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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/24/1996 COW minutes REVISED 9/25/96 MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE, SEPTEMBER 24, 1996 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Farley called the meebng to order at 7 31 p m Present at the meebng were Trustees George CIowes, R~chard Hendncks, Paul Hoefert, M~chaele Skowron and Irvana WiIks Trustee T~mothy Corcoran arrived at 7 35 p m Also present were Village Manager Michael Janonls, Assistant Village Manager David Strahl, Community Development Director W~lham Cooney, Community Development Planning Coordinator Daniel Ungerle~der, Community Development Planner Kenneth Fritz and V~llage Engineer Jeffrey Wulbecker. II MINUTES M~nutes of September 10, 1996 Mobon made by Trustee CIowes and Seconded by Trustee Hoefert to accept the M~nutes M~nutes were approved III CITIZENS TO BE HEARD Dave Harris, Burning Bush Lane, spoke He stated that he has an issue w~th School D~stnct 26 and has attempted to raise th~s ~ssue w~th the School D~stnct but has been unsuccessful, therefore, he wanted to bnng th~s ~ssue to the attenbon of the V~llage Board He ~s concerned about the number of teachers assigned to the classroom m which h~s child is being taught He feels there ~s a d~sproport~onate number of ESL teachers compared to non-ESL teachers Mayor Farley stated that th~s subject ~s not relevant to the V~llage of Mount Prospect and the V~llage has no junsdlcbon over School D~strict 26 and all comments should be d~rected to the School D~stnct IV RAND ROAD CORRIDOR STUDY DISCUSSION Community Development Director William Cooney provided a general overview of the Study The Rand Road Corridor Study ~s the second ~n a ser~es of in~babves undertaken by the Community Development Department to develop a general ws~on of how key areas of the V~llage should be developed and/or redeveloped The Study has previously been presented to the community in the form of a pubhc ~nformabon meebng and public heanng format before the Plan Commission Numerous ~ssues had been ~dent~fied and adjustments made to the study based on tnput from property owners and Plan Commission members Rand Road is the bus~est road in Mount Prospect based on number of vehicles per day Marshall Ponzi, Chairman of the Plan Commission, provided add~bonal details concerning the components of the study ~tself He stated the study presented to the V~llage Board th~s evening ~s the product of several months of work ~nclud~ng 13 meetings Key points which were d~scussed ~ncluded beaubficat~on, safety ~nclud~ng pedestrian and vehicle safety and efficient movement, a proacbve approach to respond to IDOT proposal of the SPA Plan for Rand Road The Plan Commission ~s providing a no recommendation regarding Gregory and Bus~ness Center Dr~ve but does acknowledge a need to rewew the cut-through traffic which ts currently ubl~z~ng Isabella Plan Commission ts suggesbng an outside consultant to assist the V~llage staff ~n formulahng recommendations Community Development Planner Ken Fritz prowded the details included w~th~n the plan and read the 21 acbon ~tems He also prov,ded a rewew of what ~s included ~n the report ~n add~bon to responsible part~es for each acbon step Mayor Farley stated that based on the previous Corridor Study of Central Road, ~t ~s expected that th~s study will become a component of the Comprehensive Plan tf ~t ~s approved by the V~llage Board He also stated he ~s supportive of a traffic consultant concept to assist ~n rewewmg opbons for Isabella, Rand and Gregory He felt ~t was ~mportant to have fully stud~ed the opbons available before IDOT d~ctates what w~ll be required for the SPA General comments of the V~llage Board members ~ncluded the following ~tems D~scuss~on as to the TIF opbon available for redevelopment of B~rchman Manor and Kensington/Rand area There was also d~scuss~on concerning the redevelopment of the Century T~le property near the Lou~s Anthony Hair Salon Trustees also voiced concern about the impact of vehicles stacking ~n front of Mt Prospect Plaza and not allowing smooth access V~llage Board members also felt ~t was tmportant that the V~llage be proactive ~n addressing the ~ssues Planner Ken Fritz responded to a number of the items outhned by V~llage Board members He stated that a Court Order sbpulates what can actually be built on the Century Ttle property and it ~s not recommended that the property be rezoned at this time A rezon~ng could be considered if the owner came forward to the V~llage Board when he was ready to build 2 Rich Benson of 220 Autumn Lane, spoke He is the President of the Harvest Homeowners Assoc~abon He has concerns about traffic cutbng through the subd~ws~on and prewous requests for Stop s~gns w~th~n the neighborhood ~n add~bon to enforcement of speed I~m~t has not been adequate He felt that opening of Gregory to Rand Road would ~ncrease traffic through the subd~ws~on and was opposed to th~s change He also felt that s~nce the Courtesy property currently has an unknown d~spos~bon that any reconflgurat~on of Gregory and Business Center w~ll further aggravate the ~mpact the Courtesy property has on the subdivision negabvely John Kozial, 309 North William, spoke He ~s opposed to opemng Gregory and reahgmng the street at the stop I~ght He stated the proposal only shifts the cut- through traffic to Gregory from Isabella He has over 600 s~gnatures to present to the Village Board urging that Gregory Street not be reopened and would request that th~s option be removed from cons~derabon of the plan Jerry Bolt, 300 North