting. County zoning was shown on an overlay of the City zoning map so that the entire corridor was depicted on the map provided. Busse explained that the major portion of the last meeting was centered around Option 2 as designated by John Gann in the Bull Valley Corridor plan book. Option 2 appeared to exhibit the greatest degree of conformity with the goals and objectives that the Council set out. Some Aldermen felt it wasn't exactly what the City was looking for, so based on some of the comments made at the last meeting which were not all agreed upon, Busse conferred with Gann and put them into an Option 4 which was displayed on a blackboard and in handouts distributed by Gann. Busse pointed out that some of the ideas were his own that he picked up from discussions. Busse explained that the agenda for the evening was to entertain any additional comments from representatives of the hospital and then to entertain any other comments from the public who were in attendance. He also acknowledged receipt of a nine page letter from Mrs. Jeanine Packel of Northbrook who wanted to make a statement basically indicating that Option 2 was unsatisfactory as presented at the February 28, 1989 meeting. After comments from the general public, Busse wanted to entertain discussion with Council Members and Plan Commission members regarding the Option 4 plan. John Gann would then answer any questions of the Council or Plan Commission at this evening's meeting. In answer to a question, Attorney Narusis pointed out that the Planning and Zoning functions are separate and distinct. If you plan the property differently than it is zoned, that would not destroy the zoning. The Zoning is still valid. It would be valid until such time as that zoning was abandoned or changed through the zoning process but this would represent a statement of policy for a long term planning purpose so that if any owner of that property did decide to change the zoning then he could bring it before the Council and change it to bring it into conformity with the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Donald Udsteen, Chairman of the Board of Northern Illinois Human Services, which is the parent corporation of both Northern Illinois Medical Center and all of the hospital property, addressed the Council to express concerns that the hospital had on the Bull Valley Read corridor plan. Approximately 100 acres of property are involved. A large number of hospital board members present at this meeting felt it was a serious matter and wanted to see quality development in the Bull Valley Corridor. They hired their own planner to come to the Council and make comments. They wanted to share some concerns and raise some i,.sraes that they felt needed to be resolved. Ted Johnson, Vice President t•f Thompson Dike and Associates, an Urban Planning and Landscape Architectural firm, gave his review of the Bull Valley corridor pltr, He pointed a4.t six key development issues and presented five suggestions for the City Council and Plan Commission to consider. The five suggestions ware: Council Mtg Spec. Mtg. Attendance Compreh. Plan Monday, March 13, 1989 Page 2 1. Investigate environmental restrictions as they effect the location of proposed arterials. Investigate the traffic volume requirements for Bull Valley and Route 31 and the need for particular highway improvements. 3. Develop landscape, setback, and curb -cut guidelines for Bull Valley Road and Route 31 which might be applicable to any land use. Develop guidelines for the desired character of particular types of development desired that provide regulations to assure quality and standards of development. These would apply to land uses, height, floor area ratio, setbacks and yards, open space, landscaping, appearance standards, etc. Designate land uses which are compatible with each other and take into consideration their relationships to the many factors which have a bearing on land development and can be defended in court. Such factors include environmental limitations, access, existing land use and zoning, availability of utilities, and other development constrants. Busse asked Johnson if the Industrial District and its uses as designated in our current ordinance are objectionable to them, what would the hospital find as acceptable types of uses and where would they be located. Johnson said they would require more information than is presently available to give an answer to this. Udsteen said that until the standards are established for what a business park would be in McHenry it would be very difficult for him to say the hospital would support that. Udsteen made his closing comments by stating that they want to be a good corporate neighbor. "There are many board members here from the community such as Don Howard, Clint Claypool, Dennis Conway, Dean Cunat, Ron Bykowski. We have every intention of being a good corporate neighbor. The hospital is interested in working with the City on the Development of this corridor in the best way possible. We would like to see the development proceed where it benefits both the needs of the City and the Hospital. Because of our mutual