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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning and Zoning Commission Minutes 2026 04-08-26APPROVED 6/10/26 Page 1 of 3 PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION City Council Chambers 651 Prairie Pointe Drive, Yorkville, IL Wednesday, April 8, 2026 7:00pm Meeting Called to Order Commissioner Ryan Forristall called the meeting to order at 7:00pm, roll was called and a quorum was established. Roll Call Ryan Forristall-yes, Wally Werderich-yes, Chad Green-yes, Marge Linnane-yes Absent: Danny Williams, Michael Crouch, Richard Vinyard City Staff Krysti Barksdale-Noble, Community Development Director Megan Lamb, City Attorney David Hansen, Senior Planner Sara Mendez, Senior Planner Thian Dim, Planner 1 Other Guests Rich McDonald, Kylyn's Ridge Toni Wolgast, Kylyn's Ridge Mark Martin, White Oak Leesa Poss,White Oak Margaret E. Granger, White Oak Michael Granger, White Oak Joe Besco, Countryside Chuck Kasper/Zoom Chloe Russell/Zoom Angela Egner/Zoom (and others on Zoom) Previous Meeting Minutes February 11, 2026 Motion by Mr. Werderich and second by Mr. Green to approve the minutes as presented. Ms. Noble noted 3 corrections to the previous minutes. Roll call: Forristall-yes, Werderich-yes, Green-yes, Linnane-yes. Motion carried 4-0 to approve the minutes with the corrections noted by Ms. Noble. Additional Business (out of sequence) Announcement: Commissioner Forristall announced that some of the public might be attending the meeting regarding the City Council Action Updates. Since the first item under #1 of the updates is under consideration by the City Council, he said no action would be taken at this meeting. As a result, Mr. Forristall said he would like to move “Additional Business/City Council Action Updates”, to follow “Previous Meeting Minutes”. Commissioners Werderich and Linnane, respectively, moved and seconded to amend the agenda as requested. Roll call: Forristall-yes, Werderich-yes, Green-yes, Linnane-yes. Carried 4-0. 1. City Council Action Updates a. PZC 2025-13 Matt Gilbert (Meyer rezoning request) Ms. Noble said regarding PZC 2025-13--Meyer rezoning, at the February 11th meeting, the petitioner asked the rezoning be postponed before advancing to City Council. It was then heard on March 24th at City Council and was tabled. Staff will update the PZC when final action is taken. Page 2 of 3 b. PZC 2025-16 Vera Pleva/GLP Real Estate, LLC (Variance request) PZC 2025-16, 202 Wolf St. variance, was approved by City Council on March 24th. Citizen’s Comments Ms. Leesa Poss said the Annexation Agreement for Project Cardinal restricts generator testing to non-holiday weekends. She asked what city department or official is responsible for monitoring and enforcing this restriction and what penalty or remedy is in place for violations. Ms. Noble said the Annexation Agreement was not considered at the PZC , so it would be a City Council question. Ms. Poss also said Project Steel/Prologis is committed to a Tier 4 emission standard for generators. Is that memorialized in a legal or binding provision in the Annexation Agreement or PUD and if not, what mechanism is in place to ensure compliance? Mr. Mark Martin asked if the city had received an independent study of the water impact since Project Cardinal will use 350,000 gallons per day. This impact would be in addition to Project Steel usage, additional data centers and the impact on agricultural wells in the area. He said there is now talk of drilling wells. He also commented on the Meyer data center proposal and noted the Council initially rejected it on January 14th. The developer made changes to the proposal. Under what provision of the UDO or Illinois Municipal Code did the city determine that a substantially revised proposal did not require a new Public Hearing before going back to PZC for consideration or to City Council for a vote? He asked what finding of fact does the City Council require to override a unanimous Planning & Zoning denial recommendation? Will those findings be in writing and available before the meeting? Mr. Joe Besco, a 30-year Yorkville citizen, said he had also served on the Plan Commission and on City Council. He appreciates the time the Commissioners spend for the community and thanked them for their service. He expressed his displeasure with the way things were handled for the data centers--saying they are destructive, the citizen notification process was lacking, and the general approach and treatment he perceived from the leaders. Public Hearings None Unfinished Business None Presentation (out of sequence) a. Commissioner Training session with the Planning and Zoning Commission presented by City Attorney, Megan Lamb, Ottosen DiNolfo Hasenbalg & Castaldo, Ltd. Ms. Lamb refreshed the Commissioners on how the meeting agenda is handled, how the meeting is conducted and expectations from the Commission. She said all Commissioners received Open Meetings training. She reminded them if there are more than 3 Commissioners together or emailing or other communication regarding PZC business, it