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Plan Commission Minutes 2004 06-09-04 f Page 1 of 7 APPROVED 7/14/2004 UNITED CITY OF YORK-VILLE PLAN COMMISSION MEETING YORKVILLE CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS WEDNESDAY,JUNE 9, 2004 Chairman Tom Lindblom called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. ROLL CALL Members present: Kerry Green, Sandra Adams, Brian Schillinger, Jack Jones, Michael Crouch, and Tom Lindblom. A quorum was established. VISITORS Mayor Art Prochaska; City Administrator Tony Graff, Kelly Kramer, from the city attorney's office; Lynn Dubajic from the Yorkville Economic Development Corporation; John Whitehouse, Engineering Enterprises, Inc.; Jim Riley, Elgin; Kevin Biscan, Smith Engineering; Dan Venard, Elgin; Todd Briner, Smith Engineering; Gary Weber, Wheaton; Trevor Ryan, Naperville; Peter Huinker, Yorkville; Kevin Stough, Elgin; Greg Kunstman, Eau Claire, Wis., attorney with Menard's; Tony Scott from the Record Newspapers; and Dan Waitt, from the Beacon News. MINUTES Minutes from the May 12, 2004 meeting were approved. Chairman Tom Lindblom reported that Andrew Kubala resigned as a member of the Plan Commission. The resignation brings the number of commissioners to nine. Rather than finding a replacement, the City Council had previously decided to reduce the commission to nine members by not replacing those who resign. Lindblom said the commission now needs five members to reach a quorum. Lindblom then asked which commissioners planned to attend the June 23 joint meeting of the Plan Commission and City Council. Commissioners Sandra Adams, Jack Jones, Kerry Green, Brian Schillinger and Michael Crouch indicated they were planning to attend. NEW BUSINESS 1. PC 2004-05 Prairie Meadows—Final Plat Greg Kunstman, attorney with Menard's, and Kevin Biscan, engineer with Smith Engineering Consultants, attended the meeting seeking final plat approval. Page 2 of 7 Kunstman said they've received the plat and engineering comments from the city, but otherwise the plans are okay. Lindblom said City Engineer Joe Wywrot listed several items in his letter dated June 2. However, he said those comments were basically all engineering concerns that are being addressed. Lindblom said that comments from other city staff and City Planner Mike Schoppe also are in substantial completion. Schoppe recommended that the commissioners approve the final plat. Kelly Kramer, representing the city attorney's office, stated Schoppe and Wywrot did have a question regarding lots 47 and 48. They wanted to know if the developer would hold off and not develop those lots until the property to the east is developed. Kunstman said he would talk to his client about the matter. City Administrator Tony Graff said Kennedy Road would be designed and posted for 35 mph. He said it will be designed for speed control and the design criteria will override the speed limit. He added that the final plat is in compliance with the preliminary plan. Commissioner Michael Crouch asked if the Kennedy Road intersection with Prairie Meadow Drive would be eliminated. Mayor Art Prochaska said that would happen only if the road was not posted at 35 mph. The problem with the intersection centered on the sight distance based on speed. Mayor Prochaska added that some of the residents who live on Kennedy Road have requested that the speed limit be reduced and the curve be redesigned. Biscan said that the curve will be modified and won't be as sharp as it is currently. Commissioner Kerry Green made a motion to approve PC 2004-05. Commissioner Sandra Adams seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved 6-0 in a roll call vote. Green, Adams, Brian Schillinger, Jack Jones, Crouch and Lindblom voted yes. 2. PC 2004-06 Bristol Bay—Concept Plan Kevin Stough said the property is slightly less than 600 acres on both sides of Galena Road. It is under the ownership of four different entities, one of which is Northgate and that portion of the property is already zoned R-3, R-3 PUD, and B-3. He said the plan before the commission doesn't include commercial, that will be maintained by the current owners. He said the developer, Centex Homes, had envisioned traditional neighborhoods when they first started looking at the property. Then, the city approached the developers about using some of the land for a regional storm water facility. Page 3 of 7 Of the 1,900 acres east of Route 47, west of Cannonball Trail, south of Route 30 and north of Corneils Road, the concept is that the regional storm water facility would handle all of the storm water needs for that area and no storm water detention would be needed for individual parcels outside of their property. The city then asked the developer to look at land for regional recreation areas such as a golf course or ball fields. The exact use would be up to the Park Board to decide. Stough said the concern of the developers from the beginning was that the developable land started shrinking with all of the requests. He added that they want to work with the city and that the concept plan now could be called a cluster/conservation plan. The plan now consists of residential pods clustered in areas and a large conservation area at the southern end of the property. The proposed zoning on the project would be R-3 PUD. Proposed land uses include condominiums. The developers have a two-story, 16- unit building they plan to build. There also would be several different types of townhomes. The plan also calls for three different products in the single-family