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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/22/1995 COW minutes MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE AUGUST 22, 1995 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Gerald Fadey celled the meeting to order at 7.33 p m Present at the meeting were Mayor Gerald L Farley, Trustees George Clowes, T~mothy Corcoran, Paul Hoefert, Michaele Skowron, and Irvana VVilks Trustee Hendncks arrived at 7 57 p m Also present were V~llage Manager M~chael Janoms, Assistant V~llage Manager David Strahl, Community Development Director VVilham Cooney and Planmng Coordinator Darnel Ungerle~der. MINUTES Acceptance of the Minutes of August 8, 1995 Motion made by Trustee Wilks and seconded by Trustee Hoefert to appr~ove the M~nutes M~nutes were accepted CITIZENS TO BE HEARD Gerald Sodaro, 1777 Crystal Lane, spoke He stated 'that he has recently completed a study of seven important V~llage issues He analyzed the voting records of the Trustees to determine If patterns existed ~n their vobng on these issues He stated that he felt that Trustees Clowes and Hendncks were the taxpayers' best fnends because they consistently voted against tax increases Mayor Farley stated that he wanted to make an announcement He stated that ~t is w~th deep regret he must inform the Board and the audience of the passing today of former Trustee Colonel Ralph Arthur Colonel Arthur had served on the Zoning Board of Appeals, Weller Creek Committee and had been involved in the commumty for a number of years and he w~ll be sorely missed IV RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD ISSUES The ~tems for d~scuss~on deal w~th the overall appearance and character of res~denbal neighborhoods throughout the commumty The scope of d~scuss~on generally deals w~th the appropnate level of municipal regulation of the use and maintenance of mdlwdual properbes as well as the use of public nghts-of-way throughout the V~llage The idea behind these regulations ~s to establish reasonable commumty standards for the use and upkeep of properbes w~th~n the Vdlage Village Manager Michael Janonis prowded a general overwew and ~ntroduct~on ~nto the topJc Mr Janoms stated these items have arisen over a number of months and m an effort to remove them from the Deferred Items hst, they were brought forward for d~scuss~on th~s evening He also thought ~t was important to schedule the meebng when the entire Board was present to foster adequate d~scuss~on The purpose of the meeting ~s to solicit input from residents, staff and members of the Board for d~recbon to the staff The V~llage Board may want to consider a subsequent meebng ~n the future to d~scuss the final resolubon Mayor Farley stated that he would I~ke to d~scuss housing of recreabonal vehicles in residential neighborhoods first s~nce most of the persons ~n the audience are ~nterested m that d~scuss~on Second item will be the s~gnage m public nghts-of- way These s~gns ~nclude Open House and Garage Sale s~gns The third ~tem wdl be the housing of commercial vehicles in residential neighborhoods The final ~tem to be d~scussed will be I~m~ts on accessory structures which ~nclude sheds and four-car garages The Mayor stated that he would I~ke to terminate the d~scuss~on by 10 00 p m m order to have adequate brae for a Closed Session to d~scuss Personnel Recreational Vehicles Community Development Director William Cooney stated that recreational vehicle stonng relates to Property Maintenance issues and ~mpacts upon the neighborhood The Ordinance ~tself Is very broad as to ~ts defimt~on of recreational vehicle and recreabonal use Among the I~m~ts which are placed upon the property owner by the Ordinance include a requirement to park the vehicle on a hard surface However, some d~scuss~on has come up regarding the appearance, the s~ze of the vehicle m relation to ~ts impact on the res~denbal property Based on the rewew of the Community Development Department, they recommend a rewew of five ~tems which could be considered ~n order to revise the Ordinance (1) Is the hmitat~on of recreational vehicles, (2) The storage Iocatmn of the vehicle on the property, (3) The allowable surface for which the vehicle will be stored, (4) The use of the vehicle for storage and/or hvlng space and (5) Is there a connection to electnclty, water and gas for hwng purposes General comments by V~llage Board members ~ncluded a definibon of what constitutes a hard surface Also, whether the width of the lot placed s~gmficant hmltabons