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Plan Commission Minutes 2003 12-10-03 r Pagel of 5 UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE APPROVED PLAN COMMISSION MEETING 2-11-04 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2003 Chairman Tom Lindblom called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. ROLL CALL Members present: Kerry Green, Anne Lucietto, Bill Davis, Sandra Adams, Brian Schillinger, Jack Jones, Michael Crouch, Andrew Kubala and Tom Lindblom. A quorum was established. VISITORS Mayor Art Prochaska; City Planner Mike Schoppe; Alderman Rich Sticka; Kelly Kramer, representing the city attorney's office; John Whitehouse, from Engineering Enterprises, Inc.; Art Zwemke; president and CEO of Moser Enterprises, Inc.; Tim Winter; project manager for Pasquinelli Development Group, Inc.; Wendy Yaksich, manager of entitlement for Moser Enterprises, Inc.; and Brian Urban from Cowhey, Gudmundson and Leder. MINUTES Minutes from the November 12 meeting were approved. Chairman Tom Lindblom announced that Al Trotsky and Tom Mizel have resigned from the Plan Commission. Mayor Art Prochaska stated that until the City Council votes to reduce the number of commissioners, seven people are still necessary to make a quorum. PRESENTATION Grand Reserve Preliminary Plan Art Zwemke, president and CEO of Moser Enterprises Inc., updated commissioners on the progress of the Grande Reserve development project. He said the developers recently met with those living in neighborhoods surrounding the planned development to give them an overview on the progress. He said construction crews have been able to move about 50 percent of the dirt in the Phase 1. Phase 1 covers 542 acres. Zwemke added that there also is progress on the new well and water tower. The target date for operation of the new water tower is Oct. 1, 2004. At the meeting with surrounding property owners, Zwemke said some residents living in the area of Kennedy Road and Bristol Ridge Road raised concerns about a sulfur smell in the water. Tim Winter, project manager with Pasquinelli Development Group, Inc., stated they looked in to the matter and couldn't come up with a good solution. Page 2 of 5 Commissioner Jack Jones said he lives close to that area and if a sulfur smell in the water was a concern, it was a short-term one. Commissioner Brian Schillinger then asked if the existing homeowners on Kennedy Road would be offered city water. Mayor Prochaska said they would only be offered city water if they annexed to the city. Returning to the progress of the Grande Reserve development, Zwemke said the phasing of the development will move from south to north and construction of three different neighborhoods will be at approximately the same time. Because it's more efficient, he said the developers plan to work on more than one neighborhood at a time. Zwemke added there are no material changes to the preliminary plan since the last time the commission saw the plan. John Whitehouse, from Engineering Enterprises, Inc., stated that the commission will see separate preliminary plans for those first three neighborhoods— 16, 17 and 18. Jones asked if any decisions have been made as to where schools would be located. Zwemke said some partial decisions have been made. However, he said the area is still undecided. He said there were potential plans for a regional campus in neighborhoods 4 and 5. He said the developers tried to buy the Hinsdale Nursery property and were unable to do so. He said the annexation agreement is written so that the school district can extend its option. He said the developers won't build at either possible school site until the option is seen. Schillinger said it makes sense to put a second high school north of Route 71. Zwemke said no one has mentioned the word high school and are calling the potential school area a school campus. He said the school district and the developers have left the door open for good planning and decision making. Meanwhile, Zwemke said residents neighboring the development have raised concerns about the replacement of Bristol Ridge Road and planned improvements to Route 34. He said they were concerned about how the improvements would affect the centerlines. He said the right of way goes deeper into MPI property and that they won't encroach on any existing property owner's land. Zwemke also said residents expressed concern about potential traffic stacking up on Oakland. However, he said there will be turn lanes added to alleviate any potential problems. Commissioner Anne Lucietto asked if the Illinois Department of Transportation has approved any of the possible cuts to Route 34. Winter said they have received preliminary approval from IDOT for the cuts. Page 3 of 5 It was also reported that the safety was a concern about the street that connects to Anna Marie Lane. Plans now call for the road to dead end. Commissioner Andrew Kubala said there a very sharp curve on the