Zoning Board of Appeals Minutes 2011 11-02-11 APPROVED 511113
UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
Wednesday,November 2, 2011, 7pm
Yorkville Library Historic Room
902 Game Farm Road
Board Members in Attendance
Jeff Baker, Chairman Mike Skinner
Charlie Walker Don Hirsch
Corey Johnson
Absent: Ryan Woods
Other City Officials In Attendance
Krysti Barksdale-Noble, Economic Development Director
Alderman Carlo Colosimo
Alderman George Gilson
Other Guests
Dan Kramer, Attorney Robert Claesson
Peter Gabor Dan Sokolowski
Mike Sokolowski Christine Vitosh, Depo Court Reporter
Meeting Called to Order
Chairman Jeff Baker called the meeting to order at 7:00pm.
Roll Call
Roll call was taken and a quorum was established.
Previous Meeting Minutes August 3, 2011
The minutes were approved as read on a motion by Johnson and second by Walker.
Unanimous voice vote approval.
Citizen's Comments None
Public Hearing
1. ZBA 2011-02—Robert Claesson, petitioner, has filed an application with the
United City of Yorkville, requesting variations to (a) Section 10-6D-3-B to
permit a lot size less than 15,000 sq. ft. and width at the building line less
than 100 ft as required for the R-2 Duplex, Two-Family Residence District,
and (b) Section 10-6D-3-B to exceed the permitted maximum density of 4.8
dwelling units per acre as required for the R-2 Duplex, Two-Family
Residence District. The real property consists of a total of approximately
0.21 acres located immediately south of Walter Street and east of Mill Street,
Yorkville, Illinois. The property is commonly known as 312 Walter Street.
1
A motion was made by Skinner and seconded by Johnson to enter into Public Hearing at
7:02pm. Voice vote approval.
Chairman Baker swore in those who would give testimony.
The Public Hearing ended at 7:43pm on a motion by Walker and second by Johnson.
Voice vote approval.
(See Court Reporter's transcript of Public Hearing).
Discussion
Skinner questioned the width of the lot. It is 70 feet, which is 10 feet narrower than
single-family lot requirements. Chairman Baker noted that if the property were to be
sold, it would have to be rezoned. The variance requested is for 1 home with 2 units,
which is different than duplex lots.
The zoning for this property was originally passed in 1997. Chairman Baker noted that
when this area was laid out, the homes were built as duplexes according to the code at
that time. Ms. Barksdale-Noble pointed out that the original zoning did permit duplex
housing under zoning classification R2 and this section of town became legally non-
conforming.
Skinner stated the following. The lot is too small for single family according to the
current standards. He said density is at issue and noted that Elgin,Naperville and Aurora
are paying residents to turn their homes back into single family. He felt that the Board
would be setting a precedent if they granted the variances. He said he was surprised that
the Plan Commission recommended approval and that he would attend the next Plan
Commission meeting to express his concern.
Chairman Baker then reviewed the Finding of Fact for this petition.
Motion: Board member Walker made a motion to vote on the petition as one issue rather
than 3 separate requests. Mr. Skinner seconded this motion.
Roll call vote: Hirsch-yes, Johnson-yes, Skinner-yes, Walker-yes, Baker-yes. Passed 5-0
Motion: Mr. Skinner moved to approve ZBA 2011-02 (he read the petition description).
Mr. Hirsch seconded the motion.
Discussion: Mr. Walker said he believed in property rights, but the issue is property
rights and the rights of others. He believed approval of the petition would be spot zoning
and he did not agree with that.
Roll call: Hirsch-no, Johnson-no, Skinner-no, Walker-no, Baker-no. Motion failed 0-5.
Chairman Baker noted the City Council has the final authority on this request and they
will meet on December 13tH
2
Additional Business
1. ZBA Meeting Schedule for 2012
This Board will continue to meet on Wednesdays in 2012.
Mr. Skinner thanked Ms. Barksdale-Noble for her hard work on the recent building code
revisions and said the committee was very fortunate to have her expertise.
There was also a very brief discussion of zoning changes in other towns.
Adiournment
The meeting was adjourned at 8:1Opm on a motion by Walker and second by Johnson.
Minutes respectfully submitted by
Marlys Young
3
UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE
YORKVILLE, ILLINOIS
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS MEETING
PUBLIC HEARING
902 Game Farm Road
Yorkville, Illinois
Wednesday, November 2 , 2011
7 : 00 p .m.
D-954111
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1 PRESENT:
2 Mr. Jeff Baker, Chairman,
3 Mr. Corey Johnson,
4 Mr. Charles Walker,
5 Mr. Don Hirsch,
6 Mr. Mike Skinner.
7
8 ALSO PRESENT:
9 Ms . Krysti Noble, Community Development
10 Director;
11 Ms . Marlys Young, Minute Taker.
12 - - - - -
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1 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Could I have a motion
2 to go into public hearing, please?
3 MR. SKINNER: So moved.
4 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Do I have a second?
5 MR. JOHNSON: Second.
6 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Moved and seconded.
7 All those in favor say aye .
8 (A chorus of ayes . )
9 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Opposed?
10 (No response . )
11 CHAIRMAN BAKER: All right . We are now
12 in a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak in
13 this public hearing tonight, I need to swear you
14 in, so if you would now stand, I ' ll swear you in,
15 we can all talk.