on storage Iocet~on of the vehicle A question also arose concermng the defimbon of a parking pad, whether ~t had to be underneath the entire vehicle or just fit under the wheels and the tra~ler hitch If such a parking pad was required for the ent~ra vehicle, a question of the impact upon the increase of the impervious surface area It was determined that people with narrow or hm~ted width properties would not be able to move their vehicle ~nto the back yard for long-term storage if front-yard storage was prohibited Eugene Campbell, S10 South Owen, spoke He stated that if such restnctmns were to be placed on recreational vehicles, the same restrictions should also be placed on the number of car~ which may be parked ~n the dnveway He also asked the Board what happens to recreabonal vehicle owners who purchased their vehicles in good faith, due to Mount Prospect regulations, and now the Village Board is cons~denng changing the regulations Andrew Bootz, $04 South Albert, spoke He stated that he has had a recreabonal vehicle in,his dnveway since the 1950s He stated that he cannot move h~s recreabonal vehicle to the back yard due to the hm~ted lot w~dth and would hke to be grandfathered in ~f the Board d~d change the regulations Frank Meyer, 707 South I-Oka, spoke He stated that the use of recreabonal vehicles is a wholesome family activity and should not be regulated He also suggested the Board consider defining what a recreabonal vehicle is because many custom~zed vans have RV plates on them He asked the Board whether the Village would deny the use of such a van for transportation to and from work He stated that the proposed restnctmns under cons~derabon would force RV owners to move out of town Bob Hondmann, 921 South Owen, spoke. He stated that he has a 90-year old mother who enjoys the use of the RV for recreation and family purposes and would be qu~te upset ~f she were unable to continue to use the vehicle 3~ B,II Turner, 819 South We-Go, spoke He stated that he has owned an RV for 38 years He stated that he would typically not park h~s RV in the front yard except they tend to go and come a lot and need the convenience of the parking in the front m order to prepare the vehicle for tnps He stated that he is not supportive of allowing long-term storage of RVs in front yards, however, if the V~llage does require vehicles to be removed from the front yard, they should also consider providing a place for RV storage Ann Korth, 904 South Lancaster, spoke She stated that she has talked to her neighbors about her RV being parked ~n the front and those neighbors have stated they have had no problems w~th her RV She stated that her RV ~s only on the driveway dunng the summer Randy Knudsen, '100 North Louis, spoke He stated that he has used travel trailers for many years and feels there are good people that use the campgrounds He stated the requirement for storage off residential property would depnye h~m the use of h~s RV Clarence Bobikewicz, 1t19 Meadow, spoke He stated he has numerous neighbors around him which use RVs for hwng purposes when relabves come to visit and these RVs are located in the front yard or driveway Harry Jamison, 613 South Busse, spoke He stated that the campgrounds are a good example of quality I~fe and felt there was no need to put a parking pad for storage of an RV Jen7 Adams, $02 South Owen, spoke He stated that he runs a buslness~0ut of his home and the commumty ~s very typical as a m~ddle class community He stated that he and other people do not want government to tell the c~t~zens what to do Consensus of the Village Board wes to maintain the existing regulations as stated in the Code; however, to enforce the requirement of no living wflflin the vehicle while It is parked in residential areas and also felt that it is the responsibility of the owners that the RVs must be maintained and in worldng order. If RVs remain in the front yard area, then the RVs must be useable for their Intended purpose. Trustee Corcoran suggested the Board consider a Referendum on th~s issue to get definitive d~recbon from the c~bzens Mayor Fartey suggested that when this issue is brought up again, that it be a single item for discussion at a Committee of the Whole meeting Trustee Skowron suggested that if grandfathenng was to be considered, it should be handled ~n a similar fashion as the second housekeeping umt regulabons Manager Janonis stated that the next opportunity for th~s d~scussion to take place w~ll be late this year or early next year. Si.qna.qe in the Public