road and that dumping a 30-foot street onto an 18-foot street could be a problem. He said the developers picked the worst stub to connect. He said there are other roads that would be better connectors. However, Zwemke said they want to keep the neighborhoods in the development small and they want to discourage any through traffic. Lewis, he said, would go into the subdivision. Whitehouse commented that right now Anna Marie is the most substandard of any other nearby roads. He said no one wants Lewis through Lynwood to be a major outlet to Orchard Road. The connection as planned would be use more by people of the Lynwood subdivision than those living in Grand Reserve, he said. He added that if Lewis is opened up, the city could close access to Anna Marie. Returning to plans for the development, Zwemke said the development will be processed in three large phases, the middle first, the bottom last and the top first. The entire development ultimately will be connected to the Yorkville water system, he said. Lucietto asked if the developers have determined what the lots will sell for. Zwemke said they don't intend to sell lots to the public. They will sell the lots to builders, who will then develop the lots and sell them to prospective homeowners. He added that the baseline price for homes on the 10,000 square foot lots planned in neighborhoods 9, 10 and 11 will be about $265,000 to $270,000. Homes in neighborhoods 12 and 16 on 11,000 square foot lots will near the $300,000 range. Homes on 12,000 square foot lots will range from$350,000 to $400,000. Also, he added the buyers will have 8 to 12 percent in options available. Lindblom asked when to expect to see rooftops. Zwemke said finished homes should start appearing in October 2004. He added there are 1,245 home sites planned in the first area. Their best guess regarding build out is an estimation of 250 to 300 permits per year. Zwemke said the developers have committed to some major upfront costs including a$10 million commitment to road improvements. He said they intend to prioritize the improvements according to need and establish a$2,000 per home site fee for the road improvements. Commissioner Michael Crouch commented that the MPI has been more willing to pay for some of the necessary infrastructure improvements than other developers that have come to the city. Zwemke responded that they can't sell anything if the proper infrastructures aren't in place and prospective buyers won't be happy. Page 4 of 5 Kubala asked if the areas on the preliminary plan marked in green are temporary detention areas. Winter replied that the blue areas are lakes permanent wet detention areas. The reset will only have water in them after it rains. Zwemke said they have the ability to mass grade and get the necessary retention and detention areas installed first. He said there are real efficiencies in the design. Lindblom thanked Zwemke and the other representatives from the developers present for coming and updating the commission on the progress of the development. Kubala asked why the Lynnwood subdivision wasn't shown more completely on the maps provided. He said it was a little misleading and added that it should be corrected for the next phase. In response to a question from Jones, Whitehouse said the reconstruction of Bristol Ridge Road is the first order. He said they are widening the road to the east. He said the roadway will be three lanes with a center landscaped median. The railroad crossing also will be widened and improved, he said. The grade will be improved somewhat on Kennedy, but not so much on Bristol Ridge. Whitehouse added that the city standard for streetlights is every 300 feet. He said there will be fewer lights than what the city requires installed along the roadway to preserve the rural nature of the area. Regarding green areas in the plan, Zwemke said MPI had 90 acres set aside as a conservation area. Those 90 acres are not part of the annexation agreement. He said the land was donated to CorLands Land Trust. Mayor Prochaska said the donation will allow the city to seek grants for improvements or to acquire more land for conservation. City Planner Mike Schoppe advised commissioners that when the preliminary and final plans come to the commission to look at the annexation agreement for design standards and not at the city's zoning standards. Zwemke said the annexation agreement is a strong document where they tried to build everything on paper. In response to a question about the depth of the ponds, it was noted that the depth of the ponds will normally be 6 feet. The potential maximum depth would be I I feet. However, safety shelves will be installed in the ponds. Mayor Prochaska noted that the developers have contributed some upfront money that helped the city expand city hall and will help other areas of the city as well. Page 5 of 5 The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m. Minutes respectfully submitted by Dina Gipe