HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 05/01/1989 - City CouncilSPECIAL MEETING
MONDAY, MAY 1, 1989
The Special Meeting of the McHenry
order by Mayor Busse on Monday, May 1, 1989
At roll call the following Aldermen were
Lieder, Teta, Smith, Patterson, Serritella.
staff in attendance were Attorney Narusis,
Development Greenwood.
City Council was called to
at 7:30 P.M. at City Hall.
present: Bolger, Donahue,
Absent: McClatchey. City
Clerk Gilpin, Director of
Plan Commission members in attendance were Sheppard, Toole,
Wilson, Gutierrez, Buhrman. Absent: Uttich, Osmon. Consultant John
Gann of Gann and Associates was also in attendance.
Council Mtg.
Attendance
Special Mtg.
Mayor Busse announced that the purpose of the meeting was to
make final modifications on the conceptual plan of land uses within the
Bull Valley Road Corridor and to discuss the next area of study which was Comprehen-
the downtown area for the Comprehensive Plan map. sive Plan
From the meeting of March 13, 1989, the following areas of
majority agreement were discussed:
1) Move location of auto center area further south on Route 31 than the
proposed location shown on Gann Option #4. After discussion it was
decided to keep the auto center closer to the intersection of 31 and Bull
Valley Road so it would be closer to the retail hub proposed on the north
side of the Bull Valley Road between the railroad tracks and Route 31.
2) Include two corners of convenience commercial land uses at the
intersection of Bull Valley Road and Crystal Lake Road. It was suggested
that the northwest and southwest corner of Bull Valley Road and Crystal
Lake Road be designated for convenience retail. It was suggested that
limited acreage be designated for those commercial uses so as to prevent
them from becoming strip malls (5 acres or less).
3) Remove the multi -family land use designation at the southwest corner
of Bull Valley Road and Route 31. There was unanimous agreement on this
point.
4) Change the designation of the area bordered east of Curran Road,
west of Boone Creek, north of Bull Valley Road from high density single
family to medium density single family. Everyone concurred with this
point.
' It was decided rather than designating specific uses only, to
use a more flexible plan so as to move ahead. Gann suggested that a
flexible plan should be the goal of the Council and the Plan Commission.
He also suggested that if the Council decides that two corners of Crystal
Lake and Bull Valley Road should be Commercial, that should be put in a
footnote on the Comprehensive Plan Map amendement.
Other areas of indecision or split decisions resulting from the
March 13, 1989 meeting were discussed.
A) Inclusion of any multi -family land uses near the intersection of Bull
Valley and Crystal Lake Road. It was decided to eliminate any additional
multi -family land uses in the Bull Valley Corridor.
B) Designation of land uses in area bordered by Bull Valley on the
south, Crystal Lake Road on the west and Chicago and Northwestern
Railroad on the east. It was suggested than an office park designation
would be best in that area.
C) Feasibility of residential development along Bull Valley Road: 1.
East of Green Street - single-family medium density; 2. Route 31 to Green
Street - medium density; 3. Chicago and Northwestern tracks to Route 31 -
no residential; 4. Crystal Lake Road to Chicago Northwestern Tracks -
single-family medium density; 5. Crystal Lake Road to Curran -
single-family medium density; 6. West of Curran - single-family low
density.
D) Consideration of simplification of the different residential land
uses i.e. combining low density, medium density and high density, into
either an estate ( RSl ) or urban. It was decided to eliminate the hi oh
density category and call RS-2 and RS-3 single family medium density.
Single family low density would be the RS1 classification.
E) Inclusion of Office Park/Business Park designation. Thas wdt'
agreeable to the Council and Plan Commission.
Monday, May 1, 1989
Page 2
Gann pointed out that in the verbal policy adopted by the
Council in December of 1988, it was decided to use small, medium and
large lots in subdivisions on the planning map. Also the verbal policy
called for clustering multi -family around major centers of activity
around commercial zoning. He suggested that possibly the Council might
want to change some of the verbal policies made at that December Meeting.
Gann was also instructed to show the open spaces, green areas
and conservation district on the planning map as shown on the current
land use plan. He was also instructed to show the new South Wastewater
Treatment Plant and the vacant Fire District property as public areas on
the map.
Busse asked John Gann how you could do these things in a
Comprehensive Plan. Gann said it wasn't the intent of a Comprehensive
Plna to do those kinds of things unless you wanted to establish more
specific standards in the plan. Normally it is something left to the
regulations of planning and zoning functions. Gann pointed out that in
other communities a site plan review is required which is presently
required under our Zoning Ordinance. This could be required by the
Council even if zoning was not requested for a parcel. But as it came in
for development it could be a specific requirement that a site plan be
submitted. Other communities have a design or architectural review
board. They require not only a site plan but a detailed plan depicting
what the proposed development will look like, the facades, the materials
that will be used, etc. That takes place in the development process and
not in the Comprehensive Plan.
It was also decided to eliminate the commercial area designated
on the southwest corner of Bull Valley and River Road.
The question came up as to whether or not the Council wanted to
approve the first phase of the Comprehensive Plan for the Bull Valley
Corridor and approve the next phase for the downtown areas at different
times or wait until the whole plan was completed. Following discussion
it was decided to do and approve both phases at the same time.
Gann said he will submit a new map with the adjustments as
discussed at this meeting. At the next meeting the Council will discuss
the downtown phase of the Comprehensive Plan and upon agreement on that
phase both phases will be brought to the Plan Commission and Council for
final approval.
Busse said that since we have all these petitions waiting for
consideration and he didn't see there would be much benefit in approving
this Bull Valley Corridor plan by itself. It would seem to make much
more sense to go on to the next phase and finish up the rest of the town,
get that done, revise the map and do the whole Comprehensive Plan
document at once. The Council agreed with this procedure. He said that
the downtown area would be discussed next because there is acute need for
off-street parking, improvement of traffic flow, and general
revitalization.
Narusis questioned if the Council wanted some guidelines to use
in the Mobil and Amoco Annexation proposals which were coming before the
Council next week. Lieder said that since it was the consensus of the
Plan Commission and Council to allow two corners of the intersection to
be used for convenience commercial, that each proposal be reviewed on its
own merits. Therefore, the Council would not need a formalized document
of the plan as discussed tonight for the Council to make its decision at
next weeks special annexation hearings for Amoco and Mobil.
Motion by Smith, seconded by Patterson, to adjourn.
Voting Aye: Bolger, Donahue, Lieder, Teta, Smith,
McClatchey, Patterson, Serritella.
Voting Nay: None.
Absent: None.
Motion carried.
Meeting adjourned at 10:04 P.M.