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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/04/1996 MPPC MinutesMINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE MOUNT PROSPECT PLAN COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 4, 1996 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Mount Prospect Plan Commission was called to order by Chairman Ponzi at 7:35 P.M. at the Senior Center, 50 South Emerson Street, Mount Prospect, Illinois. ROLL CALL Present upon Roll Call: Absent: Village Staff Present: APPROVAL OF MINUTES June Richards Michael Hoffman Edwin Janus Angela Volpe Frank Boege Kenneth Fritz, Planner Michael E. Sims, Planner Louis Velasco Carol Tortorello Marshall Ponzi William Reddy Mike Hoffinan asked that the minutes of August 22, 1996 be amended as follows: The resident at 409 North Russel stated that notices should be placed in the Daily Herald since it has a larger circulation and would provide a better public notice. Also the action step indicating that Mount Prospect should workto restore all parkway areas along the Rand Road corridor should be removed. Mr. Velasco asked that the sixth paragraph on page 8 be amended to read "Louie Velasco stated that no matter what, people will always be inconvenienced. Isabella should have no right turns from Rand Road during rush hours." A motion was then made by Mr. Hoffman, seconded by Carol Tortorello, to approve the minutes as amended. The minutes were approved by a vote of 6-0. Mr. Reddy and Ms. Volpe abstained since they were not present at the August 22nd meeting. SUBDIVISIONS None COMMITTEE REPORTS: None OLD BUSINESS - Rand Road Corridor Study Discussion Chairman Ponzi stated that the public hearing portion of this case had been closed. The purpose of this meeting is to provide the Plan Commission an opportunity to consider and vote on the Rand Road Corridor Study. He then read the Preface to the study. Mr. Ponzi informed the audience that the Plan Commission's recommendation will be forwarded to the Village Board. The Village Board will consider the Plan during their September 24, 1996 Committee -of -the - Whole meeting. He then read the changed language for Item 10 on Page 27. The action step for this item would include the statement "detailed studies shall include potential realignment at Plan Commission Minutes Page 2 Gregory Street and Business Center Drive and the closing or restricting of access to Isabella Street with the objective of lessening potential negative impacts on nearby residents and improving traffic safety." He added, the intent is to have Isabella, Rand, and Gregory studied by an outside traffic consultant. 14 Ken Fritz, Village Planner, noted several changes have been made to the study. These changes are based on a memorandum from Mike Hoffman to Mr. Fritz. Item 16 of the memorandum would add an action step to improve the traffic circulation of the Mount Prospect Plaza parking lot. Chairman Ponzi added that the Plan should include the Prospect Meadows and Wedgewood Subdivision lots with direct access onto Rand Road having access problems. The Plan should also include an action step stating that either shared driveways to Rand Road or a private drive with access to Rand Road should be encouraged to serve these lots. He added that the Prospect Manor, Wedgewood Terrace and Brickman Manor Subdivisions have problems with cut -through traffic and that this problem should be addressed by the Plan's action steps. Mr. Hoffinan asked the Plan Commission members to submit a new priority ranking list to staff. A number of questions were presented by those in the audience. A resident asked that area residents be notified when the professional traffic study was to take place so that they could have input into the study. Mr. Ponzi said those close to Rand Road would be notified. Another question was whether Arlington Heights had been notified about the potential of opening Gregory Street to Rand Road. Marshal Ponzi answered no, since such a notification would be premature. Another question was if a study process had been developed and a budget for this item approved. Chairman Ponzi reported neither a budget nor study process has been developed. A resident asked when Gregory Street was closed at Rand. Mr. Fritz reported that the Village Board approved the closing in November of 1978. It was closed due to traffic considerations and at the request of area residents. It was reported that IDOT had said they would abide by the Village's decision to close off the street. Another question asked was if Gregory Street is open to Rand, would Gregory Street receive a collector street status. Mr. Fritz stated it would receive a collector street