Ri.qhts-of-Way Community Development Director William Cooney prowded general information and introduction of this topic He stated the typical signs are signs advertising the sale of property, commercial advertisements, sales on properties such as garage sales and that this d~scuss~on is to request the Village Board to provide direction to staff m terms of enforcement The Code is qu~te clear It does not allow s~gns in the nght-of-way. Th~s problem ~s especially acute dunng weekends when there are multiple signs advertising single events such as open houses or garage sales He stated that there is some presumptmn of hab~hty of the V~llage by allowing signs to be permitted in the nght-of-way due to s~ght obstructions The newest attentmn-gettmg s~gn ~s ~llummated real estate s~gns which are regulated in the Code but staff has had some enforcement concerns on th~s ~ssue General comments of the V~llage Board members ~ncluded the following ~tems Some Board members felt that some advertising may be necessary In the nght-of- way Others suggested that people who receive Garage Sale permits be required to remove the s~gns or be prohibited from future garage sale permits Questions were raised of treating d~fferent classes of s~gns d~fferently For example, allowing chantable s~gns to be placed m nghts-of-way and not garage sale or real estate s~gns Enforcement of the s~gn regulations requires staff t~me and may require weekend work John Kem, 301 North William, spoke. He stated that due to h~s location on the corner, he gets a h~gh volume of s~gns placed on his property and felt that most persons p~ck up the s~gns when the event ~s over. Greg Phillips, of Balrd-Wamer, spoke He stated that s~gns cost money and he makes it a point to p~ck up h~s s~gns when open houses are fimshed He stated that ~t ~s ~mportant to have open houses and any hmltat~ons on such s~gns would affect marketing and advertising of persons' homes Manager Janonls stated that he key issue concerning s~gns Is enforcement and the cost of th~s enforcement He stated that the staff has aggressively been remowng s~gns from parkways during the week but would I~ke some d~rectlon from the Board concerning their desires in terms of the importance of enforcement in relabonsh~p to cost for staff to remove the s~gns Consensus of the Village Board was to refer thts issue for review to the Sign Review Board to provide a recommendation back to the Village Board for their consideration. Manager JanonJs stated that once the recommendabon has been submttted by the Sign Review Board, the ttem could be brought back for further discussion by the Vtllage Board on a hght Agenda evening Hal Predovich of 200 East Lonnquist, spoke He stated that he has talked to members of the S~gn Rewew Board and they are interested ~n reviewing this ~ssue Jan McNulty, of Balrd-Wamer, spoke She stated that open houses s~gn advertisements are qu~te useful for her industry She asked what ~s the d~fference between an open house s~gn and a community event s~gn Peter Lowden of 1409 Dogwood Lane, spoke He questioned what ~s the d~fference between an ,llum~nated real estate s~gn, church or other ,llum~nated s~gns and how w~ll the d~stmctlon be made Mayor Farley stated the other issues could not be discussed tonight The accessory structures and the commercial vehicle parking ~n residential areas w~ll be deferred to another bme V. MANAGER'S REPORT Manager Janonis reminded the Board members and the public of the Art Fair scheduled for August 26 The Committee of the Whole meeting of September 12 w~ll be a rewew of the Cable TV performance and report which w~ll include a Public Heanng He also stated that the Police Un~on, Metropohtan Alliance of Police (MAP), Is currently ~nvolved in a telephone sollc~tation campaign w~th~n the commumty and adwsed persons ~f they felt inbm~dated or uncomfortable w~th g~wng, they should call the Police Department He also stated c4t~zens are not obligated to g~ve and not g~wng w~ll have no effect on Police protecbon services ANY OTHER BUSINESS Trustee Wilks urged members of the audience and the Board to lobby Congress concermng the Telecommumcatmns Act which Is currently under cons~derabon Motion made by Trustee Hoefert and Seconded by Trustee Skowmn to move into Closed Session at 10:08 p.m., to discuss Personnel. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adJOUrned from Closed Session at 10 30 p m There bmng no further bus~ness, the meebng was adjourned at 10 31 p m Respectfully submitted, DAVID STRAHL Assistant Village Manager DS/rcc