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EDC Minutes 2002 08-15-02 Page 1 of 6 UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2002 7 P.M. In Attendance: Committee members Mike Anderson, Richard Sticka, Joe Besco, Valerie Burd; Mayor Art Prochaska; City Administrator Tony Graff; Rich Guerard from Wyndham Deerpoint Homes; and Bill 2lewski from Jacob and Heffner. MINUTES Minutes from the June 20 meeting were approved with one change and minutes from the July 18 meeting were approved with no changes. PC 2001 -18: The Highlands — Preliminary Plan Rich Guerard from Wyndham Deerpoint Homes informed Economic Development Committee members that the Plan Commission gave its unanimous recommendation to approve the preliminary plan the previous night. Committee Chairman Richard Sticka said that one of the most important aspects was the agreement reached between the developers and the Block family. Guerard said that the Blocks visited some of Wyndham Deerpoint's other locations and that the developers addressed all of the Block family's concerns. Much like one of the developer's subdivisions in North Aurora, Guerard said the developers agreed to incorporate some natural plantings, a six -foot high board -on -board fence and a 10 -foot landscaping on the inside which would include bushes to discourage people from trying to go over the fence. Guerard said a three -foot berm along the park will be sloped as much as the city will allow. Along the duplex area, the fence will sit in two feet so that the Block family can get equipment through the easement. Guerard said drainage was another issue. Mary Block had two other concerns, she didn't want to shut off all of the water while they were making their drainage areas, yet she didn't want there to be too much water either. He said they had about eight meetings and reached an agreement. As for drainage, Guerard said a final plan has not been drafted yet, however, everyone is comfortable with the plan. He said EEI submitted a letter that has standards the final design must include. However, he said the issues in the letter can be addressed. Sticka mentioned that EEI recommends that The Highlands and Prairie Crossing should intersect and one should extend into Wiseman- Hughes. Guerard said one can be designed i Page 2 of 6 to be a collector, but if it's turned into a collector than the trail system for the park district has to go. Graff said the Planning Council had a discussion on traffic in the area. He said they want to discourage using subdivision roads as short cuts. Guerard said there are nine connections and a dispersal road and designed the roadway so it won't be a fast track. Graff said the engineers are going to meet with the Police Department. He added that he hopes the traffic study will show this slows traffic down and provides safer traffic. As for street names, Guerard said they are not locked into any names. Sticka had pointed out that some of the names duplicate names of existing streets and that Yorkville is working on a plan to address street names. Regarding other aspects of the project, Guerard said the developers reached an agreement with the Park District and the School Board. He said the developers are giving the full land/cash contribution to both districts. The schools also are getting transition fees. He said money the Yorkville School District receives will go into an escrow account until the district is ready to build a school on the reserved location. As each plat is recorded, the impact fees for that house will be paid in full, he said. Graff said the sanitary sewer connection was another issue facing the project. Guerard said there are issues regarding off -site sewer connection. He said the Sanitary District conducted a study, which showed a line under the river along Hydraulics is feasible. The cost is about $25 million. Part of the question, he said is the sizing of the pipes. The Highlands will account for about 4 percent and is willing to pay for some of the costs. Also, he said a water tower will need to be placed on the development site to get the correct water pressure. The tank will need to have a capacity of 400,000 gallons. In response to a question from Sticka, Guerard said they decided to go to duplexes rather than townhomes because it was a better fit for the plan. Sticka said that because Wyndham Deerpoint Homes is not the builder, he wanted some assurances as to the quality of product to be built in the subdivision. He asked if something could be put into the PUD regarding specifications. He also said that townhomes tend to attract empty nesters and that he prefers townhomes to duplexes. Mayor Art Prochaska, however, said it depends on how the duplexes are built and marketed. If they're marketed toward empty nesters, that's who will buy them. If they are marketed as starter homes, that's what they will be, he said. Guerard said they haven't built duplexes in any of their other projects, which is why they do not have a product to show. i Page 3 of 6 i He also stated that he doesn't have a problem complying with standards set by the city as long as the standards are applied fairly. City Administrator Tony Graff said he would have City Planner Mike Schoppe draft some standards on duplexes and fax them to Guerard. Prochaska suggested the buildings be maintenance free or low maintenance by constructing them with more masonry or concrete boards. Prochaska also said that any standard would be applied across the board. He told Guerard that when Guerard devises the covenants for the subdivision, they can be put into the PUD. Guerard said that they are going to try to be as general as they can in their covenants because they don't have a product to show yet. He added that he would submit a set of standards for the city to review before the covenants are drafted. Graff said that Guerard does not need to bring the plan back to the committee only the PUD agreement. Graff said the city's staff is content. He said the developers are moving forward to complete the final engineering. In response to a question from Committee Member Joe Besco, Graff said there probably will be some language in the PUD regarding the sewer. Wyndham Deerpoint Homes is asking for credit for the fees they've paid. They paid a sewer fee on the building permit and the city gave them credit on that fee. The developer still owes $395,000 for the river crossing. If that is paid the developer gets credit in the original annexation. Graff said Guerard is looking for a credit for the zest of the units and he'll get credit for the interceptor he's going to construct. i i Prochaska said the fee was created for two major issues in the city — one was expanding sewers and the other was to allow for an upgrade to the existing sewers so the new sewers could hook into them. In this project, he said a new sewer will be built all the way to the river. He would like to see that the additional $1,800 goes toward building that interceptor and helping to pay for the Hydraulic line too. Prochaska said that right now the only agreement with the Sanitary District for any interceptor is Blackberry Creek, any other pipe the city requires the developer to build will be owned by the