School, spoke He presented a pet~bon s~gned by over 250 residents ~n the area of School, Rand and Isabella who are opposed to opening Gregory and urged the Village Board to seek relief for residents due to traffic using Isabella · ~ Hal Entanger, 415 North Maple, spoke He ~s opposed to the change of des~gnabon of Gregory to a collector street He stated there are four ma~n ~ssues the V~llage Board should know of 1) At the public heanng, Plan Commission members were not aware of the 1981 declass~flcahon of the street, 2) Gregory ~s designated as a secondary street and classified too h~gh ~n terms of traffic volume, 3) staff recommendabon to connect Gregory to Northwest H~ghway allows for a d~rect connecbon to Northwest H~ghway, 4) he ~s opposed to the change Jill Huff, 714 North Dresser, represenbng the PTA of Fa~rv~ew School, spoke She stated that the PTA and herself are opposed to the Gregory opening and increasing traffic past Fa~rv~ew She feels that the ~ncreased traffic w~ll affect the safety of the children utd~z~ng Fa~rview Trustee Wilks responded to Ms Huff's comments by stabng the traffic ~s already going through the neighborhood but using Isabella as the entrance street ~nto the neighborhood Trustee Clowes stated that the student drop off on Isabella ~s ~nadequate He also stated that there ~s excessive traffic on Council Trail generated by the new school It ts classified as a collector street and it also goes by a school Allison Kelly, 801 West Isabella, spoke She stated that ~f Gregory ts opened to Northwest H~ghway, ~t w~ll be a straight shot to Bus~ness Center Dr~ve She asked the Village Board at what point ~s tax revenue put above the safety of children and she urged the Village Board to keep Gregory closed 3 Chris vonWunder, 406 North MacArthur, stated that speeds are too h~gh through the neighborhood already and ~ncreased traffic w~ll further ~ncrease the I~kehhood of traffic speeding through the neighborhood She also stated that there are a number of streets w~th no sidewalks and the ~ncreased traffic w~ll d~m~n~sh property values Linda Semer, 318 North Prospect Manor, spoke She stated that traffic w~ll always find a route through the neighborhood ~f prowded the opportunity for a cut- through Dnvers must build ~n additional bme for travel and not speed through the neighborhood She urges the V~llage Board to solve the problem on Isabella Robin Lebda, 316 North Prospect Manor, spoke She pointed out that the p~ctures within the Rand Road Corridor Study only ~nclude p~ctures of businesses, not children She stated the school and parks along Gregory encourage children to cross the street and ~ncreased traffic w~ll undoubtedly create confhct Jennifer Hermerson, Four North Owen, spoke She asked what ~s the treffic count which feeds through the neighborhood and ~s not considered a cut-through She stated it should be a priority of the V~llage Board to keep children safe at Fa~rvlew School Renee Anderson, 709 North Forest, spoke She stated that she I~ves across the street from Prospect H~gh School and traffic ~s extremely fast down the street She has upgraded her home and has encouraged other people to stay ~n Mount Prospect but is upset and feels the value of her property ~s being affected by ~ncreased traffic Trustee Clowes pointed out that the High School D~str~ct boundary ~s Rand Road, therefore, there ~s very I~ttle cut-through, ~f any, of h~gh school students using Gregory to get to the h~gh school Katherine Bond hves at the corner of Gregory and Mare Street She stated that Rand Road does not represent what the V~llage ~s all about and there ~s no need for add~bonal commercial She suggested that a fence be constructed along the frontage of Rand w~th homes behind the fence to ~nsulate the homes from the traffic on Rand and asked whether ~t ~s necessary to bow to the almighty dollar every bme Dorian Lowrey, 401 North Maple, spoke She stated that the corner of Gregory and 83 has many accidents and opening Gregory would increase traffic volume and create additional accidents Kathy Newly, 404 North Maple, spoke She stated that the consideration for opening Gregory should be removed from the I~st as an action step Trustee Clowes read a letter from Eleanor Sles~ck~, 302 North Maple She was unable to attend but prowded a letter summanzlng her comments to Trustee CIowes to read ~nto the record She stated that she ~s not supporhve of opening Gregory but would support add~bonal residential street openings to reheve the use of Isabella and enforce truck weight I~m~ts and speed hm~ts through the neighborhoods Trustee Wilks stated that she would recommend a more general statement concerning Gregory and would support a traffic eng~neenng study She has a concern that any type of change should not negabvely ~mpact other areas Trustee Clowes asked what is the problem that the Board ~s trying to address Is It traffic to and from work or other types of traffic The hm~ted capacity of the intersections ~s forcing traffic into the neighborhoods to by-pass these backed up intersecbons There ~s only so much capacity Traffic ~s going to find the point of least resistance and he d~d not th~nk that traffic using Gregory to Northwest Highway is necessarily causing the problem The problem hes w~th the ~ntersecbon of Rand and 83 and Rand and Central due to ~ts capacity limitations If Gregory ~s not opened or another solution ~s not found to relieve the pressure on the intersections, the intersection capacity should be addressed otherwise the problem is sh~fted to another area Trustee Corcoran stated that the V~llage Board must address th~s ~ssue