16 (The witnesses were
17 thereupon duly sworn. )
18 CHAIRMAN BAKER: All right .
19 Mr . Claesson.
20 MR. CLAESSON: Yes , sir.
21 CHAIRMAN BAKER : Would you like to tell
22 us what you want to do?
23 MR. CLAESSON: Okay. What I am looking
24 to do is add a second story onto my house, which I
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1 have drawn a picture here . This would be the
2 second story, onto this house right here -- Where
3 am I? Find my own house .
4 MS . NOBLE : 312 . Second row.
5 MR. CLAESSON: There you go. You can
6 barely see it . I want to put a second story here
7 and add other living space .
8 I 've actually been to the building
9 commissioner, I 've been to the person in charge of
10 building and zoning, and there is nothing stopping
11 me from putting a second story on there .
12 I am completely within the law and
13 my rights to put extra bedrooms , completely with
14 the law and my rights to put in a kitchen, and
15 it ' s completely within the law for me to rent
16 these rooms out to people, I can have roommates .
17 There is nothing stopping me from doing any of
18 that .
19 I was actually doing that before I
20 had an accident to my house and it caught on fire .
21 I had other people there living with me to help
22 supplement my rent, okay?
23 So what I had to do, though, because
24 it is zoned single family, was pay all of the
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1 utilities myself, and that made it difficult, so
2 what I want to do is split the utilities so I have
3 two separate meters . The only way I can do that
4 is to change my house into multi-family.
5 I can still rent it out, I can still
6 put two kitchens in it, there is nothing stopping
7 me from doing that , into a single family home .
8 I have already talked to the
9 building guy, he said my plans will pass , so I am
10 actually going to do it .
11 I basically want permission to
12 change it to multi-family so that I could have a
13 separate meter for one side, a separate meter for
14 the other side .
15 where I 'm restricted is I have to - -
16 if it ' s not multi-family, I have to live in the
17 house in order to do that, which I 'm willing to do
18 and what I 'm planning to do, but if I can get it
19 switched to multi-family, it will allow me the
20 flexibility in my life to move out if my - - you
21 know, when my daughter grows up or whatever, I can
22 move on or stay there, but it gives me the
23 flexibility to do what I want , to treat the
24 property the way I want to treat it, which is an
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1 income property like the other houses . Many, many
2 of the other houses on our street are already
3 duplexes .
4 I mean, you can see this one here,
5 which has all been built back in the 70s or 60s .
6 This home here is right across the street, it is
7 already a duplex, this house here at the corner is
8 a duplex, this house here is a duplex, this house
9 here is a duplex, this house here is a duplex.
10 The single family homes in the -- on
11 the street already have gone into foreclosure
12 probably due to people not being able to pay their
13 mortgage, which is what I would guess, and that ' s
14 kind of what I 'm trying to avoid having happen to
15 my house .
16 So that ' s the reasoning why I want
17 to change it . I want to have the flexibility to
18 move out of my house if I want to, or, you know,
19 so that I don ' t have to stay there, and basically
20 split the utilities off .
21 I have the plans . Anyone wants to
22 see them, they' re right here . They' re drawn up .
23 And that ' s pretty much it .
24 I know that my lot size it shows
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1 doesn ' t comply with what Yorkville is requesting,
2 but neither do the other lot sizes that have
3 already been accepted as duplexes, so I really
4 don ' t see -- I 'm not -- I 'm not changing the
5 footprint of my house at all .
6 All I 'm doing is going up one story
7 on one section and want to add three bedrooms and
8 a bathroom. Really that ' s the only difference of
9 what I wanted to do before .
10 I had a kitchen in my garage, I had
11 a kitchen in my upper part . I changed my garage
12 into a living quarters, and that ' s what I was
13 living in. I have a bedroom, a kitchen and a
14 dining room in there, two bedrooms downstairs, and
15 I just have a better plan.
16 It will improve the property, it
17 will improve the land around it . It will look
18 nicer than it is now, and with the board ' s
19 permission, that ' s what I hope to be able to do,
20 split it off multi-family and have separate --
21 separate utilities . So that ' s it .
22 CHAIRMAN BAKER: All right .
23 MR. CLAESSON: Any questions?
24 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Does the board have any
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1 questions for Mr. Claesson at this time?
2 MR. WALKER: Yeah, I do. What is the
3 total square footage in the house?
4 MR. CLAESSON: Well , right now the
5 square footage, not including the garage --
6 MR. WALKER: As it stands now.
7 MR. SKINNER: Well , the garage is
8 occupied now, correct?
9 MR. CLAESSON: My house had a fire, so
10 right now my house is gutted. Before the fire,
11 the garage had a kitchen, a bedroom and a dining
12 room in it .
13 MR. SKINNER: So you should include that
14 as occupied space .
15 MR. CLAESSON: Correct, which I would - -
16 I 'm not -- I 'm saying around 1900 square,
17 approximately.
18 MR. WALKER: Is that with or without the
19 garages?
20 MR. CLAESSON: That ' s with the garages .
21 MR. WALKER: What about without the
22 garages?
23 MR. CLAESSON: Without the garages , 1400
24 square I believe, 1450 , very close to that .
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1 MR. WALKER: Okay. And how much are you
2 adding for the second -- Well , then the first
3 unit - -
4 MR. CLAESSON: I 'm not --
5 MR. WALKER: Would you say the first
6 unit is 1400 square foot?
