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EDC Minutes 2004 09-20-04 Page 1 of 4 I APPROVED 10/21/04 UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE YORKVILLE CITY HALL CONFERENCE ROOM MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2004 The meeting was called to order at 7 p.m. ATTENDANCE COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND CITY STAFF: Alderman Richard Sticka; and Alderwomen Rose Spears and Valerie Burd; and Kelly Kramer from the City Attorney's office. OTHERS: Lynn Dubajic, Yorkville EDC; Bill Dettmer, the city's code official; Scott Mai, Smith Engineering; John Argoudelis, for the Saravanos property; John Wazniak, with Lennar Chicago; Rich Guerard, Raintree Village; 1. Minutes Minutes from the July 21, 2004 meeting were approved. 2. Building Reports Building permit reports from August 2004 were viewed and forwarded to the next Committee of the Whole meeting. 3. Amendment to the Building and Zoning Code addressing maximum height and building materials Code Official Bill Dettmer said he recently reviewed the city's building and zoning code looking specifically at building heights in the office and commercial zoning classifications. He met with Fire Chief Mike Hitzemann and Deputy Chief Tim Fairfield in the previous month regarding buildings that are four, five and six stories tall. Currently, the city only allows three -story buildings because the fire department hasn't felt it could adequately fight fires in taller buildings. At the meeting, Dettmer said they discussed the ability of fighting fires in taller buildings. He said they talked about going to a definite height limit, dealing with a definite type of construction, and fire suppression systems in the buildings. After meeting with the fire department, he said the recommendation was made to increase the maximum building height in the office and commercial zoning classifications up to 75 feet or six stories. Dettmer said he worked with the fire chief to make sure the fire department felt comfortable with the proposed changes. When you build a building taller, it works better if safety is built into it, he added. Page 2 of 4 Chairman Richard Sticka said it's been his understanding that the city would not approve any changes in height requirements that the fire department wouldn't allow. He said he would like to see written confirmation from the fire department approving the proposed changes or have representatives from the department on hand at a Committee of the Whole meeting to offer their views. Alderwoman Valerie Burd said Plan Commission Chairman Tom Lindblom who also is a deputy fire chief on the fire protection district is not 100 percent behind any changes in the maximum height allowable. Alderwoman Rose Spears said even with a report from the fire chief, she wouldn't be comfortable raising the building height. She said she would rather be on the safe side and wait until the city has the proper fire fighting equipment before raising the height. Burd said she said the city had limited the height of buildings to three stories based on the fire department's recommendation. She believes this recommendation is a lobbying to get the fire department to change its recommendation. Dettmer said basically municipalities need to design for the capabilities of the fire department. When he spoke with the fire department, he went over the different aspects of the buildings and what they were looking for in the buildings and how they would be dealt with. Sticka said there obviously buildings in the world that no fire ladder could ever reach. If the fire department says it can handle a five -story building, Sticka said he would feel comfortable with that. The way it stands now, Sticka said two of the committee members don't accept the proposal. The next step, he said, is to have the fire chief attend a Committee of the Whole meeting. 4. PC 2004 -16 Saravanos Property — Annexation and Zoning John Argoudelis, for the Saravanos property, said the matter before the city is the annexation and zoning of a two -acre site that connects with an eight -acre site, which is formerly known as the Hughes Property. City Attorney Kelly Kramer said the petitioners are not seeking any variances and the proposed use for the property conforms to the Comprehensive Plan. Also, she said the Plan Commission gave its unanimous approval. Spears asked if all of City Engineer Joe Wyrot's comments have been met. Scott Mai, Smith Engineering, said all of the comments are in the process of being met. i The committee decided to send the annexation and zoning request forward to the C.O.W. 5. Concord Homes — Modified Home Lavout — Proposed PUD Amendment Page 3 of 4 John Wazniak, with Lennar Chicago, said the company plans to build duplex homes in Raintree Village. Units 3 and 4 were to be all duplex homes for a total of 224 homes. He said that seems to be a lot of duplex homes. To complete that many, they would have to lessen the price per home in order to move them at a rate that was sufficient for the amount of land. Instead, they'd like to introduce a townhome product. That way, he said they would be able to build I some higher -end duplexes. The main focus of the change is to get the duplex product to be a nicer one to go with the community. This then creates a nice marriage between the single- family homes, the townhomes and the duplexes. Wazniak said they're proposing an amendment to the Planned Unit Development that would allow for 124 total duplexes and 128 townhomes. As an added benefit, they would try to create a park in the middle so the density does not go up tremendously. The density would go up about 18 homes, but the advantage is that the value of the townhomes would be greater. Plans are to build two -story townhomes and ranch and two - story duplexes. Sticka asked if the Park Board has been able to see the plan. Wazniak said it hasn't been presented yet. Sticka said Rich Guerard, with the Raintree Village project, originally came in with a plan that had all townhomes. The Plan Commission wanted it changed to all duplexes. So, the plan was changed. Sticka said he's been uncomfortable with that many duplexes since the change was made. Guerard said the new mix makes more sense. Sticka said he likes this plan much better and the addition of the park is like icing on the cake. He added he thinks the Park Board will want the park to be operated by a homeowner's association. Kramer said she recommends the developers contact the Park Board and then contact the city about scheduling a hearing to amend the PUD. 6. PC 2004 -13 Raintree Village Units 4, 5 and 6 — Final Plats Guerard said the Plan Commission unanimously approved the final plat and the city planner and city engineer signed off on the project. He said there are no issues he's aware of The committee recommended the final plat be sent to the C.O.W. 7. Policv for Public Facility Land Donation Kramer said she'd like to look at that more closely and give a written legal opinion on it. She said she would have it ready for the next C.O.W. 8. Centex Homes Annexation and Zoning No one representing Centex Homes was at the meeting so the matter was not discussed. 9. F.E. Wheaton Economic Initiative Agreement Page 4 of 4 Sticka said F.E. Wheaton is putting an addition onto their building, which they say will increase sales tax revenues significantly. The company wants to put in a traffic signal at Wheaton Road and Route 47. They're proposing to pay for the roadwork and are asking for a sales tax rebate. Kramer said it will cost about $400,000 to construct the intersection. The additional sales tax generation from the expansion would be about $150,000 to $250,000 she said. Sticka said he'd suggest that only sales tax from the addition be rebated. Lynn Dubajic, with the YEDC, said maybe the business could go back over the last three years and average their revenue. The rebate could then apply to revenue over that amount. Kramer said she'll talk with the petitioner about setting up a specific formula. Dubajic said the signal will be helpful because a large retail center is going to go into that area as well. The committee recommended the matter go to the C.O.W. 10. Fox and Kendall Township Land Resource Management Plan Update The committee decided someone needs to explain the request before the committee can make a recommendation. Sticka said he'd like to have someone from the township explain the request and what it's for. He's not saying the city shouldn't contribute, but he'd like more information. 11. Revised PUD Ordinance Looking at the ordinance, Sticka said some things have been struck out, and he's not sure why they requested it. For instance, he said the committee asked that the phrase "not less than 30 days" be removed. He said that makes no sense. He suggested that phrase be added where it was deleted. Other than that, he said ordinance looks okay. The committee decided to forward the ordinance to the C.O.W. The meeting adjourned at 8:06 p.m. Minutes respectfully submitted by Dina Gipe. I PLEASE SIGN IN, MEETING: o ��k� ���f1 , 1 �, DATE: NAME STREET ADDRESS CITY S� l I - � co•cr Mor � I I 1 1 1