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.