and just not opening Gregory w~ll not resolve the problem The Village Board must look at a comprehensive solubon to th~s problem There ~s a need to look at the intersect~on capacity and we must know where vehicles are coming and going from He ~s supportive of a review of the ~ntersect~on by way of a consultant Trustee Skowron supports selective enforcement on Gregory and supports the review of the ~ntersecbon capacity by using a consultant She stated that changing the ~ntersect~on w~ll be d~fficult and hopes the c~bzens are supportive of the change w~th the same conwct~on as they are ~n terms of their effort to keep Gregory closed She stated that ~t ~s ~mportant that a reasonable solubon or compromise ~s found and not just a conbnual no to the problem w~thout a solubon Trustee Hoefert stated that he would I~ke to see the Gregory proposal removed from the acbon plan He supports a comprehensive rewew of vehicle movements of the area by ubhzmg a traffic consultant Consensus of the Village Board was not to open Gregory at Business Center Drive at this time. The Board was not support,ve of removing the option of opening Gregory in the future from the Study. Village Board is supportive of hiring a traffic consultant and encouraged citizen input to the consultant in a similar fashion as the Weller Creek Ad Hoc Citizen Committee. 5 General comments of the V~llage Board ~ncluded the need to address the mtersecbon capac~bes and rewew the poss~b~hty of ~mprovements m response to IDOT proposals concerning these mtersecbons Marvin Metzke, attomey for Paul Spiewak, spoke He stated the reference ~n the Corridor Study concemmg the Century T~le property as possible residential development ,s contrary to prewous d~scuss~ons between the V~llage Board and the property owner He stated the property owner would go through the rezon~ng process ~f he would get a possible response from the V~llage Board He stated the relabonsh~p between the V~llage Board and property owner has not been culbvated ,n the past to address possible needs or redevelopment of the property s~nce there ,s no market for residential development at th~s brae The remaining d~scuss~on centered on each action step contained w~thm the Corndor Study and whether there was consensus or a revision necessary to each acbon step Consensus of the V,Ilage Board was to change Action Step #5 in terms of encouraging the owner of the hair salon to seek additional parking on the neighboring property when that property is developed. Appropriate development should take place on the property and be limited to commermal development of a prime redevelopment site of Kensington/Rand. Consensus of the Village Board concerning Step #7 was to keep the TIF recommendation contained within the Study and encourage development of a triangle. There should be additional details provided in the Action Step to further encourage redevelopment. Consensus of the Village Board concerning Step #1 in the Action Plan is to further develop the statement concerning residential or commercial development should not adversely impact the existing residents which either front or back up to Rand Road. Consensus of the Village Board concerning revisions to page nine of the report to address the history outl,ne of the six-acre parcel detailing the strip center and the drive-through development with the proposed restaurant redevelopment. Consensus of the Village Board was also to balance the tone of the language contained within the report to be more balanced in terms of commercial and resident,al needs. General consensus of the V,Ilage Board was that once these changes have been made to the report, the report be brought back to the Village Board for add,tional review. . VILLAGE MANAGER'S REPORT None VI. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Trustee Hendricks stated that the Mt Prospect Plaza parking lot has been repaved and restrlped but the pedestrian crossings have not been repalnted He also stated that the boat and tra~ler at 15 Emmerson has not moved in s~x years and he ~s asking why staff has allowed the boat to remain all th~s t~me He has an issue concerning enforcement of zoning wolabons because these wolabons continue to ex~st today as they have m the past but staff ~s now only enforcing ordinances on a complaint-only bas~s In the past, V~llage staffwas much more proactive m terms of addressing zoning and other ordinance v~olabons He also ~s requesbng a report from the V~llage Manager concerning a hst of v~olat~ons which he is prowd~ng to the Manager and requests a follow-up General consensus of the Village Board was to continue to support Ordinance enforcement on a complaint-only basis where applicable, Trustee W,lks asked whether TCl was vacating the Opus s~te and where the locabon of the community access s~te was going to be Community Development Director William Cooney stated to his knowledge, TCI ~s not mowng out of the Opus site but is expanding ~nto the W~nona School site Trustee Hoefert ~s following up on his prewous request concerning the broadcasting of the Cook County Board meetings on Channel 6 and requested the Manager prowde h~m a status report on th~s program He also stated that he has a concern that some Village employees may be less inchned to s~gn pet~bons for community in~babves or to express wews as c~bzens of the community because they are employees of the V~llage Trustee Clowes menboned that Mailboxes, etc, is now open on Emerson Street across from the V~llage Hall VI. ADJOURNMENT The meebng was adjourned at 12 00 midnight ~/Respectfully subm,tted~ ~ DAVID STRAHL DS/rcc Assistant V~llage Manager