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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 09/25/1989 - City CouncilSPECIAL MEETING SEPTEMBER 25, 1989 7:30 P.M. The Special Meeting of the McHenry City Council was called to order by Mayor Busse on Monday, September 25, 1989 at 7:30 P.M. at City Hall. At roll call the following Aldermen were present: Bolger, Donahue, Lieder, Smith, Patterson, Serritella. Teta arrived at 7:48 P.M. Absent: McClatchey. Plan Commission members in attendance were Sheppard, Swierk, Toole, Osmon. Absent: Wilson, Gutierrez, Buhrman. City staff in attendance were Attorney Narusis, Clerk Gilpin. John Gann of Gann & Associates was also in attendance. Mayor Busse announced to the 41 people in the audience who were homeowners and business people that John Gann had been hired to assist the City Council in a comprehensive amendment of the City Land Use Plan and Map. The first area to be discussed in the Comprehensive Plan amendment was the Bull Valley Corridor area. After many months of discussion, a preliminary plan was prepared and now awaits review of the Plan Commission and adoption by the City Council. Tonight a new phase of that comprehensive map update which is downtown development was being reviewed. The Council met July 31, 1989 to review the Downtown Development Plan as submitted by Gann & Associates. At that meeting it was suggested that the plan be made available to the community and therefore Busse sent out 180 letters to business owners and tenants in the downtown business areas informing them that Gann's Downtown Development Plan book was available at City Hall and the Chamber of Commerce Office so that it could be reviewed prior to this meeting tonight. In order to make any development plan successful, it takes people from the private sector, land owners, tenants, the City, the Chamber of Commerce, the EDC and others to work together to develop a feasible plan, Busse stressed. Busse announced that the purpose of this meeting tonight was to get input from the general public on this report. The Plan Commission was present at this joint meeting with the City Council to review the plan with our consultant John Gann. The procedure is to amend the comprehensive plan and then have public hearings before the Plan Commission for input from the general public. Then ultimately it will be presented to the City Council for approval. The Council hopes to conclude this by the end of this year. Gann reported on other communities that had turned their downtown business areas into suburban shopping malls. After several years they found that this was not the way to make their downtown areas healthy or stop the decline. It was the thought of many downtown revitalization planners that by beautification you could make a downtown area healthy. Now through experience they found that if all you do is beautification it does not make your downtown healthy or stop the decline. Gann said that the downtown business areas in McHenry are not in bad snape. However, he warned that from past experience from other towns, when new shopping centers, newer office complexes and a newer real estate product is offered in outlying locations, your downtown business areas will start to slide. Diann explained that in the draft plan prepared `^,, h4- he tried to take a long term view of downtown McHenry. He stressed that planning was completely different than zoning. In planning, you take a long term 20 year look at the area and in zoning it is immediate. His draft was prepared as a comprehensive plan proposal which is for a long term view. His plan was prepared to show what the opportunities might be in the next 20 years for the downtown and surrounding areas. In his draft he determined what the strengths were of the downtown area in each of the three business sections. He did not suggest any major change in the areas but rather to build on what each downtown area is now and wnat the potential could be. The meeting was opened for public comment. Homeowners who lived on Waukegan, Main and John Street were in the audience to express their very serious concerns about the designation of the area between Green Street and Route 31 and Waukegan Road and John Street as multi -family residential. Ruth and Tom Fenwick of 3719 W. Waukegan Road, Jim Cavanaugh of 3215 Waukegan Street, Bill and Gretchen Thomas of 3804 W. Main Street, Mary Wislowski of 3714 N. Main Street, and Tom McNamara of 3804 W. Waukegan Road all own homes in this area. Monday, September 25, 1989 Page 2 They all said that the homes in this section of town were historic homes which had been there since McHenry was settled. Many have spent a lot of dollars to renovate and preserve their homes. They felt they deserved some protection for their neighborhood to keep the historic flavor of the area. The Landmark Commission has plaqued many of the homes in that area in recent years. Gann pointed out that some towns had adopted historic preservation ordinances to protect the historic flavor of certain parts of town. Busse commented that the Landmark Commission was looking into the matter and would probably be presenting some sort of a recommendation to the City Council. He felt the Council would be favorable to such an idea since they have always given support to the Landmark Commission's plaquing of historic homes in McHenry. Retailers and business owners who spoke at the meeting were James Kirk, building owner at 3239 W. Main Street; Rose Lilegard, tenant at Some Other Nuts on Green Street; Lee Brennan, retailer and member of the Riverside Merchants Association; Chris Cardamone, retailer on Green Street; Mary Jo Kryc, retailer in the Trading Center on Riverside Drive; Tom Hopkins, an architecht with offices on Riverside Drive; Lon Smith, owner of several properties in the downtown area; Kathy Marinangel, Chairman of the McHenry Area Economic Development Commission; Ed Buss, business owner on Main Street; Mary Nowell, tenant on Green Street, Don Donerty, building owner on Green Street. All of the retailers, tenants and business owners disagreed with the specialization option suggested by Gann. Some felt it would devalue their property and others felt it would create long vacancies in the downtown area. Others felt that by beautification such as resurfacing Green Street, getting more off-street parking in the downtown areas, installing new street lights, and installing signs to more clearly define off street parking, the downtown business areas could thrive. The main complaint of the homeowners was that they were not notified of this meeting and had to find out for themselves about this matter which greatly concerned them. Busse commented that notices were not sent out to every residential homeowner because initially this draft plan was designed to focus on the commercial areas at this time. He apologized for the oversight and said that everyone who had signed their name on the attendance sheet tonight would receive notice of any future meetings. Motion by Smith, seconded by Patterson, to adjourn. Voting Aye: Bolger, Donahue, Lieder, Teta, Smith, Patterson, Serritella. Voting Nay: None. Absent: McClatchey. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 10:10 P.M.