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EDC Minutes 2005 02-17-05 Page 1 of 6 APPROVED 3 -17 -05 UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE YORKVILLE CITY HALL CONFERENCE ROOM THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2005 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; Mayor Art Prochaska; City Administrator Tony Graff, City Planner Mike Schoppe; Code Official Bill Dettmer; City Attorney John Wyath; and John Whitehouse from Engineering Enterprises Inc. OTHERS: Lynn Dubajic, YEDC; Pete Huinker, Smith Engineering; David Meek, Aspen Ridge; Bruce Sperling, Midwest Development; Greg Ingemunson; John Duggan; Don Haniman; Neil Goltermann; and Art Meinzer and Carol Meinzer. Presentation Lynn Dubajic from the Yorkville Economic Development Commission gave .a presentation on the Kendall County EDC Tax Abatement Program. Dubajic said she wanted to inform the committee about the county's program to see if the city might be interested in joining the county program and possibly considering a similar program within the city. Through its program, the county allows for real estate tax abatements on a percentage basis. For qualified businesses, the county abates 75 percent of taxes the first year, 50 percent the second year and 25 percent the third year to start a new project or expand an existing business, she said. She said the focus of the program is to attract business that would bring jobs to the area such as manufacturing industries or warehousing type of businesses. If the city was interested in participating, Dubajic said she could ask the county for an application. The county has certain criteria a business must meet in order to qualify for the tax abatements. The development must have an assessed valuation of $500,000 or greater. Also, the company must meet wage requirements and hire at least 50 percent of workers from taxing districts granting the abatement. The county also devised a scoring sheet to detect eligibility. Given points for items such as jobs created, payroll, strategic impact and fiscal impact, a company would need to score 45 points to be eligible for the abatements. If the city was interested, Dubajic said, it could use the county's system as a model and devise it's own evaluation guide. Committee Chairman Richard Sticka it seems that the county is going to do it whether all of the taxing bodies within the county sign on or not. Dubajic said county officials intend Page 2 of 6 to meeting with all of the taxing bodies within the county to ask them to sign on to the agreement. She said the county is willing to hold a joint meeting with all of the taxing bodies to discuss the program. Dubajic added that when the county's program is up and running, it would put the county on an even footing with Will and Grundy counties which have similar programs in place. By adopting the program, it would put the county in a position to compete evenly for development, she said. Sticka said he likes this approach better than other approaches city and county governments have taken in the past to attract businesses. Offering to put in sewer lines and roads to attract businesses incurs a debt the city's taxpayers have to pay. By using this approach, there is no debt to payoff, he said. Mayor Art Prochaska said if the City Council is interested, he wanted to see if this type of program could carry over to include commercial businesses as well. The committee agreed to recommend to the Committee of the Whole that the city join the county program. Committee member Valerie Burd also suggested that he city come up with it's own criteria. 1. Minutes None 2. PC 2004 -33 Silver Fox — Annexation and Zoning Attorney Greg Ingemunson, representing the petitioners, said the petitioners are requesting to annex to the city and rezone to R2. He said there are 170 units on the plan and all would be located on 12,000 square foot minimum lots. Ingemunson added there is a possible school site to the south of the property and that the Park Board recommended the developers put in a two -acre tot lot and fulfill the remaining land -cash obligation in cash. Traffic, meanwhile, is another major topic, he said. He said a regional traffic study would need to be done. In the meantime, he said it appears the project will be in a holding pattern for a while. He said they want to see if they can get preliminary plat approval. Sticka said the Plan Commission recommended annexation, but rejected the zoning request. In denying the request, Sticka said the Plan Commission wanted to be sure the city would be guaranteed what would actually go on the property was the same thing that was in the petition request. Sticka said he's feels that the request for R -2 zoning instead of a PUD agreement should provide more comfort. Meanwhile, he agreed that the main issue facing the proposed development is the traffic on Fox Road. Sticka said the road simply wouldn't be able to handle the traffic from all of the proposed developments. He'd like to see the developers, the city and the county Page 3 of 6 work together to try to devise a viable plan. He said he doesn't think the city should allow any more development until the traffic issue is adequately addressed. Mayor Prochaska said he'd like to see the city work toward an annexation agreement rather than a PUD with the developer. He'd also like to see some of the petitioners with planned developments on Fox Road help fund a traffic study. As for other issues, Mayor Prochaska said residents at the public hearing expressed concerns about water run off. He shares that concern and said runoff could be a big problem for the first few lots adjacent from the hill. John Whitehouse, a representative from Engineering Enterprises, Inc., said it might take about 90 days to come up with a study and offer possible solutions to the traffic issue. Wanting to move the proposed development forward, Ingemunson suggested wording be placed in the annexation agreement that the developers couldn't do anything unless the city gave its approval. Sticka said if the developer wants to move forward, then he will need to sit down with the city to try to work out a solution to the traffic issue. Spears asked how many options are there for Fox Road. She said it seems clear the road needs to be four lanes. However, Sticks said getting everyone quickly to Route 47 isn't the solution, either. The committee agreed to recommend to the C.O.W. that an annexation agreement be drafted. 