portion. Ranch type homes would range from 1,600 square feet to 2,000 square feet. Two-story homes would range from 1,900 to 3,500 square feet. Stough added that the large single- family homes are a new product for the company. With the cluster conservation concept, the developers will give 75 acres of land to the city for the storm water facility and parkland. Stough estimated that the 75 acres of land is worth about $4 million. He said the single-family residences being proposed meet the city's R-3 designation. He said Centex is proposing lots ranging from just over 9,000 to 12,000 square feet. Since the city is in need of the extra open space, the developer is willing to work with the city. But it brings about the need for a cluster-style of development. One positive aspect of that type of development is that the public right of ways will be reduced dramatically. Also, Stough said that the condos and townhomes would be located on private streets maintained by a homeowner's association. Stough added that this type of development proves to be a good transition from higher density areas to the lower density neighborhoods. He said the developers intend to design the subdivision in accordance with the city's comprehensive plan. Stough also said there are four neighborhood parks planned in the development and 245 total acres of open space. He said 42 percent of the land area is open space, under the proposed plan. Also included in the plan is an amenities center or clubhouse with a swimming pool and tennis courts. Page 4of7 From a transportation standpoint, Stough said Galena Road cuts through the middle of the development and there also is a north-south collector road. The east-west neighborhood collector would go to Route 47, keeping in line with the city's transportation plan. Also, he said they're planning a bike path on the north-south collector linking parks and amenities. It also will go south to the shopping centers. As for the proposed density, it sits at 3.39 units per acre. Stough said the developers decided not to max it out to the allowable 3.5 units. Green asked if the bike path would go to the amenities center for people in the Bristol Club area. Stough said they would be willing to work with the city regarding that type of access. Lindblom said that Schoppe has asked the Plan Commission to comment on the appropriateness of the commercial land. Stough said that the commercial land on the property already has been approved. It was also stated that Inland no longer owns the Northgate property. Lindblom also said that Bristol Club was to have been estate lots. However, he said anything the city approves would supercede anything already approved. Adams asked what percentage of lots were certain sizes. Kevin Biscan from Smith Engineering Consultants said 37 percent are on 9,000 square foot lots; 15 percent are on 10,000 square foot lots; 21 percent are on 11,000 square foot lots and 25 percent are on lot 12,000 square feet or larger. Commissioner Brian Schillinger said the Plan Commission is looking for lower densities than what the developers are proposing. He also asked if the developers would consider enlarging the commercial area. Biscan said that the commercial developers are not interested in increasing the size of the property. Schillinger said he feels as if the city"got played." He said the development previously came in as a complete package and now that's changing. Kramer said that right now the Plan Commission needs to focus on the concept. When the developers come in for the preliminary plan, they the can iron out some of the details, she said. Right now, the developers are seeking the commission's input. At the request of Lindblom and Mayor Prochaska, Lynn Dubajic, with the Yorkville Economic Development Corporation, explained what commercial developers are interested in seeking in communities. Dubajic recently attended several seminars on the issue. She said it is important to keep higher densities around planned commercial areas. She said developers look at a 1 to 5 mile radius of a commercial area to see if there is a great enough population to support the commercial area. Page 5 of 7 She said she's heard time and again for communities to be mindful of intersections and to keep densities in those areas higher. Commissioner Michael Crouch said he heard the same discussion last month. He said there weren't any houses around it when the Fox Valley Mall was built. He said he doesn't envision people living in the condos walking over to the commercial area to make them viable entities. Mayor Prochaska asked how long the city wants to wait for the commercial developments to happen. He said the city has several hundred acres annexed and zoned commercial. What the city needs, he said, is a balance of growth. Schillinger said Plan Commissioners aren't involved in this on a daily basis and it's sometimes hard to make decisions when they don't have the big picture. Crouch said his point is to consider not just the 1 to 5 mile radius. He said the city needs to look at what's happening throughout the entire city. Dubajic added that commercial development has changed a lot since Fox Valley Mall was built. She said more commercial centers are being built now and rules are changing. The city needs to be mindful when looking at these intersections. Schillinger said they've seen a lot of high-density developments come to town. But as he's mentioned in the past, city officials needs to discuss how they want the town to be developed. "Do we want to be like everybody else?"he