HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/13/1994 COW minutes MINUTES
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
DECEMBER 13, 1994
I. CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Gerald Farley celled the meeting to order at 7 40 p m Present at the
meeting were Mayor Gerald Farley, Trustees George Clowes, T~mothy Corcoran,
M~chaele Skowron and Irvana Wilks Trustee Hoefert arnved at 8 37 p m Absent
from the meeting was Trustee R~chard Hendncks Also present at the meeting
were V~llage Manager M;chael Janon.s, Assistant to the V~llage Manager Dawd
Strahl, Planmng D~rector Will~am Cooney, V~llage Planner M~chael S[ms and V;llage
Engineer Jeffrey Wulbecker.
II. MINUTES
Acceptance of the M~nutes from November 22, 1994 Motion made by Trustee
Wilks and Seconded by Trustee Corcoran M~nutes approved
III.CITIZENS TO BE HEARD
None
IV. MULTI-FAMILY DENSITY DISCUSSION
Trustee Corcoran prowded an overview of h~s memo from September 27, 1994
Trustee Corcoran stated the purpose for his memo was to address basic Zoning
standards for new projects and to possibly revise the PUD standards so that
density ~s not ~ncreased to the detriment of Mount Prospect Also, he felt the
V~llage should require a cesh contnbut~on from developers and not allow detenbon
areas to be counted as open space by the developers
Mayor Fa~ey stated he would like to take each ~tem on Trustee Corcoran's memo
indlwdually so that each member of the Board had full opportumty to make their
thoughts known on each ~tem
Trustee Corcoran prowded an outhne show~ng the typical density of s~ngle-fam~ly,
attached s~ngle-fam~ly, mulb-fam~ly and sen~or ~t~zen housing The analysis that
he ~s refernng is based on a land value assumed at 30% of the total cost of the
project
Decrease the allowable density standard for mulb-fam~ly by 33%
General d~scussion of the Board followed ~n which comments by numerous Board
members were made Comments ~ncluded a maintenance of the rabo of the
s~ngle-famlly homes to multi-family units that currently ex~st and not change the
rabo toward more mulb-fam~ly un~ts Some members of the Board felt that the
density that currently exists is comparable to other towns ~n the area Other
comments ,ncluded the need to maintain or provide affordable housing to keep
Mount Prospect's population static Also, some Board members expressed
concern that the Board ~s forced to negobate down to a desirable dens,ty level at
the brae of their approval of the project and felt ~t would make more sense to have
spe~fic density regulations already in place w~thout having to negotiate on a case-
by-case basis
Consensus of the Village Board members requested a cost breakdown for housing
based on each level of density. Also, the Board requested the Planning
Depar~u.ent to provide an example of a development starling with open land where
the optimum development could be illu=[r,~ted. Board members would consider
discussing the dens'~¥ reduction further once the additional Information is made
available.
End the use of PUDs as a vehicle to ~ncrease density where there ~s not any d~rect
benefit to the V~lla.qe
Trustee Corcoran ~ntroduced the ~tem by stabng that PUDs are typically used to
increase density and would I~ke the V~llage to define the benefits which ~t would
derive from such a PUD approval ~n order for approval for the density ~ncrease
General d~scuss~on of Board members ~ncluded a d~scuss~on which centered on
defimng a benefit to the V~llage for the density change and what unique feature of
the development the V~llage would benefit from For example, ~n some PUD
developments, retail is mixed w~th residential but not ~n all cases However, the
density ~ncrease ~s usually approved for PUDs w~thout a specific commumty
benefit
Consensus of the Village Board members requested the Planning Department to
recommend some restzlctions which might be placed on PUDs In order to define
clearly the bene;;L~ that the Village would receive from increased dens'~y. Once
this Information is available, the Village Board would consider this Issue fuHfter.
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Promote the preservation of open space, RX d~stncts and require developers to
contribute to open space, community amemt~es and quahty of hfe ~mprovements
General comments of the Board members included a d~scuss~on on whether
developers should be required to prowde in-kind cash for community amen~bes or
be required to maintain ex~st~ng open space w~th~n the proposed development
However, other Board members felt that requmng impact fees would drive up the
cost of housing
Resident Steve PolE, 601 Wilshire Drive, spoke He comphmented the Board on
d~scuss~ng the need for open space and he requested the Board to seriously
consider requ~nng a donation because the V~llage ~s deficient ~n the number of
acres which are designated as parkland He feels that ~mpact fees could be
pooled by the Park D~stnct in order to purchase the necessary land for add~bonal
parks to address the deficiency
Trustee Corcoran stated further that he would hke to protect RX d~stncts from
rezon~ng due to their s~ze and uniqueness w~th~n the V~llage
Bill Cooney prowded the Board the basic information on the RX D~stnct stating ~t
~s the most restncbve zoning d~stnct w~th~n Mount Prospect RX requires a double
lot s~ze when compared to an R-1 d~stnct
Consensus of the Village Board was to define RX districts cleariy and focus on
protecting RX district status. The Board wants to protect RX neighborhoods as
much as possible. Board membem directed staff to review the various Districts
and estimate potential development which may affect the status of RX Districts.
Impact Fees
General d~scusslon of the V~llage Board focused on the fact that impact fees drive
up the cost of the development and members felt the donabon ~f, m fact, it ,s
required should be identified d~rectly w~th the impact or the benefit the fees are
supposed to prcwde
Resident Steve Polit spoke again He stated that Sectmn 16 610 of the Mumc~pal
Code requires each dwelhng umt to make a donation of $1,450
Bill Cooney stated the charge of $1,450 per unit ~s defined as a charge for the
maintenance of pubhc fac~ht~es
Consensus of the Village Board was to request staff review other towns'
ordinances relating to Impact fees and report back to the Board with a proposal
specifically Identifying the bener~s an Impact fee would provide.