is considered a meeting and in violation of the Open Meetings Act. She summarized how the agenda is followed and requirements of the meeting. Requirements are: posting of agenda 48 hours in advance, call to order, roll call, minutes taken and approved, citizen comments, hearings if required with a court reporter present, testimony must be given under oath and action only on agenda items. An in-house quorum is required and a Zoom participant does not count as part of the quorum. For this commission, 4 members are required in person to constitute a quorum. For a special meeting, only items on the agenda can be discussed. Page 3 of 3 DISCUSSION OF THE AGENDA ORDER, ETC: Citizen Comments Regarding public comment vs. Public Hearing, Ms. Lamb noted that public comment does not require an answer from the Commissioners. A question can be answered if the Commission desires, but she said it's a good practice to not answer questions during this time. Public Hearing The presenter can answer questions pertaining to the specific topic. Public comments can be limited if repetitive. Unfinished/Old Business This includes items with no resolution or tabled previously, but will require attention. New Business Any new items are brought forth under this heading. Land use decisions are located under New Business along with Variances, Special Use, Rezoning, PUD, but no Annexation Agreements. Most land use decisions must come through PZC. Annexation Agreements have Public Hearings at City Council. Ms. Lamb said the petitioner submits responses in their applications. Then Finding of Fact criteria need to be met and that determines whether or not to grant the land use as set forth in the statute or city UDO. The votes for the Finding of Fact must be based on the expert information and not on personal preferences. If there is not enough information, the matter can be tabled. There is also weight put on the “standards” when making the decision. If Commissioners have questions outside of the meeting setting, they should refer them to Ms. Noble or to the petitioner at the meeting. Commissioner Werderich asked about potential lawsuits over a PZC decision and what evidence the court would examine when looking at the PZC decision. Ms. Lamb stated that Findings of Fact would be very important in such a scenario. PZC is an advisory body. If PZC votes no for a Special Use or Variance, the City Council must have a 2/3 majority Aldermanic vote to override the PZC. With Rezoning, a simple majority is needed. If the PZC recommends in favor of a petition, only a simple majority is needed by the City Council to approve. FOIA City business in emails, texts or personal computer, spam and junk, are subject to a FOIA. Four or more members cannot discuss PZC business. Ms. Lamb said there are some exemptions that do exist, however, transparency always rules. When a FOIA request is received, city staff would ask the Commissioners for any documents pertaining to the request. Ms. Lamb suggested not deleting anything related to city business. Additional Business Contains informational items, updates on City Council actions and PZC updates. New Business None Additional Business (already discussed) Adjournment There was no further business and the meeting was adjourned at 7:58pm on a motion by Mr. Werderich and second by Ms. Linnane. Unanimous voice vote approval. Respectfully submitted by Marlys Young, Minute Taker 1 Monica Cisija From:Monica Cisija Sent:Thursday, April 9, 2026 10:28 AM Subject:Fw: Planning and Zoning Commission - April 8, 2026 - Kasper Comments From:> Sent: Tuesday, April 7, 2026 12:27 PM To: Jori Contrino <jcontrino@yorkville.il.us> Subject: Planning and Zoning Commission - April 8, 2026 - Kasper Comments Planning and Zoning Commission — April 8, 2026 To: Yorkville Planning and Zoning Commission From: Chuck Kasper Date: April 7, 2026 Dear Commissioners, I am an adjacent landowner in Sugar Grove and a member of Preserve Our Yorkville & Communities, LLC. I write to express my concerns about the cumulative impact of the five proposed data center projects in the Yorkville Eldamain Corridor on our community. In short, my property line literally is 112 feet from the property line of one of the data center sites. I request that the Commission ensure the following questions are addressed as the City continues to administer these approvals: 1. Has the City of Yorkville ever commissioned or received a cumulative environmental impact study addressing the combined effects of all five proposed data center projects in the Eldamain Corridor (Project Cardinal, Project Steel, CyrusOne, the Meyer parcel, and C1 Yorkville Phase 2) on noise, air quality, water supply, traffic, and groundwater in the surrounding area? 2. The five data center projects in this corridor total over 3,000 acres and up to 32 buildings. At what point does the City intend to evaluate the combined infrastructure burden (for example, roads, water, sewer, and electrical grid) of all five projects on Yorkville residents and taxpayers? Thank you for your service to the community. Respectfully, Chuck Kasper