status. Another resident asked if the Isabella/Gregory Street concern is a problem because of the inadequacy of the intersections at Central/Mount Prospect/Rand Roads and at Kensington/Route 83/Rand. Mr. Fritz stated he agreed that these intersections negatively impact the traffic problem in the Isabella/Gregory areas. Plan Commission Minutes Page 3 A resident asked if the traffic study area would include Gregory Street, from Rand Road to Northwest Highway. Mr. Fritz stated the study on Gregory Street would extend to Northwest Highway. Mr. John Koziol, Jr. presented an additional copy of a petition signed with xeroxed signatures of approximately 150 residents. Mr. Koziol's August 21, 1996 petition had indicated that the undersigned were opposed to the Rand Road Corridor Plan. This copy of the petition clarified that the opposition was related only to the Isabella/Gregory issue. Mr. Hoffman asked if the petition voiced objection to the Rand Road Corridor Study or just the opening of Gregory Street to Rand Road, Mr. Koziol stated the intent was to object to the opening of Gregory Street to Rand Road, Chairman Ponzi asked if there were any further questions from the Plan Commission. Ms. Volpe asked if the Rand Road bypass proposed by .IDOT would go through any residential areas. Mr. Fritz reviewed the IDOT proposal and said it would not. He added that if the IDOT bypass is approved, Pine Street would probably be closed off at Kensington Road. The Plan Commission asked that the second sentence on Page 20 of the Plan, under potential problems in IDOT's proposed SRA Plan, be changed as follows: The Plan. Commission strongly recommends that alternatives to the bypass lanes be investigated so that there are no negative impacts to businesses and residential areas in the solution sought to alleviate intersection congestion and a less "'urban" cross section of five lanes be developed to lessen the impact on adjoining business and residential properties. A motion was made by Mr. Reddy and seconded by Mr. Hoffman that the Plan Commission submit to the Village Board a recommendation that the Rand Road Corridor Study, including the text amendment as outlined and agreed to in the memorandum of August 28 from Mr. Fritz, Mr. Hoffman's memorandum of August 26, 1996 and the amended action steps be approved. The motion was approved by a vote of 8-0. Mr. Fritz stated a revised copy of the Rand Road Corridor Study would be available at the Mount Prospect Library by September 17, 1996. Chairman Ponzi explained that the purpose of the discussion is to obtain a better understanding of the request received during the July 17, 1996 proposal hearing and to have any questions the Commissioners may have answered. Mr. Sims then reviewed with the Plan Commission each of the 16 items listed on the Summary of C.D.B.G. Requests for FY -'97 document sent to the Commission. Mr. Sims stated he would report back to the Plan Commission with answers to the following questions: Plan Commission Minutes Page 4 The New Horizons Program is seeking a substantial increase in funding from what it received in the current fiscal year. Will that increase strengthen the program and allow it to serve a significantly larger number of children? The request for a 1997 street resurfacing budget involves work on Catalpa and Lavergne. Why isn't this resurfacing being paid for by Motor Fuel Tax funds? The River Trails Accessibility Project includes work on Burning Bush Trail Park and the Burning Bush building. Are State of Illinois funds available for this project? How many Mount Prospect residents reside in the River Trails Park District? The 1997 sidewalk ramp project involves installing additional sidewalk ramps within the Village of Mount Prospect. What percentage of Mount Prospect intersections have been completed with handicapped ramps? Chairman Ponzi asked if the two park projects, Items 14 and 15 on the summary of C.D.B.G. request for 1997 document, are appropriate since the Mount Prospect Park District has indicated an interest in acquiring one of the sites and the dollar amounts being requested are in excess of those available with Community Development Block Grant funds. Mr. Sims stated the request was made by the Community Development Department and was intended to show projects that should be discussed. Mr. Sims stated the Plan Commission Agenda for the first Wednesday in October will include the public hearing for the Plan Commission's recommendation on a budget for fiscal year 1997 C.D.B.G. funds. That recommendation will be forwarded to the Village Board. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned by Chairman Ponzi at 9:40 p.m. Res ctfufy Submitted Michael E. Sims