city. Guerard said they are annexed to the city, but he's not sure if they are annexed to the Sanitary District. Prochaska suggested Guerard check on it. Graff said the Sanitary District will consider credit on fees paid for the Worley Property. Graff added that if the lines are oversized to 30 inches, the Sanitary District will not commit to a recapture agreement if people annex into the district south. That oversizing will allow for 4,200 more acres south of the city for development. He said the question remains if the city wants growth to the south or does it want growth with the sanitary district. "We're in conflict with what the vision is," he said. I Page 4 of 6 i Prochaska said that as the area grows, the question is whether the Sanitary District officials are interested in the district growing as well. If not, he said the city will look at whatever options it needs to make the growth happen. Graff said the interceptor project is about a $2.5 million project and that $1.7 million will be collected in fees. He said they're about $800,000 short that someone will have to pick up. The river crossing and Hydraulic interceptor is included in the cost. Prochaska questioned whether double taxation comes into play once the Sanitary District collects a fee for building the interceptor and the city asks for a recapture. If the city wants economic development or commercial development to occur, it is up to the city to come up with a solution, even if it's temporary, until the Sanitary District decides to build an interceptor, Prochaska said. Guerard commented that the Sanitary District does not want the developers to build an interceptor, yet they don't want to bring a system to the development either. Prochaska said there has to be some answer. The next step is to take the preliminary plan to the Committee of the Whole, work on wording for the PUD agreement and come up with a solution on the interceptor issue. PC 2002 -10 Houkins Corner — Annexation and PUD sanitary sewer cost Graff reported that roughly 30 acres of the development at Greenbriar and Route 47 were never annexed to the Sanitary District. That land needs to be annexed the developers need to pay an annexation fee and an interceptor fee. The developers initially gave the city a water easement and a sewer easement and the right of way to Greenbriar at no cost. Graff said in exchange for the easements, the city agreed to consider a certain type of density and lot configurations. At the time, he said City Attorney Dan Kramer tried to get the developer to annex into the Sanitary District, but the developers wanted to wait until they had a buyer. Phil Knierim from The Windham Group is now asking the city to waive a portion of the sanitary fee. Prochaska said the request is difficult because the Sanitary District should not charge the developer because the city is paying the $1.6 million bill for the interceptor. Burd said it seems as if the Sanitary District should pay the city if it charges the developers an interceptor fee. Prochaska questioned whether the Sanitary District has the right to change an interceptor fee when a city -owned interceptor is servicing the developers. I Page 5 of 6 He said that every year the city budgets $150,000 to make a debt payment on the project. If the city waives the sanitary fee, then it doesn't have the money to make the payment. Meanwhile, Sticka added, the Sanitary District has no costs and is charging a fee. Prochaska said it seems be an ethical question as well as a legal question. Prochaska said he is against waiving the fee because if the developers don't pay it, then the citizens of Yorkville would have to pay it. Graff suggested that as a way to offer the developer some assistance, the city could offer a rebate on sales taxes once some of the commercial aspects of the development materialize. Prochaska said that type of plan is more palatable. Graff said he would tell Tom Grant to talk to the Sanitary District about the sanitary fee, but that the city is willing to consider offering a rebate on sales tax. Planned Unit Development Ordinance Graff said he asked Shoppe to review the PUD ordinance. Right now, he said, the ordinance contains conflicting language with the draft comprehensive plan. He said the language in the two ordinances should match. Also, he said other aspects such as the application process need to be brought up to date and he said the city should look at what some other cities are doing in their PUD ordinances. Prochaska said there needs to be more clarification. For instance that the city has required 12,000 square foot minimum lots. For years, the city has negotiated that, but there have never been clear guidelines for the negotiations. He said definitive guidelines are necessary. Committee Member Valerie Burd questioned if it might be too limiting to outline what types of negotiations could be made. Graff said strict guidelines won't be incorporated. He said there will still be some negotiation ability on the city's part. After discussion on the scope of the ordinance in which committee members agreed there needs to be some sort of guildelines, Graff said he would have Schoppe update the plan. Also, he said he would ask Shoppe to offer more explanation to what services he will provide to the project. Facade Proeram Burd reported that the Facade Committee if in favor of expanding the area including in the program. She said the committee suggested a zone system with the downtown area in Zone A, the main arteries in Zone B and the rest of the community in Zone C. The committee also suggested that financial assistance be given to improve only those buildings built before 1940. The goal, she said, is to bring buildings to a state consistent with their natural character. Page 6 of 6 She said the committee planned to meet again on the last Wednesday of the month and also that committee members agreed that emphasis should remain on the downtown area. Prochaska said it is up to people to come and apply for the assistance and that last year no one applied. He said there was some discussion about putting another memo out to let people know what is allowable. Technically, the program is still a pilot program, but Prochaska suggested it be made a city program. Additional Business In other matters, Burd suggested the committee move forward with drafting some architectural standards for developers to follow. Prochaska said he went to the business community who is sending out a survey to businesses in town. However he said no on wanted to make a commitment on suggestions for standards. They indicated they would be happy to offer opinions on any drafts the city may devise. Prochaska suggested that the city look at the standards outlined in other communities and create a draft. Burd said the city should move faster on the topic. She said that with all of the development coming to Yorkville, the city should move faster to develop the standards. Surd also reported she attended a meeting regarding and outer corridor study and said anyone with ideas about regional cooperation could share them with her. The meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m. Minutes respectfully submitted by Dina Gipe � �I i I I