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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/09/2021 P&Z Minutes1 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION CASE NO. PZ -13-21 Hearing Date: September 9, 2021 PROPERTY ADDRESS: 50 S. Emerson Street PETITIONER: Village of Mount Prospect PUBLICATION DATE: August 25, 2021 REQUEST: Text Amendments to Chapter 14 of the Village Code MEMBERS PRESENT: Thomas Fitzgerald William Beattie Norbert Mizwicki Walter Szymczak Joseph Donnelly Donald Olsen Lisa Griffin MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT Bill Cooney – Director of Community Development Connor Harmon –Senior Development Planner Ann Choi— Development Planner INTERESTED PARTIES: Village of Mount Prospect Chairman Donnelly called the meeting to order at 7:01 PM. Commissioner Beattie made a motion seconded by Commissioner Szymczak to approve the minutes from the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on August 12, 2021. The minutes were approved 7-0. After hearing two previous cases, Chairman Donnelly introduced case, PZ -13-21 50 S. Emerson Street for text amendments to the zoning code. This case is Village Board final. Ms. Choi presented a series of Village -initiated text amendments mostly to address some minor inconsistencies in the Village's zoning code, as well as addressing areas of the code that are silent that Staff would like rectified in order to better perform plan reviews. Ms. Choi stated that the Village is also proposing to change one of the more common procedures for relief requests and to making this procedure less prohibitive for property owners. Ms. Choi explained that the first proposed text amendment refers back to a text amendment that was approved back in 2020 via Ordinance No. 6528. Ms. Choi stated that the planning and zoning commission, at the time, recommended to approve the review of unenclosed porches as part of the building permit process rather than through an administrative conditional use. The proposed text Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting- September 9, 2021 Joseph Donnelly, Chair PZ -13-21 2 amendment under PZ -13-21 simply eliminates the requirement in Section 14.202.C.10 that requires the Director of Community Development to conduct administrative hearings for unenclosed porches since that requirement is no longer valid. Ms. Choi moved onto the second proposed text amendment related to window wells where the zoning code is currently silent. Ms. Choi indicated that Staff has historically interpreted window wells under the category "Eaves, gutters, chimneys, bay windows" which are permitted to encroach no more than 24", and no closer than 12" to a lot line" within all yards. Ms. Choi informed the commission that engineering staff was consulted and would prefer not to see window wells in interior side yards due to drainage, but understood and acknowledged this may not be realistic to restrict. Ms. Choi explained that the proposed text amendment reflects the recommendation of the Engineering Division and would treat window wells the same as landscape terraces and retaining walls, which are subject to approval of a grading plan by the Engineering Division and issuance of a building permit. Ms. Choi advanced to the third proposed text amendment and explained that Staff was asked by Village Administration to look into developing a more permissive process than the variation procedure currently in place due to the large number of variation requests for residential setback reductions. Ms. Choi explained that within the past five years the Village has held ten public hearings related to these types of requests, mainly in the R -A and R-1 single-family districts. Ms. Choi further stated that seven of the ten cases were approved and out of those seven cases, the planning and zoning commission had final authority and approved three cases, while four cases were approved at the Board level. Ms. Choi also stated that two out of the ten total cases were withdrawn by the applicant, and one was denied at the Board level. Ms. Choi indicated that Staff looked into the Village's history of easing regulations as well as to looking at what other communities were doing. Ms. Choi stated that in 2020, the Village previously approved a series of text amendments that included adding the expansion of a one -car attached garage to a two -car garage as a conditional use in the R -X, R-1, R-2, and R-3 zoning districts. Ms. Choi offered another example where the Village has eased regulations related to nonconforming buildings or structures. Ms. Choi stated that the zoning code allows a nonconforming building or structure to be extended within the rear or interior side yard, provided the nonconformity is no more than 50% of the required setback. Ordinance No. 6528 allows all existing nonconforming residential single family encroachments to be extended, but not increased, in the front yard, without requiring property owners to apply for a variation. Ms. Choi pointed to the discussion included in the staff report, and stated that the Village looked at the Village of Morton Grove and the Village of Palatine, noting that Morton Grove has an administrative exception process that allows for a reduction in bulk regulations of no more than 10%. Ms. Choi also pointed to the Village of Palatine which lists residential setback reductions with no setback limit for principal structures in their single-family residential districts as a special use. Ms. Choi explained that Palatine's administrative special use process requires petitioners to obtain signatures in support of the reduced setback from all neighbors, abutting and across the street from the subject property, and Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting- September 9, 2021 PZ -13-21 Joseph Donnelly, Chair 3 that the Village is required to send out legal notices to property owners within a 250 -foot radius. If no objection is received by the Village, the petition is placed on the consent agenda at the next available Village Council meeting. Ms. Choi stated that based on the Village of Mount Prospect's past history of approving variation requests for reduced residential setbacks, and the fact that other communities have an alternative process in place to deal with these types of