interest and the impact this plan does have, the Hospital would be willing, if needed, to consider providing a portion of financial support to develop a more comprehensive planning document. We want to be part of it. We realize the City has limited resources and there is a lot of information necessary. If there is a need to develop more comprehensive information and specifics, we not only want to participate on a voluntary basis, but we would be willing to participate on a financial basis to help develop a good plan for the Bull Valley Corridor", Udsteen said. Allan Kracower, a planner for the Fritsch Property which is a 475 acre development on the southeast corner of Crystal Lake and Bull Valley Roads, made a recommendation to the City that before the City defines its ultimate land use objectives in the form of a land use plan, the City may want to undertake an economical analysis of the community so that in 5, 10, 15 or 20 years it will have an understanding as to how much land can be absorbed for residential purposes, retail purposes, office purposes, and business park purposes. "The proportion of use as shown on the proposed plan do not mean anything unless there is an economic assumption that is associated with that plan". He was also concerned that the commercial land use, which was meaningful to their development had been stripped bare from their option for a concept plan. They do have a concern about the loss of that land use and to the fact that the 475 acres of their land would be basically limited to dominantly residential land use and even without doing much of an economic analysis he said he could tell that the tax base that the City would receive would result in a tax loss based on that land use scenerio. The majority of residential land uses built are not tax producers to local governments. One of the things they try to do in their land use plan scenerio is to develop a tax scenerio that not only makes sense to the property owner and developer, but also makes sense to the Lity, where it provides a diversity of land use opportunities. Monday, March 13, 1989 Page 3 His recommendation basically was that "Maybe before the City finalizes the plan and its alternatives, the City should look at tax projections for the planning we will have or the City could end up like a lot of communities in the metropolitan area with a tremendous amount of development with a very significant tax loss". He closed by saying they would very much like to be involved with the City to continue planning with the City so they might be a more integral part of the planning process for this 475 acres. They do not like to be put into a reactionary position where they have to come and give a spur -of -the moment type analysis of something they see on a blackboard. Attorney Tom Zanck, who represents Amoco in a petition pending before the City Council, made the following comment: "Each of the four options presented by John Gann addresses the need consistent with item two on the policies in the Gann book of some community or neighborhood commercial west of the railroad tracks. In the last clause of the purpose of the second policy it states that a limited number of other locations be planned for convenient shopping for individual neighborhoods within the corridor. It is clear from all of your plans that in the neighborhood of Bull Valley Road and the intersection of Crystal Lake Road there is going to be fairly intense single-family use of some sort or multi -family and that is going to be the highest intensity of your neighborhood uses. As you go further west from there, you have single-family low density. I think it makes sense what the planner has suggested that the area where the most individuals are concentrated are those areas where you would expect that you would have your community commercial. To put your community commercial west of Curran Road or west of Draper Road, puts it at an location which is substantially distant from where the greatest number of people are going to reside according to your proposed plan, so I encourage you to be thinking within that vein". John Schroeder of the McHenry County Defenders, made a suggestion that the auto center be moved from Route 31 north of Bull Valley Road to a half -mile south of Bull Valley Road on Route 31. He felt the hilly terrain north of Bull Valley Road would not be the right location. His second comment was that based on the configuration of roads as shown on the map, a much more appropriate spot for any commercial development would be at a point where Crystal Lake and Curran Road come together. He felt the access would be easier, the amount of traffic would be heavier and the reactions from those who already live in the area of Crystal Lake and Bull Valley Roads would be somewhat muted. His final comment was that at some point in the planning process the City would have to recognize the sensitive nature of the watershed to the west of Crystal Lake Road and make appropriate adaptions for those low lying lands and unstable soils. He felt that the City should begin that early in the planning stages (that is the Boone Creek watershed). He