3. PC 2005 -03 Aspen Ridge Estates — Annexation and Zoning Sticka said the Plan Commission voted the same as it did for the Silver Fox proposal. He added that the concerns expressed about the Silver Fox development apply to this development as well. David Meek, attorney representing the developer, said the developer is prepared to come to the city with more than just a concept plan. The developer is requesting straight R -2 zoning with lots an average of 15,000 square feet. He realizes there are traffic concerns. However, he said the full build out wouldn't happen for a number of years. He suggested the proposed traffic study look at interim solutions instead of full -blown solutions. At this point, Mayor Prochaska said it would just be good to get the study done and to go from there. In the development plan, Meeks said the proposal is to keep the public trail system along the tree lines along Pavilion Road and connect to the Chally property. i Page 4 of 6 Meanwhile, he said the park board doesn't want a park in the middle of the property, so the developer added more lots to the area. There still, however, are 1.5 acres of green space with a proposed tot lot. Spears said she liked that in the original plan, the trees in the middle were going to be preserved. However, Meeks they couldn't afford to keep the trees and the extra land. He said they were required to put up $700,000 to meet the park board's request for cash and that Mayor Prochaska said the main thing is that the developer intends to preserve the tree line along Pavilion Road. Meanwhile, Marvin DeLar said he understands traffic is an issue. However, he'd like for the proposal to move forward if possible. Sticka said it could move forward, but there will be a stopping point until the traffic issue is resolved. Burd added she still would like to see a larger park area in the center of the proposed development. She said sometimes when the park board tweaks theses plans, these communities loose quality of life. She likes to see more open space within the developments. Mayor Prochaska suggested some lots could be moved to make the planned park area more symmetrical and open up the green area. The park board and the developers may be amicable to that, he said. However, Meek said that they'd like to stick with the plan presented. He said the developers aren't interested in redrafting the plan and working with a PUD agreement. The committee agreed to recommend annexation and zoning to the C.O.W. 4. PC 2005 -04 Lincoln Prairie Yorkville — Annexation and Zoning Mayor Prochaska said the petitioners originally asked for annexation and zoning which would carry all special uses. The Plan Commission said it couldn't give carte blanche special use zoning to the entire property without knowing what would go on it. The Plan Commissioners said the petitioners would have to ask for special use permits as companies or businesses approached the developers. Mayor Prochaska said he agreed with the Plan Commission's decision. He said people have a right to come in a comment on the special uses as they happen. Sticka said one person who lives near the property expressed concerns at the public hearing. She wondered about setbacks and said she didn't want construction going on day and night. City Code Official Bill Dettmer said the city has noise ordinances in place to protect residents. Page 5 of 6 Meanwhile, Sticka said he likes the fact that the petitioners are asking for industrial uses on the property rather than residential uses. It's and opportunity for the city to bring in some businesses, he said. 5. PC 2005 -05 Landscape Depot — Annexation and Zoning Attorney Neil Gothermann representing the petitioners said the petitioner has 5 acres under contract near Route 126 and is requesting B -3 zoning to operate a landscaping business. The property is located near the Illinois Department of Transportation's proposed re- alignment of Route 126. How IDOT realigns the road will determine where the petitioner would put the building. Art Meinzer, the petitioner, said he already operates a landscaping business in Lombard. At the proposed Yorkville location, he would like to put in a design center where people could view the different designs and landscaping items offered. It would be more of a retail center, he said. Because the Route 126 alignment is uncertain, Gothermann said the petitioner would like to erect a temporary structure on the property and then be allowed to install a permanent structure within a set amount of time one the alignment goes through. Sticka said he believes an annexation and zoning agreement can be reached on the property. The committee agreed to go forward with the annexation and zoning with a positive recommendation to the C.O.W. 6. Bristol Kendall Fire Department request for fee consideration for permits /reviews for building their new station Sticka said he doesn't have a problem with the request. He said the city has done similar fee considerations in the past as long as the city didn't have to incur any out of pocket expenses. The committee agreed to move the matter forward to the C.O.W. with a positive recommendation. 7. Intergovernmental Agreement between Kendall County and the City for a county road fee Sticka said the county is requesting the city collect a $1,000 road fee for each new residential unit since the county legally can't collect the fees. Sticka said he understands the county needs funding for road improvements, he just not sure this is the right way to get that funding. Mayor Prochaska said he questions the legality of such a proposal. He also wants to know if other municipalities in the county have received the same request. He said he wouldn't want Yorkville to participate if all of the other towns weren't. Page 6 of 6 Sticka also said he'd want to make sure that the money collected by Yorkville would go to fix roads in this part of the county. City Attorney John Wyath said he thinks the competing goals between the city and county are insurmountable. He said the county would either have to zone the roadwork so that funding from Yorkville would go to fix roads in the area or fractionalize it. The committee directed the attorney and the mayor to try to come up with some language to make the program workable. 8. Draft Ordinance amending Title 10 of the city code — building height Bill Dettmer submitted a draft ordinance amending the allowable building height in the city to 80 feet or six stories. He said he'd like to recommend a possible amendment to protect the downtown area. Under the amendment, any building over 35 feet or three stories in the downtown area would require a special use permit. There was some discussion on the definition of the downtown area and it was recommend that a definite geographical area be determined. Dettmer said the idea is to preserve the feeling the city has in its downtown area. The committee agreed to send the amendment forward to the C.O.W. with a positive recommendation. 9. Building Permit reports for January 2005 The permit report was reviewed and the committee agreed to bring it to the C.O.W. 10. Additional Business City Administrator Tony Graff said there's a group of residents who believe a section of the Comprehensive Plan should be changed to reflect more appropriate zoning uses. The group is willing to pay the costs for the change on the map. The meeting adjourned at 9:25 p.m. Minutes respectfully submitted by Dina Gipe PLEASE SIGN IN MEETING: G ��- DATE: I `7 NAME BUSINESS PHONE # i (� - Q ��!"i06c 3� Z - 7 / S v 73 / ri- r L Ne Z-a4 b2pc q t y - o �Qd ws� I