7 MR. CLAESSON: They are 19 by 25 times
8 three, so - -
9 MR. WALKER: But that includes the
10 garage .
11 MR. CLAESSON: That ' s not including the
12 garage .
13 MR. WALKER: So the basic unit is 1400
14 square foot?
15 MR. CLAESSON: Yes .
16 MR. WALKER: What will the second unit
17 be?
18 MR. CLAESSON: Approximately another 450
19 square foot .
20 MR. WALKER: So you ' re adding 450 square
21 foot?
22 MR. CLAESSON: Correct . 28 by 19 .
23 MR. WALKER: And will that be the entire
24 second unit?
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1 MR. CLAESSON: That will be the entire
2 second floor above --
3 MR. WALKER: But that ' s a separate unit .
4 You are making a duplex.
5 MR. CLAESSON: Yes , sir.
6 MR. WALKER: So one unit will have
7 1400 square feet, the other will have 450 .
8 CHAIRMAN BAKER: No, no.
9 MR. CLAESSON: No, they' ll be the same .
10 This is what I have now; I 'm going to put an
11 addition above here, so this will be one unit .
12 And then this here is a tri-level . I have three
13 foot buried here . One - -
14 They are basically mimicking each
15 other; they' re the same unit, same square footage,
16 just with the wall down the middle .
17 You don' t - - It doesn' t look like
18 the same height because this level is a tri-level
19 and it ' s under the ground level, so I have one
20 level here, if you could like look behind the
21 garage, and another level , one level here and
22 another level .
23 MR. WALKER: So are you saying both
24 units will be 1400 square foot?
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1 MR. CLAESSON: No, sir. No, sir.
2 MR. HIRSCH: No, 925 .
3 MR. CLAESSON: Yeah. Yes . Separate --
4 Beforehand the whole thing together, with this ,
5 this and this , was 1400 . I 'm adding about 450 and
6 I 'm splitting it in half, so you ' re looking at
7 about -- I haven' t done the exact, but I 'm looking
8 at about 950 apiece . Does that sound about right?
9 MR. WALKER: Okay. So you ' re saying
10 that both units would be somewhat equal at 950 .
11 MR. CLAESSON: Very close to equal , if
12 not identical .
13 MR. WALKER: How many bedrooms would
14 each unit have?
15 MR. CLAESSON: Three .
16 MR. WALKER: Each unit would have three?
17 MR. CLAESSON: Yes , sir.
18 CHAIRMAN BAKER: How many baths?
19 MR. CLAESSON: One bath in the right
20 unit, two baths in the left unit . That ' s just
21 because it ' s all --
22 MR. WALKER: And each would have a
23 kitchen you said?
24 MR. CLAESSON: Each would have a
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1 kitchen, yes .
2 MR. WALKER: And to accomplish this, you
3 have to forego the two-car garage?
4 MR. CLAESSON: No, the two-car garage
5 will stay. To do this all I have to do is add the
6 second story to the right half of the house .
7 MR. WALKER: There will be a garage?
8 MR. CLAESSON: There will be a two-car
9 garage, one car for each side, and then I have
10 off-street parking enough to accommodate three
11 cars for each apartment all off the street,
12 because my driveway can accommodate two cars on
13 each side and then the garage can accommodate one
14 car on each side .
15 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Any other questions
16 from board members?
17 MR. WALKER: One other. When I asked
18 about the bedrooms , so basically each unit ' s going
19 to be three bedrooms , one and maybe two baths .
20 How about any other living areas?
21 MR. CLAESSON: Living room, dining room.
22 MR. WALKER: And what ' s the size of
23 those going to be?
24 MR. CLAESSON: These are all laid out
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1 here, if you care to look at it .
2 MR. WALKER: I ' ll accept what you tell
3 me .
4 MR. CLAESSON: Let ' s see . I have - - The
5 dining rooms are about 9 by 11 . The kitchens are
6 looking to be approximately 8 by 13 , the other one
7 is more like 10 by 13 .
8 The bedrooms are coming out to be
9 about 8 by 11 , a master bedroom bigger than that
10 on the one unit, and a master bedroom bigger on
11 the other unit by a few feet .
12 Living area, big living area, you ' re
13 looking at about four, 12 , 16 -- 17 by
14 approximately 14 on the one, and the other side is
15 a little bit smaller than that because of the
16 laundry room, and that ' s four -- again, about 15
17 by 14 it looks to be .
18 Dishwasher in each unit, gas range .
19 The one unit has an extra bathroom because it
20 already was there, so the one unit had a bathroom
21 downstairs and a bathroom upstairs . The other one
22 I 'm adding a bath to.
23 CHAIRMAN BAKER: If there ' s no more
24 questions , I ' ll take questions from the public .
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1 None?
2 MR. SKINNER: None .
3 MR. JOHNSON: No .
4 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Is there anyone in the
5 audience that wishes to discuss this tonight?
6 Please raise your hand. when you stand up, please
7 state your name so that we can have it recorded.
8 Sir.
9 MR. GABOR: My name is Peter Gabor,
10 G-A-B-O-R, and it sounds like based on the
11 gentleman' s statements it ' s a done deal ,
12 apparently he talked to everybody who said it ' s
13 going to be approved, so I don ' t know why there is
14 a Board of Appeals . Apparently it ' s not a done
15 deal .
