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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024.03.05 PZB Meeting Minutes_appd760 Lee St Workshop 1 DES PLAINES PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD MEETING MARCH 5, 2024 MINUTES The Des Plaines Planning and Zoning Board held a special meeting on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. in Room 102 of the Des Plaines Civic Center. Chair Szabo called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and roll call was established. PRESENT: Weaver, Fowler, Saletnik, Veremis, Catalano (arrived at 6:26 p.m.), Szabo ABSENT: Hofherr ALSO PRESENT: Samantha Redman, Senior Planner Jeff Rogers, AICP, CED Director Ryan Johnson, Assistant CED Director Jonathan Stytz, AICP, Senior Planner A quorum was present. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEM There was no public comment. 760 Lee St Workshop 2 Public Workshop: 1. Address: 760 Lee St and Adjacent Lots Case Number: N/A The petitioner has requested a public workshop to solicit community feedback for a proposed development to be located at a 2.8 acre site south of Prairie Avenue between Graceland Avenue and Lee Street. PINs: 09-17-425-001-0000, 09-17-425-002-0000, 09-17-425-020-0000, 09-17-425-039-0000, 09-17-425-040-0000, 09-17-425-050-0000, 09-17-425-051-0000, 09-17-425-023-0000, 09-17-425-024-0000, 09-17-425-007-0000, 09-17-425-006-0000, 09-17-425-038-0000, 09-17-425-003-0000 Project Description: The developer Advent Properties, LLC is the contract purchaser of the subject property, which includes 760 Lee Street and adjacent properties that border Prairie Avenue, Lee Street, and Graceland Avenue. They are proposing a seven-story mixed-use building that includes commercial development on the ground floor and multifamily residential on the remaining floors. The PZB hosted this special meeting/workshop to discuss the proposed development located at the approximately 2.8-acre site south of Prairie Avenue between Graceland Avenue and Lee Street. This site is currently occupied by a private parking lot and vacant parcels. During the workshop, the interested developer, Advent Properties, LLC planned to deliver an introductory presentation, provide details on their concepts, and discuss feedback with the public and Board. No actions or votes were to be taken during this meeting. The City’s comprehensive plan illustrates this area as intended for a mixture of urban and residential uses. The zoning of the property is C-5, Central Business District. This zoning district encourages a blend of multifamily residential and commercial development. Refer to the Prairie and Lee Workshop Materials attachment for a site plan, elevations, and renderings. To achieve the developer’s contemplated project, a Planned Unit Development (PUD), consolidation of parcels (accomplished through the Plat of Subdivision process) and a vacation of an alley would be required. The entitlement process will require public hearings/meetings with the Planning and Zoning Board (PZB) and final approval by City Council. Note: The developer has not filed a petition for any zoning entitlements yet. The workshop is intended to provide input into the projects prior to submission of applications. Chairman Szabo swore in the petitioner and a group of other individuals. The attorney for the petitioner, Rolando Acosta of Acosta Ezgur, LLC, introduced John Hanna as the project architect and Paul Dukach as the developer at Advent Properties, LLC. Mr. Acosta presented a project overview with slides, explaining that the proposed site would be occupied by a single seven story building with 238 residential units and 298 parking spaces. One commercial space would be on the ground floor. Mr. Acosta highlighted the developer’s experience, noting 760 Lee St Workshop 3 that Advent Properties, LLC has been in business for over 30 year and has completed over 500 projects, mostly in North Shore communities. Mr. Acosta explained that this building would be located near the Welkin apartment building, a ten story building to east, and multi-family buildings to the south. The site to be developed is a former site of a strip mall and office building that is long demolished. The developer is proposing to vacate the alley at the north portion of the property, and then create an east-west alley on the south side of the development. Mr. Acosta detailed that the building would have green roofs at the top for storm water and to help alleviate the heat island effect. The building would have eight spaces off Prairie, and there would be two loading berths outside the building off the alley. Mr. Acosta stated that the 2nd level of the building would have a portion of the parking entry, but also a pool. Units are predominantly 2-bedroom units, 218 in total with 289 parking spaces. The average unit will be 1,000 square feet, which is a good size for condos if that becomes the desired market in the future. The lower floors include community rooms. The exterior of the building brick with metal panels interspersed. The rendering includes metal framing brick on the corner of Lee and Prairie, as an accent. Senior Planner Redman explained that the next portion of the meeting would be the open house style workshop, where workshop attendees could interact with the developer and consultant team at four stations. Chairman Szabo called a recess at 6:15 p.m. for the open house portion. At 7:00 p.m., Chairman Szabo called the meeting back to order for the question-and-answer