asked. Lindblom said overall, the concern of the commission is density. He added that in each of the single-family neighborhoods, there are about three homes planned per acre. That means the lots are at or exceed 12,000 square feet. Also, he said that for the most part people who would be living in the proposed area are not going to go through downtown Yorkville; they'll go north and east. Graff asked if it would be appropriate for the commission to ask Mid America Development to look at flex-zoning classifications to allow them the opportunity to market more commercial property. Stough said he has met with Mid America regarding the commercial size. He added he would work with them on the depth of the commercial center. Green commented it's important for the city to get the regional storm water facility and the land for parks. Schillinger asked if the Yorkville School District has had an opportunity to look at the concept plan. Graff said that the developers are aware that they might need to put an Page 6 of 7 elementary school on the site. The developers likely will go before the School Board after the City Council looks at the concept plan. After Lindblom asked if there were any other comments, Crouch said he shares the density concerns, not only regarding the 9,000 square foot lots. He said he's especially concerned about the density for the condominiums. Stough stated that there will be open space and ponds between the condos and that the developers are giving more open space than what's required. Commissioner Jack Jones said that while density is a concern,he understands elevation is a problem. He added he'd like to see diversity among the buildings the builder plans to erect. 3. PC 2004-07 Theidel Property—Concept Plan Dan Venard from Pulte Homes; Gary Weber with Gary Weber and Associates; and Todd Briner with Smith Engineering presented a concept plan for development of 286 acres on what is known as the Theidel Property. Venard said Route 34 is the southern boundary,the northern boundary is Kennedy Road, Grande Reserve is to the east and Menard's is located to the west. The concept plan calls for 20.5 acres of retail along Route 34. It also includes some townhomes, single-family homes on 12,000- and 14,000-square foot lots, and a school and park area. Weber,the land planner, said Blackberry Creek is located in the northwest corner of the site and a farm pond is located in the middle of the site on what is currently the Hinsdale Nursery property. Pointing to a map of the area,he said the high points are indicated with red Xs and the green Xs indicate the low points. The orange Xs indicate potential access points—one along Route 34 and two along Kennedy Road. The main entry to the development would be on Route 34 and Kennedy Road. Plans along the Route 34 frontage include 20 acres of commercial property. That would transition to townhome lots and single-family lots then an open space network. From the open space corridor it would transition to larger single-family lots. There are two different single-family areas planned. One would have an average lot size of 12,000 square feet with a minimum of 10,000 square feet. The other area would have a 14,370 square foot lot average size with a minimum size of 12,000 square feet. In all, Weber said there are 321 single-family units planned and 263 townhome units planned. The density works out to be 2.4 units per acre, excluding the commercial area. Page 7 of 7 Weber said the biggest component of the proposal is the open space network. He said there also is a planned 25-acre combined school/park site. The plan also includes trails, which widen near Blackberry Creek. In all, 95 acres or 1/3 of the site would be open space. Weber added the three main entries would have landscaped boulevards and monuments. He said he feels the project fits in nicely on the site. Lindblom asked if all of the road connections with Grande Reserve line up exactly. Weber said they would be discussing that with the Grande Reserve developers to possibly eliminate cuts on Kennedy Road. Jones said the proposed densities are better than what was proposed by the previous presenter. However, he added he would like to see some diversity among the homes and townhomes. Jones said most subdivisions are as aesthetically pleasing as he would like. Kramer said the city is in the process of drafting design standard that developers would have to meet. Crouch asked how the density matches with the neighboring Grande Reserve. Lindblom said in Pod D, which abuts Grande Reserve; the lot sizes in each development are the same. Crouch added that the lots along the eastern edge should be 12,000 square feet as well. Crouch also asked if the developers have talked to the School District. Venard said they haven't yet. However, he said they are working off the school study. Lindblom said the cul-de-sac looks too long. And although Venard said it's within the city's ordinance, Lindblom suggested the planners take another look at it. Green commented that the planned park area is pretty soggy and he said he's not sure how much park use they would get out of it. Weber said that they were expected to get at least an acre of high and dry land. John Whitehouse from Engineering Enterprises, Inc., said there was a recent public hearing on the water quality control ordinance. He stated there are some wetlands on the property that may impact the development. Green motioned to adjourn the meeting. Jones seconded the motion. The meeting adjourned at 8:43 p.m. Minutes respectfully submitted by Dina Gipe