16 I hope it ' s not a done deal because
17 I 'm not familiar - - familiar with the six other
18 duplexes that are down the road, six other ones,
19 as far as whether they meet the requirements , but
20 I do know that the gentleman' s asking for a
21 variance to the lot size because his lot is too
22 small , the width of his lot is short by 75 feet
23 and the density requirement is not met .
24 So basically my problem with another
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1 duplex on the street where I live is that how many
2 is enough.
3 I talked to a realtor from Coldwell
4 Banker and she ' s told me that the value of the
5 single family homes on Walter Street will be less
6 because of the appearance of the street, and a lot
7 has to do with the appearance of the duplexes .
8 If you take a drive down Walter
9 Street, you will see some homes , duplexes , for
10 sale, some apartments for rent constantly.
11 A majority of the duplexes don ' t
12 have blacktop, their gravel is in the street, so
13 it ' s like a big gravel parking lot as you ' re
14 driving down the road, Mill Street .
15 I was here at the last meeting and
16 after that I talked to all of my neighbors, and
17 apparently the information that I got was that the
18 gentleman does not live there, has not lived there
19 for years , which is contrary to what was told here
20 last month, and that ' s - - that ' s fine, except tell
21 the truth.
22 My concern is that who ' s going to
23 move into those apartments? Is it going to be a
24 sex offender? Is it going to be a drug addict?
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1 Is it going to be a house of ill repute?
2 You put down a thousand dollar
3 deposit for security, trash the house, you
4 disappear, you 've got nothing invested.
5 Us homeowners have got hundreds of
6 thousands of dollars invested in our homes , and if
7 Yorkville wants to progress instead of taking care
8 of the special interests of one person, take care
9 of the special - - take care of the interests of
10 the majority.
11 You know, the thing that ' s on the
12 news today, we ' re the 99 percent, he ' s the one
13 percent, well , that applies to Walter Street . The
14 people who own the single family homes who live
15 there are the majority. The people who own the
16 duplexes who don ' t live there, all they want is
17 income so that they can pay their mortgage .
18 I ' d love to rent out two of my rooms
19 because my children are gone and, you know, I
20 could get extra money, but maybe I should ask for
21 a variance and do that, but I talked to my
22 neighbor right next to me on Illini Drive, they - -
23 Speaking of cars , do I want to see six cars in one
24 driveway? You see the whole street parked up all
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1 night .
2 One of the cars of my neighbors , the
3 Pape ' s , was vandalized in August, some piece of
4 equipment was taken, and in the back seat somebody
5 either poured a liquid or poured urine on the back
6 seat, and I don ' t know -- I 'm not saying the
7 people in the duplexes or the single family homes
8 are the culprits , but let ' s make Walter Street a
9 community of single family homes and let ' s leave
10 the six duplexes , and enough is enough.
11 CHAIRMAN BAKER: All right . Thank you
12 very much for sharing your opinion with us
13 tonight .
14 MR. GABOR: You ' re welcome .
15 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Does anyone wish to ask
16 him any questions on anything that he said?
17 (No response . )
18 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Very good. Would you
19 like to state an opinion tonight? If so, please
20 stand and state your name .
21 MR. SOKOLOWSKI : Hi , my name is Dan
22 Sokolowski , and I 'm here to also comment on the - -
23 in essence, first of all , the residency of this
24 gentleman here, and truly, we live -- kind of
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1 share kitty-corner backyards , and I haven ' t seen
2 him there full-time . I know he has been there .
3 When we first moved in, there wasn' t
4 a lot of upkeep in the backyard, the dogs were
5 always back there, and to me, it didn ' t seem like
6 it was well kept or well maintained.
7 Certainly things are different now,
8 he has a younger daughter, he ' s responsible for
9 her, and I know that is probably why he is doing
10 this , he has a family he is responsible for .
11 However, to Peter ' s comment is like
12 I -- you know, tell the truth. It ' s - - You
13 haven ' t been there the whole time, so let ' s be
14 honest .
15 The other question I have is --
16 possibly the board can answer this - - we currently
17 have parking restrictions in our area, so there is
18 no street parking for ourselves , so how many cars
19 can a driveway satisfy with how many residents
20 that may actually be licensed drivers with
21 vehicles?
22 How many vehicles does this
23 gentleman own and what will he need to keep in the
24 driveway? I 'm just, you know, stating the obvious
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1 here .
2 So we have issues with parking in
3 our area as it is . I have multiple vehicles and
4 it is difficult for me to park in my short
5 driveway, and I just can ' t imagine that being easy
6 to do either having multiple tenants .
7 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Those are very good
8 questions . As far as the parking goes , I don ' t
9 believe there is a sidewalk in front of his house,
10 and I don ' t believe we ' ll be requiring one .
11 MS . NOBLE : No.
12 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Which means he can use
13 it all the way out to the street because he ' s not
14 crossing a pedestrian access .
15 MR. SOKOLOWSKI : Okay.
16 CHAIRMAN BAKER: That I do know. As far
17 as the other topics you have brought up, would you
18 like to respond to any of those?
19 MR. CLAESSON: I definitely would. I
20 bought the house in 199 . Me, my wife, her three
21 kids and my one daughter, moved in. I lived there
22 with them until 106 . I went through a divorce .
23 I ' ll admit during the divorce I may
24 have let my yard go a little bit . My life wasn ' t
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1 in perfect order and I may not have mowed my lawn
2 on time . I apologize to you for that .
