Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/23/2005 P&Z minutes 21-05 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION CASE NO. PZ-21-05 Hearing Date: June 23, 2005 PROPERTY ADDRESS: 1016 Meadow Lane PETITIONER/OWNER: Anna & Katherine Wozniak 1811 Seminole Lane, Mount Prospect, IL PUBLICATION DATE: June 8, 2005 PIN#: 03-27 -307 -008-0000 REQUEST: Conditional Use approval for a circular driveway. MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Arlene Juracek Joseph Donnelly Leo Floros Marlys Haaland Ronald Roberts Richard Rogers Keith Youngquist MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: Judy Connolly, AICP, Senior Planner Ellen Divita, Deputy Director, Community Development INTERESTED PARTIES: Mr. & Mrs. Gerechowicz Joe Vaccarella Anna and Katherine Wozniak Chairperson Arlene Juracek called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Joseph Donnelly moved to approve the minutes of the May 26,2005 meeting and Ronald Roberts seconded the motion. The motion was approved 7-0. Ms. Juracek asked for a motion to continue PZ-18-05, a request for Variations for St. John Lutheran Church at 1100 S. Linneman Road. Leo Floros moved to continue PZ-18-05 and Marlys Haaland seconded the motion. The motion was approved 7-0. Ms. Juracek introduced Case No. PZ-21-05 a request for Conditional Use approval for a circular driveway for 1016 Meadow Lane. She said that this case would be Village Board Final. Judy Connolly, Senior Planner, summarized the request. She said that the Subject Property is located at the south comer of Wedgewood and Meadow Lanes, is zoned RX Single Family Residence and is bordered by single- family zoning districts on all sides. The Petitioner is in the process of demolishing the existing house and constructing a new single-family residence with related improvements. Similar to other requests for circular driveways, this neighborhood does not have sidewalks or curb and gutter, and the street pavement width is 19- feet, which is 9-feet less than the current code requirement. The neighborhood does not contain curb and gutters and the Subject Property is drained by a ditch and culvert system. The Petitioner is currently constructing a new house and related site improvements that will meet Village Zoning regulations. However, the proposed circular driveway requires special approval. The proposed circular driveway measures IS-feet wide and would connect to a 'standard' 22.5 -23' wide driveway. The Petitioner's site plan shows that the proposed driveways, to be constructed of concrete, would cover 51 % of the front yard. The standards for Conditional Uses are listed in the Village Zoning Ordinance. Ms. Connolly summarized the standards and said that as with other requests for circular driveways, Staff evaluated traffic patterns in the Planning & Zoning Commission Arlene Juracek, Chairperson PZ-21-05 Page 2 neighborhood of the Subject Property. It has been Staff policy to support requests for circular driveways when the Subject Property fronts on an arterial street and/or the traffic volume is such that a circular driveway is necessary to resolve a safety conflict. In this case, the street has a substandard pavement width, but it is a Local Street intended to serve only vehicle trips generated within the neighborhood. The Village's Traffic Engineer did not find that the volume of traffic along Meadow Lane would impede the Petitioner from backing out of the driveway. The Petitioner's submittal calls for a IS-foot wide concrete circular driveway, and results in 51% front yard lot coverage. Historically, Staff has used the 35% front yard coverage referenced in the Zoning Ordinance as a guideline to determine the impact of the circular driveway on the neighborhood character. The proposed 51 % front yard coverage is a concern despite the overall site complying with lot coverage limitations because the amount of paved surface in the front yard would not be in keeping with the character of the neighborhood. Since the proposed circular driveway is not needed to resolve a safety issue, the amount of front yard lot coverage exceeds 35%, and the Petitioner is not using a decorative material to minimize the impact of a 'paved' front yard, Staff recomn1ends that the Planning and Zoning Commission make a recommendation to the Village Board to deny a Conditional Use permit for a circular driveway for the residence at 1016 Meadow Lane, Case No. PZ-21- 05. The Village Board's decision is final for this case. Anna Wozniak, 1811 Seminole, Mount Prospect, and Katherine Wozniak, 2423 E. Olive, Arlington Heights, were sworn in. Ms. Anna Wozniak said she is the Petitioner and general contractor of the Meadow Lane home. Ms. Katherine Wozniak said she plans to live in the Meadow Lane home upon completion of construction. Anna brought attention to the revised site plan she had presented to the P&Z tonight and asked Katherine to explain the changes. Ms. Juracek noted that she did not see any difference. Anna said there was not much difference in the design, just some corrections to the grading. Katherine said there are two properties with circular driveways in the neighborhood, 1011 Wedgewood and 1002 Meadow Lane, so they don't feel they are introducing anything new to the area. She said the street is very narrow and when cars are parked on the street it is difficult to see approaching traffic when leaving the driveway. She said there is a fire hydrant in the front of the property so guests cannot park in front of the site. There are no curbs and the water drains in a ditch at