component of the meeting. Deb Lester, 596 Webford: Ms. Lester asked for the rent rates. Mr. Dukach replied that a 1- bedroom would be $2,200 to $2,300 per month, a 2-bedroom would be $2,500 to 2,700 per month, and a 3-bedroom would be about $3,000. This includes the fee for parking. Marian Cosmides, 570 Webford Ave: Ms. Cosmides stated that she was happy with the scale of the building on that site, and thinks there should be more retail or commercial space on 1st floor, such as spaces for restaurants or a place to buy socks. The concern is that, being a dog owner, there will be a big increase in people walking dogs and asked if there would be green space that can be monitored, regularly maintained and cleaned. Alan Avery: Mr. Avery had questions about the proposed alley. For large vehicles coming through the alley, like fire trucks, would there be space to make the turns. Mr. Acosta answered that there’s a 20 foot alley running north to south, and then it would turn to another 20’ alley going east to west. The traffic engineer has looked at this, and they believe they have enough, but the final plans will be subject to staff review. Alderman Charewicz: Alderman Charewicz thanked the attendees in the audience for coming out and participating in the workshop, and appreciates the PZB meeting and the input. In regard to parking, he was told that some of the units would not have parking spaces, and parking spaces would cost residents of the building an additional fee. Alderman Charewicz also asked about the parking needed for a restaurant or a museum that might be located on the first floor. Reducing the number of required off-street parking spaces is fine, but staff needs to closely review public parking for the retail component. Board Member Saletnik stated that he was disappointed because there is limited retail in this 760 Lee St Workshop 4 mixed use building. The development ignores the street frontage, but should include frontage on the three streets for small shops. The City also needs to have a parking strategy. Arlington Heights has underground municipal parking, and Park Ridge has a central parking area for their downtowns. We need to have a place for people to park and walk to retail spaces. Having retail options on the first floor of the building would be ideal for residents living in the building. The one corner of retail in the proposal isn’t adequate. Board Member Veremis said she would be excited if the people in the townhomes just to the east would have a new drycleaner, or other small retail. Board Member Fowler agreed with statements made by Members Saletnik and Veremis. Member Veremis likes scale of the building and the brick selections. She asked if families are expected to live in the three-bedroom units, and questioned whether the traffic would impact nearby Central School. Mr. Acosta and Mr. Dukach said that some families may choose to live there. Member Fowler said that families with children would likely need more than one car and one parking space. Mr. Acosta answered that people will look at their own family and make a decision as to whether this development is appropriate for them. Mr. Dukach explained that there’d be the ability for residents to rent more parking spaces. Chairman Szabo asserted that he finds these developer workshops valuable for the exchange of feedback from the community. Director Jeff Rogers explained that these are preliminary plans, and any comments from attendees are helpful if stated on record during meeting. In terms of traffic, more information will be needed, including turning radii, for review. The City requires a traffic impact study which identifies new trips generated by the development and the peak morning and afternoon hour trips/volume. Engineering and landscaping plans will also need to be more detailed for staff review. The applicant can amend their plans, or come forward with this plan with more detail eventually. The formal proposal would go to PZB for their review. Board Member Fowler asked if the development would be dog friendly and whether there would be a dog run. Mr. Acosta said the building would be dog friendly. There is no dog run in the plans at this time, but noted that there may be space for it. Ms. Cosmides stated that downtown Des Plaines was platted in 1900, and has one-way roads at Graceland and Lee. What is the breaking point where City would do a downtown traffic analysis? In Arlington Heights, the village made asks, and the developer complied. In terms of the one-way streets: when would City look at this. Director Rogers replied that traffic considerations are considered in the overall plan. The City will look at the 200 cars added, but this is not a significant number. On the other side of the spectrum are the bigger traffic considerations, which includes the trains, and wrong-way traffic. These are concerns that the City is always cognizant of. Many changes would be needed to remove the one- way streets, including new lights at intersections, so a change like this is not done lightly. 760 Lee St Workshop 5 ADJOURNMENT The Planning & Zoning Board meeting on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 will be cancelled, and the next regularly scheduled Planning & Zoning Board meeting will take on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Chairman Szabo adjourned the meeting by voice vote at 7:21 p.m. Sincerely, Ryan Johnson, Assistant Director of CED/Recording Secretary cc: City Officials, Aldermen, Planning & Zoning Board, Petitioners