3 The reason I moved out temporarily
4 was my girlfriend has lymphoma, was going through
5 chemotherapy for about a 12 to 11-month period of
6 time .
7 I rented my portion during that
8 period of time . I moved in with her, took care of
9 her. She went through her chemotherapy and she is
10 now feeling better . After she got back on her
11 feet, I moved back into my house .
12 The only reason it was that duration
13 of time is because I didn ' t want to move my
14 daughter from one house to the other house,
15 otherwise I would have been back in less than the
16 amount of time, but since I wanted to keep her and
17 not move her during the school year, I was gone
18 for a year. Not years , but one year. And that
19 was why, because I wanted to take care of her
20 while she was under chemotherapy, and that ' s the
21 truth, and I can give you name and information and
22 everything if you would like to check up on it .
23 As far as the gravel in the street,
24 that ' s not my house . I have a concrete driveway.
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1 My house does not apply to the gravel in the
2 street .
3 Not lived there, that ' s my reasoning
4 why I didn ' t live there . You know, maybe shame on
5 me, maybe not . I 'm going to take care of my
6 girlfriend when she ' s going through chemotherapy.
7 Who will rent it , you know, you 've
8 got all these other rental properties . If he ' s
9 worried about sex offenders , we ' re next to a
10 school . They will all have to - - you know, they
11 all have the restrictions next to the school . If
12 you ' re worried about that, you ' re going to worry
13 about that with all of those .
14 He says homeowners have hundreds of
15 thousands of dollars invested into their house .
16 So do I . I am a homeowner and I have that amount
17 of money invested in my house, too, so I do have a
18 vested interest in my property, in how it ' s
19 maintained, how it ' s kept, so I don' t see how that
20 really applies to me .
21 I 'm not 99 percent and I 'm not the
22 one percent because six houses out of 14 are
23 already duplexes . That ' s not really one percent .
24 A three-bedroom apartment, as far as
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1 that goes , I suppose they could have three cars to
2 each one . I 'm looking to rent to a family with
3 some kids , maybe two cars . You know, even if they
4 do have three cars in each, it ' s one in the garage
5 and two in the driveway. That ' s I think perfectly
6 acceptable . It ' s all off of the street . And I
7 actually have space in front of my house that the
8 other duplexes already park there, so my house is
9 accommodating some of the other neighbors already.
10 Let ' s see . As far as Mr. Gabor,
11 he ' s concerned about all these duplexes , but all
12 of these duplexes - - I went down to the County --
13 were already built , standing, and being rented
14 when this gentleman already bought his house .
15 So he knew he was buying a house on
16 a street with rental property. Now that he ' s
17 unhappy living there with the rental property, I
18 don ' t really see how that pertains to my
19 particular instance, you know. The rental
20 property was there ahead of time before he bought
21 it . If it was a huge issue with him, he at least
22 knew it was there, you know.
23 I touched on Mr. - - Dan ' s, as far
24 as me not keeping my yard, well , you know, that
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1 was for a short period of time . It ' s been kept
2 well now.
3 I do have a daughter, she goes to
4 school right down the street, she walks to that
5 school , and I plan on renting to, you know, other
6 families, not - - I 'm certainly not going to rent
7 to three single men or three single people to come
8 in there and disturb the neighborhood. That ' s not
9 going to be from me .
10 I guess I touched on everyone ' s
11 topics . The driveway, like I said, you ' re worried
12 about all the cars . On my property, it can
13 accommodate six cars, so why can' t I park six cars
14 on my property? I mean, it ' s my property, it ' s my
15 driveway. It can accept all of it .
16 MR. SOKOLOWSKI : Not saying you can ' t , I
17 just asked. That ' s all .
18 MR. CLAESSON: So, I mean, it ' s the
19 other duplexes that have on the street parking,
20 not what I want to do to mine, so I don' t really
21 see all of these issues pertaining to me . Seems
22 like some of these issues are just pertaining to
23 the circumstances and where they live and the
24 situation he lives in.
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1 He ' s right, there are a lot of
2 duplexes on that street already. That ' s why I
3 don ' t think it ' s a big stretch for mine .
4 And my house is a home - - If you
5 were to look at it from the outside when I get
6 done with my addition, it still looks like a home,
7 it doesn ' t look like a duplex.
8 I showed you the front picture of
9 it . It still looks like a single family home, it
10 just looks like a bigger single family home . It
11 doesn ' t look like any of those other duplexes .
12 So as far as the rental of the
13 property value going down, if I was building one
14 of these half-roofed duplexes like that, I could
15 see it going down.
16 And I think Mr. Gabor is upset, he
17 lives over here directly by two of these, of the
18 less attractive looking duplexes, and one of these
19 backs up directly to his property, and he stated
20 the other day he was unhappy with the pets going
21 in his yard and this and that, but here again, all
22 due respect, that ' s not my property, that ' s this
23 other gentleman ' s property, and that ' s not my dog,
24 that ' s their dog, and my house is not even
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1 visible .
2 If he steps out his front door, he
3 cannot even see my house . Can ' t even see it . So
4 is it going to affect his view? Is it going to
5 affect the street like the other ones? I don' t
6 think so . I think it will make my house look
7 bigger, nicer and add value .