requests, Staff recommends that residential setback reductions in the R -X, R -A and R-1 single family residential zoning districts be permitted as a conditional use rather than processing them as a variation. The findings required under the standards for conditional use are easier to make than the findings required under the standards for variations. The proposed text amendment would also give final administrative authority to the Planning and Zoning Commission for all petitions related to conditional uses for residential setback reductions as long as these requests do not exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the setback requirement and would also require that the Planning and Zoning Commission make recommendations to the Village Board if the request exceeds twenty-five percent (25%) of the setback requirement. This is the same procedure that is followed under the variation procedure. Ms. Choi stated that Staff also recommends modifying Land Use Table to list "Setback reductions in all yards" as conditional uses in the R -X, R -A and R-1 single-family zoning districts. Ms. Choi added that a footnote is proposed to clearly explain that any zoning relief that allows a less than 5 foot setback will trigger additional building code requirements that can have significant costs and design/appearance limitations affecting the overall character of the structure. Ms. Choi presented an additional text amendment to clarify Section 14.306.13.3 so that swimming pools should no longer count towards lot coverage due to the freeboard nature of their construction. Chairman Donnelly and Commissioner Szymczak asked if swimming pools would be considered the same as grass because swimming pools absorb water. Chairman Donnelly recalled a case years ago where a property owner built a swimming pool too close to her neighbor but argued that the swimming pool absorbed the storm water even though she had created a huge concrete hole in the ground. Ms. Choi confirmed that swimming pools are considered the same as grass since the swimming pools would absorb the storm water and drain the water off-site. Ms. Choi moved onto the next proposed topic of data centers. Chairman Donnelly stated that this was a novel topic. Ms. Choi stated that the Village currently has several data centers in town and have received additional inquiries for available land to accommodate these specialized facilities. Ms. Choi explained that data centers are large buildings that can range anywhere from 5,000 SF to half a million square feet in size. Ms. Choi noted that the Village's zoning code is silent on data centers and therefore have largely been permitted under the use category "Warehouse, distribution and storage facilities" which is a permitted use in the 1-1 limited industrial zoning district or under the use category "Offices, business and professional". Ms. Choi stated that Staff recommends updating Land Use Table 2 to add a new use category "data centers" as a permitted use in the 1-1 zoning district since they already exist within the Village. Ms. Choi added that the proposed text amendment will address future data centers looking to relocate within the Village. Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting- September 9, 2021 Joseph Donnelly, Chair PZ -13-21 4 4 In addition to the new use category "data centers" under Land Use Table 2, Ms. Choi recommends adding data centers under the use category "Manufacturing, research and development, utility" when calculating parking requirements. Data centers would use the parking ratio of 1 space per 1.5 employees plus 1 space per company vehicle and office uses would be calculated separately. Ms. Choi also stated the proposed text amendment would add "data centers" as a new definition in the zoning code. Ms. Choi concluded her presentation. Commissioner Szymczak asked how many data centers are current in Mount Prospect. Ms. Choi responded that upon a review of the existing business licenses, there are three identified data centers in Mount Prospect, ranging from approximately 30,000 square feet to over 80,000 square feet. Chairman Donnelly asked if that included United Airlines and asked if United Airlines was the biggest data center. Director Cooney responded that yes, the United Airlines data center is the biggest one at over 200,000 square feet and has the ability to expand if they choose. Commissioner Szymczak asked if the proposed text amendment would lower the standards and benefit businesses that claim to be a data center by using the reduced parking ratio. Chairman Donnelly responded that the proposed text amendments would only remove the requirement for data centers (like United Airlines) to come to the Village to request a parking reduction. Chairman Donnelly recalled that United Airlines had about 200,000 square feet of floor area and were required to provide 200 parking spaces when the number of employees on-site would only be 8-10 people at any time. Chairman Donnelly stated that 90% of these facilities are occupied by computers, servers, and mechanical equipment, and not employees. Chairman Donnelly said it would be unlikely that businesses who came under the guise of a data center would benefit from the low data center parking ratio because data centers would only be permitted in the 1-1 district and the parking ratio applicable to data centers could not be used in the R-1 district, for example. Chairman Donnelly closed the hearing and asked if there were further discussion from the commissioners. Hearing no further discussions, Chairman Donnelly asked for a motion. Commissioner Beattie made a motion seconded by Commissioner Mizwicki to approve the following motion: 1. "To approve the text amendments as outlined in the attached documents for case PZ -13-21 which should perform certain amendments to the text of the Village's zoning regulations." UPON ROLL CALL AYES: Olsen, Fitzgerald, Beattie, Mizwicki, Szymczak, Griffin, Donnelly NAYS: None The motion was approved by a vote of 7-0 with a positive recommendation to the Village Board. Commissioner Beattie made a motion seconded by Commissioner Mizwicki and the meeting was adjourned at 8:43 PM. Ann Choi Development Planner Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting- September 9, 2021 Joseph Donnelly, Chair PZ -13-21 5