felt the greatest risk the City is taking is perching that auto center on the crest of the hill on Route 31. Bolger felt that the auto center should probably be located further south on Route 31, south of Tonyan Industrial Park. John Gann said that the comments presented tonight were looking at this from the point of view of microscale planning by going into details of landscaping, right-of-way widths, building heights, drainage problems and those kind of things. What the City was trying to do tonight was proceed with the planning process step by step and go from a very general level to a little more specific level where categories of land use are discussed and then refined. While the comments are certainly well founded and should be taken into account, everybody should realize that the City is still at a very general level of policy and wants to make some basic policies on major land uses and major streets before getting into details." Mayor Busse suggested that the Council get into more specifics on Option 4 and that a list be made of the things the Council wished to discuss on this new option. Alderman Serritella felt that the Council should look at economic reports such as the amount of sales tax and what the developments would do for the City. She felt some sort of an economic analysis should be undertaken, essentially that the Comprehensive Plan take into consideration economic factors of land uses. In reviewing Option 4, Alderman Patterson pointed out that it seemed more appropriate to have RS-2 east of Curran Road and north of Bull Valley Road, rather than RS-3. The Council agreed. Monday, March 13, 1989 Page 4 Alderman Nolan felt that the community needs a better balance of all types of development - residential, commercial and industrial. She felt it was important that the Zoning laws should determine that Strip Zoning would not be a detriment to the City aesthetically. To obtain a better tax base it is important that commercial and industrial be developed in the City, she noted. Alderman Teta commented about having residential on arterial street. He drives into Northbrook every day and there are numerous housing developments on major arterial streets that are done in a very aesthetically pleasing manner using some of the guidelines suggested by Gann such as berming, deep back yards and location of streets feeding into those arterials. He felt residential on arterial roads can work if planned properly. Busse noted that single family residential areas do develop along arterial streets because large portions of commecial strip zoning can not be supported in a community. Busse called for a recess at 9:30 P.M. The meeting reconvened at 9:40 P.M. with all of the Aldermen and Plan Commission members still in attendance. The Mayor asked that each Alderman identify items which they felt should be discussed. Alderman Patterson said that his number one item was to change the area immediately west of Curran Road and immediately north of Bull Valley Road from RS-3 to RS-2, Medium High density. Another area he was concerned with was the area immediately south of Bull Valley Road and immediately east of Crystal Lake Road running from the railroad tracks to Crystal Lake Road which was shown on the Option 4 map as multi -family high density. He felt the area lent itself to either office and/or some retail in the westerlymost portion of that area. For the remaining two-thirds of the area, he felt a mixture of high and low density single-family would be suitable. Alderman Bolger commented on the area south of Bull Valley Road and east of Crystal Lake Road. He said he would like to see a blend of light industrial commercial, such as an office park complex all along that area. Since Jet Concrete is there now maybe that should be used as a base and have some buffers. He did not feel it should be high density multi -family. Busse felt it was obvious that some sort of convenience commercial should be located at the Bull Valley/Crystal Lake Road intersection possibly on two of the four corners. He felt this would be a needed service to the Community. He also felt some sort of low density multi -family might be a buffer between the commercial and the single-family units in the area. Alderman Teta said he appreciated the suggestions made by the Hospital and by Kracower. He felt economic, aesthetic and environmental analysis were important. He felt that the auto center might be more appropriately located south on Route 31 so as not be located on top of a hill or to impact the watershed. In terms of Bull Valley Road west of the railroad tracks, he felt that the entire corridor should be preserved as residential. Even though Jet Concrete is out there currently, he felt it could be buffered, landscaped and screened so as not to be objectionable. Concerning the location of convenience commercial, since Curran Road is designated to be a major arterial bypass, he felt convenience commercial should be located there. He supported the importance of non-residential development, but since two-thirds of the tax bill currently is for schools he felt if there were higher impact fees it would keep the