the side of the road and passengers step into water, snow or ice upon exiting from a parked car. Marlys Haaland asked for a description of what would be constructed in the back of the house. Katherine said it would just be a back yard. Anna took this opportunity to say that they would not shine car headlights into the picture windows of the adjacent neighbors. She also said that in wintertime it is impossible to park in the street because of the snow piled up in the street. Richard Rogers said they will be using up 35% of the front of the property with driveway and not have enough landscaping in the front of the property. Ronald Roberts asked how they know so much about the property if they have not lived there. Anna said it has been in the family since 1973 and that she inherited it from her parents. Katherine said she will live in the house and it will not be for sale. She also said they would be happy to provide any landscaping that would be needed to ensure sufficient screening for her neighbors. Joe Vaccarella, 1014 N. Meadow Lane, was sworn in. He stated that he was concerned that the headlights would shine into his living room because of the angle his picture window faces Anna's house and how drivers would exit the site using the circular driveway. He also said there is a new house behind him and the back of his lot now floods during heavy rain and he hopes the construction of another new house will not increase the flooding. Ms. Juracek said she would ask staff to address the issue. Ms. Connolly said Engineering is already looking closely at the Petitioner's engineering plan; she said the design submitted has not been approved by Staff. Siom Ding, 3 Oxford Place, was sworn in and said he had lived in the same area for 35 years under the same conditions as the Subject Property, i.e., traffic going through Wedgewood; snowplows dumping snow. He has Planning & Zoning Commission Arlene Juracek, Chairperson PZ-21-05 Page 3 these same problems, too, but he shovels the snow to the side, or looks both ways before pulling out of his driveway. He doesn't understand why Ms. Wozniak would need a circular driveway when nobody else has one. He asked how many cars will they have parking there. John Gerechowicz, 1105 Wedgewood Lane, was sworn in. He said that he was confused and asked whether the circular driveway was supposed to provide parking for this house or something in the future that he doesn't know about? He asked whether it was customary to build a driveway before the house was built. Ms. Juracek explained that the Petitioner wanted to obtain the Conditional Use for the circular driveway before they built the house, that they were doing the driveway in conjunction with the new house. Katherine Wozniak came forward again and said there is currently a small, 900 sq.ft. ranch home with a detached 2-1/2 car garage at the site with a long driveway that allows for multiple cars to be parked there. She said that she is building a larger 3,000 sq.ft. ranch with just a 2-car attached garage which will provide a much shorter driveway. In order to prevent hazards for guests and spare them getting tickets for parking in front of a hydrant, she said she felt a circular driveway would be desirable and could park 4-5 cars at a time. Ms. Juracek confirmed with her that the circular driveway at 1011 faces Wedgewood and at 1002 faces on Meadow Lane. Leo Floros asked how common are circular drives in the area. Judy Connolly said she was aware of the one installed at 1002 Meadow Lane. She said that circular driveway received Conditional Use approval based on its proximity to Route 83, for safety reasons. Ms. Juracek informed the Wozniaks that they were not guaranteed approval for the proposed circular driveway because 1002 Meadow Lane received a Conditional Use permit for a circular driveway. Katherine said she was moving the garage to the other side to have it in a safer location and that she wanted to have a turret on the comer of the house that also faced the comers of both streets. Ms. Juracek asked if there were any more questions from the audience; since there were none, she closed the hearing and asked for a motion. Richard Rogers made a motion to recommend Conditional Use approval for a circular driveway, Case No. PZ-21- 05, with the conditions that 1) additional landscaping is installed to address lighting concerns and 2) that overnight parking on the circular portion of the driveway is prohibited. Joe Donnelly seconded the motion. P&Z members discussed the enforceability of no overnight parking on the driveway; they noted that the neighbors would have to make Staff aware of any violations. Ms. Haaland thought there was too much concrete in front of the house. Keith Youngquist said he appreciated the need for getting the cars off the "ditch" type street and liked the use of a turret on a ranch-type home. He also liked that a 2-car garage would be built rather than a 3-car garage. Ellen Divita informed the Petitioner that the Public Works Department would monitor the site to ensure that parkway trees would not be removed from the parkway area. UPON ROLL CALL: AYES: Floros, Haaland, Roberts Youngquist and Juracek NAYS: Donnelly and Rogers Motion was approved 5-2; a positive recommendation will go to the Village Board. Joe Donnelly made a motion to adjourn at 8:52 pm, seconded by Richard Rogers. The motion was approved by a voice vote and the meeting was adjourned. Judy Connolly, AICP, Senior Planner C:IDocuments and SeltingslkdewislLocal SetlingslTemporary Internet FilesIOLK2\PZ-21-05 1016 Meadow Lane.doc