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Detention Areas not Counted as Open Space
Th~s was the final ~tem d~scussed from Trustee Corcoran's memo General
d~scuss~on of Board members was that a change ,n the slope and a change in the
d~stance from the umt to the detention area would reduce density. However, the
change in the slope of the detention area would possibly create a hazardous area
Consensus of the Village Board wes to request the staff to recommend possible
revisions to the definition of detention and project the affect on density.
V, REVIEW OF DEVELOPMENT CODE
This item was deferred due to the length of the discussion regarding mural.family
density.
VI. TAP-TV DISCUSSION
Trustee Clowes prowded the background of this item He stated that the original
,dea was for h~gh school students to do television programming to address issues
for junior h~gh students The options for programming included h~gh school
students producing programs for jumor h~gh students, students using channel 6
fac~ht~es for production of programs or to ut~hze the community access
opportumt~es at TCI Cable He stated that the original ~ntent of th~s project has
become more comphcated than he first thought due to the amount of time and
effort required to produce such a program There also arose numerous questions
~ncludmg how the message was to be gotten out and defining who the audience
was and frequency of the programming
Trustee Clowes stated that at th~s t, me, jumor h~gh and h~gh school representatives
w~ll work together to determine what ~ssues they would hke to consider for
programming and at th~s point, no one has dec~ded to proceed w~th the
programming Some representatives are s~gned up to do the television training at
TCI ,n preparation of th~s project or at least to get some ~dea of the t~me and effort
involved in such programming
At this time, Trustee Clowes is requesting no commitment from the Village of
Mount Prospect.
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VII. .RECALL ORDINANCE
Mayor Farley introduced this item by stating that the discussion is to focus on
whether an Ordinance should be put in place which allows c~bzens to remove
elected officials who do not discharge their dubes according to the wishes of the
c~bzens He stated that all Trustees and the Mayor would be subject to th;s
Ordinance at the bme it ~s approved by the V~llage Board
Manager Janonis stated that he has provided the Board members w~th a copy of
a legal opinion drafted by She~la Beary of Pedersen and Houpt
General d~scuss~on of the Board members followed m which the focus of the
discussion was the percentage of voters' signatures which should be necessary
on a pebbon m order to prompt a recall vote The ongmal Ordinance as drafted
stated 45% of the number of votes ~n the last Mayorel elecbon would be the
number necessary to get the ~tem of recall on the next ballot The members felt
the percentage should be lowered and there was also some d~scuss~on relating to
what the percentage would be based on (1) whether the number of voters
reg;stered, or (2) the number of votes cast in a Mayoral elect~on
Sheila Beary of Pedereen and Houpt stated there was a previous law m the
Rewsed Statutes which allowed for recall based on the percentage of votes cast
~n the last Mayoral elecbon as the appropriate number of s~gnatures to get th~s
~tem on the ballot Therefore, the ongmal draft followed the basic law as ~t
ong[nally existed The Courts struck down this law, however, the Court d~d state
that setbng the number of s~gnatures necessary was legitimate
Consensus of the Village Board was that the number of signatures necessary to
put the recall question on the ballot would be 10% of the total number of registered
voters at the last general election. Also, language should be added In which there
is a moratorium when the petition cannot be circulated. The petition would not be
valid if It Is circulated wi~in one year of the time the IndMdual who Is subject to
the recall petition was originally elected or re-elected. Also, the recall petition
could not be circulated within six months of an upcoming election in which the
Individual subject to the recall is up for election.
Trustee Wilks expressed her opposition to the concept of recall, and specifically
the draft Ordinance She sa~d that recall should be cons[dered unconstitutional
because ~t thwarts the wdl of the voters and their democrabcally-held elect~ons
Trustee Clowes asked whether th~s Recall Ordinance apphes to L~brary Trustees
Sheila Beary adwsed h~m that ~t does not
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Consensus of the Village Board was to clar~ the language within the Ordinance
as follows: Include language defining why the citizens want to recall the Individual;
shorten the time to circulate the petition fi'om 120 days to 90 days; spell out the
spec'~c language on the petition so that the statement coincides with the
statement which will be Included on the ballot; the language for recall defining why
the recall is necessary will be included in the Ordinance for c'(dzens to utilize.
Finally, the Board directed staff to modify this Ordinance and to bring It forward for
consideration at the first Village Board meefing in January of 1995.
Protocol of Villa,qe Board Members
Trustee Corcoran stated he supports some type of defined standards for Board
members' actions wh~le carrying out their dubes as an elected official
D~scuss~on of the Board members focused on the fact that a clear definition of
appropnate standards should be considered before estabhsh~ng a protocol
Consensus of the Village Board was to defer this Item and consider It at anoO~er
fime once addiaonal information is available conceming protocol Issues of other
municipalities.
VIII. MANAGER°S REPORT
Manager Janonis stated that the snow storm of December 6-7 caused a large
amount of tree damage due to the wet snow and adwsed the Board that the Pubhc
Works Department has spent approximately $9,500 to clean up damaged and
broken trees
IX. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Trustee Wilks wanted to clanfy the fact that the Linneman Road Pubhc meeting w~ll
also take place on the Coffee w~th Coun=l meeting date
A Motion was made by Trustee Hoefert and Seconded by Trustee Clowes to
adjourn the meeting into Closed Session to discuss Property Acquisition,
Personnel and Litigation. Motion was Approved and Board adjourned into Closed
Session at 11 33 p m
The meebng was reconvened at 12 02 a m
X. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 12 03 a m
,~'"DAVID 8TRAHL
DS/rcc Assistant to the V~llage Manager
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