school tax rate down. Concerning residential west of the tracks, he felt there wouldn't be a need for multi -family. He felt single-family could be provided along that corridor given proper set backs, proper berming, proper landscaping and proper curb cuts that would allow for that to be done in a well planned manner. He said it had been done in many other communities. Monday, March 13, 1989 Page 5 Vicki Sheppard did not want to see all commercial even though there was an industrial piece sitting on Bull Valley Road south. She concurred with Alderman Patterson that some commercial should be on that corner if multi -family is there so as to service those people. Around Jet Concrete she felt there should be a multi -family zone. She felt the City would have to sit down and plan to take into account developmental impact on the school. "My idea of a bypass is to have limited access on the bypass. You don't want people pulling in and out of driveways but to keep the traffic moving. You don't want people pulling in and out of commercial areas on a bypass. A bypass should be used to bypass a city." Busse agreed with Sheppard that the economics right now support some kind of convenience commercial at Bull Valley and Crystal Lake Roads. However, it may be 10 to 20 years before economics would support that kind of commercial development at Curran and Bull Valley Roads. Wilson asked if John Gann could get some sort of an estimate of the number of people that would be generated by each one of these tracts of land. Gann explained that on page 35 of his booklet there were some general figures on trip generation which gave general flavor of how densities and types of uses affect traffic flow. John Gann pointed out that one of the problems you have in doing planning is that you cannot predict the future. He cannot tell exactly where the convenience commercial will go. In his opinion you don't want to be to rigid. You must allow a certain amount of flexibility because all sorts of things affect decisions. He also said that one of the functions of a comprehensive plan document is to give the private sector and the property owner some sort of advance notice as to what you would like to see there. Alderman Smith felt it would be a long time before it could be determined exactly where the bypass should go and how much traffic it would handle. The Council should plan for it in the future but for right now, it should concentrate on the Bull Valley Corridor. The Council should get its act together first because he felt it was trying to get too many people to solve the City's problem with this corridor. It was decided to conduct a straw poll among the Plan Commission members and the City Council concerning individual issues at the intersection of Bull Valley and Crystal Lake Roads: 1) Leave one corner multi -family, Yes - 5, No - 6, Undecided - 3. 2) Light industry or office park for the balance of the property south of Bull Valley Road to the railroad tracks, Yes - 5, No - 8, Undecided - 1. 3) Single-family high density, Yes - 5, No - 5, Undecided - 4. 4) Multi -family in that corridor, Yes - 6, No - 6, Undecided - 2. 5) Any two corners of the intersection convenience commercial, Yes - 10, No - 3. 6) One corner of the intersection convenience commercial, Yes - 1, No - 3, Undecided - ?. 7) Move the auto center to some area south of Tonyan Indus- trial Park on Route 31, Yes - 12, No - 0, Undecided - ?. 8) Move convenience commercial by deleting convenience commercial from the intersection of Crystal Lake and Bull Valley Roads and moving it to the intersection of Curran Road and Bull Valley Road, Yes - 2, No - 12, Undecided - 2. It was a unamimous decision that the area east of Curran Road and north of Bull Valley Road west of the creek should be RS-2 medium density. Also, that the zoning at the southwest corner of Route 31 and Bull Valley Road should be designated as office and not multi -family. It was also suggested that a traffic planner look at proposing some sort of connection in the area of Crystal Lake Road, Mason Hill Road and the extension of Curran Road to the south. Busse stressed that nothing was approved tonight with the straw poll. It was just a matter of relating preferences. Busse said the modifications discussed tonight would be put on the map and would be brought back to the Council one more time for review. No future date was set at this time. Monday, March 13, 1989 Page 6 Executive Motion by Serritella, seconded by Patterson, to go into Session executive session at 10:50 P.M. to discuss property acquisition. Voting Aye: Bolger, Nolan, Lieder, Teta, Smith, McClatchey, Patterson, Serritella. Voting Nay: None. Absent: None. Motion carried. Motion by Smith, seconded by McClatchey, to go back into open session at 11:32 P.M. Voting Aye: Bolger, Nolan, Lieder, Teta, Smith, McClatchey, Patterson, Serritella. Voting Nay: None. Absent: None. Motion carried. Motion by Smith, seconded by McClatchey, to adjourn. Voting Aye: Bolger, Nolan, Lieder, Teta, Smith, McClatchey, Patterson, Serritella. Voting Nay: None. Absent: None. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 11:32 P.M.