8 I think if you just say just the
9 rental property, yeah, it might decrease, but as
10 you can see from the drawings , you would never
11 know that ' s a duplex. You would never know it
12 from the street . I mean, you really wouldn ' t .
13 And there ' s no way to tell . It looks just like --
14 just like a regular family home .
15 This is - - this is what I look to
16 build. What I already have there is this very,
17 very roof . This roof slid down. That ' s what my
18 house looks like right now.
19 I have two levels , and that ' s what
20 it ' s going to look like afterwards . Just one
21 extra story accommodating some more living space .
22 I 'm in construction, you know, I got hit by the
23 recession really hard, and my mortgage is really
24 trumping me now, so I have to rent out part of my
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1 house to keep from losing my house . I 've been
2 paying on it for 13 years . I don ' t - -
3 MR. SKINNER: Excuse me . Point of
4 order, Mr. Chairman. He should be addressing the
5 board, not other members in the audience .
6 MR. CLAESSON: Oh, I 'm sorry.
7 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Very good. Point of
8 order taken.
9 MR. CLAESSON: I just wanted them to see
10 what I was doing.
11 CHAIRMAN BAKER: I understand, and all I
12 want is everyone to get along and be happy, so
13 that ' s why I let things slide .
14 MR. CLAESSON: Oh, I 'm sorry. I didn ' t
15 understand I was doing something wrong.
16 MR. SOKOLOWSKI : Does the tax basis
17 change at all from a single family home to a
18 duplex?
19 CHAIRMAN BAKER: No, it ' s not really
20 going to change at all .
21 MR. SKINNER: Yes , they do .
22 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Not really.
23 MR. SKINNER: I 'm a duplex owner.
24 MR. JOHNSON: How is it - -
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1 MR. SKINNER: Well , when it was zoned as
2 one piece of property on one tax bill , my tax bill
3 was $7 , 000 . When I split it into two separate
4 dwelling units , two separate owners , it went
5 immediately to $8 , 000 , $4 , 000 per side .
6 Subsequently each side has gone up .
7 MR. JOHNSON: I have a duplex and I own
8 the whole thing and it hasn' t done any of that . I
9 mean - -
10 MR. SKINNER: But you own both sides ,
11 right?
12 MR. JOHNSON: Right .
13 MR. SKINNER: When I split mine into two
14 tax bills is when it split .
15 MS . NOBLE : Your unit will be a rental ,
16 so you will be the only owner, one parcel .
17 MR. CLAESSON: Absolutely. Well, my
18 taxes just went up 40 percent this year, so it ' s
19 not like I 'm not paying taxes , I certainly am, you
20 know.
21 CHAIRMAN BAKER: So yours won ' t be
22 affected, where yours will because you sold it
23 off , both halves - -
24 MS . NOBLE : His won ' t be affected.
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1 MR. SKINNER: I sold half .
2 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Right . But no, that ' s
3 still a single family home and it ' s not going to
4 be - -
5 MR. SKINNER: His is -- He can sell half
6 of his .
7 MS . NOBLE: He would have to split the
8 lot .
9 CHAIRMAN BAKER: No .
10 MS . NOBLE : His house, his lot, would
11 not be able to be split unless he comes in for
12 another variance .
13 MR. CLAESSON: No.
14 MR. SKINNER: Exactly, that ' s - -
15 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Right . Well , yeah, he
16 would need another variance to do so .
17 MR. SKINNER: Exactly. Well , it could
18 be split . It would be almost a condominium.
19 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Yeah, but he would have
20 to come back before us to do that .
21 MR. SKINNER: Whatever, but yes , he
22 could.
23 MR. CLAESSON: Apologize for not
24 addressing the board earlier.
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1 CHAIRMAN BAKER: That ' s quite all right .
2 Yes , sir.
3 MR. GABOR: So your property went from a
4 single family to a duplex and your taxes went up?
5 MR. SKINNER: No, no. My property - - I
6 built a duplex.
7 MR. GABOR: Okay. And your taxes went
8 up a thousand dollars?
9 MR. SKINNER: When it was one -- one tax
10 bill - -
11 MR. GABOR: Right .
12 MR. SKINNER: - - I owned half and rented
13 half . When I sold half, I had to split the tax
14 bill . Then at that time I had to have two tax
15 bills .
16 I went from 3500 per side, 7 , 000
17 total actually, but one tax bill , so it was - -
18 they still pay taxes, they paid it in rent . When
19 I sold half, the new owner then and mine went from
20 3500 to $4 , 000 .
21 MR. GABOR: Okay. The assessor who
22 evaluates the value of single family homes,
23 duplexes , has certain things to go by, the square
24 footage, what ' s usable, what ' s not usable, and the
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1 equation does not take into consideration that if
2 it ' s a duplex and it has a family of four, two
3 kids , family of five, three kids in each, that ' s
4 six more kids going to school , all the school
5 budget is financed by real estate taxes , so right
6 now the value of my property because of the
7 economy has gone down, the real estate taxes have
8 not .
9 Someone ' s going to have to pay for
10 the lunches for those kids , someone ' s tax money is
11 going to have to pay for the arts , the activities ,
12 and I am not against education, I have a college
13 degree, both my children have a college degree, my
14 wife is a teacher. What I 'm saying is there ' s no
15 way to know who is going to rent that apartment .
16 You may think of the ideal I 'm going
17 to rent only to a married couple, no single men,
18 no single girls , no wild parties , but that ' s a - -
19 that ' s a pipe dream.
20 The reality is it ' s quite possible
21 each apartment is going to be cluttered with ten
22 people, six kids, and all I 'm -- I 'm not against
23 the duplex, and I knew the duplexes were there
24 when I purchased my house, and I purchased my
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1 house .
2 All I 'm saying is the village of
3 Yorkville should have some kind of a guideline as
4 to how you plan the streets by - - the street Dan
5 lives on is all single family. It ' s beautiful .
6 Walter Street is quite - - it ' s like day and night .
7 Just planning for the future, I have
8 no problem with the duplexes that are there . I
9 don ' t think Walter Street needs any more . It ' s
10 that simple . Because not only does Walter Street,
11 but when you go on Mill Street, all those homes
12 are duplexes .
13 Is Yorkville going to be just -- I
14 mean, everybody -- maybe I should get my home into
15 a duplex. I 've got three acres , and one side can
16 have an acre and a half, one can have an acre and
17 a half, and I can live in one and -- you know, is
18 that what Yorkville wants , everybody who is
19 entitled to having a duplex do it? I don ' t think
20 so.
21 It should be a single family
22 community with planning for duplexes, townhomes,
23 condominiums , apartments, but it ' s got to be
24 planned, not random where we already have six, and
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1 I don ' t think I 'm out of line in saying six is
2 enough.
3 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Thank you for your
4 comments tonight . If anyone has any new
5 information to speak of, I will listen to it .
6 Otherwise I have a letter from Russell and Lisa
7 Pope -- Pap?
8 MR. GABOR: Pape .
9 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Pape, excuse me . I 'm
10 sorry. They are at 320 Illini Drive, and it ' s to
11 the City Clerk .
12 The letter states : We are unable to
13 attend the public hearing for the board -- for the
14 appeal , but would like to share our comments and
15 concerns .
16 The lot in question resides on
17 Walter Street . While there are already duplex
18 units on Walter Street, those units were designed
19 and built as duplexes on lots that were sized for
20 duplexes .
21 The lot in question currently
22 contains a single family unit, but for the last
23 couple of years , that single family unit has been
24 converted into two separate unit dwellings by
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1 transitioning a garage space into a living area .
2 I would like to recommend not
3 approving this appeal on the following concerns :
4 Number one, the lot size is not significant to
5 hold a duplex unit and the zoning should not be
6 changed to get around that . It is barely able to
7 hold a small single family house right now;
8 Number two, there is no way we
9 should -- and "no way" is capitalized -- we should
10 allow the density to be increased because of
11 garage space -- garage space would be gone, all
12 the vehicles would have to park outside, and the
13 driveway is shortened and can barely hold four
14 vehicles ;
15 Number three, the owner, to our
16 knowledge, has not been living there for the past
17 couple of years , but was renting it out to several
18 tenants, operating it as a duplex rental unit
19 already.
20 I have met and talked to the owner,
21 he is a nice man, I have no personal grievance
22 against him; however, I do not see that allowing
23 this duplex appeal would improve the neighborhood
24 at all . In fact, could further reduce the value
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1 of units in the immediate area, including my home .
2 Walter Street supports duplex
3 housing units, but within the bounds of zoning,
4 and was set up for a good reason in the past .
5 There is no reason to make an exception for the
6 zoning in this case .
7 The house was designed as a single
8 family house and should not be converted, nor does
9 the lot size support the duplex living
10 arrangement . Sincerely, Russell and Lisa.
11 I ' d like to put that into evidence
12 or whatever.
13 MS . NOBLE : Record.
14 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Record. All right . I
15 would like to thank everyone for their opinions
16 tonight .
17 MR. WALKER: I have a question. Can I
18 do that?
19 CHAIRMAN BAKER: If you want to do it in
20 the public hearing, I will accept it, yes .
21 MR. WALKER: All right . As long as I
22 can discuss that with the board, I don' t care
23 whether it ' s public or not .
24 CHAIRMAN BAKER: I don' t care, that ' s
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1 fine .
2 MR. WALKER: The question which I asked,
3 the existing duplexes on Walter Street, they' re
4 non-conforming; is that correct?
5 MS . NOBLE : For --
6 CHAIRMAN BAKER: No, that ' s not correct .
7 MS . NOBLE : Are you asking me?
8 MR. WALKER: Yes .
9 MS . NOBLE : There are two standards,
10 yes . On Page 2 of the memo, it lists all of the
11 units on Mill and Walter Street, showing that
12 most, if not all , are not in conformance with the
13 current R2 zoning.
14 MR. WALKER: But does that mean with the
15 status of non-conforming that the zoning was
16 passed after those homes had already been
17 constructed?
18 MR. JOHNSON: Yes .
19 MS . NOBLE : Yes .
20 MR. WALKER: All right . And what we ' re
21 asking for here now is a variance, which is
22 different from a non-conforming status .
23 MS . NOBLE : Correct .
24 MR. WALKER: If it was a non-conforming
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1 status , if these homeowners or property owners
2 would make major improvements , then they would
3 have to seek variances ; is that correct?
4 MS . NOBLE : Correct .
5 MR. WALKER: Okay.
6 MS . NOBLE : Or bring the property into
7 compliance . Yes .
8 MR. WALKER: Thank you.
9 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Very good.
10 MS . NOBLE : May I add something?
11 CHAIRMAN BAKER: You may certainly add
12 anything you like, just let me know.
13 MS . NOBLE : Thank you . I would like to
14 give a little history on the hearing. Last month,
15 as the gentleman mentioned, this project was up
16 before the Plan Commission for the zoning. Right
17 now it is zoned R2 , which are all the properties
18 on Mill and Walter Street .
19 The rezoning was recommended for
20 approval 5 to 2 , and now we ' re here with the
21 actual variances that are requested.
22 On Page 2 of your memo, it lists
23 each of the properties on Walter and Mill Street,
24 those that are duplexes , and it shows the lot
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1 size, the approximate lot width, and the density.
2 If you notice, each of those
3 properties , I believe there are seven, do not meet
4 their current R2 , as well as this property does
5 not meet its current R2 zoning requirements for
6 both.
7 Lot sizes for most are less than the
8 15 , 000 square feet that ' s required. Lot sizes - -
9 the lot width are -- pretty much most of them are
10 less than the hundred feet that are required, and
11 the density is greater.
12 So this property is in line with the
13 character and density that already exists within
14 the actual prop - - the actual fabric of the
15 neighborhood already, and that ' s something that
16 should be considered when the Zoning Board of
17 Appeals considers the variance . And you have your
18 standards listed.
19 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Very good. Thank you
20 for that . Now, if there are no more discussions
21 with the board, I wish to have a motion to close
22 the hearing.
23 MR. JOHNSON: Jeff?
24 CHAIRMAN BAKER: I 'm sorry. Yes,
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1 George .
2 ALDERMAN GILSON: Just a quick question.
3 Krysti , does that mean that any of them have lot
4 sizes this small , though?
5 MS . NOBLE : Yes , they do. Yes , they do.
6 This lot size -- the question - - The property in
7 question is about 9100 square feet and, let ' s see,
8 you have 303 Walter Street, which is 9150 ; 305 ,
9 9500 ; 311 , 9100 ; 313 , 9150 ; and 310 , which is
10 9500 square feet .
11 ALDERMAN GILSON: So a total of what?
12 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Four,
13 MS . NOBLE : There is one, two, three,
14 four, five .
15 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Five . I 'm sorry.
16 MS . NOBLE : Five, not including your
17 property.
18 MR. CLAESSON: The width - - the
19 requirement is a hundred feet?
20 MS . NOBLE : The width for R2 is 80 , and
21 the width that you ' re going for is 100 , for the
22 R2D, and out of 80 - - with a requirement of
23 80 square feet in the current R2 zoning, only two
24 meet that requirement , and those are the two
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1 corner lots which are on Mill Street . The others
2 are about averaging the same width as yours , about
3 70 , 75 feet, linear feet .
4 CHAIRMAN BAKER: All right . Is it new
5 information or repeating old?
6 MR. GABOR: Question . What is the
7 current requirement for a duplex size-wise that --
8 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Lot size?
9 MR. GABOR: Yes .
10 CHAIRMAN BAKER: 15 , 000 square feet .
11 MR. GABOR: Okay. So if he ' s -- The
12 existing duplexes are basically - - they' re
13 grandfathered in?
14 MS . NOBLE : Correct . They are legally
15 non-conforming, yes .
16 MR. GABOR: And anyone building a new
17 one that ' s not grandfathered in would have to go
18 by the current?
19 MS . NOBLE : Correct .
20 CHAIRMAN BAKER: That is correct .
21 MR. GABOR: So that ' s where he falls
22 short .
23 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Very good. Does anyone
24 have anything else they wish to speak in the
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1 public hearing?
2 (No response . )
3 CHAIRMAN BAKER: If not, I ' ll entertain
4 a motion to close the public hearing.
5 MR. JOHNSON: So moved.
6 MR. WALKER: Motion to close the public
7 hearing.
8 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Second?
9 MR. JOHNSON: Second.
10 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Very good. All those
11 in favor?
12 (A chorus of ayes . )
13 CHAIRMAN BAKER: Opposed?
14 (No response . )
15 CHAIRMAN BAKER: All right . Very good.
16 Thank you all for coming tonight .
17 (Which were all the
18 proceedings had in the
19 public hearing portion
20 of the meeting. )
21 - --000- - -
22
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1 STATE OF ILLINOIS )
) SS .
2 COUNTY OF LA SALLE )
3 I , Christine M. Vitosh, a Certified
4 Shorthand Reporter, do hereby certify that I
5 reported in shorthand the proceedings had at the
6 hearing of the above-entitled cause and that the
7 foregoing Report of Proceedings , Pages 1 through
8 42 , inclusive, is a true, correct, and complete
9 transcript of my shorthand notes so taken at the
10 time and place aforesaid.
11 I further certify that I am neither
12 counsel for nor related to counsel for any of the
13 parties to this suit, nor am I in any way related
14 to any of the parties to this suit, nor am I in
15 any way interested in the outcome thereof .
16 I further certify that my
17 certificate annexed hereto applies to the original
18 transcript and copies thereof , signed and
19 certified under my hand only. I assume no
20 responsibility for the accuracy of any reproduced
21 copies not made under my control or direction.
22
23
24
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1 In testimony whereof, I have
2 hereunto set my hand this 14th day of November,
3 A.D. , 2011 .
4
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6 Christine M. Vitosh